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Epicenter posted:What's something cheap that isn't crap, then? I don't see how a shortwave receiver with a digital frequency readout is that 'specialized'. I just don't want an analog readout because they piss me off. Well, now you're getting picky to the point of not making any sense. There are PLENTY of portables less than 150 with digital readouts, direct frequency entry (no drat analog anywhere on them), USB/LSB?CW coverage, with external antenna jacks and audio out in units that are most certainly NOT wastes of money. In fact, the E5/G5 has better raw RF sensitivity than the 500 dollar E1 units. The G6 is probably the cheapest bet for a radio that fits your specifications. It has all of the features you just described, but it is also a portable. If you're convinced that all portables are "wastes of money," then you will be SEVERELY limited in what you can buy with the budget you have, and you'll also be overlooking great pieces of equipment that could serve you well for years. Maybe reading the first couple and last couple pages of the thread might have been a good idea, because all of your questions have already been answered many times over.
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Jun 4, 2008 04:06
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Or is SSB an expensive feature?... If it doesn't have a proper antenna connector, screw it, I'll solder one in. Same for audio out for my PC; I just would prefer if there were already jacks.
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I can't believe how often channels bleed here in Florida. All this religious crap goes over each other, there's so much of it.
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Jun 4, 2008 05:16
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You'll have to forgive one of my instincts (that applies to AV equipment), that if it's tiny, portable and cheap it's usually garbage, and old 1970s-80s stuff with tank armor that sits on your desk and weighs a ton is automatically better. That's how it goes with things like amps and VCRs. So pretty much I'm wondering if I am getting a better investment in a huge tank of a receiver, or a tiny portable. I guess I'll need to get a good transmitter later, too, and an antenna so I may as well save my money where I can; I just don't want to blow money on something that ultimately won't meet my needs.
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Jun 4, 2008 05:41
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Epicenter posted:You'll have to forgive one of my instincts (that applies to AV equipment), that if it's tiny, portable and cheap it's usually garbage, and old 1970s-80s stuff with tank armor that sits on your desk and weighs a ton is automatically better. That's how it goes with things like amps and VCRs. So pretty much I'm wondering if I am getting a better investment in a huge tank of a receiver, or a tiny portable. For what it's worth, the selectivity and tuning, etc. of the SWL receivers in this thread isn't going to fairly compare to that of the ham rigs we were talking about in the other thread. Plus, most modern HF all-mode ham rigs have a fair amount of DSP (noise blankers, noise reducers, notch filtering, etc.) that will let you dig out signals that the SWL portables just can't do. BUT, as you can see, they also cost a holy shitload more, and very few of them are what people would consider "portable". If money's the issue, you'll basically have to choose between buying a cheaper receiver now (which honestly aren't bad at all, you just need to be aware of their limitations for that price range). Or, you can save up for awhile longer and hold out for a second-hand amateur rig later on. Personally, I think it's a bit of a waste of money to buy a transceiver if you're not a licensed ham. It's extremely easy to buy more radio than you need, especially when starting out. For the moment, a good SWL receiver is much cheaper and gives you something to do while studying for your ham license exam. There's still a TON of antenna theory you can gain experience with just by building receive antennas, too. Finally, like nmfree noted in the amateur thread, hams WILL get on your rear end if you are unlicensed and transmit in their spectrum. If there's one thing that most amateurs are, it's sticklers for the law... in large part because they are often on the short end of the stick with respect to radio interference issues. If you do buy a transmit-capable rig, you'd be best off transmitting into a dummy load until you get licensed.
