best shortwave portable ever ?
 

Hello All,

As the subject shows, my question is "What is the best shortwave portable
ever ?".

Nic.

My vote - Sony 2010.
The 2010 is dead - long live the 2010.

Nic. Santean schrieb:

Hello All,

As the subject shows, my question is "What is the best shortwave portable
ever ?".



Define 'portable 'and 'best'.

My NRD-525 in conjunction with a batterie and antenne for sure makes a
pretty 'fine' portable....
....surely not the 'best' though in whatever regard.


Portable by whom? A baby ? An athletic man?
What size? shirt-pocket-size? Portable in a handbag? Portable on a trailer?
External antenna connector is a big issue. But how to walk around the
block with a 50ft slinky antenna?

best in portability?
best in batterie consumtion?
best in sensitivity?
best in selectivity?
best in 'ergonomics'?
best in noise floor?
best in features?
best in sound?
best in SSB?
best for broadcast listening?
best for utility and amateur radio?
best in price?

Some of the likes exclude each other. So great selectivity with great
sensitivity allways results in much power consumtion....
Every good analog radio beats a pll-synthesized radio regarding
self-made noise floor
What ergonomicsdo you like best? tuning with up-down knobs or with a dial?
Too many features are a natural enemy of ergonomics.
So there is at least a handful of 'best' portables regarding of what
someone prefers most.
Among those is:
The Sony ICF-2010
The Sony 7600G and GR
The Sony SW77
The Sangean ATS-909
The Drake SW8
The Grundig/Eton SAT800
One of the Degen radios when it comes to the price.....

So PLEASE be more specific what YOU want!

Define 'portable 'and 'best'.

The question is ambiguous for a reason: to be interesting. You have one vote
for one posting. Pick your favorite portable and vote. So far Sony ICF-2010
leads the way.

-- Nic.

So PLEASE be more specific what YOU want!

P.S. I do want nothing. I have a Panasonic RF2600 (tabletop) and I am pretty
happy with it. I just want to grasp the state of the art in portable
receivers - without going into any detail.

-- Nic.

Nic. Santean schrieb:

Define 'portable 'and 'best'.



The question is ambiguous for a reason: to be interesting. You have one vote
for one posting. Pick your favorite portable and vote. So far Sony ICF-2010
leads the way.

-- Nic.



Oh, one should 'vote'..... just another troll......
You should do some newsgroup search.
This question is asked every once in a while.

What is the "Qualification for best"?
TEchnology to dollar ratio?
Strict technical quality?
Greatest impact to a international listening audiance at a time when
SW was the ONLY mediem availale to axis nations? Or during the cold
war?

Yeah I am trolling... but with good cause as there does not seem to be
a lot left on SW to north america in English from world broadcasters.
If I (or you) were bi-lingual or tri-lingual from Asia or
Central/South America I would have a different question or answer.

The best portable for ME was a SONY CRF 5090.
I used this Sony extensively while serving in Southeast Asia. Great
sensitivity, excellent sselectivity and had a dial resoltion for
tuning that was pretty hard too beat for a slide rule tuning dial.
WWV, , Austrailian time signals at 12mhz as well as foreign
broadcaters of know frequency could be retuned pretty acurately. You
could extrapolate to within 25 KHZ with out to much difficulty.
That was before the time of digital readouts and just finding a
frequency plus or minus 100khz was almost unheard of on a portable.
ZenithTrans Oceanics and Juliette World band and others served well
too.

Sorry if this was not quite the direction you wanted the thread to go.
Your question was really pretty open ended!






On Sat, 16 Jul 2005 15:34:27 -0400, "Nic. Santean"
wrote:

Hello All,

As the subject shows, my question is "What is the best shortwave portable
ever ?".

Nic.

Oh, one should 'vote'..... just another troll......
You should do some newsgroup search.
This question is asked every once in a while.

I suppose this is one of the "every once in a while times".

I am not a troll. What are you talking about, you'nuts ?! I am a hobbist,
pretty good in RF electronics and quite fond of my hobby. I built my first
AM radio (7 transistors) when I was 7, for Pete's sake! When did you build
your first? A piece of advice: think before trying to offend somebody.

