opinion on radios for new listeners
 

There's always a lot of talk about what radio is better or best or which
radio should I buy. I have a hard time giving advice on the subject because
there are just too damn many variables and allot of new hobbyist get the
idea that if they shell out big $ and buy the latest state of the art radio
that all their troubles will be over and they can finally collect that
elusive QSL. Hey don't get me wrong, I'm all for buying the most radio you
can but lets face it most peoples reception problems have little to do with
the radio and there are plenty of good radios to choose from and the
differences of one good radio compared to the other is hard to define unless
you got some experience and a good ant/grd etc... The reason I'm saying all
this has to do with these comparisons like the R-75 with Kiwa mods compared
to the R-8B etc... Yea the R-8B has the edge but not by such a margin that a
new listener should rule out the R-75 or other good rigs. Yes I know you
seasoned vets are going " Brian we know all this but what's your point?" My
point is there are a lot of new SW listeners lurking around here and I want
them to know that there are a lot of good results being obtained with a lot
of older gear and good antennas. I've been DXing for a long time and all I
use is an old R-5000 with a very good ant system and a few audio mods and
I'll run with the best of them. Moral is- Buy as much radio as you can
afford but $s don't garentee results, that takes experimenting , research
and work to get the weak ones.


--
73 and good DXing.
Brian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A lot of radios and 100' of rusty wire!
Zumbrota, Southern MN
Brian's Radio Universe
http://webpages.charter.net/brianhill/

EMAIL-
(Hide the $100 to reply!)

Brian, over the past thirty years, I have used : an old tubed RCA, a
Realistic dx-160, a Sony 2210, a Sony 7600gr, and my Kenwood ts-50 to listen
to shortwave dx. I agree that if you enjoy the hobby, then buy "all the
radio that you can afford", but even the best rig is useless without a
decent antenna. If a listener does not have access to a place where he can
string up some wire, then a small portable with whip antenna will be all the
radio needed.
73, de VO1JA, Harry
"Brian Hill" wrote in message
...
There's always a lot of talk about what radio is better or best or which
radio should I buy. I have a hard time giving advice on the subject
because
there are just too damn many variables and allot of new hobbyist get the
idea that if they shell out big $ and buy the latest state of the art
radio
that all their troubles will be over and they can finally collect that
elusive QSL. Hey don't get me wrong, I'm all for buying the most radio you
can but lets face it most peoples reception problems have little to do
with
the radio and there are plenty of good radios to choose from and the
differences of one good radio compared to the other is hard to define
unless
you got some experience and a good ant/grd etc... The reason I'm saying
all
this has to do with these comparisons like the R-75 with Kiwa mods
compared
to the R-8B etc... Yea the R-8B has the edge but not by such a margin that
a
new listener should rule out the R-75 or other good rigs. Yes I know you
seasoned vets are going " Brian we know all this but what's your point?"
My
point is there are a lot of new SW listeners lurking around here and I
want
them to know that there are a lot of good results being obtained with a
lot
of older gear and good antennas. I've been DXing for a long time and all I
use is an old R-5000 with a very good ant system and a few audio mods and
I'll run with the best of them. Moral is- Buy as much radio as you can
afford but $s don't garentee results, that takes experimenting , research
and work to get the weak ones.


--
73 and good DXing.
Brian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A lot of radios and 100' of rusty wire!
Zumbrota, Southern MN
Brian's Radio Universe
http://webpages.charter.net/brianhill/

EMAIL-
(Hide the $100 to reply!)

Brian Hill wrote:
There's always a lot of talk about what radio is better or best or
which radio should I buy. I have a hard time giving advice on the
subject because there are just too damn many variables and allot of
new hobbyist get the idea that if they shell out big $ and buy the
latest state of the art radio that all their troubles will be over
and they can finally collect that elusive QSL. Hey don't get me
wrong, I'm all for buying the most radio you can but lets face it
most peoples reception problems have little to do with the radio and
there are plenty of good radios to choose from and the differences of
one good radio compared to the other is hard to define unless you got
some experience and a good ant/grd etc... The reason I'm saying all
this has to do with these comparisons like the R-75 with Kiwa mods
compared to the R-8B etc... Yea the R-8B has the edge but not by such
a margin that a new listener should rule out the R-75 or other good
rigs. Yes I know you seasoned vets are going " Brian we know all this
but what's your point?" My point is there are a lot of new SW
listeners lurking around here and I want them to know that there are
a lot of good results being obtained with a lot of older gear and
good antennas. I've been DXing for a long time and all I use is an
old R-5000 with a very good ant system and a few audio mods and I'll
run with the best of them. Moral is- Buy as much radio as you can
afford but $s don't garentee results, that takes experimenting ,
research and work to get the weak ones.

