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
• Pens

1. Determine whether you intend to operate a portable receiver with batteries.

2. Make certain that the unit has a built-in, extendable whip antenna if you plan on portable operation.

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.

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?

5. Make certain a used unit has BFO or similar circuitry to permit decoding of Morse and SSB signals.

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.

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.