What To Buy

[transitman]

I've been thinking about purchasing a portable/handheld radio with the following requirements:

1. AM/FM and SW reception, especially the capability to receive the HF frequencies used by aircraft when not in range of VHF transmitters.
2. AC/DC and battery power.
3. Direct entry or scroll up/down capability with the precise frequency shown on a display screen.

What's available and any reviews? Thanks!

 

[WB4CS]

I would recommend the Kenwood TH-F6A. It is a triband 144/222/440 transceiver at 5 Watts. It can receive HF, VHF, and UHF frequencies and can receive SSB, CW, and AM transmissions on HF.

Gigaparts has it on sale right now for $290.00

Reviews can be found here on eHam

 

[w2xq]

Just know that the HT stock antenna -- whatever HT you buy -- will perform very poorly on HF and MW. You also may want to buy a multi-section telescoping antenna. HTH.

 

[AgentCOPP1]

I have personal experience with the Yaesu VX-7R. It meets all of the requirements that you listed, and it has served me well for a long time. Still have not had anything go wrong with it. I've brought it to multiple airshows so I can listen in on the air traffic controllers. It's able to get 10 meters up to 1 GHZ, and it has more features than you will ever need.

The TH-F6A is also a good radio, although I have never owned it so I couldn't exactly recommend it to you, but from what I've heard, it's widely liked.

 

[transitman]

What To Buy - Revised

When I posted my original request, I used the wrong description to describe what I'm seeking to purchase. Instead of a transmittable radio, I'm looking for a device that can receive the radio bands that trans-oceanic aircraft use and has the features noted in my original post. Again, any suggestions. Thanks!

 

[AgentCOPP1]

When I posted my original request, I used the wrong description to describe what I'm seeking to purchase. Instead of a transmittable radio, I'm looking for a device that can receive the radio bands that trans-oceanic aircraft use and has the features noted in my original post. Again, any suggestions. Thanks!

Okay. So the best way to recommend a radio to you is to know why you want to listen to trans-oceanic airplanes. Is it for emergency purposes or are you doing it just as a hobby?

What you're asking for is very difficult to find because if an airplane isn't in range of the VOR/DME VHF transmitters, you most likely will not hear their transmissions. The airband is VHF as well, so to say that you want to hear an airplane that is out of range of the aviation direction finding beacons doesn't make any sense. 99% of the time, you won't hear these airplanes that you're looking for.

 

[AK9R]

I just moved this thread over to this forum. After several speculative answers, the OP finally posted that he's looking to monitor aircraft.

 

[majoco]

The OP never mentioned VHF aircraft band - he wants to listen to HF aero - so you need an HF radio with AM BCB and FM broadcast radio - IMHO a Tecsun PL660 will fill the bill reasonably cheaply and you will get VHF Air band as a bounus!.

 

[ke2yk]

Reviewed the PL660 receiver extensively before pulling the trigger. Got it for $88 plus shipping through Ham Radio Gear and Police Scanners As an Amateur Extra, I have plenty of transceivers for operating HF, VHF and UHF.
The purpose of the PL660 was to pick up a grab and go SSB / CW portable for camping and indoor / outdoor armchair copy at home.
I compared the PL660 to the PL880 and the Degen 1103 and others. For a receiver in it's price range, the PL660 had a more stable and crisp sounding audio for this pair of old ears. With the exception of the filters in the PL880, the PL660 is essentially the same radio as the PL880.
The Degen 1103 did not have enough useful info on the display and the audio seemed to warble at times.
While the PL880 is a sweet radio, the audio came close to sounding a bit muffled by its BASS tones. Without a doubt the PL880 would have been my second choice and I will most likely grab one in the future. As I understand, there are also some undocumented features that may be worth exploring.
Perhaps these few words will help if you are in the process of deciding which low price receiver may be right for you.

 

[ATCTech]

Don't get too excited, this thread is 18+ months old...