Miniature SW receiver with external antenna
 

Hi,

I'm looking for a miniature shortwave receiver for use in central
europe. My criteria is:

Must be small and light
External antenna for improved reception
Digital tuning
Battery and AC power
Speaker

Does anyone have any ideas? All I want to do is listen to the BBC from
a hotel room on a set small enough to carry around in a rucksack
without being too heavy.

Please respond to this group only.

TIA

Paul

wrote:


The Sony SW100 is great:


Agreed. I love mine. Expensive, but worth it.

In article , says...
Hi,

I'm looking for a miniature shortwave receiver for use in central
europe. My criteria is:

Must be small and light
External antenna for improved reception
Digital tuning
Battery and AC power
Speaker

Does anyone have any ideas? All I want to do is listen to the BBC from
a hotel room on a set small enough to carry around in a rucksack
without being too heavy.

From what I've heard of reception in Europe, an external antenna may
well be a detriment to good reception of the BBC on a portable.

I won't suggest it as competition to the Sony recommended by others, but
the Tecsun R-919 fits most of your criteria. It's small and light, yet
still pretty sturdy. It comes with a 5-meter "antenna" with a clip on
one end that will attach to the whip antenna. It's analog tuning with a
digital display. Runs for a very long time on 2 AA batteries. (No AC
power.) It has a small speaker that puts out a surprisingly big sound.
Tuning it on SW can be a bit trying due to the ratio on the tuning dial,
but it's usually not difficult to get centered on the big broadcasters.
Oh, yeah, what's probably its best feature is the $30 price tag. It's
far from a great radio, but for $30 it's not bad at all. And if it gets
lost or stolen, you're not going to cry about it like you would with a
$400 Sony.

-- Jay

Thanks for the help everyone. It looks like the Sony SW100 is the one
for me, now that they've solved the old ribbon cable problem. I find I
can get one in the UK from Amazon for 200 euros (equiv) but I'm in
Vienna at the moment and here they are 360 euros!! I'm going to be in
Budapest next week so I'll see if I can pick one up there at a good
price, otherwise I'll order one from Amazon. Does anyone know a good
shop in Budapest?

Jay Heyl wrote:

From what I've heard of reception in Europe, an external antenna may
well be a detriment to good reception of the BBC on a portable.

Why do you say that, Jay? I'm no radio engineer, so any information on
tuning is greatly appreciated!

While I can certainly see the merits of the Tecsun R-919, and I'd
probably buy one anyway at that price, it does't appear to be available
in Europe.

Thanks again, especially Paul Dwerryhouse for the review link.

Paul.

I just got back from a 10-day visit to Madrid where I took my SG-606A.
I used it in my hotel room in the center of the noisy city and
reception of the BBC on 12,095 and 6,120 and other stations came in
clear. On longwave, I was able to hear fascinating Arabic music from
several stations. Morroco and India also came in clear. My 606 is my
constant companion when I travel outside the U.S. It's a very
sensitive receiver, and here in the Caribbean, I can pick up Australia
and Argentina with ease. Try it, you'll like it.


Marty
San Juan, Puerto Rico

Paul wrote in message ...
Hi,

I'm looking for a miniature shortwave receiver for use in central
europe. My criteria is:

Must be small and light
External antenna for improved reception
Digital tuning
Battery and AC power
Speaker

Does anyone have any ideas? All I want to do is listen to the BBC from
a hotel room on a set small enough to carry around in a rucksack
without being too heavy.

Please respond to this group only.

TIA

Paul

Paul,

The Degen or Kaito (Brand names) model 1101 or 1102 sound perfect for
what you are looking for. My 1102 is incredibly small with external
wire included. It goes for hours on its included rechargeable
batteries and is really a great value.

The 1102 even has SSB capability.

Good luck in your search.

Paul wrote in message ...
Hi,

I'm looking for a miniature shortwave receiver for use in central
europe. My criteria is:

Must be small and light
External antenna for improved reception
Digital tuning
Battery and AC power

Radio Shack DX-399, now discontinued. Still available as the Sangean
ATS-606. Small enough to fit in a coat pocket. The DX-399's most
interesting feature was the included dual-voltage power adapter that
could run on anything from 110 to 220 volts AC. It also came with the
Euro-type adapter for the plug. US, Europe - no matter. Radio
Netherlands says the power adapter for the ATS-606 is optional. Mabye
the Sangean power adapter runs on multiple voltages; I don't know. The
RS one definitely will.

http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/ats606.html

Bacchus wrote in message ...
Jay Heyl wrote:

From what I've heard of reception in Europe, an external antenna may
well be a detriment to good reception of the BBC on a portable.

Why do you say that, Jay? I'm no radio engineer, so any information on
tuning is greatly appreciated!

I've never been to Europe so this is just from what I've read, but the
close proximity of many of the broadcasters combined with the high
power transmisions is said to make overload a serious issue. Adding
more antenna is only going to make the overload situation even worse.
Of course, it all depends on what you're trying to listen to. If
you're in Vienna trying to hear Brazil or Japan, that extra antenna is
likely to be necessary. If you're trying to hear DW or BBC, signal
attenuation is likely to be a larger concern.

While I can certainly see the merits of the Tecsun R-919, and I'd
probably buy one anyway at that price, it does't appear to be available
in Europe.

I believe they're only available in Asia right now. I didn't realize
you were already in Europe. Buying from ebay and having it shipped
from Hong Kong is likely to be a problem when you're travelling.

-- Jay

Thanks for the help everyone. It looks like the Sony SW100 is the one
for me,

Huh? You're going to spend that much for what you said you'd be using it for?

DX-399: Problem solved......a lot of money saved.

Radio Shack DX-399, now discontinued. Still available as the Sangean
ATS-606. Small enough to fit in a coat pocket. The DX-399's most
interesting feature was the included dual-voltage power adapter that
could run on anything from 110 to 220 volts AC. It also came with the
Euro-type adapter for the plug. US, Europe - no matter. Radio
Netherlands says the power adapter for the ATS-606 is optional. Mabye
the Sangean power adapter runs on multiple voltages; I don't know. The
RS one definitely will.

See, there you go. Problem solved. You'd have to be crazy to spend that much
for what he's using it for.

Plus, the 399 is an 'excellent' piece. It can't be beat for the size or
money.

~*~*Monitoring The AirWaves~*~
*****GO BEARCATS*****
Hammarlund HQ129X /Heathkit Q Multiplier
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