This guy had a real impressive review on the Eton Executive...

[Omega-TI]

I've been looking to get back into shortwave radio and want to get a GOOD radio, without busting the bank. The video below impressed me enough to want to press the buy button, but before I do that, I'd like to get comments, suggestions, alternatives from you guys who've actually played with these things for years (I'm just getting back into the radio hobby).

 

[trentbob]

As I was saying in another thread I just bought the elite 750 a few months ago. It's okay, it didn't break the bank but I would get it before I would get the executive.

A lot of it has to do with your antenna setup, your location, conditions around you, your noise floor and interference from other places.

I would look seriously at buying a used ICOM R75 or move up to the elite 750 both of which are not as portable. I was replacing my R75 which finally died and was looking for something different, looking back I should have gotten a used 75.

This guy appeared to do a pretty good review, I guess you're seeing some of the other reviews on YouTube and folks just have no idea what they're talking about or they are all over the place.

Good luck on your decision but I wouldn't be so impulsive. There are some older higher-end used shortwave radios on the market also but you certainly could do worse than the Executive also.

 

[Omega-TI]

I had considered the R75, but then I read about of a couple of them that died and one post about Icom no longer fixing them and that pretty much eliminated that one from contention. I have looked at the 750 as well, it appears to have some pretty good specs, but it's a tank and those ugly handles on the side do not look removable, it's still under consideration though, but the sensitivity and selectivity on the Executive was fairly impressive for its size.

 

[Omega-TI]

Oh, I forgot to mention that one of my considerations is "would it be small enough to take with me if I end up in a nursing home someday."

 

[marksmith]

Your antenna setup is a much more important decision than the radio.

 

[ka3jjz]

To a point, that's true. However it's better to think of a HF radio and antenna as a system, rather than individual components. I no of almost no broadcasts directed to the Pacific NW - there used to be a few that beamed to the West Coast, but I kinda doubt they're doing that much these days

Using HF gear in a NSF or nursing home would be an exercise in futility. Such a facility would be awash in equipment that would send all sorts of hash, and I doubt any indoor restricted system would hear much of anything.

Unfortunately you have a geo restriction of sorts. If the Cascades are nearby, you're going to have issues with that, as signals can be blocked by them. I've traveled a great deal in the Pacific NW and have talked with folks out there.

Getting antenna - any antenna - outside is going to perform a lot better than indoors.

With all that out of the way, let's get started...

Yes the Executive is a nice portable. You can find reviews of this and many other radios using the links found here;

Category:Receiver Reviews - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

As for antennas - well I've heard of several folks mating the el cheapo Chinese MLA30 plus to portables and it seems to work for them. I'm not a fan of wideband amps (like this uses), but I'll let you be the judge. You can read about these antennas via links found here

Loops - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

You will need to have some understanding about how HF propagation works. This is a fair article to get you started on that...

The Sun, the Earth, the Ionosphere:

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the national association for amateur radio, connecting hams around the U.S. with news, information and resources.

www.arrl.org

Understanding what areas are in daylight and darkness is critical for knowing what areas of the world you might hear. We have a few such maps linked here...

HF Propagation - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

And finally, don't overlook the use of web radios...most are free and are quite literally all over the globe

Live Tunable Receivers - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

Mike

 

[Omega-TI]

Your antenna setup is a much more important decision than the radio.

Granted it is important, but even a monster antenna hooked up to a garbage radio (like I have) still has limitations. From my experience the noise floor is usually raised to a point where the lesser performance becomes most evident as cheaper radios don't have bandwidth adjustments, filters or attenuation. In the video above at 5:30, the Yaesu FRG-7700 sounded just a tad less impressive than the Eton, which was an eye opener for me. The Eton at 8:30 up against the Icom 703 was not as impressive, but for the $150.00 price point it was very respectable.

 

[trentbob]

Granted it is important, but even a monster antenna hooked up to a garbage radio (like I have) still has limitations. From my experience the noise floor is usually raised to a point where the lesser performance becomes most evident as cheaper radios don't have bandwidth adjustments, filters or attenuation. In the video above at 5:30, the Yaesu FRG-7700 sounded just a tad less impressive than the Eton, which was an eye opener for me. The Eton at 8:30 up against the Icom 703 was not as impressive, but for the $150.00 price point it was very respectable.

Just a hint with the Elite 750. It takes 4 D batteries. Good quality alkaline batteries last forever... Forever. AC adapter that comes with it is inherently noisy. I don't use it. I have other options obviously in my shack but I don't use anything, I just use the batteries and listen to it daily for short periods of time. I'm still at full bars on the battery after about 4 months Just saying.

 

[Omega-TI]

Just a hint with the Elite 750. It takes 4 D batteries. Good quality alkaline batteries last forever... Forever. AC adapter that comes with it is inherently noisy. I don't use it. I have other options obviously in my shack but I don't use anything, I just use the batteries and listen to it daily for short periods of time. I'm still at full bars on the battery after about 4 months Just saying.