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Jun 4, 2008 06:28
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What do you guys think of the Panasonic RF-4900, and is it worth getting over some cheaper portable? The BIN is $200 right now and I'm trying to talk the guy down to $150 or less. It has an antenna on the back that can do til I get something better for long distance listening. Right now I'm already in Asia so I should catch some interesting poo poo, methinks. And out of curiosity, how would someone know a licensed from an unlicensed broadcast when they heard it? Are you required to state your call sign everytime you transmit or something? I need to do a lot of reading methinks. Or this, for something that can transmit? The seller says the PLL doesn't lock, but I imagine that shouldn't be show-stopping, it just might drift more, methinks. http://cgi.ebay.com/TECH-SPECIAL-ICOM-IC-701-HF-SSB-TRANSCEIVER_W0QQitemZ140237763353QQihZ004QQcategoryZ40066QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting Epicenter fucked around with this message at 10:04 on Jun 4, 2008 |
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Jun 4, 2008 09:05
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Epicenter posted:And out of curiosity, how would someone know a licensed from an unlicensed broadcast when they heard it? Are you required to state your call sign everytime you transmit or something? Yes, you are required by law to identify using your call sign every 10 minutes and at the end of each transmission (even if it's less than 10 minutes long). I'd recommend reading through at least one of the study guides and/or books recommended in the ham thread and going from there as far as the transmitting goes. As for the Panasonic, I can't speak from personal experience, but according to reviews here the SSB is somewhat lacking, but otherwise it sounds like a reasonably solid choice. If you've really got such a massive hard-on for a tabletop over a portable, it sounds like you could do worse.
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Jun 4, 2008 10:10
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Re the US Military HFGCS, if you were wondering why it echoes, it's because every station in the net retransmits the signal on the same frequency, so you're hearing lots of different stations at once, and hence you get a little bit of an echo due to the distance. Just thought I'd mention that in case anyone was weirded out by it.
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Jun 4, 2008 13:24
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If you just want a digital readout, audio out and an antenna jack, the Grundig G5 (and I'm sure G6) has that.
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Jun 4, 2008 19:36
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Accursed posted:If you just want a digital readout, audio out and an antenna jack, the Grundig G5 (and I'm sure G6) has that. Yes, they both do. Also, according to the owner's manual for the forthcoming Grundig Satellit 750, the unit has a computer output for demodulating Digital Radio Modiale signals.   Uuuuuunnnnngggghhhhhhh....That will more than likely be my next radio. Sometime hopefully before the end of the year...
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Jun 4, 2008 23:47
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After hearing how easy it is to get your HAM license I'm pretty convinced I want a transceiver. So it's just a matter of finding one that's good enough for cheap enough. I've raised my budget to about $300. Unfortunately eBay is turning up some absolutely terrible prices and I'm not getting any responses yet on the HAM forums I've tried, and I can't seem to find anything on Universal Radio that isn't over $500 or even THOUSANDS of dollars.  It appears eBay isn't so overpriced either, as every rig I see on QRZ.com's forums is similarly priced .. and there aren't photos. I'll also need to solve the dilemma of getting good reception in a small room (at least it's a few stories up) with no ability to put an antenna anywhere but my window. It was suggested to me stringing a wire from one window to the next and adjusting the length to select bands. Worth a shot I guess.. Are those antennas that are just a big bundle of wound wire useless?
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Jun 5, 2008 12:14
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Epicenter posted:Are those antennas that are just a big bundle of wound wire useless? No, and you would know that (along with everything else you've asked) if you would just skim the thread. Believe me, all of these questions have been covered repeatedly.
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Jun 5, 2008 14:42
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Speaking of antennas, I am a happy camper today. Bought an MFJ-1622 apartment antenna yesterday, installed it, and testing today it seems to be making a massive difference over my longwire. I can pick up Radio New Zealand International now! Yay voices from home over the radio waves! This is really turning out to be an excellent week for my budding radio geekery.
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Jun 6, 2008 12:06
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nmfree posted:I shouldn't spend the money, but I did. Hopefully they don't get too far behind orders.
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Jun 6, 2008 21:44
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Holy jesus, I just realized the thread turned one year old yesterday and I didn't remember it! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHORTWAVE THREAD!   :iamafag:  
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Jun 8, 2008 03:08
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AstroZamboni posted:Holy jesus, I just realized the thread turned one year old yesterday and I didn't remember it! Holy crap, how did this happen.
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Jun 8, 2008 04:10
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blugu64 posted:Holy crap, how did this happen. Here's hoping the fledgling amateur radio thread does 1/4 as well  Really, though, you do have to be a bit more motivated to get into ham radio than you do to pick up SWLing, so it's not that surprising.
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Jun 8, 2008 10:16
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Congratulations everyone, and three cheers for AstroZamboni! I too hope the amateur radio thread does just as well 
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Jun 8, 2008 11:49
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thehustler posted:I too hope the amateur radio thread does just as well Thirded. RADIO IS AWESOME!
