VE3LNY's Receivers
As a youngster growing up in Montreal, I had a fascination with radios that I can't explain. Certainly it did not come from my family or friends. Here is a list of some of the notable receivers I have owned.
Lafayette Explor-Air
This is one of my first receivers (if you ignore the crystal set I started on). It was regenerative, and I don't recall much about it, but there's a lot more information at Fox-Tango.
Heathkit Mohican
I built a lot of Heathkits over the years, and this was one of the more interesting. It was a bit clunky for a portable but did the job, running off a pack of batteries. I recall it was not mechanically stable; if you lifted the radio by the handle, the tuning would change a few kHz. Sold after a few years. More information at WD4EUI.
Hallicrafters SX-73
I had one friend with a ham license who opened the door to sources of surplus radio equipment. I somehow acquired this receiver, which was a fantastic receiver in its day. It weighed a ton and needed a rack to mount it properly. I had loads of fun with this beast before I moved away and had to get rid of it. More information here and here.
Hallicrafters SX-62
After moving to Toronto I wanted another SW receiver. There was no way I would find another like the SX-73, so I settled for an SX-62. It wasn't as nice, but still worked quite well. I kept it for a few years then sold it when I moved yet again. More information here.
Yaesu FRG-7
This was my next receiver. Lightweight and solid-state, it would run off of batteries. A really nice receiver which has kept its popularity over the years. But after a few years I got my ham license, and with the acquisition of a ham radio transceiver, I sold my FRG-7. More information at RadioReference.com.
ICOM IC-R7000
Not owning much equipment for the VHF/UHF bands beside 2 meter transceivers, I had a fascination for those lofty frequencies. Finally I gave in and bought a used R7000. It was a great radio but it could not cope with trunking systems being deployed everywhere. Still I had great fun exploring the upper bands, and I sold it in 2012. More information at RadioReference.com.
Grundig YB-400
Owning heavy-duty ham radio equipment with good general coverage receivers, my interest turned to small portable radios. I bought this used. It had some great features and some difficult quirks - I hated that it did not have a tuning knob. After a few years I sold it. More information at Universal Radio.
Tecsun PL-600
I became aware of Tecsun after spending a lot of time looking for another portable receiver. I ordered one direct from China at a great price. In my opinion it was an improvement on the YB-400 in every department, except for a problem with intermod reception on the higher frequencies.
The PL-600 has a built-in charger, which did not work. Inspection of the plug and socket polarity showed a mismatch; the vendor supplied the wrong wall-wart for the radio. Cutting the cable and reversing the wires solved the problem, and the charger now works fine. It is great to be able to charge the batteries without having to remove them. More information at Radio-Timetraveller. I sold it prior to buying the Sangean ATS-909X (below).
GRE PSR-600
I wanted to be able to receive those trunked systems I heard all over the VHF/UHF bands. There were a lot of scanners available but the ones supporting digital systems were too expensive for me. Then one day I found a used PSR-600 and snapped it up. I purchased Win500 programming software and with the help of the RadioReference databases was soon scanning police and fire, etc. It supports digital audio, but not encryption. Alas GRE is out of business and their web site is gone.
Degen DE1126
This inexpensive device does a lot of things. It is an MW/FW/SW(AM) radio. It is a 4GB MP3 player. It is a voice recorder, and can record radio progams too. It is small, light, and easily fits in a pocket. An excellent review can be found on Old Man Sid's blog. Resist the temptation to update the firmware unless you really know what you're doing.
It has one really annoying fault. As others have noted, the battery runs down quickly when the radio is off. If it does run down completely, all setup memory is lost and the radio reverts to chinese language, requiring a painful trip through the setup menus.
Funcube Pro+
I was interested in the Funcube when it first came out but it had problems with poor front-end filtering. This model appears to have solved that problem, so I decided to give it a try. It certainly is fun, and a cheap way to get into Software Defined Radio with a quality product. I tried many of the available SDR programs and settled on HDSDR, and SDR# for the wide-FM mode. (SDR# is now restricted to Airspy and does not support the Funcube anymore.) There is a Groups.IO forum too. Make sure you plug it in to a good powered USB hub, or it may not work.
Sangean ATS-909X
This is a great radio, and I have a separate page for it.
When I saw this radio reviewed in Eham I had to get one. It has a lot of features like air and wx, and works decently on SW (AM). It is small and light and unlike the Degen, the battery lasts a long time. This model does not support SSB but there is a newer model available that does.
When I ran across this SDR radio I decided I wanted it,
and sold the Funcube. It had excellent reviews on eHam,
and wider coverage than the Funcube. It comes with the super
sophisticated SDR software SDRUno
which will keep you busy for a long time. It also works with HDSDR, SDR Console, and
an older version of SDR# that still supports 3rd party radios, version
1.0.0.1361. One complaint, it needs some fussing with the LNA and Gain Control settings to get good results.
A totally different portable SDR radio. For more see this page.
(2023 - New model DSP3 now available.)