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I have been monitoring the VHF & UHF bands for many, many years, but have never gotten into the HF monitoring.

I am just shopping around for a cheap receiver to get started on

I came across the ICOM R-5 & the Alinco DJ-X30 wideband receivers. I know these receivers are capable of picking up the appropriate frequency range for government & military HF, but is there any other features needed to receive the HF broadcasts, or will these units work?

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Cory C.
Vancouver Island Scanner Reference
http://www.members.shaw.ca/bcscanner/

Sorry Pal

both the ICOM R-5 or the Alinco DJ-X30 does'nt have ssb mode in it.
That is a "must have" mode to copy civilian or military voice
traffic...even hams long gone are the days of AM two-way voice
comms with the exception of CB.

best bet is find something that has SSB mode in it in a desktop
radio.
icom makes afew models that are not too expensive
also Sony if you want a portable HF ssb receiver.

xjf79
icom R75
icom pcr-2500
sony icf sw-77

Vancouver

Thanks for the reply, I had a feeling they wouldn't work. I'll have to spend a few more dollars.

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Cory C.
Vancouver Island Scanner Reference
http://www.members.shaw.ca/bcscanner/

That statement is not completely true! There are amateurs who have old "boat anchor" equipment they have re-furbished and enjoy getting on certain bands, most specifically 10 mtrs when its active and 160 mtrs, and do some ragchew on these bands. Later in the winter, if not even now, check out the 160 mtr band on your R75 some night and you might be surprised! Other than that, you are correct, SSB is a must to really listen to anything.

I stand corrected when it comes to ham stuff :)
But from what Ive heard over the last 20yrs or so of monitoring the hf airways of military, civilian commercial and ham communications, there's not too many voice operators that use AM mode.. the majority is in ssb.

xjf79

icom r75
icom pcr2500
sony icf sw77
g5rv multi band longwire antenna

On that point, you are absolutely correct!... :)

I have a chinese 'kiato', w/ ssb, I got new off eBay for $65 shipped.
Works OK with a long wire rigged up outside.
However I'm thinking about getting a bigger C Crane radio.

The best steal on the internet right now is finding used rigs. I use to own a Drake R8 - (I paid the original $1500 for it!)

You can find these for 300-600 on EBay. Most owners took care of their rigs and have the box, manaul, etc.

This would be an ideal HF receiver.

Note: this radio doesn't have the fancy stuff like DSP - but it some cases, DSP is highly overrated. You can always buy a DSP filter from a 3rd party -- Timewave.

If you have more beans, then look for JRC NRD-545 used. These sell for around $900-1200 depending on condition.

Very high-end radio with DSP.

Oh, I have the Icom R-75... which is a pretty decent buy for around $400-600 used and new about $650.


-Nick