[Joe Analssandrini]

Dear Doug,

Why not join this group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/7600GR/ . It
is, of course, all about the Sony ICF-SW7600GR and related accessories
and many of the members are extremely knowledgeable. There are few, if
any, idiotic off-topic rants (I cannot recall seeing any, at least in
recent months) and I have found all of the members to be polite and
helpful.

The Sony ICF-SW7600GR does indeed have an external antenna jack
(3.5mm) and, unlike many other portables, this radio's circuitry is
sufficiently robust to handle a pretty fair external antenna. I know
for a fact that a 60-foot outdoor wire works extremely well with it. I
have read that even longer ones work fine but I do not know this for a
fact personally. I myself use Sony's AN-LP1 Active (Loop) Antenna
which makes for a great combination.

I think you'll be very happy with this Sony radio. There are others of
course which are "better," but they are all far more costly and some
of them are not built nearly as well as the Sony. Its reception
characteristics (its tuning section) are extremely good; with a proper
external antenna, I think you should be able to hear at least 95%
(perhaps even more) of what you would be able to hear on one of the
much more expensive receivers. This Sony is also the only low-cost
shortwave receiver which features a synchronous detection circuit. I
have found that there are many owners of this radio who do not know
how to properly use this circuit but, if you will carefully read the
owner's manual and investigate some other resources, both on the web
and in print, you will quickly become familiar with the circuit which
sometimes makes the difference between clearly hearing a station or
not hearing it clearly (or at all). (Obviously the owners who do not
know when and how to use the circuit have not done this.)

The radio also has a superb SSB circuit and reception characteristics
for listening to Hams and also the AFRTS broadcasts.

And the standard AM broadcast band reception is excellent, what with
its great sensitivity, selectivity, and that Sync circuit (at least
where IBOC doesn't interfere).

Its FM reception is fine also.

Is there a "fly in the ointment?" You bet! It's the sound quality
through the built-in speaker. Sony has NEVER gotten that right - but
fortunately there is an easy "fix" available. This radio features a
line output jack and it is set to an appropriate level. You merely
attach it, via a $10.00 Radio Shack cable, to your stereo system and -
poof - goodbye "bad sound." Or you can buy external amplified (battery-
powered) computer speakers and these too will greatly improve the
sound quality as well as not detract from the radio's portability, if
that is a consideration. (I use the Sony SRS-A27 external speakers,
approximately $20.00.)

I strongly suggest that you buy the latest edition of PASSPORT TO
WORLD BAND RADIO. You can buy it for less than $16.00 from Amazon. It
has a wealth of information enclosed and quite a nice review of the
Sony ICF-SW7600GR which they characterize as "[o]ne of the great
values in a meaningful world band radio." This book will give you lots
of listening tips which can be found nowhere else including many radio
reviews and antenna reviews. (Another book which I buy each year is
the WORLD RADIO-TV HANDBOOK, also available from Amazon; its new
edition comes out in late December this year.)

I have been a shortwave listener for fifty years and I have never
grown tired of it. Especially with the current world situation and the
extremely poor news coverage available from standard US sources (my
opinion), it is vital (I think) to be aware of what other countries
are thinking and, while internet and local FM retransmissions are fine
and do serve a purpose, they are easily blocked or censored in time of
strife (or even knocked out in situations of natural disaster),
something which is virtually impossible with shortwave radio.

Again, as I said above, I truly believe that you will be very happy
with your new radio and, if you join the Yahoo! group, I think you
will be happy with that too.

Best of luck,

Joe

On Nov 12, 4:04*pm, DougC wrote:
Okay, the mail server ate my first message.

* ----------

I decided I wanted to listen to SW lately, looked around online and just
ordered a Sony ICF-SW7600GR. I dunno much about ham but it seemed to be
widely regarded. Seems like every radio out there has at least one or
two great features missing. I wanted an external antenna jack but the
Sony doesn't have that, but it does have (by many accounts) a good tuner
section.

I considered the Satellit 750 too. I didn't really -need- a portable,
but $300 was about the absolute limit of what I wanted to spend and the
stationary receivers all seemed to start near $500 and go up fast from
there.

Mostly I imagine I'll be listening to int'l news broadcast stations. I
tend to think that the US is entering some "interesting times" (that
neither Obama, McCain nor any mix of Congress can save it from) and I
wanted an alternative to the ministry of truth. As for listening to
anything else on SW/LW--I don't know if I would or not; never had a
radio to do it before.

* ------

By the by--I looked around online for a moderated forum for these sorts
of questions and couldn't seem to find one. The forums I found had not
many posts and were all mostly filled with off-topic trash, just
like,,,, this NG is. Is there any forum on the web that posts are at
least, oh, say,,, 50% about shortwave radios?

I found a couple that seemed like they had a decent number of
sub-forums, if they only had someone to take out the garbage once a day
and ban user accounts.