as for specs on receivers:
check here..
http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/rx_index.html

and here
http://www.dxing.com/rx/rxindex.htm



In article , "Stinger"
writes:


What's the budget?

The cheapest way in is by portable radio.

For about $175, you can get a Sony 7600GR, which will give you sidebands.

For a little more, (about $230) you can get a Sangean ATS-909, which will
give you sidebands and a lot of extras, including the A/C adapter, lots of
special features, and a nice "reel" random wire antenna. I chose this one
over the Sony because I believe that buttons become a hassle for
fine-tuning -- I prefer being able to use a tuning (or volume) knob. The
ATS-909 can tune by both buttons and knobs -- the Sony 7600GR has only
buttons.

Beyond that, you're talking desktop units, and the good ones start at about
$450. Icom R-75's and Grundig Satelit 800's seem to be pretty popular.
(And then, as you mentioned, you can "mod" to your heart's content.)

Good luck on your choice!

-- Stinger