After all these years somebody finally manufactures a radio with all the basics. Reading through the user's manual shows a lot of features: FM stereo, NOAA weather alerts, direct frequency entry or rotary knob, variable tuning rates, air-band squelch, and clock w/alarm to name the main ones. Very well thought out design. I'm sold.
Im a radio collector. This a fantastic Presentation. You done a marvellous job of explaining the differences without making is sound dull and boring. Kudos goes to you.
Man you nailed it! What a complete awesome review! THANK YOU! I ordered one based on your concise review. I realize we all have lives but I humbly ask you to please make more videos. Your style is really down to earth and totally informative.
Get the XHdata instead because it's the exact same thing but has antenna port and isn't over priced. Same sweatshop company just selling under different brand. C Crane is scam.
Nice review. I live about 5 blocks from C.Crane here in Fortuna. I get to walk in and check out the radios and compare them side by side. Tuning through difficult stations to receive, this little one has some powerful pickup. When I saw the price I was thinking about the size and sceptical. So, Sue said to take it outside and compare them. I tuned into a normally weak station, compared it to the other radios and was sold. Instantly. C.Crane has some awesome stuff and their customer support is phenomenal. Small Town people treating their customers the way small town folks do. This little SSB is a blast. And you can throw it in your jacket pocket.
Darrell Foust I purchased 4 radios from them 13 years ago, and a couple more since. They are always nice and most helpful. I have talked to Sue a few times over the years. Great company. 📻🙂
Another side note... About 2 years ago, I was camping in a ravine (hell gate campground in northern California) and was trying to get an FM station on my skywave ssb. Could only get one. I added about 10 inches of tinfoil to the antenna and got all kinds of stations. With that discovery, I purchased an aftermarket antenna that is about a foot longer and viola! It doesn't collapse as much as the original but I'm not going for looks. I also made a youloop with a 12' loop instead of the 6' loop and it REALLY kicks butt now.
I noticed that the SSB function was demonstrated using the AM broadcast band (BCB). The SSB mode is only useful occasionally on the BCB to eliminate interference from a strong station on an adjacent frequency. The demonstration might have been improved if it included some actual SSB reception, perhaps receiving a transmission on one of the ham bands.
I did get this radio. It is fantastic ‼️ Yes, it’s a bit pricey, but the high quality, and Warranty is honored without a hassle. The only radio that comes close to this, is the XHData D-808, also a great radio, but a tad bigger, and no Weather Band. The main thing with the XHData is it’s still fairly new , so long term reliability is unknown, whereas the C.Crane has a reputation for long term reliability. 📻🙂
Last night I listened to WICC 600kHz on my Skywave SSB, and on my original Skywave. Both received the signal well with nice audio. Then I tuned to WICC on my Tecsun PL-660. It was mostly noise. Both Skywaves are amazing radios.
edit/add on - communication skills, comparative analysis. beyond a doubt the best electronics review l've seen on youtube. if ccrane or another manufacturer, of your choice, isn't trying to hire you for marketing or as a spokesperson, they need to wake up? 👍
Finally got it! What a little radio ‼️ Still playing with it.... So far, it blows away my Grundig G-6 (Buzz Aldrin) most every way. My Sangean ATS-909 (the old one) does out perform it by a bit, but was $ 100.oo more, and 3 times bigger. (Unfortunately my NEW Tecsun pl660 has developed an internal “helicopter “ rendering it mostly useless , and it’s only 2 months old 🙁!)-(And I traded my new PL-390- which I really like a lot-to a neighbor who couldn’t afford the price to repair his SONY- CRF-160- which quit as soon as I got it home 🙁.)
migsven surfing Radio was purchased for me by a friend who tried to save a few bucks-no paperwork. I did hit the “reset “ which solved the problem but set it to “Factory Default” 5Khz Off. The directions to re-align did not work. “Kaito.US” told me I needed a “firmware “ update. No warranty: Sent it to “Kaito.US”, with a $20.oo Money Order ( ten for the update/ten to re-ship) Had radio back in 8 days,And corrected.🙂 The PL660 is an excellent radio. No problem with the CCSkywaveSSB- AWESOME radio ‼️ 📻📻📻📻📻‼️
Great review. I recently purchased the CC POCKET and love it. I currently have the the Tecsun PL380. Very nice radio for SW. I do have the Skywave SSB on my wishlist though.
Great review. I have the original Skywave that I take on very remote canoe trips. I love it and am floored by the reception capabilities. Nice and light as well. Now how do I justify the ssb model...
Get the XHdata instead because it's the exact same thing but has antenna port. Same sweatshop company just selling under different brand. C Crane is scam.
Kandi Klover I have both the C.Crane, and now the XHData. If one already have the original Skywave, or cannot take the higher price, then go with the XHData. If you don’t have either, I’d go with the C.Crane. Long term quality is the big issue here. C.Crane developed their radio themselves, spending a lot of money. The have very strict quality control, and radios are checked at the factory and when they get to California. They have an excellent warranty, and tech support. C.Crane also has Weather Band. The XHData gets a bit better MW , but no weather. It also sounds a bit better. A rechargeable 18650 battery on the XHData/ C.Crane takes “AA”. And can use rechargeables. Both are excellent radios. As for being the same radio, I don’t think so. I HAVE heard the XHData and the Digitech AR-1745 sold by Jaycar. Many have compared these two and they are very similar. If you don’t want Chinese radios, get the Panasonic RF-562DD. It’s made in a sweatshop in Indonesia............ Or.... just build your own. (📻🙂)
As mentioned, the HF bands were completely dead when shooting the video, but there will likely be a follow-up where we listen to some of the amateur bands.
Andrew Nevill Air band works very well. (Just got it-still playing with it) In general-it blows away my old Grundig G-6(Buzz Aldrin)‼️ My Sangean ATS 909 (the old one) performs a bit better but was far more expensive and 3times+ the size.
