Dear Ms. Laura,
Universal Radio sells an AC adapter for the Sony ICF-SW7600GR which
they claim is satisfactory. Sony's adapter is of the new "switching"
kind which, though much more efficient than the older linear adapters,
introduces a lot of noise; this makes it unsuitable for SW reception.
In any case, the adapters sold here are for 110V, not 220. I do not
know anything about the AC adapters sold in England. You must make sure
that any AC adapter you purchase for the radio is a linear one as
opposed to a "switching" adapter.
I don't recommend the AC adapter because, even if it injects just a
small amount of noise, this may impact your reception of Korea. (You
should check on that with people who live in the UK; Korea's signal
strength may be well stronger in the UK than the US.)
Of course, if you wish to use a timer to turn on the radio, then, of
course, you will need an AC adapter which would plug into the timer.
However, if you use rechargeable NiMH batteries (which is what I
strongly recommend for both the radio and the antenna), these can be
charged at any time (they have little or no "memory effect" like NiCad
batteries) so you could charge them every day if you wished. There are
chargers which will recharge those batteries in one hour or less.
The radio runs a very long time on rechargeable NiMH batteries and the
antenna lasts even longer on those batteries. You need have no fear of
the batteries going flat if you maintain them properly in accordance
with your listening habits.
The myth that "the radio powers the antenna" began, I'm afraid, with an
error in PASSPORT TO WORLD BAND RADIO which is maintained even in its
latest edition. It may be an error in interpretation. The radio will
power on (and off) the antenna (in other words, when using the antenna
with the '7600, one does not need to use the power switch on the
antenna; it is turned on or off with the radio), but batteries are
required in the antenna. It will not work if there are no batteries
installed. PASSPORT's terminology is unfortunate and has led to a great
deal of confusion.
The antenna has no input for an AC adapter, but, as it turns on and off
with the radio, there would be no problem with leaving the antenna
powered unnecessarily. (The Sony AN-LP1 has the "automatic" operation
only with the '7600 radio. It, of course, works with other SW radios,
but the power switch must be turned on and off manually. Note also that
the AN-LP1 is strictly for SW. It must be physically disconnected from
the radio when listening to MW or LW.)
I hope the above is of some use to you and, again, I wish you the very
best of luck.
Joe
laura fairhead wrote:
On 9 Dec 2004 12:01:34 -0800, "Joe Analssandrini"
wrote:
Hi again,
Thankyou everyone for your advice it has been most helpful 
I think I am going to go for the Sony SW7600GR ; a few people have
recommended it to me now and I have spent some amount of time
reading-up
on it and it sounds very good. What is more the actually hearing
tales of people receiving VOK on it who are about the same distance
away from Korea is just exactly what I want to hear before
shelling-out
cash becasue this is the primary reason I want an SW Radio.
I have a slight worry that if I leave the radio to come on at a
certain time (I'm trying to automate recording a program) with
the aerial plugged in that the batteries in the aerial will run
out .... I don't know, I haven't read enough about it all to
understand but I'm a bit confused because it says the AN-LP1
draws power from the radio itself via the mini-jack but on the
other hand it has batteries inside the aerial too - I don't
understand that at all %/
Anyway now I'm trying to find a shop, hopefully local, where I
can obtain it because I can't get deliveries to my home (a real
pain !! ). Maybe I'll be lucky and get it by the weekend, if/when
I do I'll post again and tell u how it went
bestwishesfrom
laura
Dear Ms. Laura,
May I recommend a Sony ICF-SW7600GR, which I regard as the finest of
all small portable short wave radios currently available new? Along
with that receiver I should recommend you purchase a Sony AN-LP1
Active
Loop Antenna, which is a perfect (indoor, window-mount) match for
the
radio.
Alone among small, relatively inexpensive short wave radios, it
feature
a synchronous selectable-sideband circuit (which sounds complicated
but
actually is not) which allows for superb reception of somewhat
difficult signals. It can eliminate adjacent-channel interference
and
also eliminate selective-fading distortion (where an announcer
sounds
as though he/she has a very bad cold which renders them
unintelligible).
I live in the USA but with the Sony combination I have received
North
Korea and the VOR (which is one of my favorite stations; I
particularly
enjoy their show "Musical Tales" which features fine Russian
classical
music; I also like their "Jazz Show").
I hope you will consider the above as it affords you a superb
receiver/antenna combination which you will never "outgrow" even if
eventually you buy a table-model short wave receiver. (It is a great
combination to take on a vacation.)
Should you wish to erect an outdoor antenna, you can attach it to
the
Sony without fear of "overloading" as long as the antenna is not too
"elaborate." In high-signal-strength Europe, however, the need for
an
outdoor antenna is not critical, at least at first.
Your own experience will tell you, after a while, whether you wish
for
something "better" or if what you already have is satisfactory.
I own quite a number of receivers (these things do tend to
accumulate)
but, even though my table-models are "better" radios and have
"better"
antennas, I use my Sony ICF-7600GR (I have three of them as well as
two
of its predecessor model the '7600G) every day. (I use NiMH
rechargeable batteries in the radio and the antenna; this allows
running costs to be very low in the long run.)
Should you decide to buy my recommended combination, look into
buying
from a US-based company as the pound-dollar ratio is so favorable to
you. Even with shipping it might cost you less than buying in the
UK.
Of course, check with your local shops as well to compare their
prices.
Two US companies I can recommend are Universal Radio and AES. Both
can
be found on the web, though Sony prohibits web purchases (I have
absolutely no idea why!).
Should you like what you see, you can e-mail those US-based
companies
for more information about purchase.
I wish you all the very best of luck.
Joe
laura fairhead wrote:
Hi ppl,
I am new to radio hamming although I have some experience
with electronics and I work in computing so I'm not afraid of
technical stuff Basically I am looking at buying a radio that
can recieve short wave and possibly setting up some sort of
aerial for it (have access to the roof where I live and I have
friends
tha can help put something reasonably simple up there). The main
reason I'm doing it is to recieve Voice of Korea ( DPRK - North
Korea), I'm also interested in recieving signal from Moscow
I know they have a very powerful transmitter there so it shouldn't
be a problem but I've heard that the DPRK signal is weak. The
problem I have is mainly what sort of radio I should get
that would give me the best reception. I can maybe afford
to shell-out about a hundred pounds, maybe a bit more if I'm
really convinced. What would you recommend to a beginning radio
ham who would like a reasonably decent radio set and trying
to recieve signals from Korea ? Has anyone experience with
recieving Voice of Korea from England, or Western Europe ?
(Until recently VOK was called Radio Pyongyang)
Regards from
laura
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