CCRANE Skywave SSB or something similar?

Ocelot88

So i have a small enough interest in ham radio but i would like to have something to listen in on and learn withthat isnt very expensive, i found that ccrane one on youtube and it all seems good, im just wondering am i likely to pick up much on it in ireland, im in the south east if that helps.

Ocelot88

Ocelot88 wrote: »

So i have a small enough interest in ham radio but i would like to have something to listen in on and learn withthat isnt very expensive, i found that ccrane one on youtube and it all seems good, im just wondering am i likely to pick up much on it in ireland, im in the south east if that helps.

You will pick up tonnes of stations from air traffic on shortwave to world wide ham radio operators, Commercial shortwave, there is lots to listen to, hrs of entertainment. Though night time is probably the best time usually later the better when more U.S stations power up.

Check out the frequencies of WWCR and WBCQ in the U.S.A and Radio Havana Cuba, though there is interference lately on the Radio Havana Cuba frequencies but at the right times you can get the signals clearly, some of their transmitters are worn out and have strong signal but poor modulation.

WWCR and WBCQ can transmit a lot of religious transmissions, but they do too have a lot of their own content and they can transmit some good music, also WRMI from Miami.

This link is great for finding stations, https://www.short-wave.info/index.php

And this link for updates to anything shortwave and updates on new radios.
https://swling.com/blog/


I intend to sell 2 x radios, the Tecsun S-8800 and PL-880.

The S-8800 I would sell for 200 Euros and the PL-880 150 Euro's.

The S-8800 has a BNC socket for external antenna which also works very well with Medium Wave but it has no impact for LW. But LW reception is decent with the internal ferrite but MW is excellent with the external antenna.

You will need a good proper external outdoor antenna and I can't emphasise that enough but in the beginning you can just get a thin piece of wire about 30 feet and get it up as high as you can in a tree and connect it to the radios telescopic antenna and see the difference it makes which will be noticeable, you should be able to run it through the window no problem.

Then as you get more experienced you can get a much better antenna such as this https://ukantennas.co.uk/product/multi-band-with-bracket-40-20-15-10m/?v=d2cb7bbc0d23 and get it as high in a tree as you can and the other end as high as you can, then ground the coax before it enters your house, this is very important, 1 x4 foot copper rods should do. You can also use it to transmit if you get your license. UK antennas has a 40 meter long antenna for more bands including 80m ham.

I have a similar antenna for transmitting it's the hyendfed.nl 5 band MK III, I have one end about 50 foot into a pine tree, get the rope over the branch, use an insulator at the end and then I have the transformer box on a pole on the Chimney and the coax runs down the roof and I have the coax grounded before it enters the sitting room where I have it, I use it as 2nd antenna for receiving and transmitting from the sitting room

Here's a pic of the 2 radios below, the S-8800, the S-8800 also has a remote control.

If you're interested PM me, I live about 6 Kms from Carlow town.







And the PL-880

Ocelot88

Hey thanks mad lad, info and websites are very much appreciated, I think I’m a very long way from putting an aerial on the roof! Something portable is really what I’m after.
I will take a look at the 2 you have for sale and get back to you soon.
Thanks for the help again!

dxhound2005

The advantage of portable is that you can take the radio away from all the electrical noise that plagues urban environments. It is often remarkable what weak signals can be heard out the country, that would be buried in the noise in town. Of course I don't know where you live.

You specifically mentioned ham radio in your post, which needs a radio with Single Side Band, SSB. Any of the ones mentioned would be very good, I would recommend the PL-880. But if you are a complete beginner, you could spend the money and then find that the listening hobby is not for you in the long run.

An alternative would be to listen to the ham bands for a while on any of the online receivers, including some in Ireland, and then decide. The 40 Metres amateur band, 7 MHz to 7.2 is a good place to listen, on Lower Side Band, LSB.

Ocelot88

Ocelot88 wrote: »

Hey thanks mad lad, info and websites are very much appreciated, I think I’m a very long way from putting an aerial on the roof! Something portable is really what I’m after.
I will take a look at the 2 you have for sale and get back to you soon.
Thanks for the help again!

Very welcome, just remember that a radio is only as good as the antenna, you won't pick up a lot indoors but all you need to start with is about 30 - 40 feet of thin wire and get it up into a tree high as you can and bring it in through the window and connect it to the telescopic antenna, you'll find stations inaudible with the telescopic antenna.

Another thing to be aware of is interference from electronic devices such as mobile phone chargers, laptop chargers, illegal LED light bulbs sold in woodies, the likes of no brand crap, stay away from them especially the crap LED floodlights that everyone is buying and leaving on all night because they cost little to run, Buy branded bulbs from Philips and OSRAM. I've binned a few LED bulbs and dodgy mobile phone chargers.

A lot of these devices are causing illegal levels of noise to be transmitted and the worst devices have no filtering at all and allow noise onto the electrical wiring and can even enter neighbours houses.

Old skool LCD TV's with fluorescent back lights are bad, the led ones are ok. Plasma bad. Some TV's can emit high levels of noise that can completely wipe out the LW,MW and SW bands and in my old house a neighbours TV electrical noise could be detected about 50 meters away.

DLS/Fiber modems are another source of noise and the power supplies that power them.

ESB power poles is another big one.

The radio spectrum is protected by international law and any neighbour is obliged by law not to cause harmful interference.

It's an interesting fun hobby, get your ham license, better to have it than want it, it opens up a whole new world, book the exam for may and start studying, if your're interested I can post the links to apply for exam and all the study material which is on the IRTS site.

If you're plagued by noise, head off to some place in the sticks with a pair of headphones, 30-40 feet of wire and you'll have a ball.

In the meantime check out my SDR radios at the below links

http://emeraldsdr.ddns.net:8074/

http://emeraldsdr1.ddns.net:8073/

These will give you a good idea of whether you will like the hobby or not, evening and night are the best times, during the day the 40 and 20 mtr ham bands are usually pretty active.

You can even use your phone to listen in but it's not as easy as using a laptop or pc with mouse.

Ocelot88

I think alot more research is needed on my part, this started when i watched a youtube vid of a guy picking up a transmission between the ISS and some college in america as it was orbiting above and thought wow thats pretty cool, wonder what else you can pick up on these radios.

The SDR radio is pretty interesting, had a quick look last night, should have more time over the next few days!

Ocelot88

Ocelot88 wrote: »

I think alot more research is needed on my part, this started when i watched a youtube vid of a guy picking up a transmission between the ISS and some college in america as it was orbiting above and thought wow thats pretty cool, wonder what else you can pick up on these radios.

The SDR radio is pretty interesting, had a quick look last night, should have more time over the next few days!

Yep contacting the ISS can be done but it flies over fast and a lot of People try to contact it, I would need an antenna for 2 meters.

It's also really fun when you have your Ham radio license contacting People far away with between 5 and 100 watts of power.

Last week I made my first contact to Sydney with just 100 Watts, I was over the moon, my furthest contact yet. I was on at the right time of day too which doesn't normally happen for me.

I enjoy working portable too when I get the time, nothing like it on a fine day. Or even set up my portable radio and antenna in the garden on a Summers day.

It's a really great Hobby.