Would have been nice to see how it does on FM. I live at the border of two counties and good FM selectivity is helpful. I wouldn't buy it based on FM performance but it helps in receiving otherwise inaudible stations.
This distorted sound on SSB is caused by AGC issues related to the DSP chip and it exists in pretty much every DSP radio I've seen on youtube and it's an issue on my Tecsun PL-880 and S-8800 so bad in fact I have them up for sale. The stronger the signal the worse the distortion and using exalted carrier reception or "ESR" ( Using SSB on AM ) is difficult to use and fatiguing to listen to after a while on these DSP radios and it can introduce a warble sound to the audio. Using ESR on AM and SW is really convenient to reduce fading of a signal and/or to reduce/eliminate interference from a station close by. It can be very effective but on some radios like the Tecsun PL-880 and S-8800 it does not sound good at all. I have the PL-660 and because it got beat up from abuse I bought a PL-680 and it's such a pleasure to listen to on SSB compared to the PL-880 and S-8800 or even the D-808. The XHDATA D-808 has good clear audio on SSB but sadly still has the AGC issue but it's not quite as bad as on the tecsuns, the only real downside with the 808 is that it has no form of attenuation and listening at night time is next to impossible with a proper external antenna. This is an issue on any portable that does not have the "Local, DX, Normal" switch. Tecsun have a new PL-990 and H-501 coming out in the Summer, delayed by the corona virus, hopefully they will be great performers because it's going to be Tecsun's last performance radios.
Well I have one of those radios and when I go outside on a long wire or inside on a long wire it will pick up things all day long on the 40 m BAND and others it's a real good HF radio I don't know why he just went through a.m. and FM probably weather it's a good radio it's one of the best
Thanks for the review. I recently just bought a Tecsun PL-880 in a case with a recorder and extended antenna from anon co. However, it didn’t have the weather channel not the air channels. Since I have SSB in it, should I buy an additional radio with the 2 missing mentioned above features. Would u recommend the CC skywave non SSB or should I go for the new one. Any other recommendations. Kindly advise! Thanks in advance
When you are tuning the MW band the radio uses a internal ferrite antenna and turning the radio allows you to get the strongest signal or sometime null out a weaker station. The clip on antenna is usfull for short wave while the extentable antenna wirks well on airband and FM statiins. Hope thus helps.
Nice review ! However, you didn't go over the "page" memory storage system which is a handy way to store and retrieve stations. I bought one of these for my wife and am very happy with it. In fact, after watching your review I ordered a Tecsun tunable loop gain antenna. I thought your review of the bandwidth buttons were very helpful as I had not had time to try this feature.
Appreciate this clear look at the Skywave SSB. I've enjoyed many of your excellent detailed video reviews - thanks! I do have a question: I am wondering if there is any muting while manually tuning SW, SSB, AIR or MW? So far, I have scoured every review I could find online (not that there are many yet) and never saw this mentioned. Your video does at least clearly show no muting when fine-tuning SSB, but I don't believe you ever used the knob to tune away from a frequency at larger 1 or 10 kHz steps. I have an Eton "Grundig Edition" Satellit, and it has some "soft muting" when dialling frequencies up and down, although zero muting when using SSB fine-tuning or AIR band (but it sort of pops a little when changing AIR frequencies). While I'd rather have no muting at all while tuning, if I turn the volume up a little, I can scan through frequencies quite quickly with the Eton and still catch when there is a signal. Some other radios that I've seen, have a much stronger mute than the Eton and you literally need to deliberately pause at every click of the tuning knob and wait for the signal to recover, in order to hear if there is anything there. It would be super helpful to see another video demonstrating the Skywave SSB's behaviour on the various bands in that regard, perhaps turning the tuning knob at a few different speeds. I'd like to order a Skywave SSB for its super compact travel-friendly size, and its WX capability, but if the muting is significantly worse than my Eton, it would drive me nuts when searching for faint signals...
To answer my own question, in case anyone else is interested, I now also own the Skywave SSB. Compared to the Eton "Grundig Edition" Satellit, the muting while tuning is very similar, but with some differences. In regular SW mode, if you spin the tuning knob at a certain clip, the Skywave SSB mutes down but then seems to tune fairly smoothly without too much popping (rapid audio recovery) between frequencies, although the amount of popping seems to vary a bit depending on what SW band one is tuning. I cannot quite find a tuning rate on the Eton that eliminates the popping between frequencies quite as effectively. That said, in SSB mode, there is a longer delay when recovering audio between frequencies on both radios, and that severely limits the speed one can effectively scan and identify signals. Manually tuning to scan the SSB bands is rather harsh and fatiguing on both. Generally though, apart from some user interface quirks and the above mentioned muting, I am very impressed with the Skywave SSB for such a compact radio, and its sensitivity in my, admittedly, still limited testing seems to put it right on par with the Eton in most ways and on most bands. Even AM (MW) sensitivity is surprisingly good on the much smaller Skywave SSB and nulling seems stronger than the Eton Satellit. Once I also receive my Tecsun PL-660 (mainly ordered due to its buttery smooth tuning with no muting between frequencies, and its very effective sync), I'll likely upload some of my own comparison videos so people can see how the three radios perform side by side. Thanks again to Radio Physics and Electronics for all the excellent review videos!
In my last reply, I only addressed the muting question for SW and SSB, not the other bands. Air-band tuning is dead-smooth with no muting or popping on the Skywave SSB, whereas the Eton pops very slightly between frequency changes, but it's rather subtle and not annoying. FM tuning on both the Skywave SSB and the Eton Satellit will give slight pops between frequencies, similar to the Eton on Air-band. On AM (MW) the muting/popping on both radios is basically the same as when tuning their SW bands, which isn't really too surprising.
