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The main item in the radiolistening activity is just the receiver.
The ones used for shortwave listening are commonly referred as world-band
receivers. If you wish listen to shortwave stations, it is indispensable that
you have a good receiver. One can spend anithing from $50 to $5,000 on a
shortwave receiver, but price is by no means the only factor to consider.
Depending on the use, the receivers can be classified in groups, each with
different features, being divided into two main groups, as shown below:
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Portable Receivers:
if you only listen to the stronger international broadcasters, then consider
receivers in this group. The simplest models give cheap performance, and don't
have good selectivity. Some sets offer partial coverage (not all the shortwave
bands are provided, e.g. only the bands from 49 m to 16 m). The most complete
sets has characteristics as SSB reception, PLL tuning systems, built-in clocks,
digital readout, among others. Their price range is between $50 and $500.
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Communication Receivers:
if you plan to listen the weaker signals this group is that you are looking for.
The communication receivers are very stable, offfering good sensitivity and
variable selectivity. These receivers have the resources that exist in portable
receivers, besides others such as tuning filters, all-band coverage with good
precision (less than 1 kHz), etc.
The sets of this group are more expensive, having prices above $1,000.
Some points to consider before buy a receiver:
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Buy the best possible receiver you can afford. In other words, a $50 set don't
offers the same performance of a expensive communications set.
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Verify your antenna facilities, before consider that your receiver is outdated.
Choose the right antenna for your receiver.
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Don't expect an excellent performance of a expensive receiver when tuning weak
signals in far countries. The propagation of the shortwave signals is subjected
to imperfections of the ionosphere, leading to fading and distortions.
Bibliographic references:
Consult also the following pages:
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