Anybody still listen to it? I just bought the Eton Grunding G3 Globe Traveler, I've been trying to find stations with little success so far. The one I specifically trying to catch is the AFN Shortwave frequency from Key West FL, but haven't been able to get it yet. Also I am unsure how to charge the batteries that came with the unit.
Shortwave Radio
- Thread starter T_N_T
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 11
- Views 2K
Mine went out looking for new one any recommendations? ty for any help
What price range are you looking at? You want a portable or a desktop?
If you are looking for one that is a portable but can also be a good desktop radio, a Sangean 909 has been a great radio for me. I use an outside long wire antenna for AM and SW.
I listen sometimes. Seems like a lot of the domestic stuff is religious, extremely right wing/conspiracy theorists, or paranormal. A lot of good news from overseas in English, though. There aren't as many broadcasts directed towards North America in English anymore, but there's still plenty out there. There's even DRM, which are digital shortwave broadcasts. You can use your computer sound card to decode them or some shortwave receivers have the capability built into them now. It's nice to see development in shortwave, though.
If you're having difficulties with reception, it's probably due to the antenna. The rod antenna that comes with these portable units is a huge compromise; compromising function over space savings. Using it like this indoors is exponentially worse. It's best, if you can, to string up a wire antenna outside. There are a million different options from a beverage antenna to a wire lying on the ground around the perimeter of your property. If an outdoor antenna isn't possible, you could build an active indoor antenna or buy one. Anything is better than the telescoping rod it comes with.
The times you listen also makes a difference, plus band conditions. Frequencies above about 13 MHz work best during daylight hours. Between 8 MHz and 13 MHz are often good all day and night. Below 8 MHz are best at night. The lower the frequency, the longer the antenna needs to be to be resonant.
Just looked at the manual for this radio. Looks like you need to look at what capacity your AA NiMH batteries are first. Take the number, let's say 2200 mAH for example. With the batteries installed, AC adapter plugged in, and the radio turned OFF, press and hold F7 for about three seconds and CHARGE 00 should display on the screen. Turn the tuning knob to dial in the first two digits of your battery's capacity. So our example you would dial in 22 for 2200 mAH. When you get the right number in there, press PAGE/TIME. Charging will be complete after the number of hours you just dialed in. Since this only charges at a rate of 100mA per hour, you might want to consider an external quick charger for your batteries
At least you can use the radio while it's charging.
I listen sometimes. Seems like a lot of the domestic stuff is religious, extremely right wing/conspiracy theorists, or paranormal. A lot of good news from overseas in English, though. There aren't as many broadcasts directed towards North America in English anymore, but there's still plenty out there. There's even DRM, which are digital shortwave broadcasts. You can use your computer sound card to decode them or some shortwave receivers have the capability built into them now. It's nice to see development in shortwave, though.
If you're having difficulties with reception, it's probably due to the antenna. The rod antenna that comes with these portable units is a huge compromise; compromising function over space savings. Using it like this indoors is exponentially worse. It's best, if you can, to string up a wire antenna outside. There are a million different options from a beverage antenna to a wire lying on the ground around the perimeter of your property. If an outdoor antenna isn't possible, you could build an active indoor antenna or buy one. Anything is better than the telescoping rod it comes with.
The times you listen also makes a difference, plus band conditions. Frequencies above about 13 MHz work best during daylight hours. Between 8 MHz and 13 MHz are often good all day and night. Below 8 MHz are best at night. The lower the frequency, the longer the antenna needs to be to be resonant.
Just looked at the manual for this radio. Looks like you need to look at what capacity your AA NiMH batteries are first. Take the number, let's say 2200 mAH for example. With the batteries installed, AC adapter plugged in, and the radio turned OFF, press and hold F7 for about three seconds and CHARGE 00 should display on the screen. Turn the tuning knob to dial in the first two digits of your battery's capacity. So our example you would dial in 22 for 2200 mAH. When you get the right number in there, press PAGE/TIME. Charging will be complete after the number of hours you just dialed in. Since this only charges at a rate of 100mA per hour, you might want to consider an external quick charger for your batteries
I just returned it because it had such poor reception even at night. Funny thing is the manager at radioshack told me when i returned it that reception is only possible at night.
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2
Also could a close power sub station interfere with anything on am?
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2
It could. I have a 50kV distribution line running down the street beside me that radiates all kinds of crud all the way up to 440 MHz depending on the weather. The insulators are over half a century old and should probably be replaced. When it's doing its thing, the noise moves the meter up to an S7 or S9, which is quite strong! The substation isn't far away but I found my noise problem to be a lot closer than that. You can take a walkman tuned to an empty frequency on the AM band to the phone poles nearest you and see if you can track down where the noise is the strongest. You can report it to the hydro/power company and they will come out and fix it. You can read more than you ever wanted to know about power line radio interference and how to get it fixed HERE.
The power companies appreciate knowing about a bad insulator, connections, etc. It causes loss in their system that they can't charge their customers for (of course we all pay for that in the end). Any radio that has AM or SSB works well for finding noise sources, even an aircraft radio (portable of course). Cable TV infrastructure can be noisy too if the cables are old or there are bad connections. In my experience cable companies are more unlikely to respond to interference issues than power companies... maybe if you are their customer it would be help.