One more update: I was listening in a very RFI quiet location today (finally!), using a 23 foot reel-up wire antenna. The audio recovery from the muting while tuning in this case, was actually a little slower on the Skywave SSB than the Eton Satellit. The Eton recovered audio more quickly, and while it popped more during tuning and was more fatiguing in that way, if I was dialling past an active station relatively quickly, I found I would miss it more easily with the Skywave SSB. I really had to deliberately slow down a bit if I was manually tuning about with the Skywave, so that I wouldn't miss a faint signal. When there is lots of RFI and thus background static, the audio recovery is quicker (maybe since it never ducks down as low?) and one can then tune more quickly on the Skywave with less fatigue than the Eton. It is interesting and complex how they behave differently in different situations, and I'd have a hard time choosing one over the other for that aspect of their performance. Both radios performed very well today and were very sensitive with the reel antenna, pulling in lots of faint stations (with the Eton having the slightest edge)... if I was slow and deliberate enough not to miss them! I've never heard of anyone actually finding that muting while tuning is in any way beneficial, and since some DSP-based radios don't do this, I really am puzzled why so many do! I'll soon be testing a Tecsun PL-880, one of the few DSP-based radios that doesn't mute during tuning, and I suspect that it will be the nicest one of the three to just tune around the bands with, hunting for faint stations. Hopefully the sensitivity of the latest production run of PL-880's is on par with the Eton and the Skywave...
Very good video I learned a lot. I'm also an FM dxer Why didn't you demo that band. Thanks again. and does Sangeon also make that radio for CCrane Also when you tuned to that 5 watt station on 930 the signal meter read s bit high.
Not exactly. It's a high quality pocket-sized MW, FM, SW, Amateur, Utility, Air, and Weather band receiver with most of the capabilities of a full-size wideband radio that includes a case, earphones, and an external antenna. Hardly the same thing as a mere AM pocket radio.
Great review, love the presentation. I am comparing this radio against the Tecsun PL880. I like how the Tecsun has the larger knobs for tuning and fine tuning and the overall aesthetic. I'm not a fan of almost double the price tag. Which would you recommend? I plan on taking this radio camping in northern WI, listening for weather updates and listening to SSB/Shortwave radio broadcasts. (I'm into number station broadcasts) Thanks and keep up the great work!
That's a hard one. I might like the SkyWave SSB a bit more than the PL-880. The Sky Wave of course covers the WX band whereas the PL-880 does not. I think the SkyWave does a bit better on the AM broadcast band (lower noise), especially if aided by a loop, and is a bit nicer for receiving SSB (to my ear), but the ergonomics of the PL-880 are nice as well. I haven't done any objective comparison on battery life between the two. They're both nice radios.
I don't have either the AR-1780 or the PL-660, but it compares nicely with the PL-880. I haven't done any head-to-head testing of the two, but as a "go to" radio, I think I would tend to grab the Skywave SSB before the PL-880. The '880 obviously has stronger audio, but on the AM broadcast band, my main interest at the moment, it seems noisier than either of the Skywaves, in my experience.
I have the AR1780 and there are a few differences, depending on your priorities. The AR1780 is larger, has LW - no NOAA weather, much slower on scanning , one of the best sounding speakers in this class (on all bands), RDS on FM, no pouch, 2-3 seconds switching between bands, a tad more sensitive - but less selective, 4AA compared to 2. I like (and usually travel with) both! The Digitech is hard to purchase in the U.S. - you have to call Jaycar Customer Service directly (not the store.) CCrane stands by their products better than any other company. (Did I mention price? AR1780 is $129 ($98 US) plus $23 shipping(?), the Skywave is $169.)
HI, Greetings from XQ6WBM from CE Zone. I hhave some questions: 1. hoy is compare with the Tecsun PL-660? 2. ¿ how is the SIHUADON R108 Shortwave AM FM Radio LW MW AIR for all sw sbb for ham radio plus de airband? I´m trying to decide which one es better. tanks 73´s XQ6WBM , Juan Ignacio
The SSB function is for use on SSB signals, not AM, especially on the BCB. Would like to have heard the SSB function being used on some HAM SSB sginals as it was intended.?
Did i miss a test with an external antenna? It would have been better if you had filmed someone using SSB and tuned into it rather than trying to tune an AM station on SSB. Other than that it looks like a half decent portable receiver.
You want SSB, so you can receive CW, FSK PSK-31, MT-64, etc. Data on your phone or tablet with an app. Make a home made receive or transceiver Magnetic loop, relatively small, but high Q factor and acts like a notch filter with noise, while dramatically improving signal, as well as 3 to 6 db null or peak signal depending on direction.
Yes, all radios come from the same factory these days in Guangdong, China. What CCrane is is a middle man, they go the Chinese, ask them to build the radio and put CCrane on it, then you get the middle man mark up.
The Digitech AR-1780 looks like a nice radio. I haven't looked hard, but it doesn't seem to be available in the US. Several on-line reviews give it high marks, e.g., swling.com/blog/2017/11/review-of-the-digitech-ar-1780-portable-shortwave-radio/. If I can find one for a good price, maybe a video comparing the two will happen.
I think the C.Crane Skywave SSB and the Digitech AR1780 are based on the same chipset. They're very similar in sensitivity and selectivity and operate in much the same way although they have different style S-meters. While the AR-1780 has an external antenna jack, FM RDS, a thermometer, longwave capabilities, and a longer antenna, the Skywave SSB has the NOAA weather bands and is a wee bit smaller. The Skywave SSB is (50 to 100%) more expensive as well but comes with earbuds, an antenna and a carrying case. I own both and was planning to sell the one I like less but I'm finding it impossible to choose. Both are fantastic radios.
Orienting the radio with respect to the offending transmitting antenna is how you null the signal. The crystal set guys know all about that technique. One could say that the radio may be a bit too directive, for some applications, like band scanning.
