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Tips on Choosing a Radio Before you choose a radio you should priorities the features that you require. For example if you or the person you are buying a radio for is elderly, you may want a radio with nice clear easy to operate control knobs. Whilst a business man travelling the world and living out of a suitcase would want a compact, light, shortwave radio. To help point you in the right direction we have compiled a list of requirements and suggested solutions. We offer a global mail order radio service. |
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| Criteria | Suggest |
| Robust FM/ AM radio to use in the garden, fishing trips, building sites, workshops factories etc. | Freeplay Ranger or Eyemax |
| Very small, compact FM/AM pocket radio for work, walking, travelling, etc. | Roberts Radio R986 |
| Very small, compact FM/MW/LW pocket radio, Ideal for sports commentary | Roberts Sportsman R984 |
| Good quality compact shortwave radio for the frequent traveller | Roberts Radio R876 |
| Good quality shortwave radio for home use | Roberts Radio R827 |
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With so many different makes and models of shortwave radio, choosing one can be difficult if you don't understand the technical jargon. Shortwave radios vary greatly in cost, features, size and complexity. There is no one shortwave radio right for everyone and different people have different listening interests. To help you choose a suitable shortwave radio we have matched the user requirements to features and recommended a model.
Occasional Holiday User - As with most things in life you get what you pay for. We recommend two radios in this category. The Roberts R862 at £30 and the Roberts R9921 at £65 both are easy to use and relatively compact. Although the R9921 is more than twice the price of the Roberts it does give you the advantage of a PLL Digital Tuner PLL means (Phase Lock Loop) this is an electronic circuit in the radios that locks onto your chosen station to give clear drift free reception. The Roberts R9921 also has an alarm function so you need not worry about waking up on time. Well Travelled Person. PLL (Phase Lock Loop) tuner is a must for the well travelled person, this is an electronic circuit in the radios that locks onto your chosen station to give clear drift free reception. Another must is good Frequency Coverage the shortwave frequencies range from 1700 kHz up to 30MHz. The addition of an external shortwave antenna will help improve your reception. For this category we would recommend the Roberts R876 as it is a compact, light radio with good sound quality, carry case, shortwave frequency hand book and mains adapter. Hardened Traveller. Amongst the features you should be looking for are a PLL Tuner, good frequency range, external shortwave antenna & Synchronous detector (this will help reduce the effects of fading). Single Side Band is a useful feature that would allow you to listen to utility stations. Shortwave Buff. Most shortwave radios are relatively compact making them ideal for travelling, however this can sometime compromise the sound quality due to the very small speaker. The Roberts R827 at £160 and the Sony ICF-SW7600G at £130 both have larger speakers and offer excellent sound quality. The ICF-SW7600 offer a few extra feature than the R827 such as Single Side Band and Synchronous detector. For the real shortwave enthusiast we would recommend the Eaton E1 |
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