Thank you very much for this info, very helpful! Please send the link to
the antenna tutorials! If I get that Icom, I'm gonna wanna get all I can
out of it! : }

"Buzzygirl" wrote in message
...
Lisa:

I have owned several Degen/Kaito radios-- the KA-1101, KA-1102 and
DE-1103--
all are excellent bargains in their class. The KA1102 is my "little
workhorse" and, while no super-DX machine, it manages to pull in
everything
my erstwhile Sangean ATS-803A used to before it bit the dust. I've also
had
a Tecsun PL-350 and a couple other small portables that ranged from fairly
deaf to pretty good.

I used to own an Icom IC-718, which is the "ham radio" version of the
venerable R75. The difference being that the IC-718 is a transceiver. I
used
it for getting my DXCC (100 DX countries) while I was active in amateur
radio. But I also heard and logged many, many SW broadcasters on that rig.
I
sold it about a year ago, because I'm no longer active in amateur radio
and
I currently live in RF Hell-- maybe someday, I'll get another. That was a
very, very good rig for the money.

While I am not 100% sure this is the case, I believe the R75 and IC-718
have
the same receiver-- anyone in the know out there wanna chime in on that?
I've fiddled around a number of high-end transceivers and receivers-- all
were very good performers, but some cost a LOT more than others. The
IC-718
cost me less than $500 new.

Although I certainly don't consider myself an antenna expert, I've done a
fair amount of reading about them and I've made several of my own, so I
can
vouch for the idea of putting effort (or money, if you don't care to make
your own) into a decent antenna. The problem with small portables is that
they tend to overload with a decent outdoor antenna. The Degens/Kaitos are
really pretty good just off the whip, or using the small plug-in antenna
that comes with them. But if you're really into shortwave listening and
want
to spring for a really good tabletop rig, a very good antenna will go a
long, long way in helping you to hear as much as you're able, given other
factors you can't control.

A big factor in the ability of shortwave signals to propagate is the
sunspot
cycle. We are near or at the bottom of the sunspot cycle now, which means
fewer stations will be heard overall. It should improve somewhat over the
next couple of years, with another peak in about 2010 or 2011. But there
are
other factors that determine where and when any signal can be heard, so
don't let the sunspot doldrums thwart your SWL fun.

As a previous poster submitted, the Eavesdropper and Alpha-Delta antennas
are very good choices. I can also point you to some websites where you can
find designs to build your own antenna. There really isn't much to
building
a simple long wire or dipole, and it's really satisfying to build an
antenna
that will help you to hear the world. I was able to chat with a lady ham
in
the Marquesas Islands using a dipole I built myself. It took me all of 45
minutes to make it and string it up in a nearby tree, with some help from
a
neighbor. I used that same antenna to listen to many shortwave
broadcasters
too.

The rule for antennas I learned was: get as long an antenna as you can (or
as tall as you can) up as high as you can. That said, there are other
installations that can work well for listening purposes-- snaking as much
wire as you can around a balcony; tacking up a thin wire along the ceiling
of a living room, for instance.

A friend of mine actually ran a bunch of wire along his metal rain gutters
and, using an antenna tuner, was able to talk to the world. Pretty cool...

Good listening and 73 (that's best wishes in ham-speak),

Jackie