Posted: 8/4/2016 10:00:21 PM EDT
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Hi Guys...
I've got one hole in the preps.. no decent radio. I'd like to be able to tune in and obtain radio broadcast from other regions, as a method of gathering info and news. I know little about short wave radios. I do know that I hate digital tuners, at least the ones i used, because it seems like you cannot really dial into a station. Years ago granddad had a nice radio. Big knob for dialing in, then a smaller knob for really fine tuning the dial in. Any recommendations? I just want to listed to broadcasts. I'm not interested in spending a zillion bucks to impress other radio nerds. |
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Hi Guys... I've got one hole in the preps.. no decent radio. I'd like to be able to tune in and obtain radio broadcast from other regions, as a method of gathering info and news. I know little about short wave radios. I do know that I hate digital tuners, at least the ones i used, because it seems like you cannot really dial into a station. Years ago granddad had a nice radio. Big knob for dialing in, then a smaller knob for really fine tuning the dial in. Any recommendations? I just want to listed to broadcasts. I'm not interested in spending a zillion bucks to impress other radio nerds. I've been knocking this one around for a couple years now. It has a very sensitive receiver, charges AA Eneloops on board, ext antenna, etc. I'm a ham radio guy as well, and this little thing pulls in darn near anything I can get on my HF rig. Connect it to an old set of computer speakers, and have fun. FM stereo also. It currently serves as my garage radio in that configuration. Tecsun PL660 |
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I've been knocking this one around for a couple years now. It has a very sensitive receiver, charges AA Eneloops on board, ext antenna, etc. I'm a ham radio guy as well, and this little thing pulls in darn near anything I can get on my HF rig. Connect it to an old set of computer speakers, and have fun. FM stereo also. It currently serves as my garage radio in that configuration. Tecsun PL660 Quoted:
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Hi Guys... I've got one hole in the preps.. no decent radio. I'd like to be able to tune in and obtain radio broadcast from other regions, as a method of gathering info and news. I know little about short wave radios. I do know that I hate digital tuners, at least the ones i used, because it seems like you cannot really dial into a station. Years ago granddad had a nice radio. Big knob for dialing in, then a smaller knob for really fine tuning the dial in. Any recommendations? I just want to listed to broadcasts. I'm not interested in spending a zillion bucks to impress other radio nerds. I've been knocking this one around for a couple years now. It has a very sensitive receiver, charges AA Eneloops on board, ext antenna, etc. I'm a ham radio guy as well, and this little thing pulls in darn near anything I can get on my HF rig. Connect it to an old set of computer speakers, and have fun. FM stereo also. It currently serves as my garage radio in that configuration. Tecsun PL660 Wow, I just looked at that radio. It appears to cover all of the HF bands and everything in between. Definitely something I would buy since radios limited to the SW broadcast bands aren't very useful. SW broadcasting is dying so having ham band coverage is a must. OP, buy that radio and make yourself a really good wire receive antenna 
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| Some say the 660 outperforms the more costly 880, I can't say, but wouldn't hesitate with either-SSB is a must in my book. County Comm makes a sweet pocket SSB SW Receiver for $80 if you want something smaller. Again, to get your money's worth buy a SSB capable radio (single sideband for Ham Radio Monitoring) said the Ham Radio guy |
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I have one of these and it works well.
