prophet@umcp-cs.UUCP (Dennis Gibbs) (01/27/85)
<>
With all the recent talk on recommendations on portable shortwave receivers, I
would like to hear some recommendations on good table top (non-portable)
shortwave receivers. I am looking for a good general-coverage (~100Khz-30Mhz)
receiver around the $500 range. I would like to stick pretty close to $500 as
the top figure, but I would be willing to spend a little more if I find a
receiver that is worth the extra money.
I am looking for a receiver with good basic performance (Good sensitivity,
good selectivity, accurate digital readout, good stability, and reliable). It
has been awhile since I have been involved with this hobby, and there are many
new brands of receivers I am not familiar with. I don't need anything with
lots of memory or presets, I just need good basic performance.
It seems there are three brands of receivers that are advertised quite often
in QST and Ham-radio magazine. Those brands are Kenwood, Icom, and Yaesu. I
have heard that Icom has had reliabilty problems, but this is third-hand info-
rmation.
Does anyone have any recommendations and suggestions for a general coverage
receiver, keeping the above requirements in mind? Where is a good place to
purchase a receiver these days??
Thanks in advance...
Dennis Gibbs
--
Call-Me: Dennis Gibbs, Univ. of Md. Comp. Sci. Center.
UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!prophet
CSNet: prophet@umcp-cs
BITNET: GIBBS@UMDB
ARPA: prophet@Marylandjimla@tekig.UUCP (James G. Larsen) (02/04/85)
> > <> > > With all the recent talk on recommendations on portable shortwave receivers, I > would like to hear some recommendations on good table top (non-portable) > shortwave receivers. I am looking for a good general-coverage (~100Khz-30Mhz) > receiver around the $500 range. I would like to stick pretty close to $500 as > the top figure, but I would be willing to spend a little more if I find a > receiver that is worth the extra money. I bought a Kenwood R-600 for my 12 year old son and I for some SWL'ing while we are studying for our novice licenses. I'm pleased with the performance of the unit for the price of $350. It is selective enough on SSB to separate strong adjacent signals on the 20M ham bands, and the it has a narrow and wide selection on AM. The digital readout is great for cruising through the ham and SW bands. There is a 30 position band switch and each range covers 1 MHz. I only have two minor complaints: there are a few "birdies" in some obscure places, and the tuning is a little fast for accurate adjustment on SSB stations. The selectivity is probably inadequate for serious CW work. I think it's a great little receiver to start with and will probably keep it when we graduate to a ham transceiver. Jim Larsen