Hej I surfed a bit now online now morning in Sweden and found your channel and I like your channel. I like radios and mainly to listen to shortwave. And I own a lot of radio devices but no CCrane Skywave I knew that this new one would come a while ago. But thanks for your review of this radio, one question, however, what I hate as it is on some radio devices is that when tuning the shortwave bands it's quiet, is it like that on this radio when you do it. Take care and wow you have a great youtube channel.
Radio Physics, I am glad I bumped into you. You You Analyze and Deconstruct Everything Radio so Brilliant. I love World Radio. I love to listen to Political news across the globe. Please, between the CC Crane Skywave, and the Sangean 909x which is a better world Radio ?
One month later, I love it even more. I didn't talk about the battery life in the video, but it seems acceptable-to-good; I've listened to the radio all night (~7 hours each night at low volume) for 4 nights in a row and the battery meter has not budged. Additional evaluation in SSB mode also proves its mettle as a solid performer for listening to hams. It's currently my favorite radio in this size category, and competes favorably with larger radios, especially when a loop antenna is used. This is a marvelous little radio.
Are you talking about when he tuned the radio station on SSB? That is because it is an AM station. Try tuning into some hams on the 80M and 40M bands on LSB. Depending on your country you might hear voice (telephony) around 3.6Mhz to 3.8Mhz and 7Mhz to 7.2Mhz and other amateur bands on USB and LSB
Such a shame the bandwidth selection is so limited. There's some shortwave broadcasts with +/-10 KHz of bandwidth or even a bit more! SDRs are clear winners in that regard, much more flexibility bandwidth wise.
No Longwave? Which means no NDBs, and more importantly, no 135 kHz or 472 kHz, the two newest ham bands? If longwave isn't there, I sure hope that they add it. Or maybe here is a hidden softkey? Synchronous Detection? Backlight keys? Just throwing it all out there...
Synch detection on the new si4735 chips simply doesn't work. Oscillators are too unstable in combination with the chip. The reason so many radios have them is the cost of those chips is almost zero.
C.Crane is not the company it used to be. The personal touch is gone, sadly. I'm blaming AMAZON, but I don't know. I do know I have had trouble with my last two C.Crane Shortwave radios. I have returned to Sangean. Excellent quality. Sorry, C.Crane.
Bought this radio. It was stone deaf on the freq. range 2 - 30 MHz, even when attached to my long wire antenna. Piece of junk, not up to Crane's usual standards. Sent it back. I do not recommend it. 73 from WB2GMK.
Clicking encoder...!!! Seriously???? shortwave radio up to 29mHz? with USB/LSB, 0.5 kHz BW and clicking encoder!? C.Craine are you kidding ??? Although, I think it will be easy to remove clicking mechanism from encoder or replace for non clicking one.
Nice units which are probable to a degree but are nearer to table top models. Can put this unit in your pocket not your larger portable units. For the number of frequencies covered, to size and performance to price it's a solid front runner in this class.
After all these years somebody finally manufactures a radio with all the basics. Reading through the user's manual shows a lot of features: FM stereo, NOAA weather alerts, direct frequency entry or rotary knob, variable tuning rates, air-band squelch, and clock w/alarm to name the main ones. Very well thought out design. I'm sold.
Im a radio collector. This a fantastic Presentation. You done a marvellous job of explaining the differences without making is sound dull and boring. Kudos goes to you.
Man you nailed it! What a complete awesome review! THANK YOU! I ordered one based on your concise review. I realize we all have lives but I humbly ask you to please make more videos. Your style is really down to earth and totally informative.
Get the XHdata instead because it's the exact same thing but has antenna port and isn't over priced. Same sweatshop company just selling under different brand. C Crane is scam.
Nice review.
I live about 5 blocks from C.Crane here in Fortuna. I get to walk in and check out the radios and compare them side by side. Tuning through difficult stations to receive, this little one has some powerful pickup. When I saw the price I was thinking about the size and sceptical. So, Sue said to take it outside and compare them. I tuned into a normally weak station, compared it to the other radios and was sold. Instantly.
C.Crane has some awesome stuff and their customer support is phenomenal. Small Town people treating their customers the way small town folks do.
This little SSB is a blast. And you can throw it in your jacket pocket.
Darrell Foust
I purchased 4 radios from them 13 years ago, and a couple more since. They are always nice and most helpful.
I have talked to Sue a few times over the years.
Great company.
📻🙂
Another side note...
About 2 years ago, I was camping in a ravine (hell gate campground in northern California) and was trying to get an FM station on my skywave ssb. Could only get one. I added about 10 inches of tinfoil to the antenna and got all kinds of stations. With that discovery, I purchased an aftermarket antenna that is about a foot longer and viola!
It doesn't collapse as much as the original but I'm not going for looks. I also made a youloop with a 12' loop instead of the 6' loop and it REALLY kicks butt now.
I noticed that the SSB function was demonstrated using the AM broadcast band (BCB). The SSB mode is only useful occasionally on the BCB to eliminate interference from a strong station on an adjacent frequency. The demonstration might have been improved if it included some actual SSB reception, perhaps receiving a transmission on one of the ham bands.
Quite so. That was a ridiculous demo.
@@alexandermenzies9954 he's not going to go to the meter bands I'm out of here
I did get this radio. It is fantastic ‼️
Yes, it’s a bit pricey, but the high quality, and Warranty is honored without a hassle.
The only radio that comes close to this, is the XHData D-808, also a great radio, but a tad bigger, and no Weather Band. The main thing with the XHData is it’s still fairly new , so long term reliability is unknown, whereas the C.Crane has a reputation for long term reliability.
📻🙂
I would have liked to hear SSB on the HAM Bands. This was great review. Thanks. I just subscribed.
Last night I listened to WICC 600kHz on my Skywave SSB, and on my original Skywave. Both received the signal well with nice audio. Then I tuned to WICC on my Tecsun PL-660. It was mostly noise. Both Skywaves are amazing radios.
