{"id":54095,"date":"2022-09-17T07:24:56","date_gmt":"2022-09-17T11:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=54095"},"modified":"2022-09-17T07:24:56","modified_gmt":"2022-09-17T11:24:56","slug":"the-two-pocket-listening-post-for-when-they-are-after-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/09\/the-two-pocket-listening-post-for-when-they-are-after-you\/","title":{"rendered":"The two-pocket listening post . . . for when \u201cthey\u201d are after you"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM<\/strong><\/p>\n

Man on the run thrillers, like The 39 Steps<\/u> by John Buchan* and Rogue Male<\/u> by Geoffrey Household hold a special fascination for me. Give me a yarn about someone being pursued by the bad guys, and I am enthralled. (Incidentally, there are a couple of good lists of these thrillers. Here<\/a> and here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Sometimes I like to play the mental game of: if I were that guy trying to stay ahead those who wished me evil intent, what radio(s) might I want with me?<\/p>\n

The other day I realized I had the perfect combo, a pair of radios that cover a huge swath of spectrum, will fit in a couple of pockets (or one big pocket) and weigh just 14 ounces combined. Further, both will run off ordinary AA batteries, which are widely available.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Candidate number one is the C Crane Skywave SSB<\/a><\/strong>, which measures 3 inches by 4.75 inches by 1.1 inches. It receives AM, FM, shortwave (1711-29999 kHz), VHF aviation and NOAA weather radio with alerts. Because it receives single sideband (SSB) on HF frequencies, it can tune in aeronautical, marine and amateur radio stations that transmit in the SSB.<\/p>\n

The Skywave SSB comes with a pair of ear buds that fit my ears well and offer pleasing audio. In addition, the SSB comes standard with an auxiliary wire antenna that can be deployed and clipped to the SSB\u2019s whip antenna to boost signal-to-noise. Perhaps most useful for the man on the run, the SSB has excellent \u201csignal seek\u201d functions that can be used on any band. In fact, if you put the radio in SSB mode and activate the signal scan, it will search the ham bands and automatically switch from upper sideband to lower sideband as appropriate.<\/p>\n

For the man on the run who can \u201chole up\u201d for a while, I\u2019ve tried clipping a 50-foot long wire to the SSB\u2019s whip and antenna, and I was amazed at how well it can pull in faint ham signals. It\u2019s the \u201clittle radio that could.\u201d About the only thing that I wish I could change on the Skywave SSB is that it mutes between tuning steps when using the tuning knob.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But suppose our man on the run needs to monitor signals above the coverage of the Skywave SSB? \u00a0Candidate number two is the Icom R6<\/strong><\/a>. Measuring just 2.3 inches by 3.4 inches by 1.2 inches, the diminutive R6 covers from 100 kHz to 1309.995 MHz (less cellular and gaps) in AM, FM Narrow and FM wide modes (no<\/u> SSB). It has 1300 alphanumeric memories, search-and-store capabilities, and rapid scanning of memory channels.<\/p>\n

For high stealth, there is a setting that allows the R6 to use the wire that connects headphones or ear buds to the R6 as the antenna instead of the usual antenna. For a non-stealth application, using an aftermarket antenna like the Comet W100RX<\/strong><\/a> 25MHz-1300MHz Handheld Scanner Antenna, the R6T does a surprisingly good job of receiving shortwave stations. This antenna has markings on the side so that it can be set to the right length for various frequencies.<\/p>\n

As you can see from the photo, the R6 has only a few buttons on its face and two on the side. Every button has multiple functions, and I found trying to program memory channels using the buttons to be a trial. As a result, I can highly recommend the RT Systems cable and programming software for setting up memory channels. In addition, some very useful notes for setting up and using the R6 can be found here: https:\/\/forums.radioreference.com\/threads\/icom-ic-r6-notes.442112\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally, I know that there are several tiny ham transceivers that might fill the bill, including the Yaesu VX-6R, although I am not aware of any that can receive single sideband. Besides, if you had the ability to transmit, \u201cthey\u201d might be able to direction-find you . . . and we wouldn\u2019t want that, would we?<\/p>\n

