Mobile SWL receiver? (Not transceiver)

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Thunderknight

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Does anyone make a mobile suitable HF receiver? remote mount would be great! :)
I'm aware of the many HF ham transceivers, but I'm thinking just a receiver for listening on the road (especially to get into RF quiet areas).
If not, then I might just look at one of the HF rigs and use that for listening. Not sure I would do much talking while mobile.

I thought about an SDR, but I would need a laptop mounted to run it.
 

ka3jjz

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Yep has nothing to do with HF...

Anyway I've never heard of a mobile HF receiver - there have been a few attempts in the past (I seem to recall Sony or Panasonic had one years ago, as did Kenwood and Icom - all were here and gone...). There's no market for such here in the US, so it's not surprising, really.

Stick with a modern HF transceiver - so much more flexible (better selectivity, etc.) than these other dogs. It's going to be a challenge for a decent antenna, though....Mike
 

SCPD

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Does anyone make a mobile suitable HF receiver? remote mount would be great! I'm aware of the many HF ham transceivers, but I'm thinking just a receiver for listening on the road (especially to get into RF quiet areas). If not, then I might just look at one of the HF rigs and use that for listening. Not sure I would do much talking while mobile.

In short, no. You could easily create your own mount for something like a CR-1A which is a SDR by the way.

This isn't your biggest problem. I would take a portable SW radio and check to see how noisy your vehicle is first. RFI from ignition noise, alternators, etc and make SWL'ing from a vehicle very limited.

The mobile HAM transceivers have noise blankers which can help defeat some of this RFI. An ICOM706 is a good example.

I use my ICOM 7000 for SWL in the vehicle which works quite well.

console1.jpg



As Mike said in his reply, a suitable antenna can be quite tricky. As long as you don't care about looks, then you have a few options there.
 

mikepdx

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Yep has nothing to do with HF...

The Pioneer DEH-X2650UI,
a car stereo intended for the Asia Pacific region,
most certainly IS an HF receiver (at least part of the SWL bands)..
"FM/AM Shortwave Tuner (24 preset stations)"

Pioneer DEH-X2650UI - www.pioneer.com.au

There also was the Blaupunkt Frankfurt LW/MW/SW/FM car radio for the European Market years ago.

Both are seen off and on at our favorite auction site.
 
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jackj

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I seem to remember years ago that a friend of my Dad had an imported car from either the UK or W. Germany that had a multi-band car radio. This would have been back in the 1950's and I don't know if it had a BFO. It was a radio that wasn't offered here in the US, I don't know how he got it.
 

SCPD

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Not sure what you're referring to, but the Pioneer DEH-X2650UI,
a car stereo intended for the Asia Pacific region,
most certainly IS an HF receiver (at least part of the SWL bands)..
"FM/AM Shortwave Tuner (24 preset stations)"

Pioneer DEH-X2650UI - www.pioneer.com.au

There also was a Blauplunkt AM/FM/SW car radio for the European Market years ago.

Well, in fairness, the Pioneer site is terrible. You need to download the manual to see what frequency ranges it covers.

The radio does receive the SW broadcast bands.
Its sensitivity is on the low side and thus you'll likely only hear very strong BCB stations

The OP was referring to HF receiver so I don't think this would work for him.
 

jhooten

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Yep has nothing to do with HF...

...Mike

Mike read it again. It is an in dash AM/FM/Shortwave receiver.

Here I'll make it easier for you.
SW tuner Frequency range ..............
2 300 kHz to 7 735 kHz
(2 300 kHz to 2 495 kHz,
2 940 kHz to 4 215 kHz,
4 540 kHz to 5 175 kHz,
5 820 kHz to 6 455 kHz,
7 100 kHz to 7 735 kHz)
9 500 kHz to 21 975 kHz
(9 500 kHz to 10 135 kHz,
11 580 kHz to 12 215 kHz,
13 570 kHz to 13 870 kHz,
15 100 kHz to 15 735 kHz,
17 500 kHz to 17 985 kHz,
18 015 kHz to 18 135 kHz,
21 340 kHz to 21 975 kHz)

The AM only comment was in reference to the Shortwave section.
 

ka3jjz

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I sit corrected.... anyway the HF part will almost certainly not interest the average US joe on the street. Being marketed in Asia, I'm willing to bet that this is likely to cost almost as much as a decent HF ham transceiver in any case.

