hm so on this money topic, what's the difference between a $20 sony portable and those $2000 ones they have at universal radio?

(besides the obvious price difference-- you get more stations or what?)

yes. greatest thing ever.

Well, all around quality would be better. More or less, you just get more buttons.

I would stay away from the $20 ones however, their performance from personal experience is EHHHHHHHH.

The $50-$100 range makes more sense.

Check it: http://www.universal-radio.com/

Usually, the latter will be more powerful and have a better facility to fine-tune to an exact frequency. But if you can get a shortwave radio for $20 then buy as soon as possible - your $20 will not have been wasted.

You use a $20 radio?

My tiny one was about £40 ($70ish?), but a very cheap one is cool to start with. I get the impression that electrical items are much cheaper in the US than the UK, and Sony are usually decent quality.

Eton are where its at.

I've read good things about those Roberts you've got over there...

Japan Radio makes some nice models too, I've been looking at a few of them at Universal Radio.

The Roberts R862, very small (approx 14cm x 8cm x 3cm) and very good indeed:



12-band (FM/MW/LW/SW1-9) compact world radio

* Exceptional sound quality and facilities in a true pocket sized, ultra-light receiver
* Large specification in a small size
* LED tuning indicator
* Headphone socket
* Complete with soft carrying pouch
* Pocket size, ideal for listening to the cricket on LW

The bigger one:

Mine:



Eton E5.

The buttons are a little too small at times.

That looks nice.

thanks for the pictures-- how about you show some price tags too?

my reason to ask all this--for $500 i'd rather buy something that would make me money, like a nice wide angle lens for my photo camera, an anamorphic lens for my video camera, an array of storage hard drives, or all manner of software i can't seem to find in *cough cough* warez form.

so what is CHEAP, but good?

this crap any good?

and how about this crap?

(for the sake of comparison let's call it $50 crap and $30 crap?)

gracias

--

edit: oh, there is this cranky crap. in case of catastrophes?

Hmmmmm...if I were a rich man.

...you could buy me one of those!

I'll refer to my Passport to Worldband Radio book and see what kind of review those two are given.

Give me a second...

I'd still like to get one of these and I actually have the cash.
A concern: would one (say the one featured above) be able to reach from the east to west coast? (in the US)
If it would, it would be quite enjoyable. I'm sure it wouldn't reach across the Atlantic? But being able to get stations across the US could be interesting.

Well, the thing about short wave is that the signals can be bounced right around the world - so if someone in any part of the globe (say Romania) sends a signal to the US, then you'll pick it up. The downside to SW is the susceptiblity to weather interference.

So Passport tells me this about the first one pictured.

Grundig G1000A
1 3/4 rating

Pro: Clock/timer with sleep delay. Illuminated LCD has bigger digits that most models of this size. Elevation panel. FM in stereo with earbuds, included. Two "AA" batteries included. Superior carrying case. North America: Toll-free tech support.

Con: Analog-tuned with digital frequency counter, so tunes only thumbwheel, which is slightly touchy. Does not tune 120, 75, 90, 60, 15 and 11 meter segments; missing a small amount of expanded coverage of 41 and 31 meter segments. Single-coversion IF circuitry results in poor image rejection. Audio lacks bass response. Frequency drift with changes in temperature. Clock in 12-hour format, displays only when radio is off. Displays in nonstandard XX.XX/XX.XX MHz format. Play in bandswitch wiggling to slightly after frequency readout. FM overloads in presence of strong signals, remediable by shorting antenna (which also reduces weak-singal sensitivity).

Verdict: More spit and polish, and better daytime frequency coverage, than truly cheaper alternatives. It's also backed up by a solid warranty from a reputable company. The G1000A occupies a spot between 'throwaway' models that are passable performers, and more highly rated models that cost more.


The bit that is bold and underlined would give me a resounding no. Those bands have a lot to offer.

Hmm..I knew shortwaves were bounced back and forth, but it never occured to me that someone recieving them bounces them back..
I'll look on ebay.

Oh my. This one will reach stations from just about anywhere. Depending on the strength of the signal of course.

oh man. thanks for the information. i could have wasted $50

so what is a reasonable financial threshold for entry into this peculiar underworld?

Honestly, I would go after the $100 models. There are nice onces from $50-$100. Such as....

Degen DE105 $59.95
Kaito KA105 $59.00
Eton E10, E5

I would just go to a Radio Shack and see what they have in stock, ask them, they should be able to help you.

