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#21
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Toxic wrote:
On Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:36:54 +0300, Antti \"Andy\" Ylikoski wrote: The best portatop that I have come across is the Eton Corp. éton e1 world radio. It every now and then even equals my Drake R8E. Very good value for the money. That seems to be a general consensus. Wonder what the next 'must have' unit will feature? ...and at what price For that answer, I think that John Plimmer would be the one to consult. John seems to have the latest and greatest stuff. His AMBCB DX is amazing! |
#22
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Antti "Andy" Ylikoski wrote:
kirjoitti: How are things in Helsifors? cuhulin The weather is cool, I would say 18 degrees centigrade, cloudy. My doctoral dissertation is approaching completion -- ie, the defence of the thesis. See http://www.hut.fi/~ajy/diss-1.pdf . Rastafarian guerrillas running amok on Helsinki streets and gardens :-)))))) See Bob Marley and the Wailers..... Helsinki is a very green city, a Central Park runs thru the suburbs and the northern part of the centre of the town. Here where I live it is like living in a summer residence the year round..... And there are several parks right in the middle of the town. Took my Drake R8E from the package where it was lying on the floor, threw a 10-meter long L antenna onto the jasmines in our garden, and started to listen. I also often listen to the éton e1 on the lawn of our garden.... kind regards, Antti Ylikoski Helsinki, Finland, the EU Sounds like a beautiful place! How about the winters? The humidity? I can tell you that South Florida is a green sweatbox almost all year long. Can't wait for us to get out of here. |
#23
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Hi JimK,
both radios would make a good choice for shortwave listening. Like others have said, the Sony 7600 is better on sideband and it's synch detector for weaker signals. However, what makes me personally like the 1103 and it's cousin the Grundig G5 is the tuning knob. I like being able to spin the wheel to tune stations, not press up/down keys. The 7600 has no tuning knob. The 7600 will resale better. The thing is about the 7600, you are probably buying a radio that was made years ago and been sitting on the shelf. The very best thing would be to physically look at both radios, but in this day and age of few places outside The Shack selling SW radios, that probably isn't possible. The Eton E1 has all sorts of quality issues, is no longer in production, and over $400 new. But as with the 7600, if you decide to resell it, you will be able to get some of your money back. |
#24
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CountFloyd kirjoitti:
Antti "Andy" Ylikoski wrote: kirjoitti: How are things in Helsifors? cuhulin The weather is cool, I would say 18 degrees centigrade, cloudy. My doctoral dissertation is approaching completion -- ie, the defence of the thesis. See http://www.hut.fi/~ajy/diss-1.pdf . Rastafarian guerrillas running amok on Helsinki streets and gardens :-)))))) See Bob Marley and the Wailers..... Helsinki is a very green city, a Central Park runs thru the suburbs and the northern part of the centre of the town. Here where I live it is like living in a summer residence the year round..... And there are several parks right in the middle of the town. Took my Drake R8E from the package where it was lying on the floor, threw a 10-meter long L antenna onto the jasmines in our garden, and started to listen. I also often listen to the éton e1 on the lawn of our garden.... kind regards, Antti Ylikoski Helsinki, Finland, the EU Sounds like a beautiful place! How about the winters? The humidity? I can tell you that South Florida is a green sweatbox almost all year long. Can't wait for us to get out of here. Helsinki has a maritime climate, she is on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland -- which is a part of the Baltic Sea. The winters are zero degrees centigrade, this summer was at its highest some 28 degrees centigrade. The weather is often somewhat humid because of the sea which lies very close by. You can start a sailing trip from Helsinki to anywhere in the world.... some affluent individuals like to sail from Helsinki to the Mediterranean Sea, along the Atlantic Ocean. That is indeed fun!! regards, Antti Ylikoski Helsinki, Finland, the EU |
#25
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Bob Dobbs wrote:
