His comment was a little weird, but what he may have meant was that the
audio in the VR-500 is not great because of the small speaker (small package
means small speaker). If you use headphones, the point is moot.

It also sounds like he's being overly discriminating with the term
"receiver". Receiver is a general term for any equipment that receives and
demodulates radio signals. All of the radios you are talking about are also
receivers--the Grundigs, Sangeans, Sonys, etc.

The VRs are considered "communications receivers" because of the wide range
they cover and, in the case of the VR-500, more flexible step sizes, higher
frequency resolution for fine tuning, more memories and the capability for
all analog receive modes (AM/NAM/FM/WFM/SSB/CW). They may be overkill for
just SW listening (especially the VR-500)--they are intended more for hams
and scanner types.

SW receivers tend to be geared toward broadcast reception only, but even
some of the SW receivers offer SSB mode, which can be used for listening to
hams and utility services (in that case, they are being used more like
"communications receivers"). The frequency step sizes tend to be limited to
5 kHz/1 kHz for SW broadcast, 9/10 kHz for AM broadcast and 50 or 100 kHz
for FM broadcast. Higher end SW receivers start to approach the
functionality of communications receivers, and the line between them becomes
blurred.

"Enthusiasts" tend to prefer receivers with more flexibility, whereas
"listeners" only require broadcast reception capability and prefer simpler
operation (these definitions are strictly mine...not everyone would agree).

Incidentally, the VR-120 does not have SSB capability.

- Doug


"Rambler" wrote in message
om...
(Tom Welch) wrote in message
. com...
OK, I went by this establishment today to look at the VRs. I explained
what I was looking for and the sales person pushed me towards a
Grundig eTraveler. I told him that you all had suggested the Yaesus
and he said "Those are no good for shortwave, they are receivers." I
asked him to explain the difference and he said "You want a radio that
you can listen to. Those receivers are for enthusiasts."
Can you explain the difference here to me? I realize that the
receivers cover a much broader spectrum than the world band radios do.
But is the sound quality really crappy? Will I need to go back to
school to learn to use it?

Is a receiver not just a shortwave, scanner, and nautical radio all
rolled into one?

A VR-120D sounds interesting...weather band, shortwave,sideband, new
frequencies to learn about in the future...

But it seems like a line has been drawn between these radios and
normal shortwaves that people rarely cross.

What gives?

Rambler