Becker is more consumer junk from Harman International.

On Sun, 23 May 2004 12:23:14 -0400, (Arthur
Pozner) wrote:

Becker receivers have been standard radios installed in Mercedes Benz
over the years. Becker was selling them lately for around $500. Very
high grade of a car radio.

Jim:

I looked for quite awhile, but finally bought a Ham transceiver and installed it in
my truck. It covers all of the shortwave bands, and as a bonus, can also transmit
on the Ham bands. The one I got was a Yaesu FT857, but there are comparable radios
made by Icom and others. These "mini sized" full output radios could probably fit
in the dash location of a lot of cars, but I mounted mine under the passenger seat,
with the remote head on a bracket just behind the gearshift lever. Makes it easy to
tune while driving down the road, without stretching or bending.... I've tuned from
below broadcast band through 50mhz. Each band and mode has settable spacing, but I
don't know if it has Synchronous Detection on AM.... It still does a great job
cruising down the road. I typically listen to New Zealand radio on the way to work,
and Ham bands on the way home.

Just another option to consider if you want decent receiver sensitivity and wide
input frequency range.

--Rick

James Boyk wrote:

Sorry to ask what must be a perennial question, but is a car radio now available
for US market which will get me here on the west coast the big international
stations (Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, BBC)? Along with FM and
10k-spaced AM? And preferably with selectable sideband and synchronous
detection, like on my Sony 2010 at home? (Having lived with these features, I
don't see why anyone would make a receiver without them.) And, ideally, with CD
player also?

But I'd take just the SW part of all this, if it could be wired into the car
system. ('94 Mercury Villager)

Thanks,

Jim Boyk
http://www.performancerecordings.com

You can get all the major International broadcasters crystal clear on
any Sirius satellite radio via WRN. Way under $200. No static at
all.

On Sun, 23 May 2004 08:49:21 -0700, James Boyk
wrote:

Sorry to ask what must be a perennial question, but is a car radio now available
for US market which will get me here on the west coast the big international
stations (Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, BBC)? Along with FM and
10k-spaced AM? And preferably with selectable sideband and synchronous
detection, like on my Sony 2010 at home? (Having lived with these features, I
don't see why anyone would make a receiver without them.) And, ideally, with CD
player also?

But I'd take just the SW part of all this, if it could be wired into the car
system. ('94 Mercury Villager)

Thanks,

Jim Boyk
http://www.performancerecordings.com

Thanks for responses.

Re antenna: Ideally, I'd install an amplified antenna at the rear of the
vehicle--as far from ignition noise as possible.

It's striking that SW is not made available to the US market. Makes one wonder a
bit...

James Boyk


**
James Boyk wrote:

Sorry to ask what must be a perennial question, but is a car radio now
available for US market which will get me here on the west coast the big
international stations (Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Japan,
BBC)? Along with FM and 10k-spaced AM? And preferably with selectable
sideband and synchronous detection, like on my Sony 2010 at home?
(Having lived with these features, I don't see why anyone would make a
receiver without them.) And, ideally, with CD player also?

But I'd take just the SW part of all this, if it could be wired into the
car system. ('94 Mercury Villager)

Thanks,

Jim Boyk
http://www.performancerecordings.com

James Boyk wrote:

Thanks for responses.

Re antenna: Ideally, I'd install an amplified antenna at the rear of the
vehicle--as far from ignition noise as possible.

It's striking that SW is not made available to the US market. Makes one wonder a
bit...

I have a feeling that it did not really take off here is because the US broadcasters
really can't target listeners here in the USA, so there isn't/wasn't any commercial
interest in the medium.

That may be it, it may not.

Steve
Holland, MI
Drake R7, R8 and R8B

http://www.iserv.net/~n8kdv/dxpage.htm

James,

Becker produced a SW auto radio but I believe that they have discontinued
it. Regardless you may be able to find a used one - there was one on ebay
not to long ago. The model is the Mexico 2340. I have one, I use the stock
car aerial and I'm very happy with it. Its easy to operate, has ten SW
presets, very good audio, good scan function and even has reasonable
sensitivity on Longwave ! It has no sideband capability though.
An amateur transceiver is also a good way to go however be aware that the
audio on these rigs is often underpowered and restricted. I have an Icom
706 MKIIG which of course covers all of the SW spectrum with sideband and
then some but the audio on this model is "constipated"- there is a
noticeable rolloff of the low and high ends of the audio spectrum.

Good Luck with your search and let us know what you buy and how you like it.

