[Elecraft] OT-well sort of:Short Wave Receivers...Suggestions???

[G3VVT at aol.com]

In a message dated 13/12/04 08:29:29 GMT Standard Time,  
k6ese-list1 at k6ese.com writes:

I'm  thinking of buying a short wave receiver like a Grundig or something,
and  have been looking at them on the web. What I have in mind is a very
small,  pocket sized rig, 2 AA cells for power...



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With could be a problem in how you want to power the radio.
 
Most of the digital radios that will cover the frequencies and have the  
facilities you require are greedy on battery consumption or at least were up to  a 
few years back. I lived in Saudi Arabia for 20+ years and SW radio for the  
last 13 years was the prime way of getting news. Lived in an area  where the 
nearest black top road was 100km away and no terrestial television,  electric 
power or telephones outside our camp. We did not get any  satellite TV until the 
mid 1990's, so SW radio was the only way of keeping track  of the outside 
world.
 
I started with a Sony 2001 in 1981 and that was still OK when I retired in  
2002. Also had the later 2001D which also has the SSB/CW facilities you  need, 
though again greedy on battery consumption, which meant use on a  AC power 
supply was essential. A popular radio was the Sony 7600D used by many  expats at 
the time which was somewhat better in terms of battery life. Lost  track of 
what is available today, but for SSB/CW use Sony was always at the top  of the 
pile in the past.
 
Maybe the battery consumption problem has been cracked with more recent  
technology, but the only way at that time was for reasonable battery life was to  
use an analog radio and most of these did not have the SSB/CW features nor the 
 frequency coverage required.
 
Bob, G3VVT
ex desert rodent