{"id":7488,"date":"2013-10-04T08:11:59","date_gmt":"2013-10-04T12:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=7488"},"modified":"2013-10-04T08:11:59","modified_gmt":"2013-10-04T12:11:59","slug":"franks-maritime-radio-suggestions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/10\/franks-maritime-radio-suggestions\/","title":{"rendered":"Frank’s maritime radio suggestions"},"content":{"rendered":"

In response to my previous post, The Best Shortwave Receiver for Your Boat or Yacht<\/a>, Frank (VK3JFH\/VP8DNM)\u00a0writes:<\/p>\n

“I have all three of the portables mentioned<\/a>, the Sony SW7600GR, the Sangean 909X, and the Tecsun PL-660. The latter is currently my portable of choice. Having just read this post re radios afloat<\/a> I took the time to suck down a fax from Charleville, Queensland.<\/p>\n

\"(Click<\/a>

Frank’s Tecsun PL-660 and Macbook Pro decoding a weather fax with Cocoa Modem 2.0 (Click to enlarge)<\/p><\/div>\n

Results shown..<\/p>\n

This was with the Tecsun 660 attached directly to a (near) horizontal longwire at my home QTH, inserted directly into a Macbook Pro running CocoaModem 2.0 via the headphone socket on the Tecsun.
\nI have had similar results with the Sony and the Sangean<\/p>\n

To all intents the result is as good as with my other radios ( K5000 etc.).<\/p>\n

\"(Click<\/a>

Screenshot of the weather fax image (Click to enlarge)<\/p><\/div>\n

However if I was starting from scratch afloat I would get an Icom IC-718. Only $689.95 from Universal Radio<\/a>. You may choose to simply use it as a receiver or as a Ham TX\/RX. However it can also be ‘opened up’ with a simple diode snip to transmit on all the marine bands. Not strictly legal [nor is the IC-718 designed for those bands] but there are a lot of ‘opened’ 718s out there and in an emergency you can transmit a mayday on anything\u2026. even a couple of jam tins and string although you may need a fair old length of string\u2026.<\/p>\n

If you wish to transmit on your IC-718 you will need a tuner. I have an LDG IT-100<\/a> on mine.<\/p>\n

Hooking up a consumer receiver to a marine antenna\u2026.? Simply make up a pigtail with a 3.5mm jack at one end and a BNC or SO -259 at the other.<\/p>\n

Non-marine radios afloat\u2026. ? I had an IC-735 aboard from Cyprus (1992) until Patagonia (2007). Since 2007 I have had an IC-706Mk2G afloat\u2026. no problem with either one.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Many thanks for your input, Frank!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In response to my previous post, The Best Shortwave Receiver for Your Boat or Yacht, Frank (VK3JFH\/VP8DNM)\u00a0writes: “I have all three of the portables mentioned, the Sony SW7600GR, the Sangean 909X, and the Tecsun PL-660. The latter is currently my portable of choice. Having just read this post re radios afloat I took the time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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":[8,545,627,433,26,129,43],"tags":[389,2185,2186,2187,2216,4102,2190,2219,2217,2195,2194,4086,330,2218],"class_list":["post-7488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-ham-radio","category-how-to","category-mediumwave","category-radios","category-reviews","category-shortwave-radio","tag-amateur-radio","tag-best-shortwave-radio-for-boat","tag-best-shortwave-radio-for-maritime","tag-best-shortwave-radio-for-yacht","tag-cocoa-modem","tag-ham-radio","tag-icom-ic-706mkii","tag-icom-ic-718","tag-macbook","tag-maritime-operation","tag-questions","tag-shortwave-radio-reviews","tag-tecsun-pl-660","tag-weather-fax"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-1WM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7419,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/10\/the-best-shortwave-receiver-for-your-boat-or-yacht\/","url_meta":{"origin":7488,"position":0},"title":"The best shortwave receiver for your boat or yacht","author":"Thomas","date":"October 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"[Updated: October, 23 2017] SWLing Post reader, Bob, recently emailed the following question: \"My wife and I live on a boat and plan to go to the Bahamas this season.\u00a0We cannot afford to install a SSB radio \u2013 costs $7K to $8K.\u00a0But we need to be able to hear the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Alinco-DX-SR8T.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41767,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/ians-portable-setup-for-ssb-and-maritime-weather-monitoring\/","url_meta":{"origin":7488,"position":1},"title":"Ian’s portable setup for SSB and maritime weather monitoring","author":"Thomas","date":"February 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ian, who shared the following response to our post regarding the best shortwave receiver for you boat or yacht: An icom M802 package can be had for less that $3k... but the installation may run up anywhere up to $5k hence the OP\u2019s ~$8k\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/9BD36F0A-FC5C-482B-A20C-D5FB51A835A3-1024x601.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/9BD36F0A-FC5C-482B-A20C-D5FB51A835A3-1024x601.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/9BD36F0A-FC5C-482B-A20C-D5FB51A835A3-1024x601.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45974,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/10\/matt-compares-the-tecsun-pl-990-to-the-icom-ic-r9500-on-an-external-antenna-and-the-results-are-surprising\/","url_meta":{"origin":7488,"position":2},"title":"Matt compares the Tecsun PL-990 to the Icom IC-R9500 on an external antenna and the results are surprising","author":"Thomas","date":"October 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Matt Blaze, who shares the following comparison of the new Tecsun PL-990x and the benchmark Icom IC-R9500 communications receiver. Matt's excellent comparison\u00a0 is in audio form. I highly recommend listening with headphones or, at least, an audio device with separate left\/right channels as his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Guest Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Guest Posts","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/guest-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Icom-IC-R9500-v-PL-990x-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Icom-IC-R9500-v-PL-990x-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Icom-IC-R9500-v-PL-990x-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Icom-IC-R9500-v-PL-990x-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Icom-IC-R9500-v-PL-990x-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44630,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/whats-in-the-shack-here-at-swling-post-hq\/","url_meta":{"origin":7488,"position":3},"title":"What’s in the shack here at SWLing Post HQ","author":"Thomas","date":"August 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete, who writes: Thomas, I'm curious what radios you have in the shack now. 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I purchased the PL-310ET for $50 (incl. shipping) from Anon-Co and received it from Hong Kong in less than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Products"","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Image Source: Anon-Co","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Tecsun-PL-310ET-300x191.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8040,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/swling-coms-2013-holiday-shortwave-and-radio-gift-guide\/","url_meta":{"origin":7488,"position":5},"title":"SWLing.com\u2019s 2013 Holiday Shortwave and Radio Gift Guide","author":"Thomas","date":"December 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the most popular posts on the SWLing Post each year is the annual Holiday Radio Gift Guide. 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