Comments on: Passport to World Band Radio® in Limbo (rev. 28 Nov.)

By: Pierre Bezukhov

Pierre Bezukhov — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:41:33 +0000

So sad to hear that Passport will not be printed anymore. It was a ritual for the past 15 years to start bugging my local bookseller for the next year’s edition right around the fall when the clocks fell back. I learned a lot from all of you, thanks.
BTW, for Jake, an external antenna trick I picked up from Arnie Coro, C02KK. Instead of attaching it with a clip or wrapping the bare wires to the whip, make a coil with the wire (keeping the insulation intact) around the base of the whip, 5 or 6 turns ought to do it.

By: Jake J

Jake J — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:44:46 +0000

Thanks I’ll check that out, I read in the Guide that touching the external antenna while it is attached to the radio could damage it. How do I avoid that if I want to disconnect the antenna?

Ed.: Grab it by its plastic plug.

By: Jake J

Jake J — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:04:22 +0000

Hey, your advice has been real helpful I appreciate it. I am going to try out the new Grundig G3, hopefully they have worked out all the bugs, otherwise I'll go with the 7600GR. I've got another question, for an external antenna what type of wire is needed? does the gauge matter or anything I was looking at radioshack and I'm not sure. Ed.: For your needs, a simple inverted-L antenna should more than suffice. Either experiment on your own and have fun in the process, or [Brazen Plug Alert!] for a soup-to-nuts guide to building and installing such an antenna read the RDI White Paper, Popular Outdoor Antennas.

By: Norman Schmidt

Norman Schmidt — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:10:27 +0000

Bought my first ‘Passport’ back in 1991. At such pre-historic time, when no commercial Internet existed here and a thing like Amazon was a science fiction concept, finding it here (Brazil) was always impossible.
Between ordering it (by MAIL, yes, an envelope, with stamps!) and receiving that beautiful, brand new edition also by mail, 90 days were past my window. Good old times.
I thank you for 18 years of enjoyment of such a fine publication, and I sincerely hope Passport gets back in 2011.

By: Jake J

Jake J — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:50:54 +0000

Never-mind that question, what I really want to know is what receiver to get. I want to hear world band not hams or utility signals. You said spring for a receiver with superior weak signal sensitivity. My budget is about $150. So I’ve read the reviews and have come down to the top 2 compact portables, the sony and the eton e5. I’m not sure whether I need the snyc detector or the superior sensitivity more. could you give me your best opinion? I think after this I can stop annoying you!

Ed.: You can boost weak-signal reception using a cheap, simple outdoor antenna, as indicated in the book. However, there’s no homebrew fix for the lack of sync sideband selection.

By: Bill R

Bill R — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:37:07 +0000

Received today an update from Amazon regarding my Jan ‘10 order of Passport.
It should arrive around March 11.

When I ordered it the price was $39 US. Now, the current Amazon price is pushing close to $150 US.

Ed.: Maybe we should have raised the price direct from here [grin].

By: Jake J

Jake J — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:25:07 +0000

One more question, is synchronous selectable sideband a must especially in Phoenix?

Ed.: Desirable, very much so. A necessity, no.

By: Jake J

Jake J — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:28:38 +0000

Thanks, lets say down the road I want something better than the Sony. Would the Icom IC-R75 be good enough for weak signals in my region?

Ed.: Understandable question, but it’s too subjective for a valid recommendation from this distant perspective — plus it’s going to depend on what you wind up preferring to hear and the antenna you would use with a tabletop model. There really is no silver bullet to avoid the slog of studying test results and drawing your own conclusions based on your wants and needs. If you need these findings distilled, go by the star ratings assigned to each tested product.

By: Jake J

Jake J — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:53:57 +0000

Hey, I just got a copy of PTWBR and am going to start out with a compact portable. I live in Phoenix, what do you think the next step up from a portable would be? I want to pull in signals that aren’t meant for me.

Ed.: You can start by reading Passport’s test results for compact portables (pp. 72-96). The Sony ICF-SW7600GR is an obvious choice, but in the final analysis it comes down to your specific needs, wants and budget. Keep in mind that signal strengths tend to be somewhat weak in your part of the country, so superior weak-signal sensitivity or a small, simple external antenna (see p. 66) would be helpful.

By: Bert

Bert — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:57:08 +0000

Like many posting here, I have found Passport to Worldband Radio to be a wonderful and irreplaceable resource. Not to take away from WRTH, but it is NOT a suitable replacement. The reviews of new radios are the best I’ve read anywhere, since they describe both the good and the bad, and are not simply cheering sections for any radio that hits the market. The news and informational articles are very well written and fun to read. The Blue Pages are very handy.

I’ve had a Passport by my side almost every year since the mid-90’s when I learned about it. It made the hobby much more fun and accessible to me. It is simply not acceptable for this valuable publication to mysteriously slip away without a trace or explanation. If there is something more we readers can do please let us know.

I am a ham operator as well and try to support both ham radio and shortwave publications as much as possible. I hope that if (or maybe I should say “when”) a 2011 edition is announced, we can learn more about it here.

Please keep the faith and let us know what, if anything, we readers can do.

73,
Bert WF7I