On Sun, 06 Jun 2004 12:31:41 -0700, James Boyk
wrote:

(I posted another note to this effect but it doesn't show up.)

Can anyone tell me the diff. between Sony's 620X and 640 models? The former is
offered by the Canadian outlet at $199.95; the latter, by Jacky's at
substantially less. On the other hand, Canada responds helpfully to email;
Jacky's does not; so I'd rather deal w/ Canada.


I found the following thread at
http://www.radio-forum.com/shortwave...ve_337644.html
===============================================


radio-forum.com
Promoting radio discussion.

Main
Date: 10 Nov 2003 14:49:52
From: Alan Smithee
Subject: CAR STEREO - Shortwave

This may have been discussed earlier, and if so I apologize.

I've been thinking of installing a AM/FM/SWL receiver in my car and
there's precious little info out there on the subject. Understandable
I suppose considering everything's going digital.

I did come across this Sony model: XR-CA620X AM/FM/Shortwave Cassette
Car Stereo that's even available here in Canada.

I was just wondering if anyone on this group has had any experience
with this model... or others, for that matter.

Thanks in advance.



Date: 11 Nov 2003 02:46:29
From: David
Subject: CAR STEREO - Shortwave

I bought a Sony XR-4950 AM/FM/SW from Jacky's in Dubai and it works great in
my car. You shouldn't have a problem with the CA-620X.

"Alan Smithee" wrote in message
...
This may have been discussed earlier, and if so I apologize.

I've been thinking of installing a AM/FM/SWL receiver in my car and
there's precious little info out there on the subject. Understandable
I suppose considering everything's going digital.

I did come across this Sony model: XR-CA620X AM/FM/Shortwave Cassette
Car Stereo that's even available here in Canada.

I was just wondering if anyone on this group has had any experience
with this model... or others, for that matter.

Thanks in advance.





Date: 10 Nov 2003 23:23:49
From: Robert Sillett
Subject: CAR STEREO - Shortwave

I bought the XR-CA640X from Jacky's about four months ago. I think the 640
is slightly higher-end than the 620 you mention in that one can attach XM
Radio, CD/MP3, etc. to it.

I am very happy with the radio. It's not a DX machine, but it's great for
listening to the regular broadcasters. I have a little write-up of the
radio on my web site:
http://www.sillett.us.eu.org/radio/s...l#sonyxrca640x

Bob


"David" wrote in message
...
I bought a Sony XR-4950 AM/FM/SW from Jacky's in Dubai and it works great
in
my car. You shouldn't have a problem with the CA-620X.

"Alan Smithee" wrote in message
...
This may have been discussed earlier, and if so I apologize.

I've been thinking of installing a AM/FM/SWL receiver in my car and
there's precious little info out there on the subject. Understandable
I suppose considering everything's going digital.

I did come across this Sony model: XR-CA620X AM/FM/Shortwave Cassette
Car Stereo that's even available here in Canada.

I was just wondering if anyone on this group has had any experience
with this model... or others, for that matter.

Thanks in advance.







Date: 11 Nov 2003 15:19:30
From: Alan Smithee
Subject: CAR STEREO - Shortwave

Many thanks for this, Bob. It's exactly what I was looking for.
Cheers!

In article , Robert Sillett
wrote:

I bought the XR-CA640X from Jacky's about four months ago. I think the 640
is slightly higher-end than the 620 you mention in that one can attach XM
Radio, CD/MP3, etc. to it.

I am very happy with the radio. It's not a DX machine, but it's great for
listening to the regular broadcasters. I have a little write-up of the
radio on my web site:
http://www.sillett.us.eu.org/radio/s...l#sonyxrca640x

Bob


"David" wrote in message
...
I bought a Sony XR-4950 AM/FM/SW from Jacky's in Dubai and it works great
in
my car. You shouldn't have a problem with the CA-620X.

"Alan Smithee" wrote in message
...
This may have been discussed earlier, and if so I apologize.

I've been thinking of installing a AM/FM/SWL receiver in my car and
there's precious little info out there on the subject. Understandable
I suppose considering everything's going digital.

I did come across this Sony model: XR-CA620X AM/FM/Shortwave Cassette
Car Stereo that's even available here in Canada.

I was just wondering if anyone on this group has had any experience
with this model... or others, for that matter.

Thanks in advance.







Date: 12 Nov 2003 16:17:57
From: Jim
Subject: CAR STEREO - Shortwave

I have one, it works OK, but has serious frequency gaps for
out of band stations, got it from Jacky's in Dubai. Going to
rig up another portable.







On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 23:23:49 -0500, "Robert Sillett"
wrote:

I bought the XR-CA640X from Jacky's about four months ago. I think the 640
is slightly higher-end than the 620 you mention in that one can attach XM
Radio, CD/MP3, etc. to it.

I am very happy with the radio. It's not a DX machine, but it's great for
listening to the regular broadcasters. I have a little write-up of the
radio on my web site:
http://www.sillett.us.eu.org/radio/s...l#sonyxrca640x

Bob


"David" wrote in message
.. .
I bought a Sony XR-4950 AM/FM/SW from Jacky's in Dubai and it works great
in
my car. You shouldn't have a problem with the CA-620X.

