Joe Analssandrini wrote:

There is really no end to the merits of this radio. Yes, it is more
costly than some portable shortwave receivers, but you are purchasing
a true classic that will never give you "buyers' remorse."

I had a 7600GR for a few days. I never intended to keep it, just
evaluate it. It's a very good portable. If it had a tuning knob (like
the 2010), I might have actually kept it.

RedPenguin schrieb:

I live in Pennsylvania, USA.

I just recently learned about shortwave. I believe it would be
something very good to get into.

I am not 100% sure on what to get in a receiver.

I want a portable kind so I can travel with it.

There are a number of portables that might be considered:
Sony ICF-SW7600GR (best for SSB in its class, speaker audio modest, may
need some more antenna when used on batteries, AM sensitivity good but
bandwidth tight, FM subpar, telescopic antenna somewhat weak point while
otherwise mechanics are fairly solid and QC and durability seem good)
Etón E5 = Grundig G5 (nice rx, quite sensitive, decent for SSB, decent
speaker audio, FM pretty good, tuning wheel is a plus, occasional QC
issues)
Kaito KA1103 (same basic rx as E5, but different user interface,
ergonomics usually considered not so great)
Sangean ATS-909 (good, fairly flexible rx, tuning wheel, battery hog,
tends to require external antenna or mod for good sensitivity, FM pretty
good, more suitable for home use)
Grundig YB400PE/G4000 (a generally decent rx with good image rejection,
SSB bad, good speaker audio, good AMBCB sensitivity, good FM rx, runs
off 6 AA cells, occasional QC issues or high phase noise)
Sangean PT-80 (seems to be a generally decent performer with good
speaker audio but with poor SSB, has tuning wheel)

Insufficient 2nd IF image rejection (of little more than 40 dB) is not
uncommon, e.g. in 7600GR, E5/1103 (YB400 has ~60 dB). This results in
weak ghost signals 900/910 kHz lower, which is likely to bother those
who want to listen to 60 meters or the 20 meter ham band (it's not much
of an issue for the casual broadcast listener).

Yet smaller models include:
Sangean ATS-606A (a classic, AM-only, but with 1 kHz steps, apparently a
bit of a battery hog but generally liked by owners)
KA1102 (probably the least expensive set with SSB, decent performer,
possibly sensitive to AM breakthrough, occasional QC issues)

Other accessories that may be needed/useful:
* Some good rechargeables (e.g. Sanyo or Panasonic, maybe some Eneloops
or equivalent cells), and one of the few chargers that doesn't wreck
them overly fast by overcharging.
* Some kind of portable loop antenna to achieve better signal and less
man-made noise (e.g. KA33)
* Some headphones (e.g. Koss PortaPro or KSC-75, or Sennheiser PX100 -
nothing keeps you from using more fancy ones of course, but I find an
old Sennheiser HD420SL is entirely sufficient for MW/SW)
* The usual literature (PWBR, WRTH)

Stephan
--
Home: http://stephan.win31.de/
So if it receives like a handbag, does it sound good at least?

