Do any of you use short wave radios or know anything about them? I was looking to buy one but there is such a wide variety of prices with no real indication of the quality since the reviews are so similar. Does anyone have any advice on this ?
Do any of you use short wave radios or know anything about them...
Jacob Torres
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Jeremiah Wilson
I guess none of you are as autistic as me sorry
Eli Edwards
for real the one in your picture is your best bet. A lot of the cheaper ones get great reviews because of their FM / AM qualities but most people that have them don't use SW.
Kayden Young
I bought a Radio Shack radio secondhand. I can't receive NHK (why I bought it in the first place) on its antenna but I do get broadcasts from Havana, so that's cool.
Blake Taylor
Shortwave is fun, but finding a quality receiver that can pick up transcontinental broadcasts for a reasonable price is tricky. Most all of SW stations are religious, advertisements or foriegn languages.
If your into is listening for spooky number stations you can use a SDR online and listen anywhere for free.
Personally I got a ham receiver to listen in on local people, air traffic and emergency services. It's cheaper, a bigger selection of radios and it's not as dependent on a massive antenna for good quality audio.
James Brooks
It has great reviews, but I wouldn't get it when there are others with more frequency bands, for less money.Depends on what you want to listen to, really.
Thomas Johnson
If your looking for comfy as well as performance look no further than that realistic dx-300.
But they are hard to find locally and vfc Ebay shipping can be spendy.
Brody Roberts
The speed of light is 300 megameters per second. Full wave antennas aren't really a thing, so you have half wave and quarter wave. Half wave 150 / frequency means for 1MHz you need an antenna ~150 meters long.
Henry Johnson
I have a little Sony one I bring out sometimes but I can never receive any channels other than crazy religious people or mexicans.
Isaiah Morris
Did someone say, short wave radio?
Brayden Cook
www.eham.net/reviews/products/8
have fun while the remaining international broadcasters are still airing on their last leg
Nolan Perry
from reviewbrah himself
>Affordable shortwave radios which I recommend are:
>Tecsun PL-660 ($115)
>Tecsun PL-380 ($50)
>Tecsun PL-310et ($50)
>Tivdio V-115 ($20)
>CC Skywave Radio ($80)
be aware that some areas do not receive shortwave signals very well. unless i put an antenna on my roof, i can't get any shortwave stations from inside my house or in most parts of my property. gotta go out back and sit in the middle of my yard if I want to get any at all, and they all suck.
Brayden Cruz
I had an old one from my grandmother.
It was really crappy. Mostly religious channels. I did get I think Cuba radio (or some sort of spanish stuff), but overall there is just nothing I'm going to ever listen to.
I know a lot of people buy these for preps. If so, then the local am/fm and noaa weather radio is more important than shortwave.
Joseph Lopez
HF doesn't go through solid objects as well as VHF or UHF. It's literally the only reason you can hear foreign countries.
Robert Powell
>you need an antenna ~150 meters long
What does this mean? Does it mean the antennae needs to stretch in a straight line 150 meters? or can it be a coil?
Cameron Rodriguez
Asking this cause I found a pic related in a dumpster recently. The antenna is gone so I stuck a coat hanger in it. I was able to pick up some stations but not well. It has an external 1/8" antennae port. I need to DIY something to hook up to it. What do Jow Forums?
Zachary Adams
>It's literally the only reason you can hear foreign countries.
No it isn't. Shortwave can bounce off the ionsphere, but solar activity can interfere. Hence why you get different signals after sunset.
Kevin Miller
Generally they have internal antennas for AM, so the coat hanger antenna is only helping FM/shortwave.
Beyond that the antenna jack seem just like an optional feature if you want to have a better FM/shortwave signal. I wouldn't bother with it.
Daniel Reyes
>want to have a better FM/shortwave signal
This is what I want. AM is zero concern. I need shortwave reception.
Where are you from? Asking because you seem to have concern for AM but AM is nearly worthless in USA. All it has is shitty Baby Boomer music, sports and wingnut talk radio. It is strange to read your post as few care about AM in the USA and would only want FM. Is AM popular where you are?
Jack Rivera
not him but the sports and news shit is exactly why I want AM. It means I don't need pay television, and it's inherently botnet-free so its easier than getting the same content online.
Jacob Hall
>short wave radios
Jace Anderson
AM and FM are types of modulation. Shortwave refers to the frequency. There are plenty of pilots who use AM radios to call in before landing. It doesn't have anything to do with boomer music.
Owen Hill
i have this one since 2007 and it's the best you can get in this size. more expensive than the tecsun, but it's a solid product. don't forget to get a decent antenna, it's even more important than the radio itself.
Thomas Murphy
>AM doesn't have anything to do with boomer music
It does if we are talking about the general public in the USA.
You seem to know something about radios and frequency. Can you be kind enough to answer this question?
Bentley Garcia
depends. wire antenna should be a straight line under the bare sky (research for correct alignement), indoor-antennas are usually coiled and amplified.
Jackson Carter
Coils are going to do fuckall for a terrestrial signal. It's better if the elements are straight. I don't think it matters if it's horizontal or vertical though. You could do a V
Lucas Williams
You also get better gain if the antenna is grounded, which you kinda want to do if you have a long antenna that could be struck by lightening. Something like this Alpha Delta kit with an HF lightning arrester would be the best scenario.
Cooper Kelly
Just a horizontal wire across the yard can make a tremendous difference.
Benjamin Lewis
You'll want one with SSB capability, like Tecsun PL-660 or whatever is the current model
Connor Harris
I actually am trained by the U.S. Gov't. for M.A.R.S. duty in case of emergency. It stands for Military Auxiliary Radio System. I'm trained to set up all this equipment/cabling/antenna/orient the antenna in that it interfaces computers with ham radio sending. Pretty cool, sends comms/emails over shortwave. Very reliable in case of disaster.
As the person who would actually do all the actual sending, I have this chain of command of who to listen to, and what is priority to send.
They taught us all the antenna theory, materials, and wiring in case we had to make one by hand. Some other nifty stuff too.
Yeah, I got the license and I keep a bag with all the important stuff at the ready. There's at least another ten in my city. We would all try to get to the location to pull out the equipment trailer, or the backup trailer if that wasn't accessible.