A ham HF transceiver will have both better sensitivity and selectivity than an in dash radio like this. Interesting that it includes coverage of the 40m ham band, which, unless they're running AM, won't be very pleasant listening ....

Mike
 

zl2taw

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I sit corrected.... anyway the HF part will almost certainly not interest the average US joe on the street. Being marketed in Asia, I'm willing to bet that this is likely to cost almost as much as a decent HF ham transceiver in any case.


The price in Australia is AU $190
 

ka3jjz

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2 words - holy cow

That's quite inexpensive for something like this, even in Australian dollars...Mike
 

Token

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Does anyone make a mobile suitable HF receiver? remote mount would be great! :)
I'm aware of the many HF ham transceivers, but I'm thinking just a receiver for listening on the road (especially to get into RF quiet areas).
If not, then I might just look at one of the HF rigs and use that for listening. Not sure I would do much talking while mobile.

I thought about an SDR, but I would need a laptop mounted to run it.

No longer in production, but I have used both the Icom IC-R1500 and IC-R2500 in mobile applications. The R1500 is in the Miata right now. Both are compact and have remote heads.

I know you said no transceivers, but to be honest that is what I use in most of my vehicles for HF listening. Most ham transceivers have full coverage HF receive, and many have remote heads. I am using the Kenwoood TS-480SAT in 2 vehicles, and I listen far more than I transmit.

T!
 

vagrant

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Kenwood had some various radios as well ranging from the KDC-MP249, KDC-MP2049, and the KDC-MP149. On these radios the SW1 was from 2940 to 7735 kHz and SW2 was from 9500 - 18135 kHz with a bit of a break between. http://manual.kenwood.com/files/4edc696db7bdc.pdf

Although previously mentioned, those that may not understand need to realize these radios are AM mode radios. Thus, transmissions using USB and LSB will be missed. For myself that would restrict quite a bit of what I dial in and listen for. Hopefully this helps the OP and anyone else that may stumble onto this thread to understand what they would be missing, which is quite a bit on the USB mode.

The Icom 706 MkIIG is a fine enough mobile transceiver with a remote head for control. If you want it to be a receiver only, unplug the microphone. Expect to pay at least $600 used though for this model and don't forget the antenna you're going to want/need for short wave listening.

* Token, the Kenwood 480SAT is fantastic. I use one myself.
 

prcguy

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I've run my CommRadio CR-1 SW receiver mobile in the wife's car and it worked well. Antenna was an amplified SW whip kit stuck in the base of a Larsen mag mount with 3ft whip. This particular antenna was not that good but you could do the same with something like a McKay-Dymec DA-100 rebuilt into a mag mount.

Two things that will greatly affect mobile SW reception is first ignition noise, which I'm lucky not to have, and the antenna. In my opinion a short active antenna is the way to go otherwise it will need to be big and tunable for the frequency in use.
prcguy
 

jhooten

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I sit corrected.... anyway the HF part will almost certainly not interest the average US joe on the street. Being marketed in Asia, I'm willing to bet that this is likely to cost almost as much as a decent HF ham transceiver in any case.

A ham HF transceiver will have both better sensitivity and selectivity than an in dash radio like this. Interesting that it includes coverage of the 40m ham band, which, unless they're running AM, won't be very pleasant listening ....

Mike

$162 BIN on the unnameable auction site
 

Thunderknight

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Thanks everyone for the comments/suggestions. I guess if I go this route, I will probably just end up with a HF transceiver that is designed for mobile use.
That is an interesting idea about using an active antenna!
 

SCPD

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Two things that will greatly affect mobile SW reception is first ignition noise, which I'm lucky not to have, and the antenna.

You can have the best antenna and radio on the earth but without a RFI-free vehicle, none of that will matter! :cool:
 

ka3jjz

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It might be able to be used mobile, although I don't think I'd want that loose on a floor where it could become a projectile in an accident....need some way to secure it, particularly from theft. Around my neck of the woods, I doubt it would last more than a week....Mike
 
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