Author Topic: Short Wave Radio Receiver  (Read 2379 times)

Offline JohnyMac

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Short Wave Radio Receiver
« on: November 26, 2016, 08:53:18 AM »
One of the most important things during any emergency is knowledge. Knowledge of what has happened and what is coming.

Okay you don't want to get your Amateur Radio license or buy an expensive transceiver* you can still know what is going on by buying a inexpensive short wave (SW) radio. At the redoubt we have two (One is none and two is one) Grundig SW Receivers. Model number S350DL to be specific.

When we got our first radio it did a great job with FM and AM bands but not so good with the SW bands. After a little research we discovered what was needed was a better antenna to receive. On the back of the Grundig there is a spot to insert a positive and negative wire lead.

Using 18 AWG coated speaker wire we inserted the pos side of the speaker wire into the pos post in the back of the radio and the neg into the neg post. Then we ran the wire from the home of the radio up to the second floor and then ran the pos off into one direction and the neg to another 180 degrees opposite. Think a T. We used 30' of speaker wire which seemed to work fine. I am sure you could tune the radio even better by playing with the length however it worked great!

We were then able to listen to the BBC, Voice of Canada and other broadcasts from around the world.

Now the first Grundig my brother purchased was via a ad in the Wall Street Journal. The cost was in the ~$150- range. When we decided to buy a second one we purchased it on Ebay for $60- total. Cost of the radio and shipping. The speaker wire cost us ~$12- for 100 ft. Then of course the radio takes 4, "D" batteries. So for under $90- you could have knowledge at your finger tips. Priceless during a crisis.

* A transceiver serves two purposes. 1) A transmitter and 2) A receiver. The SW receiver like I
   described just receives like the radio in your car. 
« Last Edit: December 08, 2016, 07:58:40 AM by JohnyMac »
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Offline Jackalope

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Re: Short Wave Radio Receiver
« Reply #1 on: November 26, 2016, 10:03:00 AM »
When I was a kid my first receiver was a Hallicrafters S-38D (I still have it, 50 years later) and I didn't have an antenna for it.  It was winter and my Dad wasn't too keen on putting up a short wave antenna outside when the temperature was -15F.  So I ended up just running a wire to my bed springs.  It worked fine, I was able to easily pull in the BBC and Radio Free Moscow, and many other shortwave stations.  However, I also learned not to touch the bedsprings and hotwater pipes simultaneously, as I'd get a nasty shock!

I did eventually put up a decent antenna, but the improvement wasn't that significant. As an aside, I understand that Russia has restarted with their shortwave transmissions, supposedly for civil defense purposes in the event of a world war.

Offline Nemo

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Re: Short Wave Radio Receiver
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2016, 07:02:56 PM »
I have those radios that go AM, FM and shortwave.  They run on wall plug, batteries or one minute of cranking for about 10 minutes of radio reception time.

Like they say, 3 is 2, 2 is 1 and one is none.

I have 5.

Nemo
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Offline pkveazey

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Re: Short Wave Radio Receiver
« Reply #3 on: November 30, 2016, 07:04:41 PM »
I'm going to weigh in on this only because nobody else has mentioned SDR(Software Defined Radio). SDR is absolutely useless if you don't have a working computer but it is amazing if you do have a working computer. Go to Amazon's website and search for SDR radio. They start at about $20 and operate using free software that can de downloaded from the web. They are nothing more than a little device that plugs into your USB port and you connect an antenna to them. The crappy antenna that comes with them sucks. Hook up some coax and a really long outdoor antenna and listen worldwide. The computer programs allow you to listen to just about any frequency and any mode(AM,FM,CW,SSB,Digital modes, etc.) Be careful to not get one that works from about 50 Megahertz to 2 Gigahertz. You'll want one that goes all the way down to The AM broadcast band. The ones that I looked at that I thought would be perfect cost about $50 to $75. You will only be limited by the program you choose to run the SDR. You won't believe what you can see on the computer screen using SDR. You can even see satelite weather maps and slowscan TV images if the program you choose has that feature. Did I buy one? Nope. I can do most all those things with what I already have and I also can transmit. You can get an SDR radio that transmits if you are willing to pay about $1000 or more.

Offline Nemo

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Re: Short Wave Radio Receiver
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2016, 10:30:03 PM »
PKV, look at the links below and suggest the best one or rate them or give some type of input.  I know dayum little about what you are talking about but is sure sounds interesting.  And an add on would be great, I think anyway.

Nemo

$80-- http://www.amazon.com/Usmile%C2%AE-100KHz-1-7GHz-UpConverter-Receiver-radio/dp/B01422FJMK

$13-- http://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-DVB-T-Stick-RTL2832U-R820T/dp/B00SY1X51I

$20-- https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-RTL-SDR-RTL2832U-Software-Packages/dp/B008S7AVTC

I am pretty sure my amazon search indicated one of them Dongles!  Whatever that means.

Nemo

http://www.amazon.com/NooElec-RTL-SDR-RTL2832U-Software-Packages/dp/B008S7AVTC

Nemo
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Offline pkveazey

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Re: Short Wave Radio Receiver
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2016, 07:00:20 PM »
Fist things first..... A dongle is nothing more than a pigtail. Rather than plugging something directly into a computer, you use a short cable. Now, as to which SDR to buy. If you want to get your feet wet without breaking the bank, I suggest the $20 SDR. The $12 one ain't much of an SDR. Obviously, the $79 one is the best but I personally wouldn't spend that much. Something else to think about is how good do you want the received signal to sound? If you use a pair of cheap computer speakers, it's only going to sound as good as they do. I don't suggest you do what I did but if you have an old stereo around the house and a pair of decent speakers, you can shape the received sound to your taste. On my Ham rig, I pick up the audio from the headphone jack and input it into a 100 watt audio amp and then out to a really good speaker. I have total control over volume, bass, and treble. You can do the same thing by picking up the audio output from a computer and sending it through an old stereo system. For my music recording studio, I pick up the computer audio and run it through a JVC 80 watt stereo amp and then to 6 speaker cabinets housing 12" and 15" speakers and high frequency horns. One thing to keep in mind is the SDR software. There are numerous programs available. Some are better than others and some are free. The program that you choose is going to dictate how many features you have and how much control you have over those features. Finally, I like the SDRs that have two antenna connections. One for HF and one for VHF/UHF. Most of them are SMA connectors, so be prepared to buy some adapters for your antenna cables. Always use outdoor antennas and don't skrimp on how much wire you have to use in order to get a decent input signal. Those little indoor SDR antennas are so bad, you'll think SDR is a joke. With a proper antenna and good software, you'll be hearing things that guys with expensive Ham rigs can't hear.

Offline JohnyMac

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Re: Short Wave Radio Receiver
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2016, 08:05:38 AM »
One thing you keep reading over & over again, antenna, antenna, antenna. Your SW, HT or HF is only as good as your antenna.
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