I was reading a post from the Levant that stated that short wave
signals were very strong in the Near East and that fading was not a
problem. The main requirement of a sw radio in that area was
selectivity: the ability to separate powerful stations that were close
in frequency. I had assumed that the horrible fading I have to put up
with up here on the edge of the Laurentian shield was typical of all
places. So my remarks are aimed at those people in North America and
elsewhere who are bothered by serious fading.
Boy, do I have fading. There is a long selective fade where the
carrier disappears and a minute or two of Quack Quack is unreadable.
There is a pulsating short fade that sometimes is associated with the
long fade. There is also an Aurora gargle which defies description. I
have way too many shortwave radios to choose from, each with their own
strengths, but the only one that sorts out the fading problem is my
10-year-old Sony SW-7600G. It is remarkeable how its synchronous
detector locks in to a station and clears up the modulation. When sync
detector cannot hold on to a weak or fading signal, there is one last
trick to get the signal: turn on the BFO. The Sony is so stable that
you can zero-beat the weak sgnal and inject carrier from the radio
itself and it will not drift. Since the Sony has a good filter, you do
not get both sidebands fluttering and interfering. You can select
either USB or LSB depending on the conditions and you will generate a
steady carrier free of fading. I cannot use this method on any of my
other radios because of their wide filters.
In addition, the Sony has clear audio, good sensitivity, and the
new models have more memories.
With the low suspot cycle, I find myself reaching for the Sony more
and more and I would recommend it as the number one choice for a first
radio if you can handle the ~$150 cost.