Shortwave Radio Recommendations

[WSCH851]

Although I know some are hard to come by, what are your top six (6) SWRadio's (looking to buy new)?

I had some as a kid and throughout the years, they all have finally failed.

Thanks,

WSCH851

[WSCH851]

 

[WSCH851]

 

[OffRoaderX]

Top SIX?  Geezus...

I like the Eton Elite 750, but it is a bit pricy..

Raddy just released a new, low-cost Shortwave radio that also does SSB, which most of the CCR shortwaves don't do - I heard that the Youtube Queen of GMRS will be doing a review of it soon because he's run out of new GMRS radios to talk about.. But, thats just a rumor..

I fully realize that neither of these meet the requirements of a true shortwave-dork, but, I'm not a shortwave dork.

[WSCH851]

1 minute ago, OffRoaderX said:

Top SIX?  Geezus...

I like the Eton Elite 750, but it is a bit pricy..

Raddy just released a new, low-cost Shortwave radio that also does SSB, which most of the CCR shortwaves don't do - I heard that the Youtube Queen of GMRS will be doing a video of it soon.

I'm sure neither of these meet the requirements of a true shortwave-dork, but, I'm not a shortwave dork.

Yes SSB included (forgot that) and I can't find a EE750, all out of stock the places I've searched.
Can't wait for the Queens review and hopefully it will be posted here on this thread.

Thanks,

 

[OffRoaderX]

1 minute ago, WSCH851 said:

Can't wait for the Queens review and hopefully it will be posted here on this thread

it wont be, at least not by me. Nobody likes a spammer.

[OffRoaderX]

17 minutes ago, tcp2525 said:

Take the $500 you're going to flush on that crap and add $400 and get a real radio such as the Yaesu FT-710

Textbook Sad-H.A.M. "spending other people's money" response.  The only thing you forgot was your callsign and telling us how many years you've been licensed, so 8/10

[tcp2525]

2 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

Textbook Sad-H.A.M. "spending other people's money" response.  The only thing you forgot was your callsign and telling us how many years you've been licensed, so 8/10

Just trying to prevent him from falling for the classic "Textbook Sad" option of wiping his ass with $100 bills and flushing them down the toilet. At least if he buys a real radio that has a receiver that will exceed that Chinese abomination in performance he'll have something to show for his investment. At the end of his day he has another option. I won't apologize for someone that gets butt hurt by someone putting another option on the table. And it's not going to hurt my feelings if he doesn't take my advice.

[OffRoaderX]

30 minutes ago, tcp2525 said:

Just trying to prevent him from falling for the classic "Textbook Sad" option of wiping his ass with $100 bills and flushing them down the toilet. At least if he buys a real radio that has a receiver that will exceed that Chinese abomination in performance he'll have something to show for his investment. At the end of his day he has another option. I won't apologize for someone that gets butt hurt by someone putting another option on the table. And it's not going to hurt my feelings if he doesn't take my advice.

You're funny.

[WRQI583]

There is also the option of a Software Defined Radio dongle. Personally, I did go all out and spend close to $500 building a whole box with several SDR's (to monitor everything from 100KHz-6GHz), outlets, and a Raspberry Pi to run it on, but you can just buy the dongle and a converter to drop the SDR Dongle down into the SW bands.

The Software Defined Radio world is pretty big when it comes to the different dongles you can buy. The software to run it on is free online and they have quite a few programs out there that will monitor, decode, etc. This is another route you could go. The drawback to it is that, it requires you have a computer with the dongle whereas the radio could be much smaller and portable if that matters to you. For me, I dont do anything HF outside of the house aside from CB in my vehicle so all of my operating HF/SW listening it done at home, so the SDR was a good choice for me. That's not saying that you can take an SDR portable and they do sell actual SDR radios.

I figured I add my two cents on this option if it is something that might work for you. The dongles, last I checked, are around $35 or so and the converter is around $70. The prices vary depending on what you want.

And to the guy who said to buy a Ham Radio to listen to SW, there is a cheaper option if someone wanted to buy a Ham Radio to listen to SW. I own the Yaesu ft 891 which I got from HRO for $675. While buying a Ham Radio to listen to SW is pretty dumb, there is the chance that you may want to talk on it, especially if you are listening to Ham frequencies. Some people do. But if you are just strictly an SW Listener, take the cheaper route and just purchase a SW radio, or SDR. I of all people realize that radio is a HUGE world and what you like and get into is many times going to be the total opposite of what most others get into. Just because you like SWL doesn't mean you love HF Ham Radio. My first love in radio was AM broadcast at age 10. That led to SWL and then CB Radio. That was over 30 years ago and up until now, I have never had an interest in operating HF. I've actually hated it. However, now I actually enjoy operating HF. But that is how different some people can be when it comes to radio. So, take in all the information on here and do what works for you and enjoy. It's a big world out there.