"Alan Smithee" wrote in message
...
This may have been discussed earlier, and if so I apologize.

I've been thinking of installing a AM/FM/SWL receiver in my car and
there's precious little info out there on the subject. Understandable
I suppose considering everything's going digital.

I did come across this Sony model: XR-CA620X AM/FM/Shortwave Cassette
Car Stereo that's even available here in Canada.

I was just wondering if anyone on this group has had any experience
with this model... or others, for that matter.

Thanks in advance.







Date: 13 Nov 2003 10:46:13
From: Robert Sillett
Subject: CAR STEREO - Shortwave

What "serious gaps" are you talking about? The XR-CA640X receives:

2940 - 7735 kHz
9500 - 10140 kHz
11575 - 18135 kHz

It receives all the whacko American broadcasters that broadcast in the 7500
and 7600 kHz range.

The only major ommissions are the extreme lower part of the 31m band and the
13m band. While I do miss the 13m band, it doesn't really matter too much
because we're in the bottom half of the sunspot cycle. And since I almost
never receive 120m at home, I'm not too worried about trying to DX ABC Alice
Springs on 2310 kHz in the car!

I don't understand why you would use a portable since you already have the
XR-CA640X. What can't you receive?

Bob

"Jim" wrote in message
...
I have one, it works OK, but has serious frequency gaps for
out of band stations, got it from Jacky's in Dubai. Going to
rig up another portable.







On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 23:23:49 -0500, "Robert Sillett"
wrote:

I bought the XR-CA640X from Jacky's about four months ago. I think the
640
is slightly higher-end than the 620 you mention in that one can attach XM
Radio, CD/MP3, etc. to it.

I am very happy with the radio. It's not a DX machine, but it's great
for
listening to the regular broadcasters. I have a little write-up of the
radio on my web site:
http://www.sillett.us.eu.org/radio/s...l#sonyxrca640x

Bob


"David" wrote in message
.. .
I bought a Sony XR-4950 AM/FM/SW from Jacky's in Dubai and it works
great
in
my car. You shouldn't have a problem with the CA-620X.

"Alan Smithee" wrote in message
...
This may have been discussed earlier, and if so I apologize.

I've been thinking of installing a AM/FM/SWL receiver in my car and
there's precious little info out there on the subject.
Understandable
I suppose considering everything's going digital.

I did come across this Sony model: XR-CA620X AM/FM/Shortwave Cassette
Car Stereo that's even available here in Canada.

I was just wondering if anyone on this group has had any experience
with this model... or others, for that matter.

Thanks in advance.









Date: 11 Nov 2003 15:16:35
From: Alan Smithee
Subject: CAR STEREO - Shortwave

Thanks David. Jacky's is quite the place, apparently. A friend
visited the store -- warehouse is more like it! -- when she was in
Dubai last year. Too bad I didn't think of this then.


In article , David
wrote:

I bought a Sony XR-4950 AM/FM/SW from Jacky's in Dubai and it works great in
my car. You shouldn't have a problem with the CA-620X.

"Alan Smithee" wrote in message
...
This may have been discussed earlier, and if so I apologize.

I've been thinking of installing a AM/FM/SWL receiver in my car and
there's precious little info out there on the subject. Understandable
I suppose considering everything's going digital.

I did come across this Sony model: XR-CA620X AM/FM/Shortwave Cassette
Car Stereo that's even available here in Canada.

I was just wondering if anyone on this group has had any experience
with this model... or others, for that matter.

Thanks in advance.





Date: 12 Nov 2003 12:42:39
From: Larry Weil
Subject: CAR STEREO - Shortwave

In article ,
Alan Smithee wrote:

I did come across this Sony model: XR-CA620X AM/FM/Shortwave Cassette
Car Stereo that's even available here in Canada.

Where in is this available? Is it at a place that does mail-order to
the US, or at one of the retail chains?

--
Larry Weil
Lake Wobegone, NH



Date: 12 Nov 2003 16:47:03
From: Alan Smithee
Subject: CAR STEREO - Shortwave

I found it online at www.shortwavestore.com. They're in Whitby,
Ontario near Toronto.

I e-mailed them for confirmation, but haven't received any response.
We'll see. I'll post whatever correspondence I get in return.


In article , Larry Weil
wrote:

In article ,
Alan Smithee wrote:

I did come across this Sony model: XR-CA620X AM/FM/Shortwave Cassette
Car Stereo that's even available here in Canada.

Where in is this available? Is it at a place that does mail-order to
the US, or at one of the retail chains?

except for California where it's illegal to even have a shortwave broadcast
reciever in your car.

If you don't believe me, check out the California laws regarding shortwave
while in your car, for yourself.

Are you just kidding?!

