Dear luder flieger (joke),

Der Sony icf-sw7600gr is the best portable compared to anything under $200
US.
Add a Sony AN-LP1 active antenna and you will have an excellent performing
portable receiver on any band.

I would not consider anything less at any price.

Also, I'm interested in hearing aviation freq's - air traffic - etc.
Can a standard shortwave handle this - or would I need a special
scanner?

No, you will need a scanner for local airport frequencies.
BUT, there are world-wide military and commercial international air traffic
frequencies which you can
listen to on shortwave and in my opinion is far more interesting.

"derFlieger" wrote in message
oups.com...
I know these kind of questions are too open to answer easily, but I
hope readers will indulge me and guide me in the right direction.
I'd like to buy a portable shortwave radio - ex: sony icf-7600gr (I
just started searching at Sony). I'm sure there is a range on opinion
regarding best value - but could someone tell me how to narrow the
search? So much information.
All help will be very much appreciated. Cheers, PK