Should I get a sw radio

[hfflunki]

Hi I was a Swl for a lot of years I moved to mwdx a couple years ago. My main questions are is there any receivable brodcast stations left for someone wth just
A whip antenna inside a house at ground leval. If there's just pirates what is a good inexpensive radio with ssb I also don't have any way to data decode unless I use a phone.
Thank you
Hfflunki

 

[N9JCQ]

I like the Tecsun PL-660. Check out the reviews on here and E-ham. Another is the Degen 1103. However I have both and the PL-660 whips the Degen on HF.

 

[iMONITOR]

Consider the Sangean ATS-909X
Sangean ATS-909X Portable Shortwave Radio ATS909X

 

[hfflunki]

I had a 909x when they first came out before I sold my gear it seemed overly complicated for me I'll check out the pl 660 and Degan 1103 which along time ago I had the kaito version of

 

[majoco]

Yes is the short answer - still plenty to listen to on SW - the BC bands don't have the high power stations any more and you have to put up with the religious stations and also the Chinese domestic broadcasts. Plenty of utility and hams too.

There are some good small receivers out there now, Degen, Tecsun, Redsun and others. The previous big names, Grundig, Eton etc, are all made in the same factory!

There's still some oldies out there that work just as well without the digital bells'n'whistles...

http://forums.radioreference.com/at...22-best-ssb-usb-lsb-receiver-img_0184-sml.jpg

 

[hfflunki]

I have switched to Mac and I can probably get multipack to run in rx mode I could in Linux but with just a simple portable and a helical home brew clip on antenna would it be worth it
I looked at icoms and there still pretty pricy with few other options afew years ago after rci shutdown I started collecting qsls from broadcast stations so that's what I enjoy so thank you
Sorry for lack of punctuation I'm on my moble

 

[ka3jjz]

Try to avoid clipping an antenna to the whip. There is a distinct possibility of having a static zap render your nice portable deaf as a post.

C'mon over to the receive antennas forum and tell us more about your situation (can't put anything outside, size of the room, do you have an attic you can use, which radio you finally get, etc) There are plenty of solutions - of course nothing beats a good antenna away from the home, but if you're in one of those situations where you can't do that, there are alternatives - maybe not as good, but definitely workable

Mike

 

[hfflunki]

Well I just orderd a 909x and made a helical antenna might post more about on antenna forum