Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Troy Riedel, who notes that C. Crane’s Cyber Monday sale includes 10% off everything sitewide (including the new CC Skywave SSB). You’ll need to use the code CM2017 at checkout.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Troy Riedel, who points out that C. Crane’s Black Friday Sale includes the CC Buds Pro-Mic earbuds and Senta-40 headphones at 50% off:
Click here to view C. Crane’s Black Friday sale items.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,Rocky Robello (KA7EII), who writes:
Just got my new C. Crane Skywave SSB radio. Same size as my wife’s C. Crane Skywave. AM, FM, WX and Airband all work just as well on the Skywave SSB as the regular Skywave.
So far, I am very satisfied with the SSB reception on the new Skywave SSB. It has one strange quirk – when you press the SSB button, it takes about 3 to 4 seconds to go into SSB mode. Five dashes appear on the display during this wait. After that, it is great.
I enjoy aeronautical communications and I get good reception of San Francisco radio and aircraft flying between the west coast and Hawaii. This is on the built in whip antenna.
Also been tuning through the ham bands and it does a nice job. There is an extra 0.5 KHz bandwidth on SSB mode so it is possible to do some casual CW listening. I like how the “Band” button works on shortwave.
When in AM mode, it cycles through the shortwave broadcasting bands. In the SSB mode, it cycles through the ham radio bands. It even selects LSB on 160-30 meters and USB on 20 through 10.
The only other receiver I have to compare it with (other than my wife’s Skywave) is my 18-year old Sangean ATS-909. The ‘909 is a bit more sensitive on MW AM broadcast band but selectivity is as good or better on the Skywave SSB.
FM sensitivity is great and the FM selectivity of the Skywave SSB beats the ‘909 hands down. Using the built in whip antennas, the Skywave SSB is more sensitive than the ‘909 on shortwave. Haven’t tried the included roll-up antenna on the Skywave SSB yet.
Having a squelch is really nice for monitoring the VHF Airband. One thing the Skywave SSB does that the regular Skywave does not do – you can scan 10 VHF Airband frequencies on the Skywave SSB.
So far, I am very satisfied with this new, tiny shortwave receiver.
Many thanks for sharing your mini review, Rocky!
I’ll also post a CC Skywave SSB review here hopefully by the end of next week–after Thanksgiving travel. My review has been delayed a as my CC Skywave SSB production units have had some QC issues: a very slight internally-generated noise in one and subpar sensitivity in the other.
My pre-production CC Skywave SSB is as Rocky describes: a gem of a compact receiver with sensitivity equal to that of its predecessor and relatively good noise characteristics.
C. Crane engineering is looking into the issues with my early production units and dispatching a replacement. I’ll post an update and review when I receive the replacement.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Troy Riedel, who notes that C. Crane has developed an enhanced version of the original CCRadio-EP AM/FM portable.
C. Crane includes the following description on their website:
The new CC Radio-EP PRO is an enhanced version of the original EP. It has the same simple controls and the same high performance with superior selectivity and sensitivity. The portable CCRadio-EP PRO could be considered a super radio; built for ease of use and outstanding long-range AM with our C. Crane patented Twin Coil Ferrite® AM Antenna. FM performance is excellent.
Great for listening to Talk Radio, NPR®, Music, and Sports. The EP PRO has a wide bass and treble adjustment range for defined music and accurate and lively voice reproduction.
A large, 5-inch speaker is combined with a hi-fidelity amplifier and a “Wide/Narrow” enhancement dial to give extra clarity to AM programs. The dial accuracy of the new EP PRO is superior to our original model. Weight: 3.1 lbs. (without batteries). Size: 11.4″ W x 7.3″ H x 2.75″ D. Runs on four optional “D” batteries (not included). AC adapter is included.
C.Crane lists a shipping date of March 30, 2018 or after.
Since I receive so many questions about affordable radios for mediumwave DXing, I’ll certainly review the CCRadio-EP Pro when it’s available. I look forward to evaluating out a radio with such simple controls!
Click here to check the CCRadio-EP Pro on C. Crane’s website.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Troy Riedel, who notes that C. Crane is shipping a free AC Adapter with their CC Skywave portable (see image above). The total package price is $89.99.
Note that this is for the original CC Skywave, which I think is a brilliant little radio and one of my favorite travel companions. Note, too, that all CC Skywave models include a set of CC Buds–the best earphones any manufacturer includes with a radio.
This promotion does not include shipping, which adds an additional $12.99 to the total price.
If you have no need for the AC Adapter, you can purchase the CC Skywave for $89.99 from Amazon.com with free shipping. Personally, I never use AC adapters with portables–I only use batteries to power the radio. If you want an adapter though, the deal via C. Crane will save you a few dollars.
Click here to view this sale at C. Crane.
To be clear, this deal is for the original CC Skywave. The new CC Skywave SSB should start shipping in early November. At $169.99, it costs almost double the price of the original CC Skywave. If SSB mode isn’t important to you, you might jump on this original CC Skywave.
Tuesday afternoon, I took a number of portable radios to the field: the Tecsun S-8800, Tecsun PL-880, Digitech AR-1780, C. Crane CC Skywave and the new C. Crane CC Skywave SSB.
