Good radio for listening Ham?

[Fisherman100]

Hi,

I'M searching a good radio to listen to amateurs.

One covering the largest quantity of bands possible.

What are your suggestions? And what can be a good antenna tu use with it?

Thank you for advice.

73s

[Fisherman100]

Hi,

I'M searching a good radio to listen to amateurs.

One covering the largest quantity of bands possible.

What are your suggestions? And what can be a good antenna tu use with it?

Thank you for advice.

73s

The radio must have the ssb option.

Thank's

[drdx]

What are your final goals? If you plan on eventually getting into ham look into an entry level HF rig, like an Icom 718, Yaesu FT450, etc. Any modern HF rig will do what you want to do and more.

-drdx

[Night Crawler]

And what can be a good antenna tu use with it?

The simplest antenna to start with for listening would be a random wire antenna but with a tuner it could also be used for transmitting.

Half way down the page
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[231]

An inexpensive Sangean ATS-818 would do the job with a random wire and small tuner. As mentioned, more details would be nice to help you narrow down where and what to look at though. The choices are really endless. I have a few ham HF transceivers that I use the most, but I also have an old National NC-88 and a Sangean ATS-818CS also which do a fair job at listening (especially with a decent antenna). The Sangean you can simply punch in the frequency you want to listen to or use the VFO to adjust. It uses a BFO which listens to both Upper and Lower sideband. And of course it has AM/FM, too. You have many good choices available to you all over the scale for pricing.

The real question is how much do you want to budget for it? An SWL receiver can run anywhere from almost free to several thousands of dollars. Tuners can run from dirt cheap to several hundred dollars.

['Doc]

A VERY simple way of looking at it is that you want to gather the signals you want to hear (antenna) and convert those signals to something your ears can understand (receiver).
The antenna part usually means the higher and 'bigger' the better, to some ridiculous point. An antenna doesn't have to be all that elaborate, a simple wire can work just dandy sometimes.
The receiver can be as simple as simple as an old crystal receiver which isn't very selective or sensitive, to as complicated/expensive as your banker will allow. As already said, the choices are almost unlimited.
I don't know about you, but if I listen to something, and it's interesting, I'm gonna want to join in. That means that it isn't a simple "listen to'em" thingy anymore, but a license and transmitter thingy. At that point, things change drastically.
- 'Doc

[Fisherman100]

In fact,

yes I'm interested to eventually get my ham license, but for the moment, I just want to listen.

I have a Grundig SW radio S350DL, but it's mainly for SW stations of broadcasting. I hear Ham in the 80 m and others bands, but they work in SSB. In fact, it's the only option I'm missing right now (and may be the 160 m band). I have an outdoor antenna to work with my radio.
So, I'm looking for a good radio with the SSB option and a way to improve my copper wire 50' antenna.
Remembering that I've invested a lot of money on radios in the last six months. See the list below...before May, I had nothing of these....

For sure and big gear like an Icom radio is in my project, as soon as possible, but not now.

Thank's for those who gave me advice.

73s

[Night Crawler]

Here's a ham receiver online that's located in the Netherlands that will let you listen to the hams in europe and depending on propagation from the US and other parts of the world.
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[721HACKSAW]

I have many radios myself Fisherman, mostly CBs. I am a Gen class HAM also. I use 1 radio almost exclusivly now though for all my communications. My Yaesu FT-450 with built in antenna tuner will do any of the HF bands, (11m with just a simple mod). I have 3 antennas, an Imax verticle and Yagi horz, beam, for 10-12 meters, and a long wire (132') for every other band. This radio performs great on SSB, it will never be "Super Trucker" load on AM but when you get the capability for SSB on other bands you will see how limited and taxing 11m AM can be. There are many entry style HAM radios that are inexpensive and have capabilities way beyond any CB radio. Good luck and enjoy.

[Fisherman100]

I have many radios myself Fisherman, mostly CBs. I am a Gen class HAM also. I use 1 radio almost exclusivly now though for all my communications. My Yaesu FT-450 with built in antenna tuner will do any of the HF bands, (11m with just a simple mod). I have 3 antennas, an Imax verticle and Yagi horz, beam, for 10-12 meters, and a long wire (132') for every other band. This radio performs great on SSB, it will never be "Super Trucker" load on AM but when you get the capability for SSB on other bands you will see how limited and taxing 11m AM can be. There are many entry style HAM radios that are inexpensive and have capabilities way beyond any CB radio. Good luck and enjoy.

Thank you for this advice. I'm learning so I've made some mistake for sure. And I'm doing more precisely exactly what I want and where I'm going.
It's appreciate to have your opinion.
73s

[Assaulter]

Hi,

I'M searching a good radio to listen to amateurs.