For some reviews on various shortwave radios, you would want to take
a look at radio reviews at, http://www.radiointel.com/
and http://www.eham.net/
Your will find reviews by different users/owners on many different
shortwave receivers. I own a Panasonic 2200, Sony 7600, Eton E5, Eton
E100, Kaito/Degen 1101, 1102, 11, and just ordered the DE101.
For days or weeks of backpacking in the wilderness, I take the
E100, DE11 or I will take the DE101 when it arrives. Very small, and
weigh very little. They take up very little room in a backpack. But
they grab all the major international broadcasters very nicely. And if
atmospheric conditions are really good, even some of the weaker ones.
For camping without much backpacking, I would take the 1102, or
1101. They are better radios and have a few more "bells and whistles"
for more signal capture then my smaller "backpack" radios. They are
also a bit bigger and heavier of course. My larger and heaviest radios
stay at home for listening and are even more sensitive for pulling in
the more difficult signals.
For listening at home I prefer the Panasonic 2200, and the 7600,
and Eton E5.
I suppose that I would have to say that I like them all, for
different reasons. They each have their place. But then, as you can
see, I am a bit of a collector as well. ;-) (Including coins, and
meteorites). But now that I am retired and living on a lower income, I
won't be doing as much buying anymore.
My Panasonic is an excellent radio, but of course you can only find
them used these days. My Sony 7600 is, in my opinion, an excellent
radio that I can highly recommend. Definitely one of my favourites. I
will never sell it.The Kaito/Degen 1102 is, for the money, and it's
size, an excellent deal. The best bang for the buck as others have
said on other web sites. I tend to agree.
Among all these radios you won't find one that is all things to
all people. Decide what you are going to do with your radio, where you
will use it, how much you want to spend, how small and portable you
want it to be, and go to as many sites and study as many reviews that
you can. You don't have to rush your decision. But check out those
two websites I mentioned above.
Welcome to the hobby. :-)

On 21 Feb 2007 18:49:49 -0800, "Cato" wrote:

For some reviews on various shortwave radios, you would want to take
a look at radio reviews at, http://www.radiointel.com/
and http://www.eham.net/
Your will find reviews by different users/owners on many different
shortwave receivers. I own a Panasonic 2200, Sony 7600, Eton E5, Eton
E100, Kaito/Degen 1101, 1102, 11, and just ordered the DE101.
For days or weeks of backpacking in the wilderness, I take the
E100, DE11 or I will take the DE101 when it arrives. Very small, and
weigh very little. They take up very little room in a backpack. But
they grab all the major international broadcasters very nicely. And if
atmospheric conditions are really good, even some of the weaker ones.
For camping without much backpacking, I would take the 1102, or
1101. They are better radios and have a few more "bells and whistles"
for more signal capture then my smaller "backpack" radios. They are
also a bit bigger and heavier of course. My larger and heaviest radios
stay at home for listening and are even more sensitive for pulling in
the more difficult signals.
For listening at home I prefer the Panasonic 2200, and the 7600,
and Eton E5.
I suppose that I would have to say that I like them all, for
different reasons. They each have their place. But then, as you can
see, I am a bit of a collector as well. ;-) (Including coins, and
meteorites). But now that I am retired and living on a lower income, I
won't be doing as much buying anymore.
My Panasonic is an excellent radio, but of course you can only find
them used these days. My Sony 7600 is, in my opinion, an excellent
radio that I can highly recommend. Definitely one of my favourites. I
will never sell it.The Kaito/Degen 1102 is, for the money, and it's
size, an excellent deal. The best bang for the buck as others have
said on other web sites. I tend to agree.
Among all these radios you won't find one that is all things to
all people. Decide what you are going to do with your radio, where you
will use it, how much you want to spend, how small and portable you
want it to be, and go to as many sites and study as many reviews that
you can. You don't have to rush your decision. But check out those
two websites I mentioned above.
Welcome to the hobby. :-)

I've never used the Sony 7600, so I'm curious, just how much better
is it supposed to be over the Kaito 1102 or 1103? I've always thought
Sony products were overpriced...

