What is the deal with this cheap radio? Is it any good or am I just throwing
away $10 on a piece of junk?

I am not looking for anything fancy in shortwave....just something that has
decent sound and can pull in shortwave bands for occasional listening and
amusement.

Ed

(Lungshot1) wrote in news:20050127203742.23044.00000331
@mb-m01.aol.com:

Go he http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.radio.shortwave

Search for "Bell and Howell" without quotes, in the "Search This Group" box
(NOT the Search Groups Box)

There are 230 links returned. You might be surprised how much this topic
has been discussed.

Soliloquy

Bell and Howell

Dear Ed,

When you spend $10 on a short wave radio you cannot expect anything but
a $10 radio. You know what you'll get. It will work. It will receive
MW, FM, and SW signals as it's designed to do. I have one and I've even
had the All India Radio and a few other more-or-less "difficult"
stations on it. I bought it just to see what you get for $10. It's
well-worth $10 as long as you don't expect a $50 radio. (I rarely use
mine any more. Frankly, it's just a toy.)

If I were to make a recommendation for you, and assuming that $80 is
not too much for you, I should recommend the Sony ICF-SW35, a very
under-rated and very good dual-conversion receiver which has extremely
good quality of construction. This radio might serve you much better (I
have two of them), but, if short wave is only worth $10 to you, then go
with the B&H.

Best,

Joe

On 28 Jan 2005 01:37:42 GMT, (Lungshot1) wrote:

What is the deal with this cheap radio? Is it any good or am I just throwing
away $10 on a piece of junk?

I am not looking for anything fancy in shortwave....just something that has
decent sound and can pull in shortwave bands for occasional listening and
amusement.

It's considered a good "beach radio" - you can hear strong stations
and have fun. If it gets stolen or if it gets damaged - well, it's
just a $10 radio.

If you're expecting to do serious DX and hear weak domestic stations
from Latin America, Africa or the Pacific whilst you're in North
America, you'll be disappointed.

It's probably also a good radio for people in third world countries
who want to bypass domestic authorized media but who can't afford
anything fancy. I've heard of U.S. embassies giving out these or
similar radios - although if batteries are an issue, the wind ups may
be better in the long run.

I agree with the other responses. It is ok for the beach and camping. I
brought mine out west when camping last summer for over a month. The band
selector fell off halfway through the trip and I had to use a paper clip to
switch bands. It did fine picking up many FM, AM and SW signals, but no DX
machine. Also, it is analog, so
frequencies are difficult to estimate exactly. But, in a way I was less
worried over the radio as it cost just $10, not $350....so I didn't worry
much about losing or dropping it during the trip.
"Lungshot1" wrote in message
...
What is the deal with this cheap radio? Is it any good or am I just
throwing
away $10 on a piece of junk?

I am not looking for anything fancy in shortwave....just something that
has
decent sound and can pull in shortwave bands for occasional listening and
amusement.

Ed

www.signalhilltrading.com sells the exact same radio.I know a guy who
owns one.The two little slide knobs on the front are oval shaped and on
his radio,the little dial indicator bar that moves up and down when
tuning a station is way out of alignment instead of being straight
across like it is suppose to be.I think the same company that makes the
Signal Hill radio's also makes the Bell and Howell radio's too.Bell and
Howell used to make some fine cameras and movie projectors many years
ago but their name on those cheap two bit junk radio's sure doesn't say
much for Bell and Howell nowdays.
cuhulin

Which is why some of their Chinese products are referred to as: "Hell &
Bowel." I'm afraid the actual Bell & Howell company has joined
National, Hallicrafters, and Hammarlund in that great manufacturing
center in the sky.

Best,

Joe

The first time I saw this radio was in an advertisement in Parade
magazine about two years ago. After a brief search, I found that the
best price for them was at Carol Wright Gifts. It seems that is still
the case.

Start at http://www.carolwrightgifts.com/

and search for "shortwave". You get:

http://www.carolwrightgifts.com/cwg_...TOKEN=93332188

or

http://tinyurl.com/3lovm

Carol Wright is selling Bell & Howell 9-Band Radio, Item 94654, for
$8.99. It's in the category Leisure & Travel: Electronics. I don't know
about the shipping charges.

The first time I saw this radio was in an advertisement in Parade
magazine about two years ago.

From what people are posting about the radio, it has its problems and buyers
may have returned them to the sellers. If you look on ebay, I get the feeling
that distributers dumped them and the ebay bulk buyer / seller is trying their
hands at selling them.

I think I will keep my $10 and move on.

Ed

I own both the bell and howell and the coby (link below). The coby was
bought at ABC instore which often runs the radio for a hair under
$8.00. It is a superior radio to the Bell and Howell for the simple
reason that the poor analog dial is replaced by a digital readout with
manual dial controll. Neither of these should be compared with any of
the numerous $40.00-$100.00 portable shortwave radios commonly
available from any number of sources. However for $10.00 or less
(Coby), they very well accomplish their task as the lowest rung on the
ladder shortwave capable radios. If you can spend between
$45.00-$65.00, I would recommend the Degen/Tecsun 1103. The jump in
features/quality/performance is huge from what you get with the 2
$10.00 radios mentioned. But if your intended use and/or budget
dictates something in the low end range then I say go for it, giving
the nod to the Coby.

An R8 they ain't, but who would expect to find an R8 class radio for
$10.00?

Good luck and happy listening
Lungshot1 wrote:
What is the deal with this cheap radio? Is it any good or am I just
throwing
away $10 on a piece of junk?

I am not looking for anything fancy in shortwave....just something
that has
decent sound and can pull in shortwave bands for occasional listening
and
amusement.

Ed