Good advice. Also don't be afraid to by used modern radios. A used modern
digital radio should perform as well as a new one. It's a great way to get
'more radio for the money'.

--
Brian Denley
http://home.comcast.net/~b.denley/index.html

Brian Hill wrote:

Moral is- Buy as much radio as you can
afford but $s don't garentee results, that takes experimenting , research
and work to get the weak ones.

Years ago I had a single conversion Radio Shack shortwave all bander. It was
ok until I put a wire on the antenna terminal. Like magic, I got a lot of
the local am radio stations repeating over the dial.

I'd say getting a double conversion set should be the very minimum
requirement. If money and choice allow, get a triple conversion.

Some have said that the more conversion stages you go through, the more
noise you get, but I haven't played around with enough different sets to be
able to form a valid opinion on that.



mike

"m II" wrote in message
news:W31Md.195891$KO5.176949@clgrps13...
Brian Hill wrote:


I'd say getting a double conversion set should be the very minimum
requirement. If money and choice allow, get a triple conversion.

Are there any triple conversion receivers still on the market?
--
mike0219116

mike0219116 wrote:

"m II" wrote in message
news:W31Md.195891$KO5.176949@clgrps13...
Brian Hill wrote:


I'd say getting a double conversion set should be the very minimum
requirement. If money and choice allow, get a triple conversion.

Are there any triple conversion receivers still on the market?

A very, very quick check reveals that the NRD-545 is triple conversion.

You might wish to review the current offerings at:

http://www.rffun.com/catalog/index2.html

dxAce
Michigan
USA


--
mike0219116

The Icom R75 is triple conversion.

Bruce Jensen

"m II" wrote in message
news:W31Md.195891$KO5.176949@clgrps13...
Brian Hill wrote:

Moral is- Buy as much radio as you can
afford but $s don't garentee results, that takes experimenting ,
research
and work to get the weak ones.

Years ago I had a single conversion Radio Shack shortwave all bander. It
was
ok until I put a wire on the antenna terminal. Like magic, I got a lot of
the local am radio stations repeating over the dial.

I'd say getting a double conversion set should be the very minimum
requirement. If money and choice allow, get a triple conversion.

Some have said that the more conversion stages you go through, the more
noise you get, but I haven't played around with enough different sets to
be
able to form a valid opinion on that.



mike


There are double conv sets that do as well as the triple. Its a matter of
design but yes at least a double conversion type circuit is the norm or
starting point of serious modern superhet design. The Icom R-71s are
quadruple conversion and were/are a favorite for utility dxers like myself.
Sometimes three or four IFs are problematic with intermod I've heard but
I've never had any bad experiences.

B.H.

"dxAce" wrote in message
...


mike0219116 wrote:

"m II" wrote in message
news:W31Md.195891$KO5.176949@clgrps13...
Brian Hill wrote:


I'd say getting a double conversion set should be the very minimum
requirement. If money and choice allow, get a triple conversion.

Are there any triple conversion receivers still on the market?

A very, very quick check reveals that the NRD-545 is triple conversion.

You might wish to review the current offerings at:

http://www.rffun.com/catalog/index2.html

dxAce
Michigan
USA


--
mike0219116


Have you tried the 545 Steve? My buddy has one. It's a neat rig. I'm just
not sure about the price tag?

B.H.

Brian Hill wrote:

"dxAce" wrote in message
...


mike0219116 wrote:

"m II" wrote in message
news:W31Md.195891$KO5.176949@clgrps13...
Brian Hill wrote:


I'd say getting a double conversion set should be the very minimum
requirement. If money and choice allow, get a triple conversion.

Are there any triple conversion receivers still on the market?

A very, very quick check reveals that the NRD-545 is triple conversion.

You might wish to review the current offerings at:

http://www.rffun.com/catalog/index2.html

dxAce
Michigan
USA


--
mike0219116


Have you tried the 545 Steve? My buddy has one. It's a neat rig. I'm just
not sure about the price tag?

I had a 515 briefly, but I was never a fan of Japan Radio. I didn't like the
audio.

YMMV

dxAce
Michigan
USA