Radio to only listen to ham.

[PistolBob]

$660.00 until Nov 27th, then it goes up $20...stays at $680 until the end of January, then it goes back up to $780.00 - built in antenna tuner is a real nice feature and this is a full featured radio capable of SSB, CW. AM, and digital modes like RTTY, FT-8. JT-65, PSK-31

I have never owned a Yaesu HF radio, just Ten Tec and Elecraft...but I have all Yaesu VHF/UHF gear and it's built well.

 

[Sagamore - One]

I actually prefer the old tube type rigs myself, like the Drake TR4C and Yaesu Ft101EE but the price of the 450D was irresistible. So I got one.

 

[PistolBob]

Having an old tube rig around could come in handy after the NorKor's bomb us with an EMP blast.

 

[csaws]

We also have these and just listen

I'm new to ham, but I've got a handheld Baofeng like this and have been doing some listening to get familiar with the airwaves.

https://www.amazon.com/Baofeng-Radi...pID=51sD5Vz9DwL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

 

[PistolBob]

We also have these and just listen

What freqs do you listen to in Morgan County?

 

[bwframe]

I'm new to ham, but I've got a handheld Baofeng like this and have been doing some listening to get familiar with the airwaves.

https://www.amazon.com/Baofeng-Radi...pID=51sD5Vz9DwL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Put this on my wish list. Of course, they soon had it listed on a lightening deal for $35. What choice did I have?

Now have to figure how to make the complicated contraption make noise.

 

[rvb]

Put this on my wish list. Of course, they soon had it listed on a lightening deal for $35. What choice did I have?

Now have to figure how to make the complicated contraption make noise.

I recently picked up a little vf6r (new for $20) to toss around. I imagine the SW is basically the same between the two. you should be able to just type in a frequency. Since you aren't transmitting, you won't have to worry about offsets and PL tones and such. saving to memory is pretty easy (but I discovered I couldn't save unless I first cleared out the memory).

https://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/prox.php will let you find ham repeaters near by.
you can go here to find all kinds of other frequencies: https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?stid=18

-rvb

 

[woodsie57]

So, nobody has an answer to the OPs quest for a radio that will receive ham bands, except for the walkie talkie type units and the big base station units?

 

[PistolBob]

So, nobody has an answer to the OPs quest for a radio that will receive ham bands, except for the walkie talkie type units and the big base station units?

Get a scanner that covers 545 Khz to 5 Ghz ....you'll need several antennas.

 

[Sylvain]

So, nobody has an answer to the OPs quest for a radio that will receive ham bands, except for the walkie talkie type units and the big base station units?

It has been mentioned already a week ago.

The Baofeng UV-5R is probably your best/cheapest option.
Portable two way radio.
You can listen to the frequencies used by walkie talkies as well (FRS band) but it's it's illegal to talk.

 

[davedolli]

I have an Icom IC-R71A Communications receiver on a long wire. Works great for me listening only at the present time.

Dave

 

[woodsie57]

Just heard an ad for the CC Skywave SSB -has USB and LSB, as well as am, fw, SW , and aircraft bands, and (I think) weatherbands- for $150 ish. So, I guess it's a receiver - only Ham radio, as the OP wanted. Gonna look into it myself!

 

[copper]

Just heard an ad for the CC Skywave SSB -has USB and LSB, as well as am, fw, SW , and aircraft bands, and (I think) weatherbands- for $150 ish. So, I guess it's a receiver - only Ham radio, as the OP wanted. Gonna look into it myself!

That looks promising, I see it on Amazon for $89 and one for $169. So maybe the Skywave or the Boefeng.

 

[woodsie57]

I get the impression the sky wave comes both with and without the side band option, hence the wide price range

 

[Dave A]

Near the bottom of the ccrane.com home page I entered my email address in the "Email Sign Up" box to receive news and offers. A couple minutes later I received a 15% discount code for anything I ordered

 

[FlatSixShooter]

Baofeng via eBay. Less than $30.00...

+1 on Baofeng. I know you said transmit is not important, but BF also sells a 8w unit for 50-60 bucks. There are 5 "general use" channels assigned on these handheld SW bands that do not require a License that might be very useful.

 

[PappyD]

Originally Posted by copper
It seems like every time I start checking into ham radio I just get confused. There is a lot to learn. So , after checking out the link from Spear Dave, I think I might start out with the C.Crane CCRadio-SW (Model CSW-TCF). For around $120 it might be a good start for me...

Copper,
I looked at that review and am familiar with most of the radios. If you want to listen to high frequency (HF) ham (amateur radio operators) traffic your radio will need the SSB (single sideband) capability. Otherwise, what you will hear is a garbled voice transmission. SSB consists of LSB and USB (lower and upper sideband) I have the Tecsun PL-660 which is an AMAZING radio for just under $100. The PL 660 is selectable for LSB/USB and also has a BFO dial (beat frequency oscillator) The BFO changes the audible pitch to make the voice understandable and more normal sounding.

It can all sound pretty confusing but with the added features you can dial in a signal and have the transmissions sound like the person is right next door. - very cool! Connect a simple long wire like 10 feet of cheap speaker wire and you are in business. The built in antenna will work too but adding the wire really improves the whole experience. Check out the link below:

My Dan KG9KF

https://www.anon-co.com/product/tecsun-pl660-ssb-radio

- - - Updated - - -

See above....With the Tecsun you can hear HF bands and other shortwave bands. It has SSB - Single Side Band so the amateur radio voices will sound normal. The radio has a BFO - beat frequency ocscilator so you can adjust the pitch of that voice. You won't be able to hear VHF/UHF 144mhz/70cm traffic on the Tecsun. To "hear it all" would require an All Mode receiver which would be $$$.

Get the Tecsun or similiar. Get one with SSB. Hear ham traffic and regular shortwave. 80 meters is cool at night - lots of hams just chatting away. 20 and 40 meters during the day. Lots of CW (Morse Code) on 40 and 80 as well. CW = old school! Get one of the Chinese (gasp!) VHF/UHF for local stuff for under $40 complete . Really, you don't have to spend a ton to see if his is a hobby or skill you want to develop.

Pappy KG9KF

 

[Sailor]

Then get the app Droidpsk for your phone and tune into the digital freqs of the ham bands. It will decode the phase shifting tones for you and you can read the conversations.