How to Choose a Shortwave Receiver
Billions of radio signals echo through the earth's atmosphere. Shortwave listeners know that hours of entertainment and excitement await them at the turn of a knob.
- Difficulty:
- Moderately Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Antenna Coaxes
- Cassette Tape Recorders
- Dipole Antennas
- Shortwave Radio Receivers
- Swl/ Ham Radio Equipment
- Desk Chairs
- Desk Lamps
- Desks
- Pens
- Spiral Notebooks
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1
Determine whether you intend to operate a portable receiver with batteries.
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2
Make certain that the unit has a built-in, extendable whip antenna if you plan on portable operation.
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3
Choose a unit covering at least 100 Hz to 30 MHz, which will include broadcast bands; international shortwave broadcasters; and military, government and commercial frequencies.
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4
Consider how much money you want to invest. Will a basic unit at about $100 suffice or do you want a more sophisticated, expensive unit?
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5
Make certain a used unit has BFO or similar circuitry to permit decoding of Morse and SSB signals.
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6
Check the receiver's sensitivity and selectivity via consumer reports on the Web or in hobby publications. DXing.com reviews more than 100 receivers.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Older, vacuum-tube circuit radios generally do not perform as well as modern solid-state circuitry units. Old tube sets have nostalgic value, however.
Current manufacturers include Sony, Drake, Icom, GE, Grundig, JRC and Ten-Tec.
Modern receivers can be interfaced with personal computers for tuning.