C Crane CC Skywave C Crane CC Skywave Review |
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Wow, I just looked at that radio. It appears to cover all of the HF bands and everything in between. Definitely something I would buy since radios limited to the SW broadcast bands aren't very useful. SW broadcasting is dying so having ham band coverage is a must. OP, buy that radio and make yourself a really good wire receive antenna
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Hi Guys... I've got one hole in the preps.. no decent radio. I'd like to be able to tune in and obtain radio broadcast from other regions, as a method of gathering info and news. I know little about short wave radios. I do know that I hate digital tuners, at least the ones i used, because it seems like you cannot really dial into a station. Years ago granddad had a nice radio. Big knob for dialing in, then a smaller knob for really fine tuning the dial in. Any recommendations? I just want to listed to broadcasts. I'm not interested in spending a zillion bucks to impress other radio nerds. I've been knocking this one around for a couple years now. It has a very sensitive receiver, charges AA Eneloops on board, ext antenna, etc. I'm a ham radio guy as well, and this little thing pulls in darn near anything I can get on my HF rig. Connect it to an old set of computer speakers, and have fun. FM stereo also. It currently serves as my garage radio in that configuration. Tecsun PL660 Wow, I just looked at that radio. It appears to cover all of the HF bands and everything in between. Definitely something I would buy since radios limited to the SW broadcast bands aren't very useful. SW broadcasting is dying so having ham band coverage is a must. OP, buy that radio and make yourself a really good wire receive antenna
My down and dirty antenna on the 660 is 40 feet of 316 SS .030 mig welding wire cut in half, twisted together into a small loop and slipped onto the telescopic antenna, with each leg of the wire stretched North to South. Ukraine, South Korea trolling NK with freedom propaganda, even Australia and South America are loud and clear. The WWV atomic time clock transmissions at 5000hz, and 10000hz are nice for calibrating my wristwatches and clocks also. |
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I did a lot of looking at reviews and specs a while back for a friend and I believe that's the model that I came up with for him. |
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I don't really have a lot to personally add to this thread, but here is a really great thread on portable and shortwave radios. It's 70 pages. |
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My down and dirty antenna on the 660 is 40 feet of 316 SS .030 mig welding wire cut in half, twisted together into a small loop and slipped onto the telescopic antenna, with each leg of the wire stretched North to South. Ukraine, South Korea trolling NK with freedom propaganda, even Australia and South America are loud and clear. The WWV atomic time clock transmissions at 5000hz, and 10000hz are nice for calibrating my wristwatches and clocks also. Quoted:
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Hi Guys... I've got one hole in the preps.. no decent radio. I'd like to be able to tune in and obtain radio broadcast from other regions, as a method of gathering info and news. I know little about short wave radios. I do know that I hate digital tuners, at least the ones i used, because it seems like you cannot really dial into a station. Years ago granddad had a nice radio. Big knob for dialing in, then a smaller knob for really fine tuning the dial in. Any recommendations? I just want to listed to broadcasts. I'm not interested in spending a zillion bucks to impress other radio nerds. I've been knocking this one around for a couple years now. It has a very sensitive receiver, charges AA Eneloops on board, ext antenna, etc. I'm a ham radio guy as well, and this little thing pulls in darn near anything I can get on my HF rig. Connect it to an old set of computer speakers, and have fun. FM stereo also. It currently serves as my garage radio in that configuration. Tecsun PL660 Wow, I just looked at that radio. It appears to cover all of the HF bands and everything in between. Definitely something I would buy since radios limited to the SW broadcast bands aren't very useful. SW broadcasting is dying so having ham band coverage is a must. OP, buy that radio and make yourself a really good wire receive antenna
My down and dirty antenna on the 660 is 40 feet of 316 SS .030 mig welding wire cut in half, twisted together into a small loop and slipped onto the telescopic antenna, with each leg of the wire stretched North to South. Ukraine, South Korea trolling NK with freedom propaganda, even Australia and South America are loud and clear. The WWV atomic time clock transmissions at 5000hz, and 10000hz are nice for calibrating my wristwatches and clocks also. I hope that was cheap Harbor Freigh Mig wire and not the expensive stuff. 
My thought on the matter for my own use, buy a transceiver for when I want to get licensed and start transmitting. I know this is not in line with the OP's thinking but it leaves the option on the table. |
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I hope that was cheap Harbor Freigh Mig wire and not the expensive stuff.
