How many radio's are enough?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Shortwave2200

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Messages
162
Location
Tampa Florida
I'm into shortwave radio for a long time. I just bought a Eton E1 XM & Eton E1 off of ebay, I have a sat 800 & Grundig G3 and a tecsun pl660.

I don't feel I have alot of radio but I enjoy my hobbie, a couple of friends who are not into sw hobbie thinks im nuts for buying 2 eton e1's.

I love the Eton E1 (I bought 1 with a later serial # 7300 and the non xm is a 899 serial number but it was checked by universal radio 2 years ago when the dude purchased it new and he furnished the paperwork from universal radio)

I really do not care what people think, I enjoy my hobbie but when do you say enough?

How many shortwave radios does everyone else have?
 
Last edited:

ff-medic

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Oct 12, 2007
Messages
728
Location
The Appalachians - Next to the tent and campfire.
I really do not care what people think, I enjoy my hobbie but when do you say enough?

How many shortwave radios does everyone else have?


There ya go. What Joe Blow has, or John Q Public has no meaning or reference. Its what your objectives are when it comes to scanning and or listening. Opinions are sometimes just guidelines.

I have one scanner. One only. It has Aircraft, MILAIR and Public Safety. Someday, I want to upgrade. I want a scanner for my general area with aircraft band included, A dedicated AIRBAND scanner dedicated strictly to MILAIR - UHF & VHF ( another 9/11 possibly...although some radio conversations might be encrypted ) , and a scanner for outlying areas should something of significance happen.Thats is three scanners and that suits me perfectly. And that is within my own personal comfort zone. No sense in having a wall full of scanners, thousands of dollars, especially if you cant listen to them all at one time - or you just dont have time for them all.

At my work, We have a scanner at one of our posts ( I work as as Industrial Firefighter,Paramedic, HAZ-MAT tech ). I took that scanner and programmed it for our area, and some surrounding areas. Surrounding areas have been known for some great emergencys worth listening to. I left a few empty channels in the scanner, along with a frequency lists for ajoining agencys ( State Police - Coast Guard - River Trans - ajoining countys ) to be programmed if something happens. Explosions, refinery fires..all past occurances.

Radios & Scanning is a hobby and an enjoyable one. Listening to far away stations ( Skip ) , Satellites, MILAIR ; and scanning radio bands to discover hidden radio freqs and unlisted stations. Me, my input ; is to cater and radio systems to your needs , based on what you can listen to. Scanners / Shortwaves in home, strategically set up for immediate listening and your area, plus a local disaster and or international news and radio traffic. A good shortwave with numerous banks to listen to, banks set up for routine listening, plus your specific interest.

Interlace scanning banks ( freqs from one bank, also included in another bank with specific freqs ). Example. A county fire dept on your county band and listeing area, PLUS your county fire dept programmed in your bank of ajoining agencys, incase of mutual aid. You can do the same thing with a HAM radio that has programmable banks. Doing this...minimizes the need for additional radios/ scanners / hams. Initially somewhat expensive for a "radio" with numerous bands, but it beats the cost purchasing numerous radios, so in a sense - One expensive radio saved you costs, UNLESS the HAM receiver does not cover all the bands you need.

Research, plan and put your system together based on your needs and listening habits. Build an outside antenna system for maxium listening effect, and consider a preamp. A small sized radio operation, could save you money ; letting it go into the system itself ( antenna - extra coax..ect ) ; so you can have a good listening post.

One ambualance goes down the street, I dont get to excited. One ambualnce, fire trucks, police..sirens wailing..I tend to turn the scanner on to find out what is going on, but I dont listen to the whole conversation most the time.


Hope I helped.

FF - Medic !!!
 

E-Man

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Mar 1, 2004
Messages
841
Location
Global
I just purchased a brand new Eton E1XM on Ebay SN 08611. Adapters arrived yesterday from Universal Radio, and I hooked up the E1 to my Par EF-SWL antenna last night. I have not had much time using it yet, but my initial impressions are very positive, while it may not be as sensitive as my Icom R75, I think I am really going to like this radio.

My strategy is to load up the memories in the E1 and R75 and scan them, so when I am multitasking and do not have time to dedicate to monitoring, I can do so in the background. For me the purchase of the E1 pretty much completes what I wanted for my SW coverage. I currently have a Eton E1XM, Icom R75 and a RFspace SDR-IQ. In the future I may replace the SDR-IQ with another SDR or add another SDR, but one Desktop and one Portatop seems to be perfect for my needs. Now I just need to find time and frequencies to load up in the memory that I want to monitor.

I think the Eton E1 is going to be one of those radio's that will hold its value over the long term, so I think you made a good investment on a excellent radio.
 

zz0468

QRT
Banned
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
6,034
How many radio's are enough?


The following formula can be used to determine exactly how many radios are enough:


Rn=S(B*y)/I*10e(1/h)

Where:
Rn= The number of radios needed,
S=Unoccupied physical space
B=Number of accessible bank accounts (checking, savings, paypal, and lines of credit)
y=Number of signal wavefronts passing your house at any given time
I=Irritation level of not hearing everything
h=Planck Constant.
e=exponential notation, so your irritation level at not hearing what you want is multiplied by 10 to the power of (1/h), which is a very large number, indeed.
 

