C Crane CCrane Skywave SSB replacement?

[EltonNoway]

Sorry to piggyback off the OP's thread. I know the CCrane Skywave SSB continues to get rave reviews as it has over the "years" but I picked mine up during a holiday sale in 2017. Unfortunately the tuner is starting to drift because its basically worn out. I have no complaints other than it lacked external antenna connection. Anyway, I'm looking for a replacement and I hesitate to buy another one... worried there must be a newer radio out their with all the same capabilities (or better). Anybody know of a potential CCrane Skywave SSB Killer out there in a similar price range?

 

[air-scan]

Sorry to piggyback off the OP's thread. I know the CCrane Skywave SSB continues to get rave reviews as it has over the "years" but I picked mine up during a holiday sale in 2017. Unfortunately the tuner is starting to drift because its basically worn out. I have no complaints other than it lacked external antenna connection. Anyway, I'm looking for a replacement and I hesitate to buy another one... worried there must be a newer radio out their with all the same capabilities (or better). Anybody know of a potential CCrane Skywave SSB Killer out there in a similar price range?

Some like the Tecsun PL330 minus the airband and weather band. It's a little bigger than the CC Skywave SSB but it's reportedly a good little performer. It is about $70 cheaper. The Elite Executive from Eton has the Airband but no weather band it does well too but $30 more expensive than the CC Skywave SSB. Perhaps the word 'killer' is a little to extreme for radios because each and every radio made has it's flaws.

 

[AK9R]

Sorry to piggyback off the OP's thread.

Your post, and the reply, have been moved to a new thread.

 

[wscranston]

Some like the Tecsun PL330 minus the airband and weather band. It's a little bigger than the CC Skywave SSB but it's reportedly a good little performer. It is about $70 cheaper. The Elite Executive from Eton has the Airband but no weather band it does well too but $30 more expensive than the CC Skywave SSB. Perhaps the word 'killer' is a little to extreme for radios because each and every radio made has it's flaws.

My issue with the PL-330 vs. the CCrane is the battery. I primarily use my CCrane as a travel radio. It uses uses standard AAs, so if my eneloops fail or, say, I lose my charger, standard AA batteries are easily available. Can't say the same for the special battery in the PL-330.

If you're not worried about this, PL-330 is highly regarded.

 

[EltonNoway]

Thanks to everyone for their comments and insight. Yep... in addition to the PL-330 and the Elite Executive I also looked at XHData D808... but like the others it also lacked the weather band which is nice to have when I'm thinking about taking the boat out our out hiking and looking for a current weather in the area. Being able to use AA batteries in the CCrane is also a plus. NET: I guess I was thinking along lines of "if money were no object which would be the best portable comparable to the Skywave SSB I could get today in 2021?" It seems, price aside... that even though the Skywave SSB was first available back in 2017 it's still my best option for the featues I want. Oh well... to take some of the sting out of it Amazon is currently offering a $10 credit that you can use during Prime Days "if" you buy from a small business. C Crane is a authorized 3rd party seller on Amazon so they qualified and I got the 10 bucks. I would use it towards the Hermitshell Travel Case for the CCrane Skywave if I didn't already have one.

 

[air-scan]

Having AA batteries is so common and no hassle to find I think the radios in current production that take AA batteries are good option. I have the Radiwow R-108 I am not using. It uses that Nokia battery. It doesn't last long on a charge maybe 8 hours. The CC Skywave SSB on Rechargeable Ni-MH batteries can go about 2 days or so. That's on 1300mah capacity. probably almost double that for 2300mah.

If it were me in about 4 years from now I hope CCrane has a improved model with the same features as the CC Skywave SSB and order it. CCrane does have a repair service base fee $59.95 with $11.95 return shipping. they may be able to bring it back to how it is supposed to be.

Help (ccrane.com)

 

[Boombox]

Sorry to piggyback off the OP's thread. I know the CCrane Skywave SSB continues to get rave reviews as it has over the "years" but I picked mine up during a holiday sale in 2017. Unfortunately the tuner is starting to drift because its basically worn out. I have no complaints other than it lacked external antenna connection. Anyway, I'm looking for a replacement and I hesitate to buy another one... worried there must be a newer radio out their with all the same capabilities (or better). Anybody know of a potential CCrane Skywave SSB Killer out there in a similar price range?

Tuner 'drift' because it's 'worn out'? If it has a rotary knob, maybe a shot of tuner cleaner down the side of the shaft (with a little exercising of the tuner knob) might fix it. That is, if the 'drift' you mention is the skipping of frequencies while you tune the radio using the knob.

However, if the actual frequency is drifting and moving around after you punch in a frequency using the direct entry keys, then, of course, you've definitely got problems.