One covering the largest quantity of bands possible.

What are your suggestions? And what can be a good antenna tu use with it?

Thank you for advice.

73s

One of the best USED rigs available, with a great noise floor, per the sherwood tests - and firsthand experiences - even though it IS older, is the Icom 735. Amazing Recieve, and a good overall rig. Usually you can find em used on ebay or at a hamfest pretty cheap.

[Ronin]

Here's an option for you if you are looking for a small, HF/SW receiver with SSB. I have had one for about 4 or 5 years now and it is an excellent receiver. It does come with a plug in long wire (about 12 feet or so in length) which helps bring in weaker stations. The wire even works really well to listen to CB. I was able to copy virtually all the local CB traffic out to about 10 miles or so from in my basement. The telescoping whip works pretty decent as well when you can't throw the wire up. I would say that the only minor drawback (for some people) might be that the tuning is push button instead of a dial, but it's small size sort of limts where a rotary dial might go on the radio.

I am not endorsing any retailer, but this link has excellent pics and desciptions of the radio. You might even be able to find one on ebay. But for 80 bucks, I think I'd rather not take any risks buying a used one and just buy a new one.
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Also, a few years back I did a review of the Kaito KA1102. It's on this page under my ham callsign K3ZOR.
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I did the same thing as you years ago when I bought a Realistic DX-440 and listened in on the HF ham bands before getting my license. Oh, and BTW, and police scanner will be able to pick up the ham activity on 6meters, 2 meters and the 440 band with 2 and 440 probably being more active in most areas.

Good Luck and have fun!

[Assaulter]

Also, a few years back I did a review of the Kaito KA1102. It's on this page under my ham callsign K3ZOR.
[Please login or register to view this link] Luck and have fun!

Ronin: Darn straight! The 1102 is the best bang for the buck of any of the portable HF receievers on the market. It's super cheap, and there are a number of available antennas for it, including the portable active loop antenna that degen sells.

[Fisherman100]

Here's an option for you if you are looking for a small, HF/SW receiver with SSB. I have had one for about 4 or 5 years now and it is an excellent receiver. It does come with a plug in long wire (about 12 feet or so in length) which helps bring in weaker stations. The wire even works really well to listen to CB. I was able to copy virtually all the local CB traffic out to about 10 miles or so from in my basement. The telescoping whip works pretty decent as well when you can't throw the wire up. I would say that the only minor drawback (for some people) might be that the tuning is push button instead of a dial, but it's small size sort of limts where a rotary dial might go on the radio.

I am not endorsing any retailer, but this link has excellent pics and desciptions of the radio. You might even be able to find one on ebay. But for 80 bucks, I think I'd rather not take any risks buying a used one and just buy a new one.
[Please login or register to view this link]

Also, a few years back I did a review of the Kaito KA1102. It's on this page under my ham callsign K3ZOR.
[Please login or register to view this link]

I did the same thing as you years ago when I bought a Realistic DX-440 and listened in on the HF ham bands before getting my license. Oh, and BTW, and police scanner will be able to pick up the ham activity on 6meters, 2 meters and the 440 band with 2 and 440 probably being more active in most areas.

Good Luck and have fun!

Do you think that the Kaito is better than the Grundig satellit 750 that I have seen on the web ?

Thank's.

[Ronin]

"Do you think that the Kaito is better than the Grundig satellit 750 that I have seen on the web ?"

No, I would certainly think that the Grundig Satellit 750 would be a better rig.....it certainly has more bells and whistles..... and it is VERRRY COOOL looking too. The price isn't actually too bad either at $300. It isn't a pocket portable, but would be a real nice radio for the desk.

I bought the Kaito KA1102 for it size and portability when I couldn't be in the shack, on vacation, etc., but I would doubt that it would be nearly as good as the sat. 750. Plus tuning around in the civil aircraft band can be interesting as well. When I'm at home I use my Icom 746 for listening around to SW stuff and it does a nice job.

Let us know what you end up getting, and keep us posted as to what you think of it then too.

[Assaulter]

Here's an option for you if you are looking for a small, HF/SW receiver with SSB. I have had one for about 4 or 5 years now and it is an excellent receiver. It does come with a plug in long wire (about 12 feet or so in length) which helps bring in weaker stations. The wire even works really well to listen to CB. I was able to copy virtually all the local CB traffic out to about 10 miles or so from in my basement. The telescoping whip works pretty decent as well when you can't throw the wire up. I would say that the only minor drawback (for some people) might be that the tuning is push button instead of a dial, but it's small size sort of limts where a rotary dial might go on the radio.

