In article ,
Jacob Shank wrote:
Hi, I would like to get into the shortwave hobby and i went to radio
shack and saw this SW radio. Does anyone know if it's a good SW radio?
Or should i get a different one? It seems to be at a good price. Is the
more expensive SW radios able to pick up more SW stations? or it doesn't
matter? I figured to come here for a second opinion. Thanks. Jacob.

It's a cheap radio. The tuning knob is mushy and you'll get most
shortwave stations on two places on the dial. (The higher frequency
is the correct one. They call them "images").

On the other hand, it's quite sensitive. If I wrap the (insulated)
phone cord around the whip, I can pick up pretty much anything that my
R-1000 (a $400, twenty years ago) table top, (with an 70? foot random wire
antenna), can get. (The rub is that the FR200 may not be able to seperate
out the signal from interference. Either from the above mentioned image
rejection problem or the wider bandpass filters). It's also pretty good
on the AM and FM Broadcast bands.

The generator is a joke. And I've managed to screw up a couple of sets
of rechargable batteries. (It uses the same pack as cordless phones,
so you can get new packs at the drug store or electronics shop. That's
just me, rechargables and I don't get along). But it runs an amazing
time on three alkaline AA batteries. I think I've only changed batteries
three or four times in the 15 months or so I've had mine. Using it about
three hours a day.

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)