On Fri, 03 Feb 2006 08:44:07 -0700, Eric F. Richards
wrote:

Greetings...

Hate to be all on-topic and such here, given how this newsgroup
usually goes, but, whattheheck...

I've decided that I want shortwave in my car. Last time I looked -- a
few months ago -- there weren't any adequate in-dash receivers
currently made, but I'm willing to do the messy-cable approach and
have an external radio available.

Now, the question: Would a tabletop or a portable be more effective?
The car has a multiband (HF/V/UHF) HAM antenna on it (no HF rig in the
car -- long story!) so I have an antenna that is nominally possible to
use with a tabletop, and it is outside, far from the electronic noise
of the engine and computers.

OTOH, at first blush a portable would seem obvious for this
application, except that it is inside the metal car body, along with
the electronic noise from the computers.

Any (intelligent, relevent) thoughts?

Thanks!

If you have the money for a tabletop, I'm not sure why you just
wouldn't get a ham rig with general coverage, a new or used Yaesu 857
or Icom 706 series. They're made to be used mobile; good backlighting
on the knobs, compact size, detachable head, etc etc

bob
k5qwg