My thought on the matter for my own use, buy a transceiver for when I want to get licensed and start transmitting. I know this is not in line with the OP's thinking but it leaves the option on the table. Quoted:
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Hi Guys... I've got one hole in the preps.. no decent radio. I'd like to be able to tune in and obtain radio broadcast from other regions, as a method of gathering info and news. I know little about short wave radios. I do know that I hate digital tuners, at least the ones i used, because it seems like you cannot really dial into a station. Years ago granddad had a nice radio. Big knob for dialing in, then a smaller knob for really fine tuning the dial in. Any recommendations? I just want to listed to broadcasts. I'm not interested in spending a zillion bucks to impress other radio nerds. I've been knocking this one around for a couple years now. It has a very sensitive receiver, charges AA Eneloops on board, ext antenna, etc. I'm a ham radio guy as well, and this little thing pulls in darn near anything I can get on my HF rig. Connect it to an old set of computer speakers, and have fun. FM stereo also. It currently serves as my garage radio in that configuration. Tecsun PL660 Wow, I just looked at that radio. It appears to cover all of the HF bands and everything in between. Definitely something I would buy since radios limited to the SW broadcast bands aren't very useful. SW broadcasting is dying so having ham band coverage is a must. OP, buy that radio and make yourself a really good wire receive antenna
My down and dirty antenna on the 660 is 40 feet of 316 SS .030 mig welding wire cut in half, twisted together into a small loop and slipped onto the telescopic antenna, with each leg of the wire stretched North to South. Ukraine, South Korea trolling NK with freedom propaganda, even Australia and South America are loud and clear. The WWV atomic time clock transmissions at 5000hz, and 10000hz are nice for calibrating my wristwatches and clocks also. I hope that was cheap Harbor Freigh Mig wire and not the expensive stuff.
My thought on the matter for my own use, buy a transceiver for when I want to get licensed and start transmitting. I know this is not in line with the OP's thinking but it leaves the option on the table. Actually, it was Sandvik Swedish wire, but I'm a welding inspector, so it was free. 
I would encourage anyone to get a general class ham radio license, then you too can transmit and receive around the world. I talk to a good friend of mine almost every week on 7.230 mhz. He's in Scotland. |
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You mean like an MChf kit? Quoted:
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I do wish someone would make a nice SDR based receiver with real SSB tuning and a spectrum scope at a reasonable price. You mean like an MChf kit? Indeed, something much like an MCHF kit, but simpler and RX only at a much lower cost. |
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Hi Guys... I've got one hole in the preps.. no decent radio. I'd like to be able to tune in and obtain radio broadcast from other regions, as a method of gathering info and news. I know little about short wave radios. I do know that I hate digital tuners, at least the ones i used, because it seems like you cannot really dial into a station. Years ago granddad had a nice radio. Big knob for dialing in, then a smaller knob for really fine tuning the dial in. Any recommendations? I just want to listed to broadcasts. I'm not interested in spending a zillion bucks to impress other radio nerds. https://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_22/665780_Important_Threads___New_to_the_forum__check_here_first_.html Really, start reading some ham threads, it can become addicting!  I got my ham ticket because of arfcom SF/ham. My wife has her tech ticket to. Its not super hard, just takes some effort.
I have some very basic, budget, entry level stuff, and do it for about as cheap as you can with ham box store stuff... Its a gamble buying used. A few old threads of mine that might be of interest: My budget HF rig: https://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_22/672363_Alinco_DX_SR8T_review_.html current mobile setup: https://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_22/684533_New_mobile_install___2016_Jeep_Patriot___CQ_ARFCOM___w__pics_.html Shoot me a PM, We can meet up, or you can stop by, ham radio and gear becomes much easier to understand when you talk to someone in person about it for a short period of time. Much easier to explain in person vs. post. ETA/ I know you think you only want to listen but an amateur radio license, and some basic gear is worth a look! I wouldn't be surprised if we can come close to chatting on a 2m repeater. Only takes a tech ticket to use those... 
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If your going to get a shortwave for shtf, make sure you get one that has a crank or solar adapter also. I have used the Baygen ones for years. The wife who hates all my radios that I seem to collect actually asked if we could get another baygen for traveling and at the beach. C Crane company has always been my go to store for all things radio.
