Jon schrieb:
Hi,
I'm looking to buy my first portable to jump in and get my feet wet. On top
of world band I'd like to try to search out some pirate/clandestine
stations. I am thinking of the Sony ICF-SW7600GR. I realize this isn't
high-end, but I don't know enough yet to spend more.
It's doubtlessly a very good choice for an entry level receiver. The
predecessor was my first SWL rig, and in fact it still gets some use
today (with 4 2200 mAh NiMH cells; 8 of those and a reasonably fast NiMH
charger are a worthwile investment). Outside Europe, it's certainly not
a bad idea to use the clip-on wire antenna AN-71 that it ships with, are
even a real antenna. Another add-on that is virtually a must for an SWL
is a pair of good headphones, preferably with not too high an impedance.
Open or half-open ones are preferred.
I'd like a Drake R8B, but it ain't in the cards yet... 
Oh, those "big" rigs are not always as much better as you might think. I
did an A/B comparison between an 7600G and an AOR AR7030+ on the same
antenna construction (basically, an AN-71) recently (that was on 4965
kHz on the 60 meters band), and while the AOR undoubtably won when
maxing out its features, the same station wasn't inaudible on the Sony.
It came in a bit weaker and quite a bit more muddled and I had to use
SSB in LSB because of interference (the AOR was able to use its Synch
with the 2 kHz filter and PBS turned down ~1 kHz), but I wouldn't call
that worlds of difference. Of course the difference would be a whole lot
more noticeable if the Sony ran into one of its weak points or the AOR
got a decent antenna. All in all, the listener is quite a big part of
the equation, and people have caught some good DX even with receivers
that weren't top class at all. (A number of years back, I was very
excited to hear Papua New Guinea on my 7600G; the audio quality was
barely good enough to ID the station and apparently reception of the
station had also been exceptionally good elswhere, but hey.)
I guess I'm wondering how effective this radio will be for listening to
pirates. I live in NYC on the top floor of a five story building and would
be able to rig some sort of antenna on the roof.
I'd experiment with hanging part of the AN-71 out of the window first;
with an antenna on top of the roof you'd have to think about lightning
protection. In addition to that, a "real antenna" (dipole or whatnot)
would pretty much require a balun and some coax cable as well as some
knowledge in soldering (you'd have to attach a 3.5 mm mono headphone
plug at the end of the cable to fit the receiver's EXT ANT input). In
Central Europe an antenna tuner or preselector is pretty much required
to avoid overloading the receiver on a big antenna.
Or maybe get the Sony AN-LP1...
If you can find one, that is - it seems to be in very short supply. From
what I've heard it works very well with good S/N and directionality.
Would this be a good starter radio?
Most certainly, yes. One can learn basically everything needed to get
started in the hobby with it (OK, some literature is also recommended) -
propagation changes, how to use a synch detector, how to use SSB, etc.
Any suggestions for an antenna? Any
other recommendations for the uninitiated?
Don't bother with the Sony power supply, a cheap unregulated universal
one will do. Overall reception is a bit better with batteries, the 7600G
at least tended to produce hum on strong stations which can really drive
you nuts.
Stephan
--
Home:
http://stephan.win31.de/ | Webm.:
http://www.i24.com/
PC#6: i440LX, 2xCel300A, 448 MB, 18 GB, ATI AGP 32 MB, 110W
This is a SCSI-inside, Legacy-plus, TCPA-free computer
Reply to newsgroup only. | See home page for working e-mail address.