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Jun 8, 2008 12:24
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Okay my first post in this thread. My partner is into ham stuff. So I've contracted the radio bug, hopfully we will be picking up a Yaesu FT-707 tomorrow (ham bands only so no numbers on that set for me.) anyway though using a small handheld yaesu VX-5, last night we were able to pick up WWV & WWVH from out in country Victoria (Australia) which was pretty good, though can hardly pick them out from the static at home (Inner city melbourne) We did make our own antenna, a mag loop antenna (with no tuning cap) made out of coax cable (I will get pics soon.) okay tonight I've managed to pick up China Radio International (english) 5955KHz. this is pretty much the most interesting thing tonight, but here in the city the rf noise doesn't help much.
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Jun 8, 2008 15:24
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Well add another $150 (AUD) to the grand total, just picked up an old Yaesu FT-707, the TX doesn't work (well it transmits at .5 watts) but that's not a big issue and should be easily fixed. looking forward to tonight to really try it out
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Jun 9, 2008 06:38
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cvisors posted:Well add another $150 (AUD) to the grand total, just picked up an old Yaesu FT-707, the TX doesn't work (well it transmits at .5 watts) but that's not a big issue and should be easily fixed. OP updated to include this, and I also corrected some fuckups in my arithmetic in the financial drain. Also, I had said many times here that the G6 doesn't internally recharge batteries like the E5/G5 does. Well, it turns out I'm a STUPID, STUPID LIAR. It DOES, indeed, recharge batteries internally. So I guess the G6 officially does EVERYTHING the G5/E5 does, and then a few other things in a smaller package, lower price, and with 2 less batteries. Wow.
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Jun 10, 2008 22:13
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I'm not sure if anyone would be able to help but it's worth a shot. I live 26 miles from an airport I'd like to pick up. There are pretty common obstructions being towns away (trees, buildings). There is also an airport about 12 miles away that when I experimented with a whip antenna from RadioShack, was able to pick up the other side of the conversation. I've asked around and have gotten that the best solution, if any, is a copper j-pole or discone. What do you guys think? Is it possible?
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Jun 12, 2008 02:13
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completely deck posted:I'm not sure if anyone would be able to help but it's worth a shot. Depends. Is this SSB shortwave or VHF/UHF?
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Jun 12, 2008 02:18
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AstroZamboni posted:Depends. Is this SSB shortwave or VHF/UHF? I think it's VHF, as its 118–137 MHz
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Jun 12, 2008 02:38
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completely deck posted:I'm not sure if anyone would be able to help but it's worth a shot. In my experience, being that far away it's going to be a little difficult to get the ground control transmissions. It's not impossible, by any means; a j-pole up in the air would probably work decently (and will probably work better than a discone, although the VHF air band is pretty wide, so I don't know for sure). Otherwise, another option would be a beam antenna, either homebrewed or commercial, that you mounted vertically (so the elements pointed up and down rather than flat) outside on a rotor or inside on a tripod that you turn manually.
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Jun 12, 2008 03:12
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nmfree posted:It kind of depends on what you're going for. I appreciate your feedback. I'm going for the most cheapest yet effective way. How tall would I have to build the beam antenna? I'm new to antennas so do you have any books or websites that will help?
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Jun 12, 2008 03:51
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While we're asking antenna questions, my built-in G5 antenna broke a few days ago and I don't feel like buying a new one from Eton. However I was told that building a plug-in antenna out of two cheap parts from Radioshack (specifically this and this) would work pretty well, but I don't have details. Anybody got a quick how-to?
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Jun 12, 2008 03:54
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Foggy posted:While we're asking antenna questions, my built-in G5 antenna broke a few days ago and I don't feel like buying a new one from Eton. However I was told that building a plug-in antenna out of two cheap parts from Radioshack (specifically this and this) would work pretty well, but I don't have details. Anybody got a quick how-to? Well, this isn't EE-approved but here's what I did. I took a 50' spool of 24 gauage speaker wire, cut it to 37' long, stripped it apart, soldered two ends together to make one long wire, protected that with some heatshrink, then soldered a 1/8" mono jack to one of the remaining ends. I read up on antenna lengths, and supposedly 74' gives you pretty good coverage of interesting HF bands. It takes about an hour, and the only tricky part was soldering the jack to the wire.  I've tossed this up in trees while camping and have ran it around my room (before I moved) with pretty good success compared to the whip on my E5.
