I thought some of you might be interested in these SW radios at $10.00 each. Looks like a realy good price. Also some LED flashlights. Pete

http://www.countycomm.com/pocketshortwave.htm

http://www.countycomm.com/light10.htm

I ordered two of the radios. I'll let you know how they are. At $10.00 its worth it if only for AM reception.

Chris

I too ordered some with the same thought in mind. Pete

I ordered one too. The unit is @ the size of a standard poker card pack. It runs on 2 AA batteries and comes with a smal lset of headphones and a case. The telescoping antannae is adequate. I wish it had an auxilliary wire antannae . Reception was horrible until I finally discovered a defective battery contact. AM performance is excellent. FM is spotty with background static. For a budget emergency news source it is a fair investment. the vendor even threw in a free keychain LED. Mine was red until the battery also proved defective. <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Well cheap is cheap. A 10 dollar radio with inadequate antannea and defective batteries along with a free led light with defective batteries.

For $1 at the dollar store I picked up an AM / FM digital scanning belt-clip radio with decent reception. Works on two AAA cells and runs for about a day or two with occasional use. It also doesn't have an external wire antennae and didn't come with a free defective LED keychain or any SW abilities. OTOH, if there were a true emergency and I had to trust my comms gear to a sub $50 radio I would consider my preparations lacking. I have spent more than that just getting enough water stored for a Three day blackout (we have a well on electric pump).

Chris:

I'm sure they would exchange the radio for you without a problem. I've made two purchases from them and the service has been great. They might even throw in a new LED light.

As for an external antenna, any length of cheap copper wire clipped or taped to the regular antenna will improve things. You don't need to buy the fancy type on a reel.


Chris

I am more than satisfied for my $10 outlay. The radio is more than adequate for an emergency unit. Installing a pair of quality Lithium batteries also helped improve performance. Sendor service is excellent also. The LED was a freebie anyway <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I got my two yesterday and they are great. I am amazed at the SW stations that this radio picked up (Deutche Welle, CBC, BBC, Radio Havana, and a few other stations including WWV and its Canadian equivalent. Definitely worth the investment.

The LED lights I ordered are also cool. They will make good xmas presents for co-workers.


Chris

Not a shortwave radio, but interesting nonetheless.

http://store.yahoo.com/opticsplanet/aimfmradpenf.html

This is listed as an FM receiver / pen. Complete with batteries and earphones from the site above.

Regards,
Comanche7