Last week, I received a pilot run (pre-production) CC Skywave SSB from C. Crane to test and provide feedback. My unit, of course, is still subject to cosmetic changes and engineering tweaks.
Since this is not a final iteration of the product, I won’t comment or review performance other than to say that if you like the original CC Skywave, you should love the new CC Skywave SSB.
C. Crane has kindly given me permission to post a few preview photos.
First thing you’ll notice is that the CC Skywave SSB is essentially identical to its predecessor in size and shape.
Indeed, the CC Skywave SSB fits the original Skywave’s carry case perfectly. If you’ve purchased a custom protective case–like this one— for the original Skywave, it’ll fit the CC Skywave SSB like a glove. 
As you can see above, the front panel design has changed, though. The CC Skywave SSB accommodates four additional function buttons and sports a re-designed speaker grill (similar to the CC Pocket Radio). 
Nice touch! C. Crane thought to use that little piece of real estate behind the backstand.
As many of you know, I’m a one-bag-traveler-kind-of-guy who never leaves home without a shortwave radio. On one bag travels, of course, I only carry one full-featured portable. Space is too precious to carry two.
Listening to the 2016 BBC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica while traveling in Canada with the CC Skywave.
The original CC Skywave has pretty much been my go-to travel radio since it was released. I’ve taken it everywhere.
I’ve also taken the amazing Sony ICF-SW100 and the full-featured Grundig G6 (which even includes the AIR band) on trips when I wanted access to single sideband mode–something the original CC Skywave lacked. (Note that both of these radios are now discontinued.)
But when traveling in North America or by air, I really appreciate the Skywave’s excellent NOAA weather radio and access to aviation frequencies on the AIR band. Very handy features for the traveler who likes to stay informed.
By adding single sideband mode to an already capable ultra-compact travel radio, C. Crane has created a welcome radio traveling companion indeed.
Earlier today, intrepid SWLing Post contributor, Cap Tux, spotted an interesting link on Google when he searched for “C.Crane Skywave SSB”:
Turns out, it’s a product sheet for a new C.Crane radio: the CC Skywave SSB. Ther is no mention of this radio on C.Crane’s website yet. Here’s a screenshot:
Yes, C.Crane has obviously listened to our feedback and has developed a version of the Skywave with SSB mode–! Based on the product sheet, the CC Skywave SSB has all of the features of the original Skywave as well. That’s a plus because I love the NOAA weather radio functionality and the aviation band, especially when traveling.
If the Skywave SSB performs well, and the price point is decent, I think it might become one of the most popular shortwave portables currently on the market.
Why?
Well, for one, I’m a huge fan of the original CC Skywave (check out my review from 2014). It’s compact, feature-rich and has brilliant performance for a very compact travel radio. It’s a brilliant piece of kit for us one-bag travellers. The only glaring omission with the original Skywave was SSB mode, but at the time I believe DSP chips simply couldn’t implement this functionality.
The Digitech AR-1780
In terms of size, the side-mounted encoder and some key placement, the CC Skywave SSB resembles the Digitech AR-1780 I ordered yesterday. The overall chassis design and display, however, are quite different.
I wouldn’t be surprised if both the AR-1780 and the Skywave SSB are built on the same DSP chip.
Will they have similar performance? I doubt it.
If you recall, when the original CC Skywave was first announced, we radio geeks noticed a striking resemblance to the Digitech AR-1733. Fortunately, the Skywave was far superior in terms of performance. I made the following note in my Skywave review:
“But I was concerned a few months ago when I noted the similarity between the CC Skywave and the poorly-reviewed Digitech AR1733, sold in Australia/New Zealand by Jaycar.
Fortunately, it’s clear that C. Crane noticed the shortcomings of the AR1733 and has modified the Skywave’s design and firmware accordingly, which may account for the delayed roll-out of the CC Skywave. Obviously, the Skywave’s ACG circuit has been tweaked to cope with medium wave and shortwave listening, since a poor ACG circuit is one of the shortcomings of the AR1733. But, if so, wow…what a tweak.”
I know the crew at C.Crane and I can confirm that they do their own product development. Their team consists of proper radio enthusiasts and ham radio operators who work directly the engineers. This is why C.Crane never releases products with serious receiver flaws like other manufacturers have in the past.
You bet!
As soon as I can get my hands on the CC Skywave SSB, I’ll share updates here on the SWLing Post. Just follow the tag: CC Skywave SSB.
You might have noticed that my expectations are pretty high for the CC Skywave SSB, so I hope I’m not disappointed when I do the review.
In the past decade, there have been very few full-featured, ultra-compact travel radios with SSB introduced to the market. There is, of course, the CountyComm GP5-SSB, but it lacks a direct entry keypad, aviation coverage and NOAA weather radio. There is also the discontinued Grundig G6, but it too lacks NOAA weather radio and SSB operation was pretty basic (let’s not forget the G6 was also a “sticky radio”).
The CC Skywave SSB could be a Holy Grail travel radio, if it lives up to expectations.
At this point, of course, I have no idea when this little radio will hit the market. We can assume, though, that C.Crane will do their best to ship it prior to the 2017 Christmas shopping season.
Stay tuned! And thanks for the tip, Cap!