Question for you on the 750. How does it perform on BCB-DX? The rotating antenna on that model interests me. Of course using that antenna inside might induce RFI issues when I have other equipment running.

 

[trentbob]

Question for you on the 750. How does it perform on BCB-DX? The rotating antenna on that model interests me. Of course using that antenna inside might induce RFI issues when I have other equipment running.

Shortwave radio hobby is not like it used to be regarding English speaking foreign broadcast. Ham operation is pretty active. Swl has been a hobby of mine for about 58 years since I was around 10 and I always loved AM radio dxing. One of the great features on this radio is the rotating ferrite bar antenna.

 

[pnw73]

> ... small enough to take with me...

The C.Crane Skywave SSB is an incredible little radio https://tinyurl.com/yy4em6y4 .

 

[Omega-TI]

> ... small enough to take with me...

The C.Crane Skywave SSB is an incredible little radio https://tinyurl.com/yy4em6y4 .

I looked at this radio, because as @trentbob said, "Don't be impulsive". Well after watching the brief little video below, I had to remove it from contention.

 

[Omega-TI]

Apparently the XHDATA D-808 is not "really" available in the US without utilizing an "end run", but it has some decent specifications. Still, the Elite Executive might be worth the extra 38 bucks to avoid such a long transit time.

Ebay has them for $77.00 << Link Here For Those Willing to Gamble >>
Even so, the shipping is out-of-line, you would be better off paying the $150.00 for the Eton on Amazon and get "free" shipping.

 

[ka3jjz]

Do your research in the Receiver Reviews category before buying anything. I'm also sure that like the above, you can find YouTube videos but if you can get reputable reviewers (like N9EWO who used to write for Passport), so much the better....Mike

 

[Omega-TI]

Do your research in the Receiver Reviews category before buying anything. I'm also sure that like the above, you can find YouTube videos but if you can get reputable reviewers (like N9EWO who used to write for Passport), so much the better....Mike

Yeah, I'm still narrowing it down and checking written and audio reviews. I've had the Eton 750 recommended to me as well, and it is a nice radio, but for what little extra you get over the The Elite Executive, I cannot bring myself to pay the additional $250.00. So far I've not seen any other radio that really surpasses it's reception capabilities, even over its price range.

 

[Omega-TI]

Do your research in the Receiver Reviews category before buying anything. I'm also sure that like the above, you can find YouTube videos but if you can get reputable reviewers (like N9EWO who used to write for Passport), so much the better....Mike

According to N9EWO, the R-8600 is better than the R9500? I might mention it's only $2450.00 as opposed to $13,000 for the R-9500. Still, my use will only be casual and after the newness wears off will probably only be used a few times a month.

 

[majoco]

I would never rely on those YouTube reviews - they don't tell you where they are, they don't tell you the time of day, they don't tell you all sorts of things that are pertinent to the radio's operation - and how can you connect a whip antenna to the FRG7700 and call that a level playing field!

 

[Omega-TI]

I would never rely on those YouTube reviews - they don't tell you where they are, they don't tell you the time of day, they don't tell you all sorts of things that are pertinent to the radio's operation - and how can you connect a whip antenna to the FRG7700 and call that a level playing field!

We all know antennas are very important. A great radio with a decent antenna will give you respectable results. A crappy radio with a crappy antenna will give you crappy reception. But better radios with crappy antennas can show the difference in the performance and how much difference the radio makes. To me, it was a fair example.

 

[trentbob]

According to N9EWO, the R-8600 is better than the R9500? I might mention it's only $2450.00 as opposed to $13,000 for the R-9500. Still, my use will only be casual and after the newness wears off will probably only be used a few times a month.

View attachment 117770

Yep you are in a whole different world here.

At least you are doing your homework and seeing what's out there even if you just end up getting the executive. As everyone said there's so many factors that can affect your results. Any radio you get will only be as good as its antenna setup or potential antenna setup.

On that side by side comparison with the CC crane radio I noticed that the frequency readout was just set on the same frequency for each radio. One thing that's a factor with these relatively inexpensive portables is you really have to fine tune them and most optimal reception may not be directly on the frequency it is supposed to be on. There can be some drift, for example, wwv is a good way to test reception, you set the radio to 10000 kHz. After some fine-tuning you might see that the best reception is a readout of 10005 kHz or 10003 kHz if you can adjust the steps like the elite 750, something that's important by the way if you're going to be listening to single side band.

Another good test frequency is 27.025 MHz which is Channel 6 CB during the day if the skip is good. See what frequency read out that actually ends up on with the most optimal reception.

Anyway, it's good that you are seeing what's out there before you pull the trigger.

 

[Hit_Factor]

... 127.025 which is Channel 6 CB...

27.025 MHz is CB 6, I'm sure this is just a typo.