CountFloyd wrote: Toxic wrote: On Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:36:54 +0300, Antti \"Andy\" Ylikoski wrote: The best portatop that I have come across is the Eton Corp. éton e1 world radio. It every now and then even equals my Drake R8E. Very good value for the money. That seems to be a general consensus. Wonder what the next 'must have' unit will feature? ...and at what price For that answer, I think that John Plimmer would be the one to consult. John seems to have the latest and greatest stuff. His AMBCB DX is amazing! I think his current AMBCB DX target is only a couple zip codes away, WSB 750 You mean that John doesn't have that easy pick? I, on the other hand, can't hear WSB Atlanta because a local ESPN clone is on 760 and only 10 miles away. The closest I came was using my HQ-145XC with all the crystal filters humming! WSB came in OK for awhile. South Florida is a wasteland for hearing good DX, having locals running around the clock, or Cubans, on every major frequency. I love WCBS 880, and can pick it up for a little bit, until the Cuban on 880 swamps it, had to take up listening to it on the net. Same with WABC, 770, WHO, 840(our local WFTL 850 keeps it from coming in). I have better luck trying to pick up European stations. |
#26
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Forty five miles West of doggy's couch is the Mississippi River.You can
sail a Boat to anywhere in the World.Five miles East of doggy's couch is the Pearl River.I am not sure about saling a boat on that River to anywhere in the World.Perhaps a little Boat would do alright. cuhulin |
#27
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#28
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On Sep 21, 8:44*am, "Geoffrey S. Mendelson"
wrote: dave wrote: You're about 20 years too late. *Shortwave broadcasting is dead. Perhaps you'd enjoy utility monitoring; *for that you'll need a better radio. Maybe because I am on the other side of the world, I would dispute that. Shortwave broadcasting is alive and well, but it's no longer the prefered method of reaching distant audiences. Broadcasters who want to reach a more affluent audience have moved to methods of transmission which are cheaper to transmit, but more expensive to receive. For example, Internet "broadcasting", satellite sub carriers, etc. They have also moved to video broadcasting which can not be done by shortwave. As Dave said, 20 years ago things were different. A cheap shortwave radio with a short antenna, such as the built in whip, could receive broadcasts from around the world, 24/7. Due to propigation, you would have to tune to various frequencies, even when it was night where you were and daytime at the source or vice versa. The "biggies", BBC, VOA, AFRN (US millitary entertainment for distant bases), Deutcshe Welle (Germany), Radio France International, Radio Moscow, Radio Habana Cuba, HJCB (The Voice of the Andes) and so on. There was even at one time a Shortwave broadcaster out of New Orleans, which often just relayed their FM service. Now most of them have scaled down, or left shortwave entirely. For example, the BBC no longer "beams" their signal to North America, but you can still receive it. Not as easily as before, which means you may need to be more proactive about choosing when you listen and have a better antenna or receiver. On the other hand, most of the people reading this will have access to their streaming audio on the Internet, or via a local cable TV or DBS service. Many broadcasters use shortwave radio to reach populations that are too distant and too poor to have broadband Internet, satellite receivers, etc.. Whether or not you would be able receive them at all, or with a cheap receiver is questionable. Geoff. How is it over there in Israel Geoff? I've been saving at least twenty dollars (more often than not thirty five) a week for the last three years and four months in the hope to visit your country, I can't wait. I can just imagine the DX over there. :-) I kind of have the feeling though that my time will be taken care of, maybe listen some at night. |
#29
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On Sep 21, 9:08*am, "D. Peter Maus"