I could give you an old Sony I have, but the performance was falling off qucikly, thus I got a new one.

Though, it might be smart to start off with something cheaper, just to try it out. But poor results with a cheaper one could lead one to stray away from the shortwaves.

oh, that stuff i posted (the grundigs) were from radio shack.

i might pick up one of those you posted next time i get paid. right now it's lean times-- got a couple of checks coming in but they are going to go towards equipment, mostly. ah, the adventurous life of the self-employed!

--

ps yeah my experiences with short wave have never been too thrilling, mostly because i could not pick up anything interesting. i'll wait to get something decent.

so i went to ratshack & checked out the goods & i wonder if 56 could check it for me in his book?

first, most weird: etOn (with an accent on the o) is supposed to be good, right?

well it seems that either they bough grundig or were bought by them as two nearly-identical models featured respective grunding and eton marks.

so there was a grundig S350 for 100 bucks

and an eton S350DL for 100 bucks too (these 2 quite similar. notice model # similar too)

and then an eton FR300 emergency radio w/ crank (very cool, no batteries) for $50
(that one sponsored by the red cross features all 7 weather channels or something like that)

what's the story??

thanks, many thanks, in advance....

56 will check his book now.

---
:D

---

shit man i gotta leave this dump as its 7pm now but i'll look for your post next time i'm online-- thanks in advance!

Well, the Eton 350DL is a sexy radio. The Gruding and Eton are basically the same, as Passport tells me.

There is a whole two pages of text concerning this radio, and a lot of terminology I'm not totally familar with, but its one of their top choices for 2006, and its making me wonder how it is I passed on this one. What a beauty! Is it red like the one they have pictured?!? It would seem as though the cons are extremely minor, unless you were well tuned in radio jargon. Basically if you were Lone Flanger (a DXer), you would hate this radio. But for us amateurs, this is top of the line!

I'll type the 'verdict' Passport gave it:

Verdict: The Eton 350DL is full of welcome surprises, as well as the other variety. Its flaws are obvious and real: images, no signal-sideband demodulation, a paucity of tuning aids and some frequency drift. So, it receives a modest star rating. Its not for DXing, and is useless with most utility and ham signals.

Why, then is it a "Passport's Choice"? Because for pleasent and affordable listening to world band news, music, and entertainment it is hard to beat-audio quality just isn't equaled by any other portable. If you want something that sounds as good but performs better, dig deep and spring for a Gruding Satellit 800 portatop.


So there you have it! That Gruding Satellit 800 is the radio I've been thinking about getting for a while, but I would be happy with this one too.

The other one you mentioned is not in the book, so perhaps it is a new model. Those crankers are neat though.

oh man that is cool to learn thanks very much. i did check back as promised. now i'll save my $100 for this. i like the dl too because

1) i like the etOn logo
2) looks like "s350dl" is kinda like a sports car name-- ha ha. yes, i know. stupid reason.

thank you thank you.

$100 seems like a good price for something so well thought of.

thank you, thanks again-- looks like i finally found the right stuff

and now, off to make some $ so i can pay for this... :(

Fabulous!

Also, my new favorite station Radio Canada International had a terrific segment on Andy Warhol, which led into the present day obsession with celebrity.

I've been checking the websites of radio stations from countries that interest me but whose broadcasts are hard to pick up or at difficult times.

The best so far is Radio Polonia from Poland. Good site with live streaming and plenty of recent broadcasts in podcast form.

I've been doing this a lot lately too.

A good resource for that is this site, provided by some listeners from Belgium: http://www.shortwave.be/

weird, i had a dream where i had a short wave radio, just the other night...

What did the dream consist of?

nothing much. i was wondering around the house & trying to tune this radio. i forget if there was a transmission.

Atempting to overcome the capriciousness of radio interference is one of the joys of shortwave.

Radio Sweden's English broadcast has just started. I'll let you know of any exciting news.

You'll all no doubt be relieved to hear that it has been a sunny day in Stockholm, and the Swedish people are gearing up for the forthcoming election - a swing to the right seems like a possibility. Oh, and the main reason people still smoke is ignorance, according to Swedish radio.

Do we have any Swedish boardies? I wonder how they will vote.

I heard this statement in John Peel's voice. Which can only be a very good thing indeed. I'm almost tempted to crack out the crappy old radio in the garage which has SW on it, just because of this thread. It's a bit of a daunting world though.