WANCHO@SIMTEL20.ARPA (Frank J. Wancho) (02/26/85)
I'm trying to interest my 10-yr old in SWL and get not just another radio. The ones we've been looking at that have any kind of SW bands run around $120 or so. Do you know of or have any pointers to anything more reasonable in about the $100 range or so. (It's his money, and I don't really want him to drain all $135 he has on something that may turn out less than interesting to him due to lack of features, etc.) --Frank
wmartin@ALMSA-1.ARPA (Will Martin -- AMXAL-RI) (02/26/85)
Hi, Frank! Here's a few thoughts on the SWL-radio-for-$100 idea: a) Unfortunately, you just missed the pre-Christmas deal on the closeout of the Uniden CR-2021 portable digital-keypad receiver, one of the biggest bargains in the SW world for some time. There is a ghost of a chance that you could find one, or maybe someone who got one for a gift and doesn't want it would let it go for the sale price, which was $90-$110, depending on the dealer. Ther were 4000 of these, I understand, and they went all over the country, so chances of locating one are slim... b) Pick up a library or newsstand copy of the latest ham radio magazines (QST, 73, CQ, ham radio) and check for local hamfests coming in your area. You can often find good general-coverage tube receivers there for well under $100; you are expected to haggle, but you have no guarantee or assurance the thing will work when you get it home and plug it in. If you do any electronic repair work, this is the most economic route. If you have to pay a local shop to fix a flea-market deal, it won't pay. c) Check if any local ham-equipment or two-way radio dealer(s) have bulletin boards in their stores. You will often see "for-sale" ads from people with receivers for sale, and you can post your own "wanted" ads. At least in this case, you can usually go to the seller's house and try out the receiver before buying it. d) Those same dealers might have trade-in or consignment used gear to sell. You can sometimes get a warranty via this route, but you'll pay more than flea-market or individual-seller prices. e) Mail-order discount houses -- Check the ads in Popular Communications for SWL-emphasis; the same firms advertise in the ham magazines but list few receivers. Also check the Sunday New York Times (I think mainly the "Arts & Entertainment" section) for the New York discount electronics & photo gear houses. The prices advertised there are lower than in their catalogs or magazine ads, usually. There are some Sony & Panasonic models you'll find at all these sources, and some Kenwood, Toshiba, & other brand portables that will be in the Popular Communications ads but not in the discounters' ads. The main problem with the items you'll find for $100 and under is that most of them make performance compromises for the sake of small size, and technology compromises to get down to under $100. For $160 or so, you can get high technology portables like the Sony 7600D/2002, so the $80-range portables tend to be rather mediocre slide-rule-dial-type machines with little to recommend them. What would I do? I'd try to get a good old tube-type communications receiver. I used to have a Hallicrafters SX-96, which I regret ever letting go (traded it in on a fancier receiver I never liked as well). If you can find a working model, you should be able to get it for less than $100. (They do tend to hold their value -- I paid $100 for my used SX-96 and traded it in for $100 credit a decade later! -- at least in dollar amounts as inflation cheapens the dollar, so I would think $100 is still a fair price, even now, 15 years farther down the line.) These older tube receivers still have good reputations; many DXers prefer older Hammarlunds or Collins models to the newer, fancier, and more expensive models. Only recently have some specifications, like dynamic range, on the newer solid-state receivers been improved to equal the specs of the better older receivers. They are physically large and steady, and have a better tuning "feel" than most newer smaller types. If you get one, I recommend that you stock up on spare tubes from some of the low-cost surplus or mail-order dealers, since many types of tubes are no longer in production. If you get one, be careful to make sure that it is a general-coverage receiver; many came in ham-band-only models, the difference being mainly one digit of the model number. Most of the general-coverage models had ham-band-calibrated bandspreads, which can confuse the casual glance. Regards, Will ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin
jhs%Mitre-Bedford@d3unix.UUCP (02/28/85)
You might look for an old boat-anchor like a Hammarlund SP600 series receiver or an R390. Or even an old HQ-129-X, HQ-140, HQ-110, HQ-170, or similar tube-type receceiver. Many of these are available at flea markets for under $100, and they ar FAR better (if working correctly) than anything new you could get for $100. Also, they will probably retain their $100 resale value indefinitely, should you decide to unload them. -John S., W3IKG