Portable Radios
What are portable radios and where can you buy them cheap? There are several ways of defining one but the basic premise is that it is any form of a radio or transmission device that can be easily carried around and used on the move. In this case, many types of such receiving or communication devices can fall into the category of being a radio that is portable. These include two way radios, radio receivers, mp3 players equipped with receivers, certain types of shortwave radios, and many more.
Two way radios are portable because you can carry them around within their frequency range and use them perfectly without any problems. This is of course limited to their transmission range so the portability is dependent on other factors. One would be how far the walkie talkies can transmit and receive. If the other party is beyond its range, then there is no possibility of being able to get in touch with him, nor will he be able to contact you through the two way radio. As their ranges are not often very far reaching, buying two way radios does not often cost you too much money.
Shortwave radios are also limited to the frequencies and coverage. They are often limited to the upper spectrum of the AM broadcasting band of between 1700 kHz to 30 MHz. However, most shortwave radios that are sold will include the longwave band, which is tuned down to as low as 150 kHz. Portable shortwave radios might also give you the options to receive either wide or narrow selectivity bandwidths, and sometimes several selectivity bandwidths over certain ranges.
Another type of portable radio that is growing in popularity is actually another form of the walkie talkie model – the CB radio. The CB (citizens band) radio is a medium range communication device that allows users to access a frequency range that is otherwise not possible with traditional consumer models and is very affordable. Specifically, the portable CB radios can typically access frequencies of between 26.96 MHz to 27.41 MHz. Portable CB radios are different from stationary ones in that they have a small antennae which limits their range. However, if there is a base station nearby, it greatly increases the reach. Some of the examples include the Cobra 148 GTL as the base radio station that can be placed in the house, car or anything that you might want to move around. The Cobra compact or remote mount is a very portable and low cost CB radio that is immensely popular with users worldwide, especially those that need to stick to a budget.
Satellite radios are the most common portable radios known to the layman. These are often what you normally just call receivers, and you can listen to music, news, and all sorts of audio transmissions over a specified range of frequencies. Portable satellite radios have become a must have accessory for millions of people worldwide as they occupy themselves listening to music and news. The modern MP3 player also includes capabilities that incorporates receivers and thus can be considered as another form of such a device.