Short Wave Radios.

[LowPlainsDrifter]

Dont know if this is in the right department but it is related to travel so - Does anyone ever use or take a short wave radio with them on trips?
If so what do you have and how do you like it?
I have a Radioshack DX396 which I took all over the USA with me (on motorcyle tho) and it gave me lots of good use. I still have it and still use it. Its not too big, measures approx 18 x 12 cm.
On return to Uk I bought a Grundig Yacht Boy 400 mainly because I had heard its a decent radio and it had a few more frequencies than my DX and had single side band too.
The performance seems about the same between the two. I cant find any difference in that regard only the Yacht Boy is more versatile but also more complicated. The DX-396 is easier to use and the batteries in it (2 C cells) last twice as long as the Yacht Boys 6 aa's. Also the DX-396 will show the low battery warning yet still keep running but the Yacht Boy once the batteries are low just shuts off automatically then shows the low batt warning.
Its quite good to get into somewhere where you either cant pick up a local radio station or if abroad you want to listen to an English broadcast from stations all over the world.
So anyone else take one with them?

[andrew_s]

I sometimes take a Sony ICF-SW100.
2xAA, (cassette) walkman sized, AM 150kHz (LW) to 30MHz(SW), SSB, FM 76 MHz TO 108MHz, picks up the World Service in the Antarctic or Tibet.
No longer in production .

The BBC World Service isn't what it was. There are no broadcasts aimed at Europe, the Americas, Australia (etc). It's assumed that in these areas you'll be on DAB, satellite, cable or such. Generally it's easier to pick up Deutsche Welle English service or similar.

Back in the day, I had fun picking up the East German code broadcasts to their spies (not that it was worth listening to for more than a minute or two).

[simonhill]

I take a SW radio on my long haul trips to Asia and India, retc. It is great for hearing a bit of UK and world news on the BBC World Service and also lots of other English speaking news from VoA (US) , Oz, Neth, Ger, China, etc, etc. Also local radio is sometimes in English. Sometimes, eg bad cyclone in India, I got more news on the BBC than I got locally.

It also has MW (AM) and FM which are useful for local radio stations and music. It also, also has LW which means that I can get Radio 4 in N Europe (and in FM free zones in UK).

My radio is Phillips - not sure if it is made anymore, but there is a similar Roberts here (4th item down) http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/store ... +High&p=81 it is very small and much lighter than a book, so it can be useful for passing a few 'lonely' hours in the evening.

If you are going Asia way, then you can pick up radios like this for about a fiver in local markets.

As said before, no SW in Oz or NZ, so I use an even smaller AM/FM radio for local networks.

Even at my low budget level, I am finding many hotel rooms have TV so listening to the radio in the evening is sadly becoming less common for me.

[rapidfire72]

I have the old Grundig Yacht Boy - Fine Arts 218, which is still in good working order. It's about 10 years old now and got it in the Dixon's closing down sale and at the time cost about £20.

It has Fm (stereo with headphones), MW & SW 1-7 bands. Although, I live in Teesside, I can pick up Metro Fm up in Tyneside and Fresh AM in the Yorkshire Dales.

Although, I have a portable DAB radio, which is fine, but the Yacht Boy 218 is a great little radio for getting them stations , which you can't on DAB or vice versa.

[julk]

I take an Eton E5 with me, it uses 4 AAs its freq range is 150 to 29,999 khz plus the FM broadcast band.

[Mattie]

Eton E100 - to listen to world service and local radio stations.

The unit is about 7.5 x 11.5 cm, so quite small, and it gets regular use when away. One option I was going to look into for the future would be a small SW radio like my Eton 100 but one that also had a socket to plug in a little iPod. Then you would have an external speaker to listen to your music, when you felt like it, as well as a SW/FM radio.

[byegad]

Careful with the Yacht Boy. My father bought one in 1968 and it broke down last week!

I don't know buy a good make and forty two years later it packs in. They don't make thing like they used to!!!

Used every day for forty years it was a great radio.

[LowPlainsDrifter]

Simon, I saw some cheapo SW analog radios when I was in India, tried one out but didn't like it. But then they were cheap!
Traveling and camping in the middle of no-where its neat to cruise the channels and pick up a broadcast from far corners of the world. I carried a length of copper wire (just regular 12v stuff) about 20 foot long with a crocodile clip on one end and would clip that to my antenna and lay it out and that would boost the signal often.
byegad, hope mine lasts as long. Or I do!
Mattie,I wouldn't know what an ipod was if I saw one. Something you load music up on I guess. That stuffs all beyond me.

[the_mikey]

I have a Retekess TR103, it's about the length of a credit card (8.6cm) about 1.7cm deep, and 4.5cm wide, it's usb rechargeable, runs for about six hours, very light, receives FM, AM and shortwave, also plays MP3s, good for a break during a boring audax, putting some of your favourite tunes on or a podcast or whatever, the user interface is basic and probably makes it a poor choice for some casual shortwave DXing, it's too small for that, but otherwise it works adequately.

What I like about this is it's smaller than a mobile phone, it's inexpensive and relatively low tech and very light.

[rjb]

Ive inherited this sony radio which i keep out in the man cave to entertain me when working on the bike etc.
No dab+ so cant receive Union Jack.
Too big to carry around far.
Father in law took it with him all over the globe as he was in the power industry and move to wherever his latest contract took him.

[the_mikey]

Ive inherited this sony radio which i keep out in the man cave to entertain me when working on the bike etc.
No dab+ so cant receive Union Jack.
Too big to carry around far.
Father in law took it with him all over the globe as he was in the power industry and move to wherever his latest contract took him.

That's quite a radio Shortwave is still active, daytime 9MHz to 18MHz is most active, evenings try below 10MHz down to 3.9MHz

[st599_uk]

Tecsun radios are highly regarded.

They have some small sets designed for travel and a really good autotuning system that finds all available stations.

[Jdsk]

I used to carry a short wave radio when travelling, and it was also how we got the news from the UK when staying in France. And laying out the aerial lead out always reminded me of SOE or early le Carré.

PLL was a big improvement, and some of the Sony devices worked very well and were beautifully designed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-locked_loop

Now I use the Internet.

Jonathan

[simonineaston]

It is very important to have a radio with you at all times 'cos otherwise you will not know when it is the End Of The World...

[Jdsk]

It is very important to have a radio with you at all times 'cos otherwise you will not know when it is the End Of The World...

I guessed without clicking! : - )

Unfortunately the editors would probably now include a "balancing" response from the enemy power.

Jonathan