{"id":55018,"date":"2022-12-13T10:48:41","date_gmt":"2022-12-13T14:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=55018"},"modified":"2022-12-13T10:49:01","modified_gmt":"2022-12-13T14:49:01","slug":"making-a-good-thing-better-the-c-crane-cc-skywave-ssb-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/12\/making-a-good-thing-better-the-c-crane-cc-skywave-ssb-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Making a good thing better: The C.Crane CC Skywave SSB 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Last month, C.Crane sent me (and the infamous Jock Elliott–read his review here<\/a>) a pre-production CC Skywave SSB 2<\/strong> portable shortwave radio.<\/p>\n

In full disclosure and to be clear: these pre-production units were sent to us free of charge by C.Crane who is a long-time sponsor of the SWLing Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Back in October, I was very pleased to see that C.Crane had updated the CC Skywave SSB to version 2 in their latest product catalog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you’ve read the SWLing Post<\/em> for long, you’ll know that the CC Skywave SSB is my choice travel and EDC radio. I prefer it over any other portable I own (and I do have quite a lot) because it’s so insanely useful, efficient, lightweight, compact, and durable.<\/p>\n

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

I’ve taken the CC Skywave SSB and the original CC Skywave<\/a> on more travels that I could possibly remember.<\/p>\n

What’s so great about the Skywave series?<\/h1>\n

I’m a one-bag traveler.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Me, at Charlotte-Douglas International waiting for a flight to the Winter SWL Fest in 2019.<\/p><\/div>\n

When I fly, I take only one carry on bag that’s so compact it can fit under the seat in front of me in any<\/em> type of commercial aircraft.<\/p>\n

I firmly believe there is no freedom like one-bag travel. While others are stressing over where to stow luggage, how to carry it all, or why their checked-in luggage didn’t arrive at the destination, I’m cruising through the airport and to my destination unhindered.<\/p>\n

The key to successful one-bag travel is only carrying what you need<\/em>, and focusing on items that are multi-function.<\/p>\n

Me? I need<\/em> a good multi-band radio.<\/p>\n

The CC Skywave SSB is the most comprehensive compact portable I own. It’s truly a “Swiss Army Knife” of a receiver. Here are the bands\/features I appreciate:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • AM\/Mediumwave (9\/10 kHz steps selectable)<\/li>\n
  • FM broadcast (with expanded FM range when in 9 kHz step mode)<\/li>\n
  • Shortwave<\/li>\n
  • AIR band (to listen to Air Traffic Control and Air comms)<\/li>\n
  • Weather Radio with alert (this functions brilliantly in the US and Canada)<\/li>\n
  • A proper clock and alarm (that can display in 24 hour time!)<\/li>\n
  • It uses two common AA batteries that can even be internally-recharged if NiMH<\/li>\n
  • It even has a squelch feature for scanning, say, the AIR band<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    All of this and it’s also one of the best-performing compact radios on the market. It’s a capable radio for portable DXing right out of the box (or you can hot-rod it like Gary DeBock does<\/a>!).<\/p>\n

    Side note: the CC Skywave’s weather radio reception is better that any other radio I’ve tested including dedicated weather radios<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    What’s in version 2?<\/h1>\n

    \"\"<\/a>C.Crane is all about small improvements to their product line based on customer feedback. Instead of coming out with a new radio design every two years, C.Crane focuses on incremental upgrades to their existing models.<\/p>\n

    The CC Skywave SSB 2 has a few upgrades:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • the shortwave external antenna jack can significantly improve SW reception when used with an external antenna (the SSB 2 now even ships with an adapter<\/a> for long wires)<\/li>\n
    • the new micro-USB port (the old one was mini-USB) includes improved in-circuit battery charging for AA NiMH cells<\/li>\n
    • a higher quality speaker along with slightly more audio amplification<\/li>\n
    • longer feet on the bottom of the radio for better stability<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Video overview<\/h1>\n

      I was recently at a state park and brought the CC Skywave SSB 2 along for the ride. Since I had my action camera packed to film a Parks On The Air (POTA) activation for my other blog, QRPer.com<\/a>, I decided to make a short overview video of the Skywave SSB 2 as well. (If you’re an SWLing Post Patreon supporter<\/a>, you would have seen this same video a couple weeks ago via Patreon.<\/em>)<\/p>\n