73
N1YFA
Hamilton

[tcp2525]

1 hour ago, WRQI583 said:

There is also the option of a Software Defined Radio dongle. Personally, I did go all out and spend close to $500 building a whole box with several SDR's (to monitor everything from 100KHz-6GHz), outlets, and a Raspberry Pi to run it on, but you can just buy the dongle and a converter to drop the SDR Dongle down into the SW bands.

The Software Defined Radio world is pretty big when it comes to the different dongles you can buy. The software to run it on is free online and they have quite a few programs out there that will monitor, decode, etc. This is another route you could go. The drawback to it is that, it requires you have a computer with the dongle whereas the radio could be much smaller and portable if that matters to you. For me, I dont do anything HF outside of the house aside from CB in my vehicle so all of my operating HF/SW listening it done at home, so the SDR was a good choice for me. That's not saying that you can take an SDR portable and they do sell actual SDR radios.

I figured I add my two cents on this option if it is something that might work for you. The dongles, last I checked, are around $35 or so and the converter is around $70. The prices vary depending on what you want.

And to the guy who said to buy a Ham Radio to listen to SW, there is a cheaper option if someone wanted to buy a Ham Radio to listen to SW. I own the Yaesu ft 891 which I got from HRO for $675. While buying a Ham Radio to listen to SW is pretty dumb, there is the chance that you may want to talk on it, especially if you are listening to Ham frequencies. Some people do. But if you are just strictly an SW Listener, take the cheaper route and just purchase a SW radio, or SDR. I of all people realize that radio is a HUGE world and what you like and get into is many times going to be the total opposite of what most others get into. Just because you like SWL doesn't mean you love HF Ham Radio. My first love in radio was AM broadcast at age 10. That led to SWL and then CB Radio. That was over 30 years ago and up until now, I have never had an interest in operating HF. I've actually hated it. However, now I actually enjoy operating HF. But that is how different some people can be when it comes to radio. So, take in all the information on here and do what works for you and enjoy. It's a big world out there.

73
N1YFA
Hamilton

Good points! I forgot about the SDRs. I have one here on the bench, an SDRplay RSPdx, I bought used over a year ago and really don't use it much. When I do, it works really well, all depends on the software and computer. You just have to add the antenna and computer. And believe it or not, there are actually people that don't own a computer, but have a smartphone. That's even better, no extra hardware needed as there are on-line SDR services for free that work really well. See what happens when you kick the hornet's nest and people come out and put multitude of options on the table.

http://www.websdr.org/

[tcp2525]

5 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

You're funny.

WOW! Thank you for the compliment. I'll definitely wear that as a badge of honor as I've always looked up to you for your infinite wisdom.

[WRQI583]

25 minutes ago, tcp2525 said:

Good points! I forgot about the SDRs. I have one here on the bench, an SDRplay RSPdx, I bought used over a year ago and really don't use it much. When I do, it works really well, all depends on the software and computer. You just have to add the antenna and computer. And believe it or not, there are actually people that don't own a computer, but have a smartphone. That's even better, no extra hardware needed as there are on-line SDR services for free that work really well. See what happens when you kick the hornet's nest and people come out and put multitude of options on the table.

http://www.websdr.org/

Haha, funny you mention the online SDR's. There have been some times when I have checked into a net in the morning and I have to run out of the room and just flip the net on on my phone until I can get back in the room... SHhh.... dont say nothing ha ha. The software and the computer do have make a difference. I tried using SDR++ on my windows laptop with the SDR and the frequency was off and it was receiving all whacked out. When I built the SDR project box that used a Raspberry Pi, SDR++ actually worked very well with no issues. There is a lot of different software and most all of it is free and sometimes has more features built into it than a radio. It is something I would have loved to have had as a kid. Back when I was a kid, direct entry SW radios were the thing and many tube style ones were still many peoples hands. I owned a few tube style SW radios myself.

[SvenMarbles]

SWL/HF monitoring is an adjacent hobby of mine.

Let's set some parameters.

Budget?

Do you only want a newly manufactured radio?

