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Old 20th Apr 2018, 9:26 am   #21
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Default Re: A relatively cheap portable SW receiver with SSB/CW and analogue tuning?

Thanks for your contributions.
 
Old 20th Apr 2018, 1:15 pm   #22
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Default Re: A relatively cheap portable SW receiver with SSB/CW and analogue tuning?

Good filters for SSB pretty much rules out shortwave broadcast receivers.

Try these:
http://www.mds975.co.uk/Content/lowe1.html

If you can find one of the Lowe sets within budget

David
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Old 20th Apr 2018, 2:28 pm   #23
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Default Re: A relatively cheap portable SW receiver with SSB/CW and analogue tuning?

Tecsun PL660? New they are £100 approx..
 
Old 20th Apr 2018, 4:51 pm   #24
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Default Re: A relatively cheap portable SW receiver with SSB/CW and analogue tuning?

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Tecsun PL660? New they are £100 approx..
Quote:
Originally Posted by ottavio View Post
t what I'm looking for is a pre-digital tuning equivalent of modern day Degen/Tecsun shortwave receivers. I really hate the noise floor introduced by cheap and nasty digital tuning front ends (ok maybe I don't really know what I'm talking about but you get the idea, hopefully).
.
...
 
Old 20th Apr 2018, 7:43 pm   #25
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Default Re: A relatively cheap portable SW receiver with SSB/CW and analogue tuning?

Don't get too het up on the digital bit, my Tecsun 606 (all digital apart from the ends of the chain) is a super portable set, (really very good on LW/MW/SW and FM) no BFO though, that's why I suggested the 660.
 
Old 20th Apr 2018, 7:55 pm   #26
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Default Re: A relatively cheap portable SW receiver with SSB/CW and analogue tuning?

Hi Ottavio

Attached are photo's of my Sony ICF5900 which, should any members wish to comment on they are more than welcome.

The radio has been in my collection for a number of years and as explained to
Ottavio, the aerial has to be raised manually as the "pop up lever" does not do anything. Plastic chrome on the lever is worn.

The radio is very sensitive. Radio Caroline sounds as though it is transmitted fiom Brookmans Park and shortwave reception busy with the BFO working as it should as, of course, is the crystal marker. The battery compartment is rust free and the cover stays in place albeit with a little help with a hidden pad. I haven't used the earpiece.

My only reason for selling it is that it is going to a good home to be used as it was designed.

Chris
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Old 20th Apr 2018, 8:38 pm   #27
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Default Re: A relatively cheap portable SW receiver with SSB/CW and analogue tuning?

Not for everyone but have you considered MAKING a simple receiver? There are many project examples in the older PE/PW type magazine - maybe something amongst those that fill your requirement?

There'd be a definite kudos to having a genuine homebrew receiver!
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Old 20th Apr 2018, 9:12 pm   #28
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Default Re: A relatively cheap portable SW receiver with SSB/CW and analogue tuning?

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Not for everyone but have you considered MAKING a simple receiver? There are many project examples in the older PE/PW type magazine - maybe something amongst those that fill your requirement? There'd be a definite kudos to having a genuine homebrew receiver!
I know that I have led a sheltered life but... I've never seen a homebrew receiver that I thought was really worth having. Now, I'm sure that there have been some outstandingly good homebrew receivers, but the time required is off-putting, as is the challenge of finding parts. The QRP enthusiasts seem to come up with some good ideas for rigs, maybe that would be one area you'd look at now for homebrew ideas .

Our OP is staying rather quiet .

B
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Old 20th Apr 2018, 9:22 pm   #29
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Default Re: A relatively cheap portable SW receiver with SSB/CW and analogue tuning?

Quote:
Originally Posted by simpsons View Post
Hi Ottavio

Attached are photo's of my Sony ICF5900 which, should any members wish to comment on they are more than welcome.

The radio has been in my collection for a number of years and as explained to
Ottavio, the aerial has to be raised manually as the "pop up lever" does not do anything. Plastic chrome on the lever is worn.

The radio is very sensitive. Radio Caroline sounds as though it is transmitted fiom Brookmans Park and shortwave reception busy with the BFO working as it should as, of course, is the crystal marker. The battery compartment is rust free and the cover stays in place albeit with a little help with a hidden pad. I haven't used the earpiece.

My only reason for selling it is that it is going to a good home to be used as it was designed.

Chris
I agree these are good sets and fit the OP's requirements pretty well. They are basically a broadcast receiver but can be used to listen to the amateur bands reasonably well. They are also small enough to be used as everyday radios. The FM performance is good, as is the sound quality.

I have no connection with Chris.
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Old 21st Apr 2018, 8:23 am   #30
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Default Re: A relatively cheap portable SW receiver with SSB/CW and analogue tuning?

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Not for everyone but have you considered MAKING a simple receiver? There are many project examples in the older PE/PW type magazine - maybe something amongst those that fill your requirement?