Nic.

Nic. Santean wrote:
So PLEASE be more specific what YOU want!


P.S. I do want nothing. I have a Panasonic RF2600 (tabletop) and I am pretty
happy with it. I just want to grasp the state of the art in portable
receivers - without going into any detail.

-- Nic.



A receiver popularity poll is not going to give you an updateon the
state of the art. If that is what you are looking for, then just ask it.
You may get your answer sooner as 1) people will be reponding to what
you really want, and 2) you won't get labelled as a troll.

Not a lot has changed in the past several years. Synthesized radios have
become less expensive. There is more integration of function that
generally drives costs down. The market is dominated by imports from
China and Taiwan.

Skipping the detail really won't tell you much.

craigm

P.S. Say you want nothing and then adding "I just want" could be confusing.

I don't know about the "best", but my personal favorite is the late
model Sony ICF-SW77.

Steve

"Nic. Santean" wrote in message
...
Hello All,

As the subject shows, my question is "What is the best shortwave portable
ever ?".

Nic.



The BORG JOHNSON 12 BAND PORTABLE is #1. Look it says right on the radio.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...y=15 051&rd=1

Nic. Santean schrieb:

Oh, one should 'vote'..... just another troll......
You should do some newsgroup search.
This question is asked every once in a while.



I suppose this is one of the "every once in a while times".

I am not a troll. What are you talking about, you'nuts ?! I am a hobbist,
pretty good in RF electronics and quite fond of my hobby. I built my first
AM radio (7 transistors) when I was 7, for Pete's sake! When did you build
your first? A piece of advice: think before trying to offend somebody.



I suppose you just put some parts of a kit together and surprisingly
enough got it working?
I can't go with this. It took me 16 before I designed(!) and built my
first (and sad enough the only one) SSB-capable radio with single parts
on my own designed and self made PCB. Before that I was into repairing
tube-radios and usualy made one working by plundering another one for
parts. It was not that easy to get enough old tube radios in that
hillbilly area where I lived when I was a kid. This was starting in the
late sixties at the age of 9 or 10 and transistors were quite rare and
expensive. Soldering prepared kits was much too easy so I can't remember
much of them. Although I put some of those kits of different kind
together in that time before I started my own projekt. "No money for
that playing and time waisting stuff" (as I'm the eldest of 7 children)
was a big handicap for me back then. So what's your point?
I started my education and profession as a plumber and heating installer
then and electronics is still *one* of my hobbies more or less since
then wich comes in right handy in certain situations when repairing
failing electronics on heating systems instead of just ordering a new
"module" or at least to get a system to run temporary until the new
module arrives some days later and preventing people sitting in a cold
house.
At least be aware that english is a foreign language to me and I'm out
of school for 29 years right now..... I'm living in Germany, so you may
answer in german? :-)

I'll agree with Steve on this one, the SW77 is a real gem (except for
FM performance). As for other best portables: Drake SW8 is a real
performer, but if you're classifying the RF-2600 as a tabletop, then
the SW8 probably wouldn't be among the class of radio you're enquiring
about. (The RF-2600 and other Panasonics from that line...the 2800 and
2900...are a pleasure to tune about with & have great audio). The
ICF-SW07 is a fun little radio in a nice, small package.

JA

Nic. Santean schrieb:


Pick your favorite portable and vote.

So at least your question is asked wrong when intended asking people
wich shortwave portable they subjectively *like* best. Sad enough I have
to tell you that...

"Volker Tonn" wrote in message
...


Nic. Santean schrieb:

Define 'portable 'and 'best'.



The question is ambiguous for a reason: to be interesting. You have one
vote
for one posting. Pick your favorite portable and vote. So far Sony
ICF-2010
leads the way.

-- Nic.



Oh, one should 'vote'..... just another troll......
You should do some newsgroup search.
This question is asked every once in a while.


Why are busting his balls? First, it's an interesting question that MAY
lead to interesting discussion, if it doesn't break down into immature
flaming. And even if it has come up "every once in a while", new people
join the group all the time and perhaps they would like to see this
discussion.

