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Tim_Ohio
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# Posted: 13 Oct 2021 10:05am
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Hello.
I'm wondering if anyone has found it useful to have invested in, and have around, a shortwave radio. I've been looking into it and really not sure I need it, but wondered about others. It's funny, for other reasons, I missed having just a basic AM/FM radio around. They seem to have just kind of lost favor with the whole cell phone and computer era.
Tim_Ohio
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gcrank1
Member
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# Posted: 13 Oct 2021 01:52pm
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I played with a borrowed inexpensive Grundig am/fm/sw combo unit some years back at our old cabin thinking that of a 'boring evening' sitting there turning the dial until I found 'something' would be interesting. It was actually pretty dismal.
At the new place we have a '70s era Panasonic am/fm that pulls in pretty good. We run it some, but both of us get weary of the 'noise and chatter of the everyday world' fairly quickly when there; it seems contradictory in that setting. Same with tv, we have NO desire to have one there.
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frankpaige
Member
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# Posted: 13 Oct 2021 02:27pm
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I have AMEX points to use on Amazon. I also thought about a CB for travel to the cabin and at the cabin. Then, it's like why? Have cell phone service, Facebook messenger for home/wife chat. Who am I going to hear? 26 miles from the asphalt it is going to be hunters and kids playing with the portables.
Think I will just use the points for Kindle books.
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gcrank1
Member
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# Posted: 13 Oct 2021 02:30pm
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My 3 CB radios have been sitting in the garage for years, basically since flip phones became a more reliable comm device. Dont even think I can give em away anymore, nobody around here seems to ge using them.
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 13 Oct 2021 03:49pm
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I have a AM/FM/SW at our place. SW is mostly Spanish, chinese or other foreign languages. FM is mostly country and religious.
I do use handheld radios for hunting.
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Curly
Member
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# Posted: 13 Oct 2021 11:07pm
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Depending on what you want to listen to, you might consider SiriusXM satellite radio. It has lots of channels, can work on a variety of electronics (that you might already have) and isn't super expensive. Jeepers, I sound like a commercial. Sorry.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 14 Oct 2021 09:38am
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I still listen to the local AM news and baseball games in the shop. Would be neat to communicate with other Ham/CB folks but with cell phones and texting no real need.
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justins7
Member
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# Posted: 15 Oct 2021 01:19pm
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I think if you get a radio with SW you should also make sure it has other bands and features you could use in case you wind up not listening to SW, like FM/AM (obviously) and AUX input.
I'm still really into radio, and the wife and I listen to broadcast radio in addition to streaming from phone or internet. After a day of staring at a computer screen for work it's nice to just flip on a radio where there is no screen and are few choices to make.
I have several shortwave radios, but SW is mostly either religious or political now, so I don't listen to it that much these days. But FM is still important to me, and part of that is because we are able to pull in some great freeform radio stations (WFMU, WFUV), here in upstate NY. I'm a WFMU fanatic, and they of course also have a great app and streaming service. All kinds of music 24/7, no ads, real DJs.
I recently bought a Sangean Toughbox, which is fantastic, but I first needed to discard the crap stock antenna, so I rigged it with a much larger one. The radio now pulls in stations from the NYC area 150 miles away without trouble (except for interference from CF lightbulbs, a constant annoyance). It also has an Aux input so I sometimes just connect a tablet and we can have a portable streaming boombox to take into the woods.
For SW I do have a little Tecsun radio, but, again, mostly use it for FM. I find it nice to just be outside with a little radio, no screens or internet for a brief retreat.
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toyota_mdt_tech
Member
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# Posted: 17 Oct 2021 06:51pm
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I have a Grundig shortwave radio. I suspect the foreign language is around the 7Mhz band or the 40 meter ham band where you do find a lot of "Radio Moscow" "Radio America" etc.
Plenty of other bands to listen to, just make sure its cable of doing SSB (single side band, ie upper or lower side band USB, LSB) or you may not be able to hear everything you could be hearing.
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Daaaaaaaan
Member
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# Posted: 23 Oct 2021 06:03pm
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If you want to get an idea of what you could pickup, people have set up web receivers that pickup different ranges of frequencies. It's a bit of a learning curve to figure out how it works.
Here's a worldwide index: http://www.websdr.org/
Here's one from Pennsylvania that might be relevant if you're in Ohio: http://websdr.k3fef.com:8901/
Of course, these people have serious antennas, but if you can't find anything you like there, you're not going to find anything better on a handheld.
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SE Ohio
Member
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# Posted: 23 Oct 2021 09:18pm
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I have several SW /AM receivers connected to about 120’ wire antenna, gets great reception. I find plenty of stations to explore, especially at night. One radio is a heavy old Zenith Transoceanic tube radio for which I built a battery pack (long story, needs both 9 volts and 90 volts). I also have an old Realistic DX-140 that is solid state and runs of 12 volts.
I had a small multi band radio with FM which a burglar took…
Anyway, I use mine daily when I’m at the cabin.
SE Ohio
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