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case of antenna ENVY for all the HAMs on this thread... AN/FLR-9 HF/DF antenna at the 6922nd Security Group, Clark AFB, Philippines, as it looked around 1972-73...at one time the Bear and Dragon as well as their cubs, depended on HF Morse to communicate across their immense countries... thousands of 292 Morse Intercept, and 203 linguists manned R390A receivers to catch what SIGINT intercept that was available... they kept us 202's busy
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I've been knocking this one around for a couple years now. It has a very sensitive receiver, charges AA Eneloops on board, ext antenna, etc. I'm a ham radio guy as well, and this little thing pulls in darn near anything I can get on my HF rig. Connect it to an old set of computer speakers, and have fun. FM stereo also. It currently serves as my garage radio in that configuration. Tecsun PL660 I've got the TecSun PL-390 stereo AM/FM/SW and while it's a nice radio for the 4 years I've had it, it has one nagging problem and that's with the tuning knob skipping over stations and bouncing to preset channels a few down the line, or previous presets. It takes a few tries nowadays and I live with it, but it's a known problem and I'm suffering it right now. Otherwise, it's a nice little stereo radio that is pretty full featured, if you can get by that issue. We're not talking 5 minutes, but maybe a minute, to acquire the desired station. Chris |
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KomsoC... Can you show us a picture of your antenna made from mig welding wire? I can't quite picture exactly what you did. Thanks That wire is up in my garage rafters, but I could try to describe it better: 40ft +/- of bare stainless steel wire, and at the halfway point, twist a small loop like a noose you could stick a pinky finger into. That loop slips onto the telescopic antenna, and one 20' leg stretches north, the other 20' leg stretches south, horizontal to the ground, as high as possible from the ground. Honestly, any length of wire would be an improvement, but the longer the better. It could be a single wire with a loop on one end also, running in a big square from corner to corner around the upper perimeter of the building and would probably work just as well. Keep it as high as possible, and horizontal, not touching any grounded metal like conduit, etc. The longer the wire, the more I can hear, but 40' is manageable for me. I've also alligater clipped a lead to a gutter system with good results as well. For shits and giggles, I can also use the ext ant jack to connect it to my 66' OCF dipole for my HF station, but I have other radios for that. |
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That wire is up in my garage rafters, but I could try to describe it better: 40ft +/- of bare stainless steel wire, and at the halfway point, twist a small loop like a noose you could stick a pinky finger into. That loop slips onto the telescopic antenna, and one 20' leg stretches north, the other 20' leg stretches south, horizontal to the ground, as high as possible from the ground. Honestly, any length of wire would be an improvement, but the longer the better. It could be a single wire with a loop on one end also, running in a big square from corner to corner around the upper perimeter of the building and would probably work just as well. Keep it as high as possible, and horizontal, not touching any grounded metal like conduit, etc. The longer the wire, the more I can hear, but 40' is manageable for me. I've also alligater clipped a lead to a gutter system with good results as well. For shits and giggles, I can also use the ext ant jack to connect it to my 66' OCF dipole for my HF station, but I have other radios for that. Quoted:
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KomsoC... Can you show us a picture of your antenna made from mig welding wire? I can't quite picture exactly what you did. Thanks That wire is up in my garage rafters, but I could try to describe it better: 40ft +/- of bare stainless steel wire, and at the halfway point, twist a small loop like a noose you could stick a pinky finger into. That loop slips onto the telescopic antenna, and one 20' leg stretches north, the other 20' leg stretches south, horizontal to the ground, as high as possible from the ground. Honestly, any length of wire would be an improvement, but the longer the better. It could be a single wire with a loop on one end also, running in a big square from corner to corner around the upper perimeter of the building and would probably work just as well. Keep it as high as possible, and horizontal, not touching any grounded metal like conduit, etc. The longer the wire, the more I can hear, but 40' is manageable for me. I've also alligater clipped a lead to a gutter system with good results as well. For shits and giggles, I can also use the ext ant jack to connect it to my 66' OCF dipole for my HF station, but I have other radios for that. Now I got it. Thank you very much. I'm going to try it with my Eton Field Radio. |