wrote: JimK wrote: *Hello, I'm interested in trying shortwave listening. I have narrowed *my choices to the Kaito 1103, and Sony SW7600GR. *I would very much appreciate any opinions on which you prefer, and *why. *Also, is lack of wide/narrow switch on the Sony a problem? *Thanks. * * Welcome to the hobby. SW listening is a shade of its former self, but there's still plenty to snag. Lots to enjoy. * * Radios....about any passable radio you buy will be a decent start. It will not be the last one you buy. But what it will do is get you active, so you can refine your interests, and then select a radio that meets the needs of those interests. You'll also begin experimenting with methods of improving reception: eliminating noise sources, possibly experimenting with external antennae. * * Any decent radio can get you into the hobby, and help you learn the craft of radio. * * Sony: 7600 is a popular radio. Not without reason. I personally don't recommend Sony because of their service practices. If something goes wrong, you can jump through many hoops, waste many months (in one case I waited two years for a VCR to come back from the Sony Service Center, with some great stories as to why it was taking so damned long) waiting for a piece to be repaired, only to be told after it all, that it was unrepairable, and that they'd be glad to sell you a new product and give you pro rated credit for your old one. Great sounding. In practice you end up spending about 150% more for a working radio than you thought you would. * * So, I don't recommend any Sony product on that basis. * * But if you're determined to go that way, then go with your eyes open. * * Wide/Narrow: This is probably a non-issue. There are a number of ways that manufacturers execute selectable bandwidth. They can actually switch in additional or alternate filters, which would be the better way, or they can simply switch in or out additional capacitance to roll off the upper end of the response curves. GRE built radios for 'The Shack' (...what the F*CK are these people thinking) would simply switch in some extra capacitance to roll off the audio when you selected 'Narrow.' To switch in additional or alternate filters costs money. And requires more stable, and a finer, alignment...adding considerably to the cost of the radio. * * And if the filters are selected correctly, especially on the portable, narrower bandwidth is usually unnecessary, unless you're in a crowded band pulling one CW operator out of many. * * If the radio you select doesn't have a Wide/Narrow selector, you probably won't miss it. * * Features overall... The Sony has synchronous detection. A nice feature. Very erratically executed across manufacturers. Sony usually does it pretty well. Now, there are some radio hobbycraft practitioners, and reviewers as well, who will tell you NEVER buy a radio without a sync detector. Ignore them. These people are dilletantes masquerading as high performance SWL'ers. The truth is that sync is a nice feature. But not a necessity. And a good operator with the radio of his choice can pull a decent listen out of his signal of interest without it. Nice feature. Not a necessity. And most sync detectors have enough quirks that you can do better with ECSS than you can with sync. So look for a radio that can detect single sideband (SSB.) * *Tuning resolution should be pretty fine. For program listening, you can get away with nearly a kilohertz. For ham/utilities, you'll need something finer. 100Hz is passable, 50Hz is better. 10Hz is good. But you'll need what's called a 'clarifier.' Many radios have them. Many don't. A clarifier will enable you to zero in on a signal in SSB, or ECSS for the best listening. Without it, you may get a low level beat that can be really irritating. * *Build quality should be good. You're going to beat this thing up if you drag it with you where you go. And you'll want to take it out of the city or town where you live for the lower noise figures possible out in the woods. Lower noise means better hearing of low level signals. Some decent DX is possible in the woods, without any modifications or additional antenna. * *The Sony offers a pretty decent product for the money in these areas. Audio can be kind of harsh, though. And you will be listening for long stretches. * *The Kaito is a basic radio. Offering few of the advanced features but it has more pleasant audio, and about the same sensitivity and build as the Sony. * *My personal choice would be the Kaito. Because it's not a Sony. Your mileage may vary. * *Recommendation: Go to a brick and mortar store and try each. Side by side, if you can. Then find the best price and order your selection on line. * *p Great post Peter. |
#30
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On Sep 21, 3:38*pm, JimK wrote:
Hello, I'm interested in trying shortwave listening. I have narrowed my choices to the Kaito 1103, and Sony SW7600GR. I would very much appreciate any opinions on which you prefer, and why. Also, is lack of wide/narrow switch on the Sony a problem? Thanks. Jim...you got a lot of long-winded answers. Here is the short one: Get the Kaito 1103. It is superior to the Sony in many ways and at a much better price. The SSB is totally acceptable and the audio is far superior to the Sony, especially on good quality earphones. Dan... Hong Kong |
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