Shortwave Radio Value?

[David in Boston]

I have a Grundig Satellit 700 which I bought in the early 90s.

Was a shortwave radio listener then but now I just use my Grundig for FM listening.

With that in mind, I'm thinking of selling my Satellit 700.

A guy at work who owns several shortwaves told me the model 700 has an almost cult status with users.

He's been telling me I can get a price of $400 to over a $1,000.

Was doing some research and I'm more confused than ever.

Any advice would be nice about price and were to sell it beside Ebay or Craiglist.

Thanks

 

[bald1]

I tend to disagree with your friend. A few years ago it may have commanded top dollar. The problem currently isn't with the equipment but with shortwave broadcasters. They've been leaving the medium in droves for the internet which translates to a lessor demand for good general coverage receivers. Folks using receiving equipment now are into utilities, AM DXing, ham band SSB monitoring, etc. which all may mean more specialized equipment.
All that said there ARE folks out there who collect great vintage gear.

Here's a review of your 700: http://www.radiointel.com/review-sat700.htm
BTW your 700 is in the same "class" as my newer SW77 shown in the picture below. The Palstar R30CC is the work horse although believe it or not the old FRG7 isn't all that shabby. Where the SW77 and your 700 come in handy at times is with their synchronous detectors.

 

[Nishnabotna]

Hey, is that some kind of rad time zone clock on the wall? Would you fill me in on that?

 

[dpm802]

I have a Grundig 700 also ... I think I paid $400 for it new in the early '90s.

I was looking into selling it about 10 years ago. I looked around on eBay and the average price back then was around $200. I decided to keep it.

I never knew about that "cult status." I know its a great radio, with a rather difficult learning curve to the Operating System. If someone would figure out a way to hook it to a PC to make memory management easier, I think it would be a big plus.

My next WorldBand radio is going to be a Sangean 909, with the enhancements like better speaker and filters. I'm hoping that the agency I work for will send me overseas, and I'll order the Super909 in a heartbeat.

If you still want to sell yours, don't advertise on eBay or Craigslist. Find a niche market where people will know the product already, like a Ham Radio forum.

 

[bald1]

Hey, is that some kind of rad time zone clock on the wall? Would you fill me in on that?

That's a vintage Yaseu 7RW002 battery powered ham shack 24 hour GMT clock.
Here's some pix.

 

[raisindot]

David,

As someone who keeps an eye on the Ebay and Craiglist listings for shortwave radios, I can tell you that the Sat700s are definitely a high-demand radio, with relatively few available for sale at any given time. The last one on Ebay went for around $300, but the newer they are and the cleaner they are (and if they come with manuals and all accessories), the more you're likely to get.

You're most likely to get the highest price through Ebay rather than Craigslist, since you'll be able to advertise to the entire country and sometimes there are bidding wars on these things, particularly when other models aren't available. I would avoid posting ads on the ham-related nets because those folks tend to know the market value of these things and are more likely to either ignore you or lowball you.

I'd do some reasearch on sites like radioference.com and e-ham.net to see what people are trying to sell these far and plan accordingly. I would advise you to sell ASAP, because, as someone said, shortwave is a dying hobby for those who want to listen to English broadcasts (and I say this as the owner of two higher end SW radios).

Jeff in Boston

 

[Nishnabotna]

That's a vintage Yaseu battery powered ham shack 24 hour GMT clock.

QTR-24? I've got something new to look for

 

[bald1]

QTR-24? I've got something new to look for

See my post above. Sorry about the delays... lost my ISP connection in the middle of editing to add the model number and that link

Addendum: Yeah it does appear that it was also known as a QTR-24.

 

[Phog Allen]

Hey chaps, not to hijack the thread but could someone eleabourate on the decline in SW listening habits? I have a Sangean ATS 803-A I bought about fifteen years ago. It is a fine radio and I use it mostly for listening to local AM talk radio stations because it sounds so much better than crappy automobile AM tuners. I suspect it is just made with better AM receiver components than most car radios. What I could never get down was listening to shortwave radio signals. I just couldn't find things to lock onto. I looked up list after list of things like BBC radio or whatever. Nothing but static whenever I tuned in. Mostly I was just wondering what the SW broadcasters are migrating to if they are leaving the format.

Regards, Todd

 

[bald1]

Todd,

As I stated above, many major broadcasters have migrated to the Internet. A stark reminder of this decline is the discontinuance of annual publications devoted to the radio schedules of broadcasters (eg passport to world band radio).

 

[raisindot]

Todd,

There's plenty of SW stuff out there, but almost none of it is in English anymore. Ten years ago you might have 40-50 broadcasters transmitting in English to North America. Today, 95% of all English broadcasts from outside the U.S. are either from Russia, China or Cuba. The rest of the English transmissions are either crazy right wing conspiracy stations or insane fundamentalists, and it's hard to tell the difference.

If you know Spanish, there's plenty to listen to. But if you don't know it, it gets kind of old after awhile.

Many people who have these radios no longer listen "casually" but instead use them for chasing the so-called "tropical" broadcasters--those low-wattage stations in Africa, Asia and South America, generally rarely broadcasting in England. I've had little luck picking up any of these stations.

Still others are eschewing the SW bands entirely and listening to the so-called "utility" broadcasts. These are usually in SSB and consist of weather buoys, air craft traffic controllers, some military stuff, the coast guard and other point-to-point transmissions. Still others like to decode faxes and other digital signals.

The point is, there's a lot to do out there if you're more interesting in the chase and less interested in the content.

Jeff in Boston

 

[David in Boston]

Hey thanks everyone for their input.

You folks have been very helpful.

 

[sklegg]

http://www.universal-radio.com/used/sold081.html

It looks like Universal Radio had been selling them in the upper $300 range depending on condition and whether the original box and manual are included.

You might try selling your radio to Universal or Grove if you don't want to bother with eBay or Craigslist.

 

[Thebigspendur]

Selling the radio for the best price probably has little to do with short wave listeners. Mostly it will be guys who collect old radios and have no interest in listening.

Shortwave is a dying thing like ham radio. There are few quality tabletop units being made anymore and like has been said quality broadcasting is disappearing.