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SW receiver for newbie

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  • 25-09-2009 8:17pm
    #1
    12bore
    Closed Accounts Posts: 62 ✭✭


    I want to dabble around listening to SW radio (same as hf?), wondering what would be a good beginners radio. Have a budget around €100 (less would be good). I also want to get a scanner, and see some are wideband. Am I better off getting two different units, or would a wideband scanner be ok for a beginner?

    I saw a Sony 7600GR on Amazon for about £100, was in a Sony Centre shop at lunchtime,same model was......€249.99. Walked out pretty quick. Is the Sony any good?


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    #2
    PauloMN
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional North East Moderators Posts: 10,869 Mod ✭✭✭✭PauloMN


    The Sony 7600 is actually a very decent little receiver - easy to use and quite sensitive. Would be a good buy for a beginner I reckon.

    There's a few different versions - the 7600D was an early one, and the 7600G was later on. I presume the GR is newer again. I have a 7600G and I used it a lot when I bought it (new in Tenerife around '95 for about half of the new price at the time in Dublin). My main gripe with the radio is that there's only 10 memory slots which is pretty pathetic tbh when there's so much stuff on HF you want to store, but aside from that it's a good little radio.

    Personally I would go with a separate receiver like the Sony for HF and a separate (cheap) scanner for VHF/UHF until you get more into the hobby. While the wideband scanners are handy, I just don't think they offer the same performance as separate HF and VHF/UHF units.

    I would imagine you should be able to pick up a clean 2nd hand Sony 7600G or newer for under €100 no problem. An entry level 2nd hand scanner should be no more than €50 to €60 or so. Don't forget that your antenna is as important as the receiver, so try to research a bit about antennas, remembering to have the VHF/UHF (scanner) antenna in particular as high as possible.

    Hope that helps!


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