*For sharp-eyed readers: yes, I know<\/em> that The 39 Steps is set in a time before radio was widespread, but it is still one of my favorites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM Man on the run thrillers, like The 39 Steps by John Buchan* and Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household hold a special fascination for me. Give me a yarn about someone being pursued by the bad guys, and I am enthralled. (Incidentally, there are a couple of good lists of these thrillers. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,305,26,5803,43],"tags":[6398,4342,5572,9323,9960],"class_list":["post-54095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-radios","category-scanners","category-shortwave-radio","tag-c-crane-cc-skywave-ssb","tag-guest-posts","tag-icom-ic-r6","tag-jock-elliott-kb2gom","tag-the-39-steps"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-e4v","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":60206,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/07\/weird-question-from-the-old-retrocrank\/","url_meta":{"origin":54095,"position":0},"title":"Weird question . . . from the old retrocrank","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"July 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Like some others of my age (roughly) who have posted here, I vastly prefer radios that do NOT mute between tuning steps . . . that provide smooth, continuous tuning. So, does anyone know of any true, new, currently in production, radios with an analog receiver? Could be AM, FM,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/GrundigG31.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/GrundigG31.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/GrundigG31.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/GrundigG31.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":62875,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/a-bit-more-about-batteries-for-emergency-radios\/","url_meta":{"origin":54095,"position":1},"title":"A bit more about batteries for emergency radios . . .","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"May 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM A friend, Bob, is a professional in the two-way radio business with deep experience and expertise. I mentioned to him this post and told him about my strong preference for radios that would run on off-the-shelf alkaline batteries. He had a few things to say about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Emergency Preparedness"","block_context":{"text":"Emergency Preparedness","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/emergency-preparedness\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/batteries-001-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/batteries-001-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/batteries-001-1024x768.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":62590,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/the-great-ats-radio-challenge\/","url_meta":{"origin":54095,"position":2},"title":"The Great ATS Radio Challenge","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"April 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM Here is an idea thought up by a radio pal of mine, Andy, W2SRA. It\u2019s an exercise to get us operating our portable mutliband radios from manufacturers such as Grundig, Sony, XHDATA, Tecsun, Sangean, and so on. If you own a digital multiband radio that has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ATS-challenge-001-001-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ATS-challenge-001-001-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ATS-challenge-001-001-1024x768.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60321,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/a-nutty-idea\/","url_meta":{"origin":54095,"position":3},"title":"A Nutty Idea","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"August 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM Official Disclaimer: \"Yes, XHDATA is a supporter of the SWLing Post but this is my own crazy idea, and we aren't getting any commissions from the sales. XHDATA doesn't even know we're doing it!\" It\u2019s all Robert Gulley\u2019s fault. He had the temerity to post an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"XHDATA D-220 available in three colors","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/d220-01.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/d220-01.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/d220-01.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56176,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/03\/in-which-c-crane-displays-a-high-degree-of-cool\/","url_meta":{"origin":54095,"position":4},"title":"In which C.Crane displays a high degree of “cool”","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"March 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM Okay, let's get this straight to begin with: I'm not on C.Crane's payroll; I get nothing for what you are about to read. I have bought two of their radios with my own money, and they sent me one for review. Today I received an email\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antennas"","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/bobs-simple-wire-antenna-sml.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":56008,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/03\/the-great-medium-wave-daylight-dx-challenge\/","url_meta":{"origin":54095,"position":5},"title":"The Great Medium Wave Daylight DX Challenge","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"March 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM First a word of acknowledgement and thanks: it was Chuck Rippel who said (in part) -- in response to this post\u00a0-- \u201cWe could make this interesting by restricting listening to the period 10AM \u2013 2PM maybe 3PM.\u201d And that got me to thinking that maybe a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mediumwave"","block_context":{"text":"Mediumwave","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/mediumwave\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/satellit-800.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/satellit-800.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/satellit-800.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/satellit-800.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54095"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54103,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54095\/revisions\/54103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}