On Feb 21, 9:49 pm, "Cato" wrote:
For some reviews on various shortwave radios, you would want to take
a look at radio reviews at, http://www.radiointel.com/
and http://www.eham.net/
Your will find reviews by different users/owners on many different
shortwave receivers. I own a Panasonic 2200, Sony 7600, Eton E5, Eton
E100, Kaito/Degen 1101, 1102, 11, and just ordered the DE101.
For days or weeks of backpacking in the wilderness, I take the
E100, DE11 or I will take the DE101 when it arrives. Very small, and
weigh very little. They take up very little room in a backpack. But
they grab all the major international broadcasters very nicely. And if
atmospheric conditions are really good, even some of the weaker ones.
For camping without much backpacking, I would take the 1102, or
1101. They are better radios and have a few more "bells and whistles"
for more signal capture then my smaller "backpack" radios. They are
also a bit bigger and heavier of course. My larger and heaviest radios
stay at home for listening and are even more sensitive for pulling in
the more difficult signals.
For listening at home I prefer the Panasonic 2200, and the 7600,
and Eton E5.
I suppose that I would have to say that I like them all, for
different reasons. They each have their place. But then, as you can
see, I am a bit of a collector as well. ;-) (Including coins, and
meteorites). But now that I am retired and living on a lower income, I
won't be doing as much buying anymore.
My Panasonic is an excellent radio, but of course you can only find
them used these days. My Sony 7600 is, in my opinion, an excellent
radio that I can highly recommend. Definitely one of my favourites. I
will never sell it.The Kaito/Degen 1102 is, for the money, and it's
size, an excellent deal. The best bang for the buck as others have
said on other web sites. I tend to agree.
Among all these radios you won't find one that is all things to
all people. Decide what you are going to do with your radio, where you
will use it, how much you want to spend, how small and portable you
want it to be, and go to as many sites and study as many reviews that
you can. You don't have to rush your decision. But check out those
two websites I mentioned above.
Welcome to the hobby. :-)

Well, what I want to do, is mostly listen at home, but maybe do some
listening portably. I need a radio that can deal with some roughness
although I am always very careful with stuff, but with mobile
sometimes you just can't help it. I want also to really extend my
listening experience if I can help it. I want to hear as much as I can
if I can. Don't know how far, I wanna listen though, even if I pull in
Russia or something, I can't speak it, lol.

Thank you all for all your suggestions. I might end up getting the
Sony but I think I am going to look at reviews for the other radios
just in case, since I gotta a little bit of time before I actually
order any radio.

On Feb 24, 9:09 am, "RedPenguin" wrote:
On Feb 21, 9:49 pm, "Cato" wrote:



For some reviews on various shortwave radios, you would want to take
a look at radio reviews at, http://www.radiointel.com/
and http://www.eham.net/
Your will find reviews by different users/owners on many different
shortwave receivers. I own a Panasonic 2200, Sony 7600, Eton E5, Eton
E100, Kaito/Degen 1101, 1102, 11, and just ordered the DE101.
For days or weeks of backpacking in the wilderness, I take the
E100, DE11 or I will take the DE101 when it arrives. Very small, and
weigh very little. They take up very little room in a backpack. But
they grab all the major international broadcasters very nicely. And if
atmospheric conditions are really good, even some of the weaker ones.
For camping without much backpacking, I would take the 1102, or
1101. They are better radios and have a few more "bells and whistles"
for more signal capture then my smaller "backpack" radios. They are
also a bit bigger and heavier of course. My larger and heaviest radios
stay at home for listening and are even more sensitive for pulling in
the more difficult signals.
For listening at home I prefer the Panasonic 2200, and the 7600,
and Eton E5.
I suppose that I would have to say that I like them all, for
different reasons. They each have their place. But then, as you can
see, I am a bit of a collector as well. ;-) (Including coins, and
meteorites). But now that I am retired and living on a lower income, I
won't be doing as much buying anymore.
My Panasonic is an excellent radio, but of course you can only find
them used these days. My Sony 7600 is, in my opinion, an excellent
radio that I can highly recommend. Definitely one of my favourites. I
will never sell it.The Kaito/Degen 1102 is, for the money, and it's
size, an excellent deal. The best bang for the buck as others have
said on other web sites. I tend to agree.
Among all these radios you won't find one that is all things to
all people. Decide what you are going to do with your radio, where you
will use it, how much you want to spend, how small and portable you
want it to be, and go to as many sites and study as many reviews that
you can. You don't have to rush your decision. But check out those
two websites I mentioned above.
Welcome to the hobby. :-)

Well, what I want to do, is mostly listen at home, but maybe do some
listening portably. I need a radio that can deal with some roughness
although I am always very careful with stuff, but with mobile
sometimes you just can't help it. I want also to really extend my
listening experience if I can help it. I want to hear as much as I can
if I can. Don't know how far, I wanna listen though, even if I pull in
Russia or something, I can't speak it, lol.