In article ,
James Boyk wrote:
Sorry to ask what must be a perennial question, but is a car radio now available
for US market which will get me here on the west coast the big international
stations (Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, BBC)? Along with FM and
10k-spaced AM? And preferably with selectable sideband and synchronous
detection, like on my Sony 2010 at home? (Having lived with these features, I
don't see why anyone would make a receiver without them.) And, ideally, with CD
player also?

Hi, Jim.

I'm coming in late to this discussion, so perhaps you've already
Googled the thread that I started about this subject several weeks
ago. The upshot is that I bought a Becker Mexico. I got the one with
the cassette player, but they have them with CD players, too. I bought
it from Continental Imports in Florida (www.continentalimports.com).

I just had it installed today, so I can't give you a full report
yet, but so far so good! I can hear one non-directional beacon
on the longwave band, and as I was driving home just after sunset
tonight, I heard lots of stations while scanning through shortwave.
The sensitivity seems good on the AM broadcast band, too.

I'm currently using the built-in wire antenna in the windshield of
my Porsche. I'll evaluate things for a while before deciding whether
I need a different antenna.


Patty

"Patty Winter" wrote in message
...
In article ,
James Boyk wrote:
Sorry to ask what must be a perennial question, but is a car radio now
available
for US market which will get me here on the west coast the big
international
stations (Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, BBC)? Along with FM
and
10k-spaced AM? And preferably with selectable sideband and synchronous
detection, like on my Sony 2010 at home? (Having lived with these
features, I
don't see why anyone would make a receiver without them.) And, ideally,
with CD
player also?

Hi, Jim.

I'm coming in late to this discussion, so perhaps you've already
Googled the thread that I started about this subject several weeks
ago. The upshot is that I bought a Becker Mexico. I got the one with
the cassette player, but they have them with CD players, too. I bought
it from Continental Imports in Florida (www.continentalimports.com).

I just had it installed today, so I can't give you a full report
yet, but so far so good! I can hear one non-directional beacon
on the longwave band, and as I was driving home just after sunset
tonight, I heard lots of stations while scanning through shortwave.
The sensitivity seems good on the AM broadcast band, too.

I'm currently using the built-in wire antenna in the windshield of
my Porsche. I'll evaluate things for a while before deciding whether
I need a different antenna.


I just noticed that the Mexico doens't have a button labeled "SW";
how to you switch to the SW bands? I wonder if anyone has a
list of which other Becker models received SW, because on Ebay,
none of the other models had a button labeled "SW", so I assumed
(wrongly?) that they didn't receive SW.

In article ,
Ken Finney wrote:

I just noticed that the Mexico doens't have a button labeled "SW";
how to you switch to the SW bands?

The AM button cycles through the AM broadcast band, the LW band,
and the SW band.


Patty

Are you just kidding?!


unfortunately, no.

The california law says "shortwave recievcer" and lists some banned frequency
ranges between 1620 khz and 30000 khz (30 mhz)

s it illegal to have a reciever capable of tuning *any* shortwave freq - or
just law enforcement freqs?


well, the frequencies listed in the California law are used for international
shortwave broadcasting.

It was only certain frequency ranges. (I forget which. I'll look it up again
and post it here).

However, most shortwave recievers that I know of cover the entire shortwave
band anyways.

It would probably be hard to find one that doesn't have at least one range that
is blocked by California law.

As I understand it, the law was meant to protect police frequencies as you say.
But is outdated. However, is still on the books and stil the law in
California.

Whether they actually enforce it or not is another matter.

But since it's still in effect, you COULD be arrested for simply having a
shortwave reciiever in your car that covers those particular frequency ranges.

I'll soon post the banned frequency range in this thread.

Once again, this applies only to California.

I just found the information again and I did make a few mistakes. I found the
actual banned frequencies but this makes it even more interesting because it
seems that most shortwave listeners are okay. It's the AM broadcast band
listeners who are at risk of being legally arrested for listening!!!

My mistake saying it was "California Law" although the info was in a section
about California listening laws. However, the fact is that it IS Los Angeles
County Law.

The law bans "any shortwave reciever installed in a car".

The law further goes on to define "a shortwave reciever".

According to L.A. law, a shortwave radio reciever is any radio eciever that is
capable of tuning on or between 1600 kilocycles and 2500 kilocycles and on or
between 30 megacycles and 40 megacycles.

This law IS still in effect in L.A. county.

(whethe r or not it's still enforced is another matter, but you could be
legally arrested for having such a radio installed in your car if you're in Los
Angeles county.

And most cars today have such radios installed as part of the manufacturing
process.

You can easily find shortwave radios that do not cover 1600 to 2500 khz.

However, the AM broadcast band goes to 1710 khz, which is standard in cars, and
illegal to have installed in a car in L.A. county.

After all, the 1600 mc to 1710 kc portion of the AM broadcast band is in the
banned range of 1600 kc to 2500 kc.

Once again, this applies only to the city and county of Los Angeles,
California.

"The land of fruits and nuts".

What I'm saying is that if you're driving through L.A. county, California, and
you decide t o give a police officer a hard time, he can legally arrest you for
having the regular AM broadcast band only radio installed in your car. (if he
wants to get nitpicky with you, since the law is still in effect, though
outdated).