That said, of course the terms "best" and "portable" are subjective, but in
general most people understand what that means. My votes:

Best absolute performance: Sony ICF-2010
Best for the dollar (as average price on eBay): Sangean ATS-818 or ATS-803a
Best to have in your hands and tune through the bands with: Panasonic
RF-2200
Best desktop receiver that has handles and works on batteries: Sony
ICF-6800WA

I would put the RF-2600 immediately behind the RF-2200 for radios in that
category. It doesn't have quite the sensitivity of the RF-2600, but I
really like the digital display and front-panel calibration control. Also
great sound. An excellent, excellent radio. Keep it if you got it.

"Nic. Santean" wrote in message
...
So PLEASE be more specific what YOU want!

P.S. I do want nothing. I have a Panasonic RF2600 (tabletop) and I am
pretty
happy with it. I just want to grasp the state of the art in portable
receivers - without going into any detail.

-- Nic.

Of course I meant it doesn't have quite the sensitivity of the RF-2200

"Unrevealed Source" wrote in message
...
I would put the RF-2600 immediately behind the RF-2200 for radios in that
category. It doesn't have quite the sensitivity of the RF-2600, but I
really like the digital display and front-panel calibration control. Also
great sound. An excellent, excellent radio. Keep it if you got it.

"Nic. Santean" wrote in message
...
So PLEASE be more specific what YOU want!

P.S. I do want nothing. I have a Panasonic RF2600 (tabletop) and I am
pretty
happy with it. I just want to grasp the state of the art in portable
receivers - without going into any detail.

-- Nic.

Unrevealed Source wrote :

... You have one vote for one posting. Pick your favorite portable and vote. So far Sony

That said, of course the terms "best" and "portable" are subjective, but in
general most people understand what that means. My votes:


You failed.
You only have one vote for one posting to answer this troll who is just
not able to ask questions right.

Volker Tonn schrieb:

I'm living in Germany, so you may answer in german? :-)


At least you're posting via a free accessible italian NNTP-hoster.
Maybe that explains something...

Doesn't matter. I still like to see the discussion and learn what other
knowledgable people think.


"Volker Tonn" wrote in message
...


Unrevealed Source wrote :

... You have one vote for one posting. Pick your favorite portable and
vote. So far Sony

That said, of course the terms "best" and "portable" are subjective, but
in
general most people understand what that means. My votes:


You failed.
You only have one vote for one posting to answer this troll who is just
not able to ask questions right.

I happen to own a Panasonic RF 2600 radio which I bought new at a
Service Merchandise store about twenty something years ago.As far as the
performance of the radio is concerned,I rate it about average,certainly
nothing to crow about.On the bottom of the radio there is a jack that
says EP EXT/SP (for an extension speaker,I suppose) I have never used
any of the jacks on the radio before,but about two years after I bought
the radio,the radio would not turn on or light up at all.One day I was
poking around at the jacks on the radio with my fingers and I found that
the above mentioned jack was slightly loose.I poked a piece of plastic
between the metal part of the jack and the plastic casing of the radio
and it worked.But sometimes that tiny bit of plastic wedge will work
loose and the radio will not work again unless I mess around with that
bit of a plastic wedge I put there.As far as me takeing the chassis out
of the radio cabinet,and me not knowing how to repair radios,(unless it
is oviously a wire that needs soldering back together or a screw or nut)
I think my best bet is to leave the radio alone.I think the jack needs
to be tighned up,but there is no way to reach the nut from the front of
the radio.Some of my radios,if I pull the knobs off,there is enough
room,but just barely,I can tighten up those nuts.
cuhulin

On Sat, 16 Jul 2005 15:34:27 -0400, "Nic. Santean"
wrote:

Hello All,

As the subject shows, my question is "What is the best shortwave portable
ever ?".

Nic.


SONY V21

Dear Sir,

You must have come by now to the truth that the real troll here is you. I
bring to your attention that you are filtered out in my Outlook, so don't
bother posting a reply.

In fact, since you found this thread so unfit, why did you post a reply
anyway ????? But, again, don't bother replying...

Nic.

"Volker Tonn" wrote in message
...