I am not endorsing any retailer, but this link has excellent pics and desciptions of the radio. You might even be able to find one on ebay. But for 80 bucks, I think I'd rather not take any risks buying a used one and just buy a new one.
[Please login or register to view this link]

Also, a few years back I did a review of the Kaito KA1102. It's on this page under my ham callsign K3ZOR.
[Please login or register to view this link]

I did the same thing as you years ago when I bought a Realistic DX-440 and listened in on the HF ham bands before getting my license. Oh, and BTW, and police scanner will be able to pick up the ham activity on 6meters, 2 meters and the 440 band with 2 and 440 probably being more active in most areas.

Good Luck and have fun!

Do you think that the Kaito is better than the Grundig satellit 750 that I have seen on the web ?

Thank's.

I'd still say go for a ic-735 OR a brand new icom 718. Both are cheap, have great recievers, and if you get a ham license, you can transmit on them too.

[Ronin]

Yes, I agree with you Assaulter. Once you hit the $300 price range you might as well start looking at some of the ham rigs. I had made the suggestion of the Kaito mainly because of the $80 price tag.

Fisherman100, I would think that once you do get a ham rig, the Sat. 750 will probably see little use. Something that is more portable will get you started, and you'll have something for later when you can't be in the radio shack.

[Fisherman100]

Thank you all,

all good advices. And the more I think about that Ronin, getting a ham rig could be the better thing to do if my intention is to get my license in a year from now.

But, if I buy an Icom (an example), I presume that I won't be able to use a simple wire with it.


73s

[Ronin]

"But, if I buy an Icom (an example), I presume that I won't be able to use a simple wire with it."

Sure you can. It just depends on what you what you have room for as far as a wire antenna. For receiving, you could simply get a PL-259 connector and solder a wire (insulated wire preferably since it's indoors, not to mention you don't want bare wire to touch the outside part of the PL-259 ) to the center conductor and run it around the room, and attach another wire of about equal length to the ground on the radio chassis (on the back of the radio) and run that wire in the opposite direction from the first one and you'll receive fine. If you have room to string up a wire dipole, that would even be better. There are a lot of antenna ideas that you can find on the internet that you can put together for a couple bucks.

When you do get your license and are ready to transmit, you'll want to make sure that the antenna is the correct length on your band of choice (again, the measurements can be found on the internet and the study guides for your ham license will have formulas, it's actually pretty simple). You will probably want to get a manual antenna tuner so that you can use the antenna on other bands. A few years back, a friend of mine lived in an apartment and had nowhere that he could sneak an antenna outside. He had a small tuner and used 3 conductor rotor cable in the method I described above. He cut each conductor to the proper length for 20, 15 and 10 meters, spread the conductors out the best he could and it worked fine and he worked some decent DX with it. For the time being, I live in a rental home and have 2 wire dipoles in my attic here. They would certainly work better if they were outside, but they do a pretty good job considering that they are indoors.

I'm sure you'll come up with a suitable antenna in no time! Experiment with different ideas and configurations until you are satisfied....or until another idea comes along.

[Fisherman100]

"But, if I buy an Icom (an example), I presume that I won't be able to use a simple wire with it."

Sure you can. It just depends on what you what you have room for as far as a wire antenna. For receiving, you could simply get a PL-259 connector and solder a wire (insulated wire preferably since it's indoors, not to mention you don't want bare wire to touch the outside part of the PL-259 ) to the center conductor and run it around the room, and attach another wire of about equal length to the ground on the radio chassis (on the back of the radio) and run that wire in the opposite direction from the first one and you'll receive fine. If you have room to string up a wire dipole, that would even be better. There are a lot of antenna ideas that you can find on the internet that you can put together for a couple bucks.

When you do get your license and are ready to transmit, you'll want to make sure that the antenna is the correct length on your band of choice (again, the measurements can be found on the internet and the study guides for your ham license will have formulas, it's actually pretty simple). You will probably want to get a manual antenna tuner so that you can use the antenna on other bands. A few years back, a friend of mine lived in an apartment and had nowhere that he could sneak an antenna outside. He had a small tuner and used 3 conductor rotor cable in the method I described above. He cut each conductor to the proper length for 20, 15 and 10 meters, spread the conductors out the best he could and it worked fine and he worked some decent DX with it. For the time being, I live in a rental home and have 2 wire dipoles in my attic here. They would certainly work better if they were outside, but they do a pretty good job considering that they are indoors.

I'm sure you'll come up with a suitable antenna in no time! Experiment with different ideas and configurations until you are satisfied....or until another idea comes along.

Good. Thank you. Very useful.
I got my own house outside the city, so I have space to do some experiences.
Think I know what I'm gonna do in the next Spring time.


73s