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There’s a wide selection of SW radios out there, and the sky is nearly the limit on how much you can spend. You can spend from $50 up to $10K on radios.

The better radios will allow you to listen to more than just SW broadcasts from major stations, and will handle interference from adjacent stations better. Typically, when you pay more, you get:

- better selectivity
- better sensitivity
- better sound quality

But not always in a linear increase in price.

Antennas: The smaller your antenna, the less you will be able to hear. That’s the long and short of it in antenna theory. All the gibberish and folderol can be boiled down to this: the more wire you have up in the air, better your reception. In shortwave radio, antennas make a huge difference in either transmitting or receiving. After over 25 years as a ham, I can tell you that I’d rather spend more time and money on antenna(s) than on the latest gee-gaw features in the equipment.

You can make almost anything conductive into an antenna. Gutters and downspouts (if you bond them together), a wire run back and forth in your attic, or under your eaves, from a window out to a tree, etc. The higher the better, the longer the better. If you’re running a wire outside, you’ll want to install lightening protection on the wire before you bring it inside.

The larger question here is “To what do you want to listen?” SW broadcasts from major powers are easy to hear. I could whip up a SW receiver in a few hours out of parts scavenged from an old TV or radio to listen to major SW broadcast stations. They’re like circus carnies shouting through megaphones in the world of radio. If you want to listen to utility stations, time stations, hams, etc... you need to start considering higher-feature radios with better sensitivity and selectivity.

12V vs.. 120V. Are you interested in taking the radio on the road? That should answer the question for you.