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Jun 12, 2008 04:43
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nmfree posted:It kind of depends on what you're going for. Would one of these antennas be any good?
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Jun 12, 2008 05:37
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completely deck posted:I appreciate your feedback. J-Poles are actually pretty easy to build, two popular designs are made out of 1/2" copper water pipe and out of TV twinlead feedline (can be found at home improvement stores or Radio Shack) and they both work really well. You can find designs for both on  no problem.sklnd posted:Well, this isn't EE-approved but here's what I did. completely deck posted:Would one of these antennas be any good?
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Jun 12, 2008 07:43
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For what it's worth I'm about 14-15 miles from the DFW International airport, and with my cheapo RadioShack magmount scanner antenna I can pickup ground control fairly well.
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Jun 13, 2008 05:14
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blugu64 posted:For what it's worth I'm about 14-15 miles from the DFW International airport, and with my cheapo RadioShack magmount scanner antenna I can pickup ground control fairly well. Of course, this qualifies you in the eyes of the law as a terrorist. Hmmm... I wonder if I can get a reward from the eff bee eye?
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Jun 13, 2008 16:34
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I'm about the same distance from my airport - problem is that it's a small regional airport, so pretty much never hear anything.
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Jun 13, 2008 16:36
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Dolemite posted:I'm about the same distance from my airport - problem is that it's a small regional airport, so pretty much never hear anything. Tiny Regional airports totally suck nuts for scanning. You're rural? You must be running THE TERRORIST BASE CAMP. Are you a member of the LEGION OF DOOM led by the unholy alliance of DARTH VADER and HITLER? I have no idea what's wrong with me today...
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Jun 13, 2008 16:40
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AstroZamboni posted:Of course, this qualifies you in the eyes of the law as a terrorist. I hear you can scan them too if you're dedicated enough! 
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Jun 13, 2008 19:18
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This past Saturday I went out on my monthly Salvation Army, Goodwill, flea market rounds and found a Realistic DX-440, which is essentially a Sangean 803a for $4.00, yeah four bucks. The only issue was one missing knob, that's it. The antenna was perfect and has no scratches or bashes at all. I haven't had alot of time to really get into using it as I just downloaded the owners manual. It is much more advanced then my Grundig Mini 300 which is what got me into shortwave radio, well that and this thread.
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Jun 16, 2008 22:56
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Awesome find! I'll add it to the financial drain. edit: OP now updated. AstroZamboni fucked around with this message at 23:04 on Jun 16, 2008 |
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Jun 16, 2008 23:00
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Update on the Grundig Satellit 750: Universal Radio has it listed as a mid-July arrival date. This thing may not be vaporware after all. I hope.
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Jun 18, 2008 01:15
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Finally got a shortwafe radio. Went garage sale'in today and found a General Electric P1985A am/fm/sw ("world monitor"). I gave them a dollar for it. I can't really find anything about this radio so I don't know if it's crap or not. I would assume it's from 1985. Decent condition, though it looks like it's been kept in a garage since the 80s. Tuning knob is loose, but everything seems to work fine.  edit: just found a headphone jack under the battery cover (  ), now I can record stuff. edit2: or maybe not. The second I plug anything into it, all I can get is static. wa27 fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Jun 22, 2008 |
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Jun 21, 2008 22:50
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| # ? May 16, 2024 23:21 |
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sklnd posted:Well, this isn't EE-approved but here's what I did. This is coming from someone with no experience in sw radio, but couldn't you put jacks on certain lengths of wire to make an 'adjustable' random length antennae? For full effect you'd need something like 1 2 4 8 16 32 64 meter lengths plus 1/2 1/4 and maybe 1/8 meter lengths, but then you could just pop in different lengths to get various bands. Want 74m? 64m + 8m + 2m. 115.5? 64m + 32m + 16m + 2m + 1m + 1/2m. This may be unnecessarily complex, but it's just an idea. ----------------
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Jun 21, 2008 23:58
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