JRC-525, noob questions

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HiVolt

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My uncle was going thru his "junk" a while ago, and he gave me a JRC-525 receiver... Now, I know nothing about shortwave... Neither did my uncle, apparently it was given to him by a friend 15 years ago who left the country.

The receiver appears in good shape, powers on, buttons/dials work.. But i don't know what kind of antenna it requires, and is there even anything useful to listen to in the Toronto, Canada area...

Can it use an indoor antenna, somewhat similar to a desktop scanner? Would be neat if it was able to pick up regular AM/FM radio stations but i looked up a spec sheet and it doesnt seem like it goes that high in frequency... Maybe I'm wrong...

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

PS if this isn't the right forum, I apologize.
 

majoco

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One of the best shortwave receivers made for the domestic/ham market. Don't get rid of it until you have put an outside antenna on it and played with it for a while - at least a year as conditions change slowly! Review here...
Japan Radio Comp. NRD-525 Shortwave Receiver

JRC NRD-525 Product Reviews

...although the Eham reviews tend to be just a little biassed - you only hear from the extremes - very good or very bad!
 

ka3jjz

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We have a separate forum for HF receive antennas (be sure to check out the sticky with links to our wiki on the subject) - feel free to ask about antennas there. Be sure to say whether you can put something outside (always best) and about how much room you have to play with...

The NRDs were made by Japan Radio Corporation, which built originally for the maritime market. So while these receivers were never top drawer in terms of audio, they're well built and last for years. Very stable and you hardly hear of any of these having overloading or selectivity issues.

What to hear? Good question - hams, SW broadcasters, military, aircraft, marine activity, long wave broadcasters from Europe (with the right antenna, natch) - digital (you need software to decode it) - the list is quite broad and varied. But first, you need a good antenna...

Mike
 

ab3a

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To amplify what ka3jjz wrote, this model was and is still a very respectable shortwave receiver. It will perform quite well. The biggest problem that newbies stumble in to is setting up an antenna good enough for a receiver this good.

I like to listen to aircraft over the oceans, and ships at sea. Occasionally I'll listen to ham radio activity.

Short wave broadcasting isn't what it used to be thanks to Internet streaming audio servers and podcasts. However, you can still find some interesting broadcasts to listen to.

Also read some of the posts on where and how to find pirate radio transmitters. It can be fun to listen to at times.

This is a good receiver. Play with it for a while before you get rid of it. You never know, you might get hooked on it.
 

scowl

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Portland, OR
The NRD-525 was the dream I fulfilled over twenty years ago when I got my first real job and had extra income. I was finally going to buy a "real" communications receiver. I took it back to my small apartment, hooked it up to a wire that I threw out my window, and it was everything I imagined. I was receiving Mexican CB radio, numbers stations, ham radio from Japan and Australia, and aircraft over the Pacific. Shortwave broadcasts might as well have been local stations, especially when using ECSS.

Unfortunately RFI increased steadily year after year as more people got computers and other electronics. I found other hobbies and lost interest in the receiver for about ten years. I pulled it out a few months ago. It was covered with dust but it still works just as well as the day I bought it. I put up a 30 foot longwire and while the RFI is as bad as ever in my neighborhood, the NRD-525's narrow filter, passband control and notch filter are incredible at pulling in readable voices out of a wall of noise.
 
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