Unrevealed Source wrote :

... You have one vote for one posting. Pick your favorite portable and
vote. So far Sony

That said, of course the terms "best" and "portable" are subjective, but
in
general most people understand what that means. My votes:


You failed.
You only have one vote for one posting to answer this troll who is just
not able to ask questions right.

craigm

P.S. Say you want nothing and then adding "I just want" could be
confusing.

For God's sake, man, take things in their context. I said that I want
nothing from the alternatives which that person was offering.

Please, just bring in your knowledge which will hopefully help the others.
We are not in an IQ contest, or in a show-off. I know that you an all the
other people in this group are darn smart - otherwise I wouldn't bother
asking a question here. So, be yourself and try help the others.

Look, I have something for those interested:

http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~nic/radio/radio.shtml

It may be nothing, but at least I try to help. This is the spirit.

Nic. Santean

Nic. Santean wrote:
Hello All,

As the subject shows, my question is "What is the best shortwave portable
ever ?".

Nic.



Watkins Johnson made a "portable" - never tried it, but I'd expect it
to be quite good.

I have my AOR 7030+ set up as a portable.

The post 1996 Drake SW8 gets great reviews.

The Lowe HF-150 is reasonably portable.

The Sat 800 seems enormous for consideration as a portable - but it does
run on batteries.

Hey,volker tonn is cool/ok.Some folks killfile me and call me a
troll.(actually,I like that,I have been called much worse) But YOU!,go
troll somewhere else.
cuhulin

Watkins Johnson are my all time favorite Radios.(sadly,I am not rich
enough to own one) I didn't know that Watkins Johnson made any portable
Radios.I learn something new everyday.
cuhulin

"Nic. Santean" wrote in message
...
Hello All,

As the subject shows, my question is "What is the best shortwave portable
ever ?".

Nic.



I hope you are compiling the "votes" and will post the results of your poll.
My favorite portable (criteria: performance for $ spent)
is the Degen DE1103

Nic. Santean schrieb:

...in my Outlook, so don't


That explains a lot too...
And you just waisted another posting of your daily 25 postings limitation.
At least: As an highly educated expert and specialist for "primitive
words" you should do better...

dxAce now would say: 'Go tote it 'tard boy'

screwdriver wrote:

Nic. Santean schrieb:

...in my Outlook, so don't


That explains a lot too...
And you just waisted another posting of your daily 25 postings limitation.
At least: As an highly educated expert and specialist for "primitive
words" you should do better...

dxAce now would say: 'Go tote it 'tard boy'

What would your soul brother, Volker Tonn say?

dxAce
Michigan
USA

dxAce schrieb:


dxAce now would say: 'Go tote it 'tard boy'



What would your soul brother, Volker Tonn say?

Beware of the whales when having a bath one day, dx'tard... ;-)

ATS 909/ DX 398

"Mark S. Holden" wrote:

Nic. Santean wrote:
Hello All,

As the subject shows, my question is "What is the best shortwave portable
ever ?".

Nic.



Watkins Johnson made a "portable" - never tried it, but I'd expect it
to be quite good.

I have my AOR 7030+ set up as a portable.

The post 1996 Drake SW8 gets great reviews.

The Lowe HF-150 is reasonably portable.

The Sat 800 seems enormous for consideration as a portable - but it does
run on batteries.

I like the HF-150, choice of handle or shoulder strap and the shoulder strap
has a built-in antenna. A bit bulky, but far smaller than some "portables".

Dave

Actually, I'm out of here. Thanks a lot for those who posted serious
answers. For the others: keep talking...

Nic.

"Sanjaya" wrote in message
link.net...

"Nic. Santean" wrote in message
...
Hello All,

As the subject shows, my question is "What is the best shortwave portable
ever ?".

Nic.



I hope you are compiling the "votes" and will post the results of your
poll.
My favorite portable (criteria: performance for $ spent)
is the Degen DE1103

"Volker Tonn" wrote in message
...

Nic. Santean schrieb:

Hello All,

As the subject shows, my question is "What is the best shortwave portable
ever ?".


Define 'portable 'and 'best'.