There'd be a definite kudos to having a genuine homebrew receiver!
I've recently completed the Rockwell regenerative receiver and modified it for the 80/40m amateur bands. It's not very sensitive and the regeneration is very weak (it was very good on the MW broadcasting bands it was meant for, but I'm not a fan of Five Live/Talk Sport).

Now that I've got the Intermediate licence, I'll probably build a rudimentary QRP CW transceiver, probably starting with the Pixie but modified to use a ceramic resonator.
 
Old 21st Apr 2018, 11:15 am   #31
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Default Re: A relatively cheap portable SW receiver with SSB/CW and analogue tuning?

With regard to the Sony ICF5900, if any of the offerings presently available on auction sites are typical, they don't seem to sit well the term 'relatively cheap', albeit that's a subjective term. The only offerings I've seen are: 'For spares only' £120; £263+£13 shipping from Italy; £320+£60 shipping from Japan, and; 'refurbished' £693+£47 shipping from Japan.

I don't know what the spec is, or why they seem to command such high asking prices, but I wouldn't have thought it could compare to the present day offerings of general coverage SWL receivers from the 'Kenyasuicom' stables.

As to homebrew designs, the main issue for multiband receivers is that of coils and band-switching in a post Denco/Osmor/Electronques era.

Tim Walford's kits taken some beating.
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Old 21st Apr 2018, 11:39 am   #32
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Default Re: A relatively cheap portable SW receiver with SSB/CW and analogue tuning?

Can't comment on the price but back in the day these were quite well regarded for a general SW/broadcast receiver, I owned one not long after the model was released, I was lucky, I got a good staff discount (woz chief service tech at Sony of Canada back then) I bought it so I could listen to back home via the various BBC frequencies and also because from a nipper I've always been interested in SW reception of radio Hams etc, the receiver performed as was expected, which was very well considering it's size/portability etc, I used a short wire antenna slung out of the upstairs window in Vancouver.

The receiver is of the dual conversion type, 10.7MHz/455kHz, bandspread tuning (+- 125kHz) is on the second conversion, the bandspread tuning is linear and in that respect it makes logging and resetting the tuning very good indeed, it even has a scale lamp.

Second conversion tuning employed a Hartley osc, SSB detection was via a dedicated balanced mixer, link to schematic:

http://www.radiopics.com/1.%20Manual...%20Manual).pdf

Lawrence.

Last edited by ms660; 21st Apr 2018 at 12:09 pm. Reason: correction/addition
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Old 21st Apr 2018, 1:54 pm   #33
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Default Re: A relatively cheap portable SW receiver with SSB/CW and analogue tuning?

They are sought after by collectors, and pristine ones do sell for a lot of money, but those are very rare. These were semipro radios taken to godforsaken places by people like foreign correspondents and aid workers, and most have led a hard life and show it. Mine was given to me in a carrier bag in pieces by an ex Oxfam staffer - broken aerial and mechanism, smashed case repaired many times with various sorts of adhesive tape etc. I've restored it to working condition but it's never going to look as though it's just left the factory. I reckon I could get £20 for it if I was lucky.

Remember that there are plenty of optimistic sellers around. They may ask these astronomical prices, but whether they achieve them is another matter, even for a cosmetically perfect example with all the accessories.
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Old 21st Apr 2018, 4:41 pm   #34
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Default Re: A relatively cheap portable SW receiver with SSB/CW and analogue tuning?

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Originally Posted by boxdoctor View Post
Remarkable performance can be obtained from several of the Soviet-made portables, especially those with turret tuners which appear on the usual sales sites now and then. The unfortunate thing is, none (AFAIK) have a B.F.O.. You would have to knock one up to resolve C.W. and S.S.B.. Simple enough to do, though.
...
One such receiver is the VEF-204, VEF-206 radio. (They are electrically the same except for an upgraded cabinet for the 206.):
https://www.petervis.com/Radios/vef-...206-radio.html
The radio was designed in the late '60s and produced throughout the '70s and possibly in the early '80s.

The radio was a very decent performer for its time.
It had a turret style band-selector as Tony mentioned, a separate oscillator stage, stabilized biasing for the oscillator and mixer stages, an RF-preamp, though not tuned like the later Selenas, and an IF-strip with 7 tuned circuits, including a band-pass filter after the mixer stage.

It was such a good radio that there was an article in the early '70s on how to modify such a radio into a ham band monitoring receiver.
The conversion consisted of adding a BFO, changing the AGC circuit to manual gain control, and changing the frequencies for the ham bands. The frequency conversion consisted of just changing the caps in the coil-strips on the turret (the coils remained the same) and removing plates from the variable cap.
(I have a copy of that article.)

Peter O.

Last edited by orbanp1; 21st Apr 2018 at 4:59 pm.
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