The best review of skywave ssb on you tube. Thanks
the best review, of the many reviews, l have seen.
knowledgeable, comprehensive, very thorough and very understandable.
kudos !!!
edit/add on - communication skills, comparative analysis. beyond a doubt the best electronics review l've seen on youtube.
if ccrane or another manufacturer, of your choice, isn't trying to hire you for marketing or as a spokesperson, they need to wake up?
👍
Patrick McBride get your nose outta there.
i have always been very happy with ccrain stuff !
Finally got it!
What a little radio ‼️
Still playing with it....
So far, it blows away my Grundig G-6 (Buzz Aldrin) most every way.
My Sangean ATS-909 (the old one) does out perform it by a bit, but was $ 100.oo more, and 3 times bigger.
(Unfortunately my NEW Tecsun pl660 has developed an internal “helicopter “ rendering it mostly useless , and it’s only 2 months old 🙁!)-(And I traded my new PL-390- which I really like a lot-to a neighbor who couldn’t afford the price to repair his SONY- CRF-160- which quit as soon as I got it home 🙁.)
Jeff King No warranty repair/swap possible ?
migsven surfing
Radio was purchased for me by a friend who tried to save a few bucks-no paperwork.
I did hit the “reset “ which solved the problem but set it to
“Factory Default” 5Khz
Off. The directions to re-align did not work.
“Kaito.US” told me I needed a “firmware “ update. No warranty:
Sent it to “Kaito.US”,
with a $20.oo Money Order ( ten for the update/ten to re-ship)
Had radio back in 8 days,And corrected.🙂
The PL660 is an excellent radio.
No problem with the
CCSkywaveSSB-
AWESOME radio ‼️
📻📻📻📻📻‼️
Jeff King That’s why Sony’s are the King of Shortwave radios. My 7600GR is irreplaceable.
Great review. I recently purchased the CC POCKET and love it. I currently have the the Tecsun PL380. Very nice radio for SW. I do have the Skywave SSB on my wishlist though.
Awesome review! I want this little radio!
The SSB demo was anything but "awesome".
Great review. I have the original Skywave that I take on very remote canoe trips. I love it and am floored by the reception capabilities. Nice and light as well. Now how do I justify the ssb model...
Get the XHdata instead because it's the exact same thing but has antenna port. Same sweatshop company just selling under different brand. C Crane is scam.
Kandi Klover
I have both the C.Crane, and now the XHData.
If one already have the original Skywave, or cannot take the higher price, then go with the XHData. If you don’t have either, I’d go with the C.Crane. Long term quality is the big issue here. C.Crane developed their radio themselves, spending a lot of money. The have very strict quality control, and radios are checked at the factory and when they get to California. They have an excellent warranty, and tech support.
C.Crane also has Weather Band.
The XHData gets a bit better MW , but no weather. It also sounds a bit better.
A rechargeable 18650 battery on the XHData/
C.Crane takes “AA”. And can use rechargeables.
Both are excellent radios.
As for being the same radio, I don’t think so.
I HAVE heard the XHData and the
Digitech AR-1745 sold by Jaycar. Many have compared these two and they are very similar.
If you don’t want Chinese radios, get the Panasonic RF-562DD.
It’s made in a sweatshop in Indonesia............
Or.... just build your own.
(📻🙂)
I love this radio, it’s everything you say it is. Great review.
GREAT REVIEW??????? He tuned-in a couple of AM BROADCAST BAND stations, and NOTHING ELSE! "Great review", yeah, right!!!!
Thank You for a very Informative Video. I would like to see you do a review of the Tecson PL-330 which was recently released.
Would have been nice to see how it picked up on the HF amateur bands and the air band frequencies
As mentioned, the HF bands were completely dead when shooting the video, but there will likely be a follow-up where we listen to some of the amateur bands.
Andrew Nevill Air band works very well.
(Just got it-still playing with it)
In general-it blows away my old Grundig G-6(Buzz Aldrin)‼️
My Sangean ATS 909 (the old one) performs a bit better but was far more expensive and 3times+ the size.
Cheers for that , I'll have a look to see how much they are and where to get one from
Would have been nice to see how it does on FM. I live at the border of two counties and good FM selectivity is helpful. I wouldn't buy it based on FM performance but it helps in receiving otherwise inaudible stations.
This distorted sound on SSB is caused by AGC issues related to the DSP chip and it exists in pretty much every DSP radio I've seen on youtube and it's an issue on my Tecsun PL-880 and S-8800 so bad in fact I have them up for sale. The stronger the signal the worse the distortion and using exalted carrier reception or "ESR" ( Using SSB on AM ) is difficult to use and fatiguing to listen to after a while on these DSP radios and it can introduce a warble sound to the audio.
Using ESR on AM and SW is really convenient to reduce fading of a signal and/or to reduce/eliminate interference from a station close by. It can be very effective but on some radios like the Tecsun PL-880 and S-8800 it does not sound good at all.
I have the PL-660 and because it got beat up from abuse I bought a PL-680 and it's such a pleasure to listen to on SSB compared to the PL-880 and S-8800 or even the D-808.
The XHDATA D-808 has good clear audio on SSB but sadly still has the AGC issue but it's not quite as bad as on the tecsuns, the only real downside with the 808 is that it has no form of attenuation and listening at night time is next to impossible with a proper external antenna. This is an issue on any portable that does not have the "Local, DX, Normal" switch.
Tecsun have a new PL-990 and H-501 coming out in the Summer, delayed by the corona virus, hopefully they will be great performers because it's going to be Tecsun's last performance radios.
Clean and informative, would like to have seen some HF tuning, thank you for posting.