My NRD-525 in conjunction with a batterie and antenne for sure makes a
pretty 'fine' portable....
...surely not the 'best' though in whatever regard.


Portable by whom? A baby ? An athletic man?
What size? shirt-pocket-size? Portable in a handbag? Portable on a
trailer?
External antenna connector is a big issue. But how to walk around the
block with a 50ft slinky antenna?

best in portability?
best in batterie consumtion?
best in sensitivity?
best in selectivity?
best in 'ergonomics'?
best in noise floor?
best in features?
best in sound?
best in SSB?
best for broadcast listening?
best for utility and amateur radio?
best in price?

Some of the likes exclude each other. So great selectivity with great
sensitivity allways results in much power consumtion....
Every good analog radio beats a pll-synthesized radio regarding self-made
noise floor
What ergonomicsdo you like best? tuning with up-down knobs or with a dial?
Too many features are a natural enemy of ergonomics.
So there is at least a handful of 'best' portables regarding of what
someone prefers most.
Among those is:
The Sony ICF-2010
The Sony 7600G and GR
The Sony SW77
The Sangean ATS-909
The Drake SW8
The Grundig/Eton SAT800
One of the Degen radios when it comes to the price.....

So PLEASE be more specific what YOU want!



Hiya doing old buddy? :)

I like your style......the way you mix radio with insanity :)

Lucky

"Nic. Santean" wrote in message
...
craigm

P.S. Say you want nothing and then adding "I just want" could be
confusing.

For God's sake, man, take things in their context. I said that I want
nothing from the alternatives which that person was offering.

Please, just bring in your knowledge which will hopefully help the others.
We are not in an IQ contest, or in a show-off. I know that you an all the
other people in this group are darn smart - otherwise I wouldn't bother
asking a question here. So, be yourself and try help the others.

Look, I have something for those interested:

http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~nic/radio/radio.shtml

It may be nothing, but at least I try to help. This is the spirit.

Nic. Santean



Hi

Yes that is the spirit. This is what makes SW fun and gives it a community
draw. In my personal experience with other SWLers, I found the majority of
them to be smart, comprehendible, logical, responsible and patriotic. Of
course there are those that are Not here for the spirit of radio or lack it.
What can you do?

Thanks for info on your website
Lucky

wrote in message
oups.com...
I don't know about the "best", but my personal favorite is the late
model Sony ICF-SW77.

Steve


Hi there Steve,

Hope things have been going well for you.

I see one on Ebay with 16 hrs to go and a bid of $248. Are these portables
worth say $300 used price/performance wise for program and some SSB/Ham
listening compared to say a Degen 1103 for $45 or perhaps a Sony 7600GR for
$130 ??

Lucky

"Sanjaya" wrote in message
link.net...

"Nic. Santean" wrote in message
...
Hello All,

As the subject shows, my question is "What is the best shortwave portable
ever ?".

Nic.



I hope you are compiling the "votes" and will post the results of your
poll.
My favorite portable (criteria: performance for $ spent)
is the Degen DE1103



Hi

I agree the DE 1103 for $65 shipped is just unbeatable. It's a mini tabletop
for me when I take it out. When I bring in down near the beach, it pulls
tons of SSB signals out for me. The sensitivity on it for a radio this cheap
is almost impossible to even compete with. It's excellent for me here in
Florida.

On top of that the FM stereo is also superb. Very nice. The only problem
with this whole picture is it *might be manufactured by slaves of the CCP.
But, I bought one a while back and it sometimes bothers me.

But anyway the 1103 has to be the best portable price/performance wise for
both BCB and SSB. Quality for $45.

Lucky

Haunt the thrift stores and yard sales and junk shops and pawn shops and
online news paper classifides.Fleamarkets,I have found quite a few good
deals at fleamarkets too.Ask around and put some notices on food store
and other stores bulletin boards and Church bulletin boards.A portable
is a portable if you can easily enough pick it up and move it around.
cuhulin

Any thoughts on the ETON E10 Radio?


wrote in message
oups.com...
I don't know about the "best", but my personal favorite is the late
model Sony ICF-SW77.

Steve