"Roy" wrote in message
...
Looking to purchase a good quality radio under $150. What features
should I look for?

Do you want to listen to amateur radio operators and utility (military/air)
stations? If so, then get a radio with SSB capabilities.
Do you want to listen to major broadcasters, or do you want to be able to
pull in distant, weak stations?

Do you want a radio you can carry along with you, or a tabletop radio that
you can hook an external antenna to for best performance?

There are a number of good choices of portable SW radios in the under $150
range. The excellent Sony ICF-SW7600GR can be found for $150. There is also
the Grundig YB-400P for about the same price. Degen is a Chinese firm that's
making nicely performing portables, such as the DE-1102 and DE-1103 for
under $90 each. These are a great value.

Tabletop radios are better for catching weak, distant stations ("DX") but
they are quite a bit more expensive than the portables. If you want top DX
performance and are able to hook up an external long wire antenna, these are
best, but again, they will cost a lot more than a portable ($500).

There are also numerous excellent used receivers you could check out, but if
you go this route you will want to check some reviews first. Try eham's
receiver reviews at http://www.eham.net/reviews/products/8. I'm sure a few
folks here will give you their learned input too.

Jackie

Jackie wrote:

"Roy" wrote in message
...

Looking to purchase a good quality radio under $150. What features
should I look for?


Do you want to listen to amateur radio operators and utility (military/air)
stations? If so, then get a radio with SSB capabilities.
Do you want to listen to major broadcasters, or do you want to be able to
pull in distant, weak stations?

I want to receive as many bands as possible. SSB sounds good.


Do you want a radio you can carry along with you, or a tabletop radio that
you can hook an external antenna to for best performance?

Probably have to buy one of each (tabletop and portable). Time to start
saving nickels.

There are a number of good choices of portable SW radios in the under $150
range. The excellent Sony ICF-SW7600GR can be found for $150. There is also
the Grundig YB-400P for about the same price. Degen is a Chinese firm that's
making nicely performing portables, such as the DE-1102 and DE-1103 for
under $90 each. These are a great value.

Tabletop radios are better for catching weak, distant stations ("DX") but
they are quite a bit more expensive than the portables. If you want top DX
performance and are able to hook up an external long wire antenna, these are
best, but again, they will cost a lot more than a portable ($500).

There are also numerous excellent used receivers you could check out, but if
you go this route you will want to check some reviews first. Try eham's
receiver reviews at http://www.eham.net/reviews/products/8. I'm sure a few
folks here will give you their learned input too.

Jackie

Thanks for the info Jackie.

If it were my money, I'd likely buy a Drake R8B as my tabletop radio of
choice, and I've already got a DE1103 (which I really like, and which is
definitely in your current price range). Some popular choices for tabletop
receivers: Icom's R75, Yaesu's FRG-100B, Ten-Tec's RX-350D. These range from
about $500 (for the R75 and FRG-100B) to about three times that much, in the
case of the Drake and Ten-Tec.

Start saving your pennies!

Jackie

In article kgOzc.98097$3x.85024@attbi_s54,
"Jackie" wrote:

If it were my money, I'd likely buy a Drake R8B as my tabletop radio of
choice, and I've already got a DE1103 (which I really like, and which is
definitely in your current price range). Some popular choices for tabletop
receivers: Icom's R75, Yaesu's FRG-100B, Ten-Tec's RX-350D. These range from
about $500 (for the R75 and FRG-100B) to about three times that much, in the
case of the Drake and Ten-Tec.

Start saving your pennies!

If you don't mind buying used there is Ebay and Universal radio has a
page just for used equipment.

http://www.universal-radio.com/alert.html

There aren't any for sale on that page right now so check it another
time.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California