Review: The C. Crane Skywave SSB radio

Josh CentersContributor - January 17, 2022

When I worked on the best receive-only emergency radios guide — the kind that don’t need a license since you don’t transmit — there was one model at t
[See the full post at: Review: The C. Crane Skywave SSB radio]

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Thanks for sharing, Josh!  Based on your emergency radio guide, I recently purchased the non-SSB version of the Skywave which, for the price, quality, and versatility, was well within the 20/80 principle.  More advanced preppers, however, may definitely find the SSB option to be worth the money though.

A quick question:  If I just have access to the standard SW channels without SSB (2.3-26.1mhz wavelengths are covered by my Skywave), what should I be looking to listen to in terms of emergency broadcasting?  At this point, I haven’t really found much of anything on the SW bands–other than a couple of channels that sounded like might be broadcasting in Morse code–and am thinking I need to buy the reel antenna (not included with the non-SSB Skywave) to be able to pick up whatever is available without the SSB feature.

A suggestion:  For Skywave owners (or prospective owners), I’d recommend against buying C Crane’s optional AC adaptor and instead buy a more versatile USB-C adaptor.  Since the Skywave’s USB port is a non-standard, hard-to-find size, I had to shop around at a couple of electronics stores but was able to find a 6′ cord for $20 that fits the Skywave and allows me to plug in to pretty much any computer, standard phone charger, or USB port in my truck.  And, as advertised, plugging in with USB does allow me to charge my NiMH AA rechargeables while listening.

 

I don’t have specific frequencies to recommend. Shortwave stations are kind of come and go, and you may not be able to pick up the stations I can. In those types of situations, I would use ATS to automatically find and program the stations you can receive. Higher frequencies tend to work better in the day, lower frequencies at night.

 

Thanks for your advice, Josh!  I’ll continue to play around with it and see what I can find.

 

I read that this unit “does not accept lithium batteries.”

My stash of batteries all look the same.

 

Great review!

• Let’s say an extreme event happens, like an electromagnetic pulse or a coronal mass ejection. Assuming your radio still works, you try to tune into local FM stations but receive nothing.

You could also tune into an AM station (if it’s night-time).

This is a good reason to keep a list of clear-channel AM radio stations handy. At night they blast out at maximum power and can be heard 1,000 miles away.

Most of them are the type of station that reads 5 minutes of the news at the top of the hour.

I went through the list one time and was able to bring in more than 30 stations between 100 and 900 miles away (I live in the Eastern time zone).

The limitation is that you can generally only hear them when it’s dark out. Still, another tool in the toolbox.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear-channel_station#List_of_all_clear-channel_stations

 

Thank you for sharing the great tip! I haven’t listened to very many AM stations over the years, if any, but I should explore those frequencies and see what I can reach and what they talk about.

 

Thanks for sharing this tool, FD1329!  I’ve been scanning the AM channels the past few evenings and have been able to tune-in a number of clear-channel stations up to 1200 miles away–albeit with staticky reception, but still . . . And, I’ve even managed to tune-in a number of non-clear-channel AM stations up to 600+ miles away.  I’m currently in process of programming those with the best reception into my truck radio and compiling a list of channels available, which I’ll print out and laminate for safekeeping, just in case.

One thing I’ve noticed, however, is that tuning in AM stations OUTSIDE of my local area is pretty much limited to my truck radio and my 1990s-era boom box.  The AM reception on the Skywave is pretty much limited to local stations.

Any suggestions on how I might boost the AM reception my Skywave?  I’m wondering if the reel antenna, which is on my list of things to order would help with that, or if it’s just limited to shortwave reception.  If not, are there any other DIY or commercial AM antenna booster options that might help out my Skywave?

Thanks!

 

Following up on my previous response:

It looks like the C. Crane website provides these instructions for a DIY AM loop antenna.  Some additional Google searching turned up this video demonstration of a similar antenna.

So I’m guessing the shortwave reel antenna won’t work for AM stations because, if it did, C. Crane would just recommend purchasing that product.

On that note, has anybody done this type of project and, if so, what type of wire did you use or would you recommend?

Thanks!

 

That looks like a fun and cheap project to make an antenna out of old wire. Thank you for sharing this Colorado Jones.

From the looks of it, any insulated wire will do. I would just go to the hardware store and buy thin 14 or 16 gauge wire by the foot and experiment with various lengths and diameters of rolls.

 

Lithium batteries work well in mine for 3 years now. The only caveat is that you must not press and hold the “BAND WIDTH” button for 1 second when the supplied external power supply is plugged into the USB port.

 

What happens if you do press and hold that Band width button when connected to an external power supply?

 

I was looking at the Skywave SSB, but now they are coming out with a Skywave 2. Has new features that I think will be a big plus. $200 is a lot, but I think for what it is, it will be well worth it.

My current radios are Eton Elite 750, Tecsun PL-680, 380, and R9700X. 

I have been out of listening for around 20 years, and getting back into it, things have really changed, and seems like a struggle to play catch up. So I am just going to keep things simple as much as possible. With all that’s going on in the world, I think alternate sources of information and news will be helpful if things go South.