Thank you all for all your suggestions. I might end up getting the
Sony but I think I am going to look at reviews for the other radios
just in case, since I gotta a little bit of time before I actually
order any radio.

Thank you all guys, I love my new Sony ICF7600GR, it not only picks up
LW/MW/SW but it even picks up distant AM stations. I live in
Johnstown, PA which is 105 mi (about 2 hours 7 mins) away according to
Google and KDKA is 1020 AM, and no other radio seems to pick up the
station but doing an AM search with my Sony, it just picks it up like
a local station. Thanks for telling me about the radio, it's well
worth the money.

On Feb 24, 9:09 am, "RedPenguin" wrote:
On Feb 21, 9:49 pm, "Cato" wrote:



For some reviews on various shortwave radios, you would want to take
a look at radio reviews at, http://www.radiointel.com/
and http://www.eham.net/
Your will find reviews by different users/owners on many different
shortwave receivers. I own a Panasonic 2200, Sony 7600, Eton E5, Eton
E100, Kaito/Degen 1101, 1102, 11, and just ordered the DE101.
For days or weeks of backpacking in the wilderness, I take the
E100, DE11 or I will take the DE101 when it arrives. Very small, and
weigh very little. They take up very little room in a backpack. But
they grab all the major international broadcasters very nicely. And if
atmospheric conditions are really good, even some of the weaker ones.
For camping without much backpacking, I would take the 1102, or
1101. They are better radios and have a few more "bells and whistles"
for more signal capture then my smaller "backpack" radios. They are
also a bit bigger and heavier of course. My larger and heaviest radios
stay at home for listening and are even more sensitive for pulling in
the more difficult signals.
For listening at home I prefer the Panasonic 2200, and the 7600,
and Eton E5.
I suppose that I would have to say that I like them all, for
different reasons. They each have their place. But then, as you can
see, I am a bit of a collector as well. ;-) (Including coins, and
meteorites). But now that I am retired and living on a lower income, I
won't be doing as much buying anymore.
My Panasonic is an excellent radio, but of course you can only find
them used these days. My Sony 7600 is, in my opinion, an excellent
radio that I can highly recommend. Definitely one of my favourites. I
will never sell it.The Kaito/Degen 1102 is, for the money, and it's
size, an excellent deal. The best bang for the buck as others have
said on other web sites. I tend to agree.
Among all these radios you won't find one that is all things to
all people. Decide what you are going to do with your radio, where you
will use it, how much you want to spend, how small and portable you
want it to be, and go to as many sites and study as many reviews that
you can. You don't have to rush your decision. But check out those
two websites I mentioned above.
Welcome to the hobby. :-)

Well, what I want to do, is mostly listen at home, but maybe do some
listening portably. I need a radio that can deal with some roughness
although I am always very careful with stuff, but with mobile
sometimes you just can't help it. I want also to really extend my
listening experience if I can help it. I want to hear as much as I can
if I can. Don't know how far, I wanna listen though, even if I pull in
Russia or something, I can't speak it, lol.

Thank you all for all your suggestions. I might end up getting the
Sony but I think I am going to look at reviews for the other radios
just in case, since I gotta a little bit of time before I actually
order any radio.

I correct my self, my one radio picks it up but it's almost unaudbile.

In message , helmsman
writes

Remember, for every good radio there should be a BETTER ANTENNA.


A good antenna usually means strong signals. Don't forget that a simple,
passive preselector between the antenna and the receiver can cure a
multitude of problems. It is particularly useful for peaking up weak
signals and rejecting strong signals which might cause overload.
Ian.
--