Do you want sideband? (be able to tune HF hams, military, and utility)

Do you need it to be a tabletop or is a portable form factor ok?

 

Add me to the "don't buy the Eton 750" camp. It's a big plastic box for no reason with the guts of much less expensive portable radio inside. You're paying for the garish plastic injection molded aesthetic. A Tecsun 501 for example is a superior radio to that for about $150 less.

My radios pictured below. They are what I consider to be the best of each respective type/category. 

[tcp2525]

9 minutes ago, SvenMarbles said:

SWL/HF monitoring is an adjacent hobby of mine.

Let's set some parameters.

Budget?

Do you only want a newly manufactured radio?

Do you want sideband? (be able to tune HF hams, military, and utility)

Do you need it to be a tabletop or is a portable form factor ok?

 

Add me to the "don't buy the Eton 750" camp. It's a big plastic box for no reason with the guts of much less expensive portable radio inside. You're paying for the garish plastic injection molded aesthetic. A Tecsun 501 for example is a superior radio to that for about $150 less.

My radios pictured below. They are what I consider to be the best of each respective type/category. 

Very nice! And good advice as well.

[SvenMarbles]

8 hours ago, tcp2525 said:

Take the $500 you're going to flush on that crap and add $400 and get a real radio such as the Yaesu FT-710 and have a transmitter just in case you get your ham license.

https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-018470

Gilles is always going to give you the straight dope on shortwave radios.

[WSCH851]

8 hours ago, SvenMarbles said:

SWL/HF monitoring is an adjacent hobby of mine.

Let's set some parameters.

Budget?

Do you only want a newly manufactured radio?

Do you want sideband? (be able to tune HF hams, military, and utility)

Do you need it to be a tabletop or is a portable form factor ok?

 

Add me to the "don't buy the Eton 750" camp. It's a big plastic box for no reason with the guts of much less expensive portable radio inside. You're paying for the garish plastic injection molded aesthetic. A Tecsun 501 for example is a superior radio to that for about $150 less.

My radios pictured below. They are what I consider to be the best of each respective type/category. 

Budget? (up to $1,200.00-$1,500.00)

Do you only want a newly manufactured radio? (Would rather purchase new but if a deal came along and I knew the person)(sad to do business with people in today's world).

Do you want sideband? (be able to tune HF hams, military, and utility) Yes mostly Hams (would get honest reporting I would think) but not really concerned about Utility.  Military is a added plus (forgot to add it on my OPost).

Do you need it to be a tabletop or is a portable form factor ok?  Either or but I do think table top might be best.

Thank you very much,

 

[SvenMarbles]

1 hour ago, WSCH851 said:

Budget? (up to $1,200.00-$1,500.00)

Do you only want a newly manufactured radio? (Would rather purchase new but if a deal came along and I knew the person)(sad to do business with people in today's world).

Do you want sideband? (be able to tune HF hams, military, and utility) Yes mostly Hams (would get honest reporting I would think) but not really concerned about Utility.  Military is a added plus (forgot to add it on my OPost).

Do you need it to be a tabletop or is a portable form factor ok?  Either or but I do think table top might be best.

Thank you very much,

 

If your budget is 1,200-1,500 you should definitely go with ham gear. TCP or whatever his name is, is right. Get a nice Yaesu HF rig.

[WSCH851]

12 minutes ago, SvenMarbles said:

If your budget is 1,200-1,500 you should definitely go with ham gear. TCP or whatever his name is, is right. Get a nice Yaesu HF rig.

Just some guidance, and obviously if I could save more $, that would be great, but the quote listed above is the top range.
Appreciate it,

[SvenMarbles]

25 minutes ago, WSCH851 said:

Just some guidance, and obviously if I could save more $, that would be great, but the quote listed above is the top range.
Appreciate it,

So I play with shortwaves, even more-so than I play with GMRS stuff.

If I would recommend 1 thing, it would be to get a Belka. It’s that tiny black radio on the upper right of my photo. 
 

I know that it seems impossibly small to be anything good. It’s the best radio pictured there.. It can do it because it’s a self contained SDR radio. You can spin the dial right on the unit itself and tune things, or it plugs into a PC with IQ output and can be used with software. It’s the modern best of all things. 
 

The maker of these is in Belarus and you have to have it ordered from there. They’re a bit rare to get in the United States, but it’s very doable. I have 2. The one you see and one boxed and put away to be sure I’m never without one. They’re less than $200.

