Hi :/ It's me!

I want some suggestions on a good shortwave radio to buy. I originally purchased a Grundig 4000a and when I got the thing and extended the antenna + swiveled it, SNAP. Something inside broke and I was stunned. Apparently whatever was anchoring it didn't have enough strength to keep from breaking. It was loose and I heard a part inside so sent it back to Amazon....... that leaves me with really only 2 choices I'm looking at

Tecsun PL660 or KA1103

But I know I'm new to this and there is also the Sony ICF-SW7600GR I just wondered if anyone here knew anything about this and could suggest something.

I have this one:
http://rigreference.com/rig/3672-National_Panasonic_RF_3100

It's an older model, but it seems to work pretty well. I don't have an external antenna or do anything fancy with it.

You have likely already looked at reviews on shortwave radios (my usual method when I am interested in something.)

If not here is one helpful link.

http://swling.com/Radios.htm

It really depends on whether you want a portable or a desktop model and what your budget is.

The ability to hook up an external antenna is the most important feature in my opinion.

Years ago, I sold a lot of shortwave radios as the manager of Radio Shack, prior to it becoming The Source. I haven't kept up with what models are currently available though.

Hi :/ It's me!

I want some suggestions on a good shortwave radio to buy. I originally purchased a Grundig 4000a and when I got the thing and extended the antenna + swiveled it, SNAP. Something inside broke and I was stunned. Apparently whatever was anchoring it didn't have enough strength to keep from breaking. It was loose and I heard a part inside so sent it back to Amazon....... that leaves me with really only 2 choices I'm looking at

Tecsun PL660 or KA1103

But I know I'm new to this and there is also the Sony ICF-SW7600GR I just wondered if anyone here knew anything about this and could suggest something.
buy the set that has the highest Q in the tank circuits.
this will give the narrowest bandwidth for picking out closely spaced stations.

use a long wire antenna.
i had my antenna on top of the house, about 60 feet long.
if you listen in one general direction then you can increase the antenna gain by shaping it into a 'vee'.
point the open end in the direction you want to listen.
i used a horizontal antenna.

use a good, solid earth ground.
3 to 5 feet of half inch copper rod driven into the ground.
clamp the ground wire on with a radiator type hose clamp.

if you use an outside antenna then give serious consideration to a lightning arrestor.

for optimum coupling between antenna and set then use the proper balancing coils. these will vary depending on your setup.
a CB repairman can give you the information you need on this.

you can take advantage of ionospheric effects during nightime.
ranges of 3 to 5000 miles are not unheard of, especially on the longer wavelengths.

if electronic testing is your ilk or if you have a need for frequency standards then make sure your set can tune either WWV or WWVH.
these are NBS time keeping stations.
WWV is in boulder co. the other in hawaii.
these stations transmit various pure sine wave tones along with the time and weather.

lots of people transmit on sidebands so make sure your set can receive BOTH upper and lower sidebands.

some stations do not transmit on exact frequencies so make sure your set has a verier or "fine" adjustment.

downside:
most of what i picked up was either foreign language or morse code, but that was like 35-40 years ago.

Years ago, I sold a lot of shortwave radios as the manager of Radio Shack, prior to it becoming The Source. I haven't kept up with what models are currently available though.

Ahhh, those were the days. I don't recall when Radio Shack became The Source in Canada (it's still Radio Shack in the U.S.), but I suspect that it was around the time they pretty much stopped catering to "hobbyists" and started filling the stores with crappy, overpriced "consumer electronics."

When I was kid in the days prior to the internet (rather, the internet as "we" know it), and if one happened to be situated in a locale where proper electronics stores were not, Radio Shack was the source for components needed on the fly--perf boards, caps, resistors, a handful of very basic i.c.s, etc. They were always overpriced, and critical chips were always inferior knock-offs, but at least they had some essentials.

Likewise, anything related to shortwave radios and the like disappeared as well.

I remembered a neighbor who many eons ago was a very talented ham radio operator and he had all the latest and greatest stuff for his "rig". Outside antenna, lightning protection, surge protection and on and on. Whenever I went over to visit with him he would turn on his set and all I'd hear would be foreign language from all over the Earth, he used the word "bounced" signal to describe why he can get all that foreign stuff from far away places like Kat Mandu and Beijing China. I never understood why he enjoyed listening to languages he didn't understand, for the most part, but still enjoyed just having his "rig" to be able to use.

I would think the same would be true today, more foriegn speakers than English, so why bother having such a set up to begin with?

. . . he used the word "bounced" signal to describe why he can get all that foreign stuff from far away places like Kat Mandu and Beijing China.
technically this is the ionospheric effect i mentioned.
as the wave leaves earth it is intercepted by the ionosphere.
if the angle of interception is shallow enough the ionosphere will reflect it back toward earth.
if this reflected wave strikes a large body of water at the right angle it will be reflected back towards the ionoshpere.

the problem with all of this is the ionoshpere is apparently "moving" and the signal will eventually be lost.

this process happens mostly at night.
during daytime solar heat will cause the ionoshpere to rise making it almost impossible to get the correct reflecting angle with enough power.

I remembered a neighbor who many eons ago was a very talented ham radio operator and he had all the latest and greatest stuff for his "rig". Outside antenna, lightning protection, surge protection and on and on. Whenever I went over to visit with him he would turn on his set and all I'd hear would be foreign language from all over the Earth, he used the word "bounced" signal to describe why he can get all that foreign stuff from far away places like Kat Mandu and Beijing China. I never understood why he enjoyed listening to languages he didn't understand, for the most part, but still enjoyed just having his "rig" to be able to use.

I would think the same would be true today, more foriegn speakers than English, so why bother having such a set up to begin with?

I think many foreign stations also have repeaters in this country. I used to listen to the Voice of Free China out of Taiwan, but I think it was actually rebroadcast from Florida or DC.