What's the most enjoyable receiver you've ever owned?
 

My Zenith Transoceanic, one of the older vacuum tube models, the G500.
By today's standards its big, like a suitcase. Glorious tone controlled
by several sound organ buttons. Off the huge SW whip it's still hot as
a firecracker sensitivity wise.

By the way, the detachable wave-magnet was supposed to be suction
cupped onto the window of your commuter train or airliner. Can't you
just imagine someone today boarding with such a mega boombox? :)

But around the home its more fun than all my modern rigs put together...

JerryJ-KY wrote:
As an aside to sdaniel3's thread further down, what's the
shortwave receiver that gave you the most "fun" while
listening?

It doesn't have to necessarily be the best rig, just the
one that was the most enjoyable to work with.

Mine is probably a Grundig S350 bought a few months ago.
Definitely not a top performer, but great audio and
portable.

--

Bluegrass DaVinci Fellowship
Central Kentucky Group of Shortwave Enthusiasts
http://www.bluegrassdavinci.com/
Any of the Hammarlund SP-600 series.

Les

Probably the most enjoyable as an armchair receiver was the Panasonic
RF-5000b.
It was Panasonic's luggable answer to the Zenith TO and Sony=AD World
Orbiter. It was large, heavy around 22 pounds with an absolute=ADly
wonderful audio. The polished metal and black case was wood=AD lined,
and the resulting sound was delightfully mellow.

It had four antennas, selectable filters (narrow was mechani=ADcal), agc
control, bfo, multiple bandswitches across the top and backl=ADighting
for individual bands as selected. With a mortgage one could=AD power it
with batteries. Otherwise a switchable voltage power supply=AD did the
trick.

It was no dx machine, but BBC symphonies sounded great. Of =ADcourse
audio on AM and FM were superb. With a bfo switch it was po=ADssible to
decode ssb. Finding a specific station on the ham bands was
hit-or-miss and a challenge. But the intent of this delight=ADful
monster was armchair listening to broadcast stations.

Sensitivity when new was not great by todays standards, and=AD 30 years
had probably taken its toll on electronics. Still it was a =ADjoy to
use for 5 years.



JerryJ-KY wrote:
As an aside to sdaniel3's thread further down, what's the
shortwave receiver that gave you the most "fun" while
listening?

It doesn't have to necessarily be the best rig, just the
one that was the most enjoyable to work with.

Mine is probably a Grundig S350 bought a few months ago.
Definitely not a top performer, but great audio and
portable.

--

Bluegrass DaVinci Fellowship
Central Kentucky Group of Shortwave Enthusiasts
http://www.bluegrassdavinci.com/

Dear Jerry,

If you've read some of my previous posts, you know I own a Lafayette
Model HE-10 receiver, along with its associated speaker, the HE-11. I
bought these in April 1962. At that time I also bought a pair of
Clevite "Brush" BA-200 headphones. I still have all of these and they
still work as well as they did when new. (The only "service" the radio
has required is a few tube replacementts.)

This was my main short wave radio for 38(!) years until I bought a
Grundig Satellit 800 in 2000. Last year I bought what I consider to be
the finest short wave radio ever made, the AOR AR7030 Plus.

I have never owned (or even seen) a radio that performs like the
AR7030. But I will always have a "soft spot" in my heart for that old
Lafayette. Every couple of months, I turn it on, wait a half-hour for
it to "settle down," and then search out signals, just like in the old
days. Even with the same antenna as on the AOR, there is no comparison
in sensitivity or selectivity, but there is (and always will be for me)
something "magical" about that old radio!

Best,

Joe

"JerryJ-KY" wrote in message
. com...

As an aside to sdaniel3's thread further down, what's the
shortwave receiver that gave you the most "fun" while
listening?

Three stand out from the pack for us:

Classic radio: Collins R-392, the watertight "little brother"
to the R-390/A. (this was the only radio I ever owned that
I could squirt with a garden hose in the backyard on a
95° F Summer day, while it was still turned on, and it kept
right on playing !!)

Modern radio(s): Drake SW-8 and the Yaesu-Musen FRG-7.
(..the Drake SW-8 was rather quirky in it's control pad layout but
it was great to put in a few D-Cell batteries and take it camping)

JerryJ-KY wrote in
. com:


As an aside to sdaniel3's thread further down, what's the
shortwave receiver that gave you the most "fun" while
listening?

It doesn't have to necessarily be the best rig, just the
one that was the most enjoyable to work with.

Mine is probably a Grundig S350 bought a few months ago.
Definitely not a top performer, but great audio and
portable.


Sangean ATS-803a so far is the best.

Probably my Yaesu FRG 7000 or FRG7, or DX-302. I like all the knob turning
involved in dialing in a "Wadley loop" type radio.



"JerryJ-KY" wrote in message
. com...

As an aside to sdaniel3's thread further down, what's the
shortwave receiver that gave you the most "fun" while
listening?

It doesn't have to necessarily be the best rig, just the
one that was the most enjoyable to work with.

Mine is probably a Grundig S350 bought a few months ago.
Definitely not a top performer, but great audio and
portable.

--

Bluegrass DaVinci Fellowship
Central Kentucky Group of Shortwave Enthusiasts
http://www.bluegrassdavinci.com/

"raoul" wrote:
Did you ever put D-sizes in the FRG-7? I don't own one but a friend
does. He's never put "D"s in but it is possible.

raoul

3 or 4 times every year, I do. Expect decent battery life
with headphones on and dial lights off. I think a gel cell
might be the way to go, though, or NiMH batteries, and
am looking into this.

The battery boxes on the FRG7s you might see for sale
nowadays are getting more rare. Folks tended to leave
batteries in the battery box, and they would leak, destroying
the assembly.

I think the FRG7 is the most fun receiver I've ever used,
and to tie in with another thread, it's really very quiet.

Overall, it's a wonderful radio for everyday use - my other
radios rarely are used.

73,

Steve

A lowly Realistic DX-120, a Xmas gift from the folks, will always have a warm
spot in this hipster's memory. Even designed a regen mod, which boosted signal
reception. After garnering a QSL from ORF Vienna, Austria, one of those
grizzled tech sarge's said that pup didn't have enuff guts to snag a signal
that weak. He swore(literally) that I'd used another sarge's Hammarlund. That
120 didn't survive time's ravages as well as its' replacement DX-160(still
goin' strong, but replaced by a Yaesu FRG-7). But that 120 was as seminal in
cultivatin' an interest in shortwave as a tubed Fisher professional amp was in
germinatin' a hi-fi addiction! B.T.W. pismoclam, had some of that legendary
Pismo Beach clam chowder in breaded bowl a few years' back enroute to Santa
Barbara. ' Twas da B-O-M-B Bubba!!!

In article ,
says...

As an aside to sdaniel3's thread further down, what's the
shortwave receiver that gave you the most "fun" while
listening?

It doesn't have to necessarily be the best rig, just the
one that was the most enjoyable to work with.

Mine is probably a Grundig S350 bought a few months ago.
Definitely not a top performer, but great audio and
portable.


I once had an SX-28. I'm *really* sorry I sold it. It went
magic places in the midnight hour.