Well I have one of those radios and when I go outside on a long wire or inside on a long wire it will pick up things all day long on the 40 m BAND and others it's a real good HF radio I don't know why he just went through a.m. and FM probably weather it's a good radio it's one of the best
Thanks for the review. I recently just bought a Tecsun PL-880 in a case with a recorder and extended antenna from anon co. However, it didn’t have the weather channel not the air channels. Since I have SSB in it, should I buy an additional radio with the 2 missing mentioned above features. Would u recommend the CC skywave non SSB or should I go for the new one. Any other recommendations. Kindly advise!
Thanks in advance
Thanks. I would like to see inside of it. Have a Happy New Year!
A great review. Thank you. Ron. Z .pgh. Pa
Is there a reason you don't extend the antenna? Would that be useful instead of rotating the unit around? I don't know squat, so just asking...cheers.
When you are tuning the MW band the radio uses a internal ferrite antenna and turning the radio allows you to get the strongest signal or sometime null out a weaker station. The clip on antenna is usfull for short wave while the extentable antenna wirks well on airband and FM statiins. Hope thus helps.
@@robertl.fallin7062 - makes perfect sense! Thanks for the info!
Using SSB mode to pick up AM is called "exalted carrier" SSB.
Excellent information about Radios
Nice review ! However, you didn't go over the "page" memory storage system which is a handy way to store and retrieve stations. I bought one of these for my wife and am very happy with it. In fact, after watching your review I ordered a Tecsun tunable loop gain antenna. I thought your review of the bandwidth buttons were very helpful as I had not had time to try this feature.
Appreciate this clear look at the Skywave SSB. I've enjoyed many of your excellent detailed video reviews - thanks! I do have a question: I am wondering if there is any muting while manually tuning SW, SSB, AIR or MW? So far, I have scoured every review I could find online (not that there are many yet) and never saw this mentioned. Your video does at least clearly show no muting when fine-tuning SSB, but I don't believe you ever used the knob to tune away from a frequency at larger 1 or 10 kHz steps. I have an Eton "Grundig Edition" Satellit, and it has some "soft muting" when dialling frequencies up and down, although zero muting when using SSB fine-tuning or AIR band (but it sort of pops a little when changing AIR frequencies). While I'd rather have no muting at all while tuning, if I turn the volume up a little, I can scan through frequencies quite quickly with the Eton and still catch when there is a signal. Some other radios that I've seen, have a much stronger mute than the Eton and you literally need to deliberately pause at every click of the tuning knob and wait for the signal to recover, in order to hear if there is anything there. It would be super helpful to see another video demonstrating the Skywave SSB's behaviour on the various bands in that regard, perhaps turning the tuning knob at a few different speeds. I'd like to order a Skywave SSB for its super compact travel-friendly size, and its WX capability, but if the muting is significantly worse than my Eton, it would drive me nuts when searching for faint signals...
To answer my own question, in case anyone else is interested, I now also own the Skywave SSB. Compared to the Eton "Grundig Edition" Satellit, the muting while tuning is very similar, but with some differences. In regular SW mode, if you spin the tuning knob at a certain clip, the Skywave SSB mutes down but then seems to tune fairly smoothly without too much popping (rapid audio recovery) between frequencies, although the amount of popping seems to vary a bit depending on what SW band one is tuning. I cannot quite find a tuning rate on the Eton that eliminates the popping between frequencies quite as effectively. That said, in SSB mode, there is a longer delay when recovering audio between frequencies on both radios, and that severely limits the speed one can effectively scan and identify signals. Manually tuning to scan the SSB bands is rather harsh and fatiguing on both. Generally though, apart from some user interface quirks and the above mentioned muting, I am very impressed with the Skywave SSB for such a compact radio, and its sensitivity in my, admittedly, still limited testing seems to put it right on par with the Eton in most ways and on most bands. Even AM (MW) sensitivity is surprisingly good on the much smaller Skywave SSB and nulling seems stronger than the Eton Satellit. Once I also receive my Tecsun PL-660 (mainly ordered due to its buttery smooth tuning with no muting between frequencies, and its very effective sync), I'll likely upload some of my own comparison videos so people can see how the three radios perform side by side. Thanks again to Radio Physics and Electronics for all the excellent review videos!
In my last reply, I only addressed the muting question for SW and SSB, not the other bands. Air-band tuning is dead-smooth with no muting or popping on the Skywave SSB, whereas the Eton pops very slightly between frequency changes, but it's rather subtle and not annoying. FM tuning on both the Skywave SSB and the Eton Satellit will give slight pops between frequencies, similar to the Eton on Air-band. On AM (MW) the muting/popping on both radios is basically the same as when tuning their SW bands, which isn't really too surprising.
Thank you for your excellent report on this radio -- I know other viewers will find it useful!
One more update: I was listening in a very RFI quiet location today (finally!), using a 23 foot reel-up wire antenna. The audio recovery from the muting while tuning in this case, was actually a little slower on the Skywave SSB than the Eton Satellit. The Eton recovered audio more quickly, and while it popped more during tuning and was more fatiguing in that way, if I was dialling past an active station relatively quickly, I found I would miss it more easily with the Skywave SSB. I really had to deliberately slow down a bit if I was manually tuning about with the Skywave, so that I wouldn't miss a faint signal. When there is lots of RFI and thus background static, the audio recovery is quicker (maybe since it never ducks down as low?) and one can then tune more quickly on the Skywave with less fatigue than the Eton. It is interesting and complex how they behave differently in different situations, and I'd have a hard time choosing one over the other for that aspect of their performance. Both radios performed very well today and were very sensitive with the reel antenna, pulling in lots of faint stations (with the Eton having the slightest edge)... if I was slow and deliberate enough not to miss them! I've never heard of anyone actually finding that muting while tuning is in any way beneficial, and since some DSP-based radios don't do this, I really am puzzled why so many do! I'll soon be testing a Tecsun PL-880, one of the few DSP-based radios that doesn't mute during tuning, and I suspect that it will be the nicest one of the three to just tune around the bands with, hunting for faint stations. Hopefully the sensitivity of the latest production run of PL-880's is on par with the Eton and the Skywave...