(I've included the 2340 specs here. Shortwave coverage is divided up into
bands for the scan function but the radio actually has continuous coverage
from 5900 to 15700 khz)

John

================================================== =========
Mexico 2340

a.. Tuner: AM, FM, LW, SW (6 Band), 70 station presets (30x FM, 10x FM
Autostore, 10x AM, 10x LW, 10x SW).
b.. Tuning bands:
a.. AM: 531 kHz - 1602 kHz
b.. FM: 87.5 MHz - 108.0 MHz
c.. LW: 153 kHz - 282 kHz
d.. SW:
a.. 49m band 5900 kHz - 6250 kHz
b.. 41m band 7100 kHz - 7550 kHz
c.. 31m band 9300 kHz - 10000 kHz
d.. 25m band 11500 kHz - 12100 kHz
e.. 22m band 13600 kHz - 13800 kHz
f.. 19m band 15000 kHz - 15700 kHz
c.. Cassette: Full-logic drive, programme / scan search, autoreverse,
Dolby® B + C.
d.. Audio: 4 x 20W maximum output, 4 x 15 W RMS (4 Ohms), separate treble
/ bass and fader control, dual pre-outputs (750 mV @ 22 kOhms) for
amplifier, user specific programming option.
e.. Other: ETC Easy to Control softkey menu operation, LCD multicolour
display (fadeable red to orange to green), removable fascia display panel
with case, security code, DIN-ISO connection (supplied with loom), remote
control.
f.. ================================================== ==============


"James Boyk" wrote in message
...
Sorry to ask what must be a perennial question, but is a car radio now
available
for US market

Thanks. I'll look for one of these.

I don't "get" another poster's comment about SW not taking off in the USA.
There's a huge potential market of SWL's here; why shouldn't makers of SW radios
try to sell them? They do so for 'stationary' radios; why not for cars? The
remark that US broadcasters "can't target" listeners here is unintelligible to
me, as many of them do target listeners here as well as abroad. But even if
there were no US broadcasters, there are tons overseas aiming interesting
programs here!

James Boyk

"James Boyk" wrote in message
...
Thanks. I'll look for one of these.

I don't "get" another poster's comment about SW not taking off in the USA.
There's a huge potential market of SWL's here; why shouldn't makers of SW
radios
try to sell them?


There really aren't that many SWLs in the US.


They do so for 'stationary' radios; why not for cars?

I've read magazine articles about cars with the SW car radio General Motors
offered before WW2. It's an extremely rare option. Extremely rare because
only a few people wanted to buy it. I'm not aware of any OEM SW car radios
after the war.

There are a few radios intended for Europe or Asia, but these areas have SW
broadcasts intended for a local audience.

I think car SW radios can still be bought from off shore vendors such as
Jacky's. If there were much of a market here, I'm sure it would have gotten
the attention of Sony or Becker. Not to mention Delco and Motorola.

There were some commerically made amateur radio converters for car radios
made in the fifties and sixties. It would have been easy enough for a
company in that business to have made a SW broadcast band converter back
then. If they did make any, they weren't big sellers.


The
remark that US broadcasters "can't target" listeners here is
unintelligible to
me, as many of them do target listeners here as well as abroad. But even
if
there were no US broadcasters, there are tons overseas aiming interesting
programs here!

James Boyk



Yeah, but there's more people interested in buying multiple cup holders and
under car neon lights than there are people who want to buy car SW radios.

Frank Dresser

Frank Dresser wrote: There really aren't that many SWLs in the US.

How can there be a market for portables & tabletops by Drake, Grundig, Sangean,
et al.---enough of a market for mass-marketer Radio Shack to sell such
products--yet no market for SW car radios? This makes no sense.

As for the idea that the market *must* not exist because manufacturers would
have tapped it if it did, this shows an attitude toward manufactuers'
intelligence and the efficiency of the marketplace which amounts to "all's for
the best in this best of all possible [commercial] worlds," which I cannot share.

As for the idea, "if you think there's a market, why don't you derail your life
to exploit it?" I'm afraid I do have one or two other things to do that are more
important to me. I see a dozen untapped commercial opportunities each month;
it's not my business to pursue them, but to do my own work.

Thanks for the suggestions and ideas.

James Boyk

James,
Any chance that you will be reissuing pr1, pr2, and pr3?

Paul

"James Boyk" wrote in message
...
Frank Dresser wrote: There really aren't that many SWLs in the US.

How can there be a market for portables & tabletops by Drake, Grundig,
Sangean,
et al.---enough of a market for mass-marketer Radio Shack to sell such
products--yet no market for SW car radios? This makes no sense.

As for the idea that the market *must* not exist because manufacturers
would
have tapped it if it did, this shows an attitude toward manufactuers'
intelligence and the efficiency of the marketplace which amounts to "all's
for
the best in this best of all possible [commercial] worlds," which I cannot
share.

As for the idea, "if you think there's a market, why don't you derail your
life
to exploit it?" I'm afraid I do have one or two other things to do that
are more
important to me. I see a dozen untapped commercial opportunities each
month;
it's not my business to pursue them, but to do my own work.

Thanks for the suggestions and ideas.

James Boyk