Anybody know anything about short-wave radio?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by audio, Aug 14, 2003.

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  1. audio

    audio New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    guyana
    I'm kinda curious about short-wave. Since I am searching for a vintage tuner, if I get something with short-wave, does that mean I can get all the FM and AM stations, as well as listen to music in China and France and stuff? If so, were there quality, stereo, component short wave tuners that were ever made?
     
  2. Cafe Jeff

    Cafe Jeff New Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    Hi Prix,

    I am a keen follower of shortwave radio, but it ain't Hi Fi.
    If it has AM and FM and SW, you can get, pretty much by definition, AM and FM in addition to SW on it. However, I have seen very few component receivers and SW really does not lend itself to reproduction on a Hi Fi. Much better to listen through a small full range single speaker. Jeff

    Just picked up an Evoke DAB Radio here in the UK. Now that's fun!
     
  3. Wired

    Wired New Member

    Location:
    Australia
    A lot of vintage "boom boxes" have short wave 1 and 2 bands.
     
  4. sharedon

    sharedon Forum Zonophone

    Location:
    Boomer OK
    Big old Grundig floor units from the '40's and '50's had AM, FM, SW, and built-in record players with an enormous cabinet speaker. If you find one that works or learn how to restore one, you can get some semblance of SW in hi-fi... but the receivers in these bigboys don't hold onto a station well, you need some sort of antenna.... if you want to hear radio from far away, foreign stations can better be heard online these days, or if you're old-fashioned, with a modern portable receiver (Grundig's still in the biz).
    Every now and then I see these huge old all-in-ones at estate sales and flea markets. Beware of cheapo modern nostalgia-knock offs.
     
  5. Lord Hawthorne

    Lord Hawthorne Currently Untitled

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    The classic European shortwave receivers sound and look good, but have no ability to reject unwanted noises and interference from adjoining stations because of their wideband reception. I would recommend a fairly recent used SW receiver, but not a new one, as it looks like SW broadcasters are about to shift over to digital transmissions, at least in regard to Europe and North America. The first generation of digital receivers are due this fall and expirimental transmissions in digital have already begun.
    The glory days of shortwave are behind us. A great many broadcasters have reduced their transmissions or have shut down alltogether. Digital might reverse that.
    Receivers I would recommend include Kenwood "R" series, Drake (especially the R8B), Yaesu, and Icom. Essential to SW reception is a longwire antenna, and shutting down noise-generating devices like flourescent lights and cathode-ray screens.
     
  6. RetroSmith

    RetroSmith Forum Hall Of Fame<br>(Formerly Mikey5967)

    Location:
    East Coast
    The big fav is the Zenith Trans Oceanic Radio fro 1949. More models of this radio were sold than any other short wave radio. Ive got one in my closet.
     
  7. Sckott

    Sckott Hand Tighten Only.

    Location:
    South Plymouth, Ma
    Grundig makes a nice little SW radio for under $80 even today. Works great.
     
  8. Casino

    Casino Senior Member

    Location:
    BossTown
    They also make a very high-performing bigger unit called the Satellit 800. Costs over $400, but it's quite a machine. Got one last year - it can tune in almost anything...
     
  9. MARKM

    MARKM Member

    Hi,

    Think that's the one I have. Have used it all over Europe, even in Madeira and the Canary Islands out in the Atlantic.

    Unfortunately Grundig have gone bust recently (spring '03) - but there is quite a lot of stock out there still

    BBC World Service will still be going on SW...... for a while yet....... !

    Cheers,
    MarkM.
     
  10. britt2001b

    britt2001b Senior Member

    Location:
    United States
    I now listen to worldwide radio through audio streaming on the internet. BBC 2 is a favorite. There's a great 60's show that I pick up late Friday night ( early morning Sat. broadcast in England ) called "Sounds of the 60's" hosted by Brian Matthew.
     
  11. MARKM

    MARKM Member

    Hi Britt2001b over there!

    Brian Matthews program is very good. Also Jonathan Ross from about 10:00 BST Saturday Johnny Walker from 17:00 to 19:00 BST weekdays (currently Noel Edmonds standing in) and Michael Parkinson's programme on a Sunday from 11:00 BST

    BBC Radio 4 broadcasts current affairs/documentaries/plays.

    Thank god we still have some decent radio! (only just)

    The Proms concerts are currently being broadcast live nearly every night from The Royal Albert Hall on BBC Radio 3.

    Have fun,#
    Cheers!
    MarkM.
     
  12. britt2001b

    britt2001b Senior Member

    Location:
    United States
    Thanks Mark. Yes it is decent radio. Without the commercials the programs are so much more coherent than what I grew up with here in the states. I also like the fact that BBC archives many of these programs so I can listen any time. Years ago I listened to shortwave broadcast out of England but I would usually not be interested in the program that I happened to catch and of course that awful "phasing" sound associated with shortwave bothered me. Now, over the internet, I receive a surprisingly good stereo signal from the BBC. It's become a late Friday night ritual for me - after the family's in bed to tune in to BBC 2.
     
  13. Cafe Jeff

    Cafe Jeff New Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    While Grundig is out of business, Eton who has licensed the name from them to resell Chinese built Shortwave radios is still in business. As to the older tube Grundigs, they have about the nicest Shortwave tone (an EL84 running single-ended no less!) I have ever heard. Nordmende and Sauber made similar radios. There does not seem to be much of a market for these old radios, but they still sound wonderful and aside from the magic eye, replacement parts are easy to come by.
    If you are into shortwave, the new Grundig S350 is a very good radio with a nice sound to it. Most shortwaves these days use a lot of digital circuitry which while resulting in excellent selectivity and no drift, to my ears don't sound a patch on the analog ones. My father, in the power outage in Toronto, is listening to my S350 as we speak. It's fully analog with a digital readout. I am here in the UK listening to an Pure EVOKE DAB which to my surprised ears sounds on Radio 3 almost as good as a Tivoli and blows the Tivoli out of the water on World Service. I haven't hooked it up to a good stereo yet.
    The BBC is running the Proms at 192kps in Stereo and with a zero error reading, I have never heard Radio 3 sound better short of a Leak Troughie with a 9 pole yagi on the roof.
    All the best, Jeff
     
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