I've listened to shortwave for years...still love it...for more than 40 years now...used to have a world map over my bed as a kid with colored pins in it at all the points where I DXed and sent for and received QSL cards. Always had a simple little portable and an alligator clip, a flat insulated wire through the bottom of the screen and a bare copper wire to the nearest tree (and a ground arrestor). Just clip the wire onto the built in antenna at night and it's like looking through a powerful telescope of sound and the world of radio is out there!

Aside from crystal radios I built in my youth (in the 1960s), I think that I've only had 3 portable SW receivers and I currently have a Sony portable ICF SW-30 with digital presets and battery operated. I've taken it around the world with me (built in alarm and time zone clock too!). I'd love to have a great old SW receiver someday....ah someday.

A great site for reports on SW is Glenn Hauser's World Of Radio http://www.worldofradio.com/ . You can hear his broadcasts live on various SW stations (and even on WPKN in Bridgeport, CT 89.5 MHz on Saturday afternoons!).

Enjoy!

Here's a good link for info. BTW Sangean ATS-803A and Realistic DX-440 are the same radio.

http://www.dxing.com/index.html

- Dave

Hey, just thought I'd bump this to show something I found in a thrift store....

I think it's nice... I was able to sorta tune something in without any antenna(I don't have time to mess with it now.. should be in bed already! bad me.)
It's all clean and shiny and came with a zeroxed manual. The receiver was $9.99 and the matching speaker beside it was at the other end of the electronics department for $1.99

Cool, nice find - I have that one also. Fun to tune around the dial. Mine works well with 30 ft. of hookup wire thrown out the window. Can't say that I really understand how to work the bandpass tuning though.

- Dave

Now THAT reciever looks like something that should be able to tune in some stations... much more so than the two radios you previously mentioned!

I used to have an old Mackay Marine receiver that came from the radio room of a ship I used to work on... all I did was run a wire across the ceiling of my living room... and it picked up lots of SW broadcasts.

Aww, chit, Charlie, was that a big Tooob type MacKay ? If so, they're even more desirable than R-3XXs... A LOT more rare...You don't still have it, do you?

No, it was a solid state receiver... an early model digital readout tuner. The digits were made up of little tiny red dots instead of "segments" like today. Seems i recall the machine was dated 1974 or 75.

I gave the receiver to Kam quite some time back. He found the audio board inside was somewhat burned up... which surprised me... because I was listening to it before I sent it to him. It was a big larger than an old Pioneer stereo receiver... and HEAVY! I'm sure I have a photo of it around here somewhere. If I find it, I'll post it.

looks like you found a DX160a , i had one in the early 70s before the digital synthesized tuning receivers came down to affordable levels.you will get alot of good listening with that radio with a good longwire attached, if you have room try a wire 126 ft. long tapped @ 14% off the center for a good match on all the international shortwave bands, if you dont have that much room try 66 ft. with a wire attached at 14% off center. run the single wire to the ant terminal and attach the grd terminal to a good ground. you will be amazed at how much difference a properly tuned antenna will make.

I had a Radio Shack DX160 and enjoyed it very much. The dial was really cool looking! Just about any long wire antenna will get you international reception. It also has a BFO function so you can listen to single sideband a carrier wave transmissions (SSB & CW) fun to learn code on.
Radio shack still has an inexpensive copper wire antenna that can be strung outside or in your attic.