wrote:

Hi. I know very little about shortwave radios, but my grandpa's
shortwave radio receiver went out on him and he's wanting to get a new
one. He doesn't have the Internet, so he wanted me to try and locate a
store online where he could call and purchase a receiver with the
following specifications and hopefully for the following price:

* Coverage: 100kHz to 30MHz (continuous)
* Single Side Band
* CW (Don't know what this means. Same as "continuous"?)
* RF Gain Control
* Desktop style
* Price: $350 or less

I did as much research as I could online to find models and brands
(Grudig, Sangean, Sony), but it seems that a lot of articles and pages
and posts speak of older receivers that were good, but are no longer
made. Seems strange, but I guess that happens all the time with
everything. Out with the "old", in with the "new". Right. Anyway, I
hope that you guys (and girls) will be able to help me find a model
that suits his needs. I really appreciate it. Thanks.

Ryan Cabanas

Something else to consider is his existing radio may be worth repairing, or
selling as a broken radio. This would add to his budget.

Some folks buy broken radios to fix them for use or resale.

One guy buys just about anything that would be desirable if it was in good
condition and fixes the description. (It's faster and cheaper than fixing the
radio)

If you tell us what he's got, odds are someone here will have an idea of what
it's worth.

As for a radio to look for, I'd consider a used Drake R8 if you can find one in
your price range.

wrote:

Thanks Jim. Yeah, I'm going to give him a call tomorrow and let him
know that prices have changed since the last time he bought a shortwave
(25 years ago). I'll let him know that the Grundig has everything but
the RF Gain Control knob and see what he wants to do. Don't think they
can afford $500 right now, though, so don't know about the Icom.
Thanks again Jim.

Ryan Cabanas

One thing you might want to consider is build quality. The Sat 800 is
built like a toy -- soft plastic. The electronics -- IF you get a
good one -- are solid, though. The ICOM R-75 and Yaesu FRG-100 are
both well built. Having had both, I like the FRG-100. Less features,
less "glamour," excellent performance.

Sold both, but only miss the Frog.

--
Eric F. Richards

"Nature abhors a vacuum tube." -- Myron Glass,
often attributed to J. R. Pierce, Bell Labs, c. 1940

Do you know what he had?

Perhaps what he would like is another radio similar to what he had.

TMT

Art Harris schrieb:

Volker Tonn wrote:


No. CW is just unmodulated AM-carrier



Oh? And how is an unmodulated AM carrier different than an unmodulated
FM carrier?


You can't make this listenable with a FM-receiver :-)

Morse code is just the most common way to *use* CW.



In shortwave/ham radio use, CW is understood to mean Morse code. I'm
sure that's how his grandfather meant it.


In shortwave use 'CW mode' means having a adjustable BFO to adjust the
listenig tone to a frequency the listener likes best.

"CW" was originally used to
differentiate "continuous wave" telegraphy from "spark" telegraphy
("spark" being a damped sinusoid).


Technically spoken CW is independent from any code. You're free to use
your own created code on the HAM-bands when you make the syntax available.
You can send 'morse' code in FM-mode very easy. But you have to have a
tone generator in the TX and you have the limitation not being able to
adjust the listening tone in the RX.
At least telegraphy -with morse code- was used first on 'telegraphy
stations' connected by wire....

Greetings,
Volker