newbie help !!!

[hally68]

hi ive been listening to sw radio for a few weeks and i feel im missing out on so much i currently have a tecsun bcl3000 and a tecsun 380 i have a long wire across my garden it picks a lot of stuff up but like i said i want to listen to more so in a nut shell

1.are my radios any good for what im doing .
2 am i going about this all wrong i need as much help please

[Admiral]

Hi mate, I think you are missing out because as far as I'm aware, neither have a BFO so won't resolve SSB.

That means you're missing out on amateur transmissions, HF aircraft, marine an some other stuff.

[hally68]

hi admiral thanks for the reply can you reckomend a radio that would pick all that up my budget is roughly 200 quid i enjoy sw listening as well as scanning i need as much help as i can get thanks

[ChrisCSL]

Just cheat .......

http://websdr.org/

Twente is great for GC Rx, and Nantwich for inter-UK Ham stuff. Or you can go on holiday.

Wot??? .. well it's still a radio innit?

[Admiral]

Blimey, it depends on what format you want first, homebase, or portable, you currently have two portable sets, the Tecsun PL-660 is a portable set that resolves SSB.

If you want a homebase set, then the worlds your lobster.

Buying older Yaesus and Icoms etc from eBay is hit and miss, you may get a good 'un, you may get a dog, most of them are 25+ years old and you get dry joints and popped caps.

[MW0SWA]

Why not look for a realistic dx-394?

Fantastic for a beginner for listening to the HF bands on SSB aswel as the broadcast bands.

[SecretShortwave]

fun cube dongle pro covers shortwave and vhf uhf shf and i think its round about your budget.... cross country wireless also do a nice shortwave
receiver has well the sdr-4+ again about your price range, dont know to much about them so this is not a recommendation mainly just
a idea think crusty is your man when it comes to these SDR (software defined radio) thingy-me jib- doo dahhs
heres the links fella
http://www.funcubedongle.com/?page_id=1225 think it is the pro model that covers shortwave not the standard one

http://www.crosscountrywireless.net/sdr-4.htm

antenna wise for general coverage listening i use a wellbrooke loop, one antenna for all the shortwave bands does alright has well
comes at a price though about another 230 quid i highly recommend these and if mine broke id buy another
http://www.wellbrook.uk.com/ALA1530PE-1
ps i hunderstand the fourum is rarver picky about grandma these days so i apolajise in advance fout eny mistakes

[hally68]

thanks everyone much appreciated