[SteveShannon]

5 hours ago, WSCH851 said:

Budget? (up to $1,200.00-$1,500.00)

Do you only want a newly manufactured radio? (Would rather purchase new but if a deal came along and I knew the person)(sad to do business with people in today's world).

Do you want sideband? (be able to tune HF hams, military, and utility) Yes mostly Hams (would get honest reporting I would think) but not really concerned about Utility.  Military is a added plus (forgot to add it on my OPost).

Do you need it to be a tabletop or is a portable form factor ok?  Either or but I do think table top might be best.

Thank you very much,

 

I have to agree that the Yaesu FT710 Field would be a good choice given your budget. It tunes from 30 kHz to 75 MHz and has a great set of features that enable picking signals out of the noise. It’s $200 off right now ($900 at the major radio dealers)

Here’s a link to the Sherwood report which attempts to rank radios by receiver quality. Not everyone thinks it’s perfect but it really does a pretty good job of documenting measurements. 
It doesn’t discuss features or transmission power or anything else but receiver measurements. 
Based on this report I would also recommend the FT710. It’s number 4 on the chart. It’s nearly indistinguishable from the FTDX10 which is ranked third.  I have the FTDX10 and it is an outstanding receiver.

Of course the antenna is possibly the most important part. Fortunately you don’t have to spend a lot of money to build an antenna. I built a 40-10 meter end fed half wave which could be lengthened to 80 meters easily. Even though the antenna isn’t expensive it seems to be very good at receiving.  

http://www.sherweng.com/table.html

https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/ysu-ft-710-field?seid=dxese1&gclid=CjwKCAjwxLKxBhA7EiwAXO0R0DrCK5Hr5po5ilM0GetFkyhA1YqwTg5UulW-DVxwhpJ4JG1rX6AciRoCFv4QAvD_BwE

[WSCH851]

1 hour ago, SvenMarbles said:

So I play with shortwaves, even more-so than I play with GMRS stuff.

If I would recommend 1 thing, it would be to get a Belka. It’s that tiny black radio on the upper right of my photo. 
 

I know that it seems impossibly small to be anything good. It’s the best radio pictured there.. It can do it because it’s a self contained SDR radio. You can spin the dial right on the unit itself and tune things, or it plugs into a PC with IQ output and can be used with software. It’s the modern best of all things. 
 

The maker of these is in Belarus and you have to have it ordered from there. They’re a bit rare to get in the United States, but it’s very doable. I have 2. The one you see and one boxed and put away to be sure I’m never without one. They’re less than $200.

 

At first I looked up just the word BELKA and found this: 

What is Belka?

 

 

"Belka" means "Squirrel" in Russian. It is also the name of one of the first two dogs to return safely from a space flight.

 

-Appreciate the informatio, I'll look into it
I'm old school and not really wanting to do anything radio on the internet but this may work since it can do both. 

[SvenMarbles]

3 minutes ago, WSCH851 said:

 

At first I looked up just the word BELKA and found this: 

What is Belka?

 

 

"Belka" means "Squirrel" in Russian. It is also the name of one of the first two dogs to return safely from a space flight.

 

-Appreciate the informatio, I'll look into it
I'm old school and not really wanting to do anything radio on the internet but this may work since it can do both. 

No there's no internet involved. it does all of it's own radio-ing lol. It can just also be connected to a PC and be controlled that way,.. even one not connected to the internet. But you definitely don't even need to work out using it that way. Turn it on and use it. It tunes SSB as good as a $1,000 communications receiver.

 

 

[SvenMarbles]

Visit https://belrig.by/

There are weird obstacles with making payment because some banks wont remit into Belarus because of the Russia stuff, and Belarus is a chrony state of the RF. Chase will. I've bought two and "middled" for a couple of other people who wanted one.

Do a google and youtube deep dive on the Belka DX or "Belka Radio".. It's the thing..

 

With today's exchange rate they're only $144

 

 

[SvenMarbles]

I’ve made this heavy oak base for mine with some silicone grippy tape in the inset. The radio sits still on my desk with the antenna coax connected and while tuning. 

[WSCH851]

1 hour ago, SvenMarbles said:

No there's no internet involved. it does all of it's own radio-ing lol. It can just also be connected to a PC and be controlled that way,.. even one not connected to the internet. But you definitely don't even need to work out using it that way. Turn it on and use it. It tunes SSB as good as a $1,000 communications receiver.

 

 

Thank you,