Mike Mander z (
Very good video I learned a lot. I'm also an FM dxer
Why didn't you demo that band.
Thanks again. and does Sangeon also make that radio for CCrane
Also when you tuned to that 5 watt station on 930 the signal meter read s bit high.
So a review of a $175 AM pocket radio. Thanks.
Not exactly. It's a high quality pocket-sized MW, FM, SW, Amateur, Utility, Air, and Weather band receiver with most of the capabilities of a full-size wideband radio that includes a case, earphones, and an external antenna. Hardly the same thing as a mere AM pocket radio.
@Marco Deo Amazon has an Eton Executive Traveler on sale for only 35 bucks. It has shortwave but is an incredible AM/FM receiver.
@Marco Deo The Eton has a small speaker too. I love it for its great AM reception. It sounds bad on FM (no bass) but is acceptable for talk radio.
Great review, love the presentation.
I am comparing this radio against the Tecsun PL880. I like how the Tecsun has the larger knobs for tuning and fine tuning and the overall aesthetic. I'm not a fan of almost double the price tag. Which would you recommend? I plan on taking this radio camping in northern WI, listening for weather updates and listening to SSB/Shortwave radio broadcasts. (I'm into number station broadcasts) Thanks and keep up the great work!
That's a hard one. I might like the SkyWave SSB a bit more than the PL-880. The Sky Wave of course covers the WX band whereas the PL-880 does not. I think the SkyWave does a bit better on the AM broadcast band (lower noise), especially if aided by a loop, and is a bit nicer for receiving SSB (to my ear), but the ergonomics of the PL-880 are nice as well. I haven't done any objective comparison on battery life between the two. They're both nice radios.
Can you calibrate the freq on this radio like you can with the Tecsun 660?
How does it do on SW with respect to overload, with that close by AM "flamethrower?
GhostsOfAsia
I’ve never had a problem with that.
It should handle it better than most.
📻🙂
Given c.cranes reputation for ferrite antennas not too surprising this radio is a solid am dxer
So, how would this compare with the PL660❓
(Or the Digitech AR1780)?
I don't have either the AR-1780 or the PL-660, but it compares nicely with the PL-880. I haven't done any head-to-head testing of the two, but as a "go to" radio, I think I would tend to grab the Skywave SSB before the PL-880. The '880 obviously has stronger audio, but on the AM broadcast band, my main interest at the moment, it seems noisier than either of the Skywaves, in my experience.
Radio Physics and Electronics PL-660 has LongWave.
I have the AR1780 and there are a few differences, depending on your priorities. The AR1780 is larger, has LW - no NOAA weather, much slower on scanning , one of the best sounding speakers in this class (on all bands), RDS on FM, no pouch, 2-3 seconds switching between bands, a tad more sensitive - but less selective, 4AA compared to 2.
I like (and usually travel with) both! The Digitech is hard to purchase in the U.S. - you have to call Jaycar Customer Service directly (not the store.) CCrane stands by their products better than any other company. (Did I mention price? AR1780 is $129 ($98 US) plus $23 shipping(?), the Skywave is $169.)
Radio Physics and Electronics
Interesting. Thanks.
📻🙂
Jack Kratoville
I now have the XHData D-808, which they say is the same radio as the Digitech. It’s a fantastic radio.
📻🙂
Professional review very well done!
Oh,and thanks for the review 🙂
HI, Greetings from XQ6WBM from CE Zone.
I hhave some questions:
1. hoy is compare with the Tecsun PL-660?
2. ¿ how is the SIHUADON R108 Shortwave AM FM Radio LW MW AIR for all sw sbb for ham radio plus de airband?
I´m trying to decide which one es better.
tanks
73´s
XQ6WBM , Juan Ignacio
At 16:22 where 1010 AM is pulling in two adjacent or overlapping stations, would SSB let you isolate the signal for just one of the stations?
are you aware USB & LSB cut off different halves of the sine wave? The Upper half or the Lower half. Reduced fidelity allows greater dstance.
Is that WMET 1160 in Maryland?
The SSB function is for use on SSB signals, not AM, especially on the BCB. Would like to have heard the SSB function being used on some HAM SSB sginals as it was intended.?
What are the call signs of the radio stations you were tuning into on the AM dial?
Did i miss a test with an external antenna? It would have been better if you had filmed someone using SSB and tuned into it rather than trying to tune an AM station on SSB.
Other than that it looks like a half decent portable receiver.
Gotta wonder how it would pick up with the different antennas deployed.
You want SSB, so you can receive CW, FSK PSK-31, MT-64, etc. Data on your phone or tablet with an app. Make a home made receive or transceiver Magnetic loop, relatively small, but high Q factor and acts like a notch filter with noise, while dramatically improving signal, as well as 3 to 6 db null or peak signal depending on direction.
It this manufactured and/or assembled in China?
Yes, all radios come from the same factory these days in Guangdong, China. What CCrane is is a middle man, they go the Chinese, ask them to build the radio and put CCrane on it, then you get the middle man mark up.
@@tenfourproductionsllc CCrane has the Chinese factory build the radio to CCranes strict specifications.
ok I'm a total rookie at this but if I get good reception of a station in am why would I try it in ssb? what gain is there?
Aircraft flying in from overseas, amateur radio, military are all on SSB
If am reception is good, you don't need to ssb, but it helps if reception is poor, Look up ECSS
What's better sangean 909x or that one ? And what's the different plz ?
Does not have external antenna Jack. ar1780 has external antenna Jack also has RDS on FM band.
The Digitech AR-1780 looks like a nice radio. I haven't looked hard, but it doesn't seem to be available in the US. Several on-line reviews give it high marks, e.g., swling.com/blog/2017/11/review-of-the-digitech-ar-1780-portable-shortwave-radio/. If I can find one for a good price, maybe a video comparing the two will happen.