Shortwave2200

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Messages
162
Location
Tampa Florida
I use the Satellit 800 more for a "Home Base" the Eton's I will keep on in the box (the higher SN, just in case) I really got tired of the smaller radio's. I like bigger radio's they seem, to me, to be a shortwave radio the samaller ones feel like toys.

I hear alot more on the etons with t just the whip, the sat 800 works better with an outdoor antenna then it shines.

I'm sending my uncle my Tecsun pl600, tecsun pl660 and grundig Mini 300 (he is actually the one that got me interested in SW radio) and I no longer use those radios so I figured he is retired and his 35 year old SW radio finally gave up.

I was looking into a icom or a drake sw8 but the sat 800 has the guts of the drake sw8 and the icom i don't think takes batteries, I like the option of jamming batteries and going mobile.

The eton e1 or the e1xm are going for alot on ebay "New", I don't think they are really new though, anyone can buy something use it then put it back in the box with all of the packaging and say it is new.

I bought used ones on fleabay but with the original box for less.

I just love searching for new freq's I just wish there were more people like there used to be that liked to get together and do DX'ing together but times are different now-a-days.

So what do people think of the performance of the sat 800 or the eton e1?

The only thing with the eton e1xm is the sticky finish, the higher serial one I removed the sticky stuff on the back of the radio. I took the back off and the boards and soaked the back in 90% alcohol for like an hr and the coarting came right off and the plastic is fine, after the alcohol bath I ran the water on the back for a little bit and used regular soap, looks great.

The Eton e1 with the lower serial number I just used monitor cleaner and it feels a little sticky but I don't feel like disassembling it though.
 
Last edited:

E-Man

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Mar 1, 2004
Messages
841
Location
Global
There seems to be a flood of new E1's on Ebay lately, and commanding high prices 460-650 for NIB. Check the feedback, there is new ones available for a premium. Mine does not have a sticky finish, and it is not a dust magnet either. Hopefully it will stay that way. I am not familar with the 800. You may be interested in #WUNClub chat:

Main Page - HF Underground
 

K9DAK

Active Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 16, 2010
Messages
688
Location
Wauconda, IL
The following formula can be used to determine exactly how many radios are enough:


Rn=S(B*y)/I*10e(1/h)

Where:
Rn= The number of radios needed,
S=Unoccupied physical space
B=Number of accessible bank accounts (checking, savings, paypal, and lines of credit)
y=Number of signal wavefronts passing your house at any given time
I=Irritation level of not hearing everything
h=Planck Constant.
e=exponential notation, so your irritation level at not hearing what you want is multiplied by 10 to the power of (1/h), which is a very large number, indeed.

But with I*10e(1/h) in the denominator, an increasing irritation level will make the number of radios needed smaller . . . replace the / with a * and I think you're on to something! :)
 

KC0CSE

Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2006
Messages
752
Location
KANSAS CITY NORTH....
Never enough radio's

you can never ever have enough radio's.....
10 maxon's
6 Motorola's
4 uniden's
4 kenwood's
wait be back got to take another inventory....
 

Shortwave2200

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Messages
162
Location
Tampa Florida
The flood of e1's on ebay has me amazed, it's like they all came on there all at once.

I did find out something interesting about the stickey finish, when the radio is in the plastic bag that is when the stickiness starts then the oils in your hands accelerates the stickieness.

It's weird....

But the new ones are going to 599.00 the original price new new was 499.00.

I was lucky and bought my 2 for 150.00 less, but they are not new, I'm kind of glad that they were used B/C even a brand new one even a latter serial # can have problems.

But hopefully none of those new ones or the used ones have problems.

I really love the E1, it seems more sensitive than alot of recievers out there and for the amount of features the price is right.

Funny the E1 was panned when it first came out now they are going for alot more just like the sat 800's....
 

Shortwave2200

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Messages
162
Location
Tampa Florida
Well after these purchases I made HOPEFULLY that will be it for some time.

I really do not like any of the newer radio's out there, the sat 750 is junk.
 

Shortwave2200

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Messages
162
Location
Tampa Florida
WOW just checked fleabay and they have gone up to 695.00.... WOW!!!!

That's the first one I have seen that high....
 

Shortwave2200

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Messages
162
Location
Tampa Florida
I saw someone who had a lot of 5 for 1500.00 new, That would of been a good score and then turn them around and sell 4 @ 500.00 a peice....
 

Shortwave2200

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Messages
162
Location
Tampa Florida
AND there is a seller who is selling new eton E1's also has a new sat 800 for 675.00 new....

Where the hell are they getting these new ones?

Or were people hoarding them when they thought the end of the world was coming?

Be funny if they sold all of thiers THEN the end comes wouldn't matter anyways if the end of the world comes we won't be worring about SW radio's.....
 

kf7yn

Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2002
Messages
621
Location
West Jordan, UT
I've had my E1XM for several years, use it daily and I love it. I wholeheartedly agree with those who say it is the best SW portable ever made, performance approaches some desktop receivers. I use mine with the bhi dsp module and it makes a huge difference. I've had many different receivers over the last 40 years, the E1 is my all around favorite, well maybe except for my RCA AN-SRR13A which is my avatar.

I bought another E1 late 83xx serial # off eBay recently that had a minor problem which I fixed and gave it to my brother for Xmas. He doesn't know what's in the package yet!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top