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How to Find the Best Shortwave Radios
By Avery Parker
To find the best shortwave radios, you may need to search for several characteristics and features packaged in a certain model. There are several shortwave radio manufacturers nowadays varying in terms of price, physical make up, complexity, dimension, size and other additional features. A good shortwave radio should offer the widest frequency range and reception, noteworthy audio output and the convenience of use. Features to look for in shortwave radios depend largely on the listening interest of the buyer. Although there are set pros and cons for every model, your own user requirements have to be accounted for. Regardless of the user’s purpose, the best shortwave radios have to be judged based on the frequency coverage they allow. What you should look for is at least 540 kHZ to 30 MHz. Most shortwave radios available in the market can tune down to 150 kHz which has coverage for longwave bands. If you get tired of the usual AM-FM tuning, opt for a radio that covers SSB used in hams, aeronautical, military and maritime broadcast communication. Hardcore listeners just can’t get enough of these bands. Other features you may need to consider when it comes to frequency coverage include audio filters. These are circuits that reject specific frequencies in the audio output. Another technology used to filter adjacent frequencies is crystal lattice filter. This generally improves selectivity. The best shortwave radios also have memories that allow you to store the frequency of your favorite station once you locate a frequency with a good amount of activity. Finding a station should be easy in a decent shortwave radio. Those that are available in the market give you two options: analog and digital displays. With an analog display, you either use a fine-tuning knob or a slider for tuning. Digital displays, on the other hand, allow you to simply key in the frequency you would like to be listening to. Aside from that, most digital tuners allow scanning in which you can automatically tune across all frequency ranges. The scanner will stop on every frequency whenever the radio receives a signal. In some cases, scanners may stop on too many frequencies due to atmospheric noise that can be mistaken as actual radio signals. Still, devices that provide such options are aptly considered as the best shortwave radios available in the market. To avoid noises, shortwave radio enthusiasts should consider setting up external antennas instead of relying on built-in antennas. For that matter, choosing a shortwave radio that has slots for external antennas is extremely important to ensure above-average reception. The better the antenna is, the wider range of signals it will receive. However, this may also backfire on the receiver once it interferes with the audio output. To resolve this, shortwave radios should have automatic gain control to maintain a constant level of audio output whatever the amount of signal is received. This improves sound quality and volume. Another thing to look for in the best shortwave radios available in the market is a noise blanker or limiter. This reduces noise interruption created by nearby electrical equipments, neon lights, lightning, etc. Noise blankers do not really eliminate noise but they surely reduce them. The downside is that it has to perform the task in exchange for some audio distortion. Portability is important to those who travel a lot. Hardcore hams and other radio aficionados would surely love to experiment on tuning in the SSBs or probably on setting up their own external antennas. Again, all the features you should look for greatly depend on the buyer’s listening style coupled with his or her technical knowledge and interest.
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