I think the C.Crane Skywave SSB and the Digitech AR1780 are based on the same chipset. They're very similar in sensitivity and selectivity and operate in much the same way although they have different style S-meters.
While the AR-1780 has an external antenna jack, FM RDS, a thermometer, longwave capabilities, and a longer antenna, the Skywave SSB has the NOAA weather bands and is a wee bit smaller. The Skywave SSB is (50 to 100%) more expensive as well but comes with earbuds, an antenna and a carrying case.
I own both and was planning to sell the one I like less but I'm finding it impossible to choose. Both are fantastic radios.
that is not a "null" , that is improper antenna orientation/use...
Orienting the radio with respect to the offending transmitting antenna is how you null the signal. The crystal set guys know all about that technique. One could say that the radio may be a bit too directive, for some applications, like band scanning.
Might be time to move up from my Kaito KA1102, although I still do love my Kaito KA1102 and my trusty Sony ICF-2002
Hej I surfed a bit now online now morning in Sweden and found your channel and I like your channel. I like radios and mainly to listen to shortwave. And I own a lot of radio devices but no CCrane Skywave I knew that this new one would come a while ago. But thanks for your review of this radio, one question, however, what I hate as it is on some radio devices is that when tuning the shortwave bands it's quiet, is it like that on this radio when you do it. Take care and wow you have a great youtube channel.
See the comment by Mike Mander, which addresses your question quite comprehensively. Thanks for the comment!
Radio Physics, I am glad I bumped into you. You You Analyze and Deconstruct Everything Radio so Brilliant. I love World Radio. I love to listen to Political news across the globe. Please, between the CC Crane Skywave, and the Sangean 909x which is a better world Radio ?
I have one ordered as a Christmas gift to myself! Lol
1:12. What is "air"? I don't understand. He said it twice.
if to compare with tecsun pl360, which one give better sw reception ?
Great review.
Does this come with a fleshlight attachment?
No but you can get a CC fleshlight SSB!
How’s your experience with this radio on shortwave a month later? Thinking of pulling the trigger on one of these.
One month later, I love it even more. I didn't talk about the battery life in the video, but it seems acceptable-to-good; I've listened to the radio all night (~7 hours each night at low volume) for 4 nights in a row and the battery meter has not budged. Additional evaluation in SSB mode also proves its mettle as a solid performer for listening to hams. It's currently my favorite radio in this size category, and competes favorably with larger radios, especially when a loop antenna is used. This is a marvelous little radio.
Will this recieve cb radio frequencies?
Nice review!
Same problem the 880 has, an unstable oscillator that prevents it from having a clear SSB signal.
Are you talking about when he tuned the radio station on SSB? That is because it is an AM station. Try tuning into some hams on the 80M and 40M bands on LSB.
Depending on your country you might hear voice (telephony) around 3.6Mhz to 3.8Mhz and 7Mhz to 7.2Mhz and other amateur bands on USB and LSB
Jeez. MW demo only?
Good review, but audiable? I think it's audible.
Are these lasting a long time?
Such a shame the bandwidth selection is so limited. There's some shortwave broadcasts with +/-10 KHz of bandwidth or even a bit more! SDRs are clear winners in that regard, much more flexibility bandwidth wise.
I just bought this radio today kind of weird how youtube recommended this video to me today also
Excellent review! 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂
where is it made?
China
No Longwave? Which means no NDBs, and more importantly, no 135 kHz or 472 kHz, the two newest ham bands? If longwave isn't there, I sure hope that they add it. Or maybe here is a hidden softkey?
Synchronous Detection?
Backlight keys?
Just throwing it all out there...
Synch detection on the new si4735 chips simply doesn't work. Oscillators are too unstable in combination with the chip. The reason so many radios have them is the cost of those chips is almost zero.
Having a Memory Card Slot & Ability to Digitally Record Would Be A Superb Option IMO
C.Crane is not the company it used to be. The personal touch is gone, sadly. I'm blaming AMAZON, but I don't know. I do know I have had trouble with my last two C.Crane Shortwave radios. I have returned to Sangean. Excellent quality. Sorry, C.Crane.
great review, thanks!
Trying to get to technical (microvolts per meter )
Nice video.
Bought this radio. It was stone deaf on the freq. range 2 - 30 MHz, even when attached to my long wire antenna. Piece of junk, not up to Crane's usual standards. Sent it back. I do not recommend it. 73 from WB2GMK.
I've had it less than a week. Experiencing same result. I thought it was me. I may send it back.
Hi, it is expensive and i suspect it is not as good as an Tecsun pl600 in SSB mode ^^
Poor comment. If you have not done a "side-by-side" real world comparison, do not speculate on the possible differences.
What is the reason to test without the antenna extended?
Check the response 6 posts above yours - your answer is there
Nice radio
👍
Finally. ......after I’ve already ordered mine
Let us know what you think of it when it comes!
👍👍👍👍👌👌👌👌
M y first negative "thumbs down" comment. Why in the world would you review a "ssb" radio and not demonstrate real ssb performance??????
Looks like a carbon copy of my Retekess.
Clicking encoder...!!! Seriously???? shortwave radio up to 29mHz? with USB/LSB, 0.5 kHz BW and clicking encoder!? C.Craine are you kidding ???
Although, I think it will be easy to remove clicking mechanism from encoder or replace for non clicking one.
Adilson 🙏🙏
Sounds like it kinda sucks in SSB on all units I've heard.
I'm a Sangean ATS909/Grundig Satellit 750 man. Nothing in this video makes me want a C. Crane. Singularly unimpressed.
This is a truly portable radio. This is a pocket sized radio be gosh !
It's meant as a travel radio. I have a Sangean ATS 909X, too big and heavy for my carry on.
Nice units which are probable to a degree but are nearer to table top models. Can put this unit in your pocket not your larger portable units. For the number of frequencies covered, to size and performance to price it's a solid front runner in this class.