Radio

[R. Johnson]

Can anyone recommend a good portable AM/FM/Short Wave radio? Something I could carry with me in an emergency. I'm not looking for something super cheap, but I don't want anything that's very expensive either.

 

[aviator41]

whats your price range? Love my wind up, but i has it's limitations.

 

[R. Johnson]

Not more than $200. I imagine that this is one of those things that you get what you pay for, but I can't justify an extreme amount of money on it either.

 

[Hobbes]

For the money this is one of the best deals out there. It's very sensitive on all bands and easy to use.

http://www.amazon.com/DE1103-Digita...=1394120586&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=desgen+1103

The ONLY downside is the included charger is for 220 volt mains that you find overseas.
I never charge my batteries in the radio anyway, I always remove them and charge in an external charger or use alkalines.

If you want to spend a little bit more look at this one.

http://www.amazon.com/Grundig-Globe...TF8&qid=1394120735&sr=8-1&keywords=grundig+g3

I own both of these radios and use both quite a bit.


Here is one I do not own but it's in the same league as the others, maybe a bit better but not much.

http://www.amazon.com/Tecsun-PL-660...&qid=1394120806&sr=8-1&keywords=tecsun+pl-660

 

[kd5rjz]

I highly recommend http://www.tentec.com/9-band-sw-receiver-model-1253/

 

[Jestik]

I highly recommend http://www.tentec.com/9-band-sw-receiver-model-1253/

I do not know if this could be useful in an emergency since it requires external power and antenna top operate.

 

[kd5rjz]

I do not know if this could be useful in an emergency since it requires external power and antenna top operate.

If you can't wire up a 12v battery and a longwire antenna, I wouldn't bother stocking up on canned goods.

A shortwave radio isn't going to have much reception with a telescoping antenna.

 

[Hobbes]

These radios perform surprisingly well with the built in whip antenna.

I do have one of these windup antennas because in addition To improved reception it saves wear and tear on the whip.

http://www.amazon.com/Sangean-ANT-6...9697&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=windup+swl+antenna

 

[kd5rjz]

These radios perform surprisingly well with the built in whip antenna.

I do have one of these windup antennas because in addition To improved reception it saves wear and tear on the whip.

http://www.amazon.com/Sangean-ANT-6...9697&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=windup+swl+antenna

With HF, generally the longer antenna you can get, the better. (Unless you actually want to do math and figure out your resonate length, in which case 234/Hz=length of half a dipole in feet) As far as receiving, nothing generally beats a chainlink fence in a pinch. As far as transmitting goes, you'll generally need a tuner, but it's also easy to improvise. I've talked to Europe and South America with 5 watts CW using a sailboat mast, and various ghetto-fabulous antennas.

Really I'd suggest anyone interested in communications to go to QRZ.COM and take the ham radio practice exam. It is retardedly easy to pass now that the code exam is gone, and you'll learn quite a bit just by memorizing the few questions left in the dumbed-down test pool.

 

[Hobbes]

We don't really Know what purpose the OP has for a portable battery powered swl radio.
He could be interested in ham or maybe international sw broadcasts.
I like take mine with me on vacation sometimes.
I have a Kenwood r-2000 desktop as well but its not very portable.