Band coverage: AM 520 - 1710 kHz (10 kHz Steps) AM 522 - 1620 kHz (9 kHz Steps - International) FM 87.5 - 108 MHz (Regular Mode) FM 76 - 108 MHz (When 9kHz is Selected) Shortwave 1711 - 29999 kHz Aviation 118 - 137 MHz Weather channels

Bob Crane is awesome. He was good friends with Art Bell I knew Art but he told me Bob is one of the very best in radio..... Art was a ham for years and worked with all types of radios, commercial, private and Ham.... I talked to Bob many years ago and he was a real knowledge base and a awesome gentleman. I never got to personally know Bob and become good friends like I did Art. RIP Art Bell God bless yall....

I love c crane ever since I was a little kid listening to The Kingdom of Nye. RIP art.

Every time I hear cw it reminds me of my Saturday and Sunday morning with my father that used to be a ham radio VE2 FCN and he was trying to contact other radio stations from far far away... I'm missing those days.

I have had one of those little guys for about 6 months now and I absolutely LOVE IT. Amazing radio and it even performs well in a high RF environment.

Thanks for all the great info and reviews on your channel. I'm an airline pilot and fly all over the world and wanted something to bring with on trips to dink around with in the hotels to see what I could pick up. I just ordered this one over the Tecsun so we'll see how it does. Thanks again for all the great info on your channel.

Nice review. I was looking at this radio for travel also. Thanks!

I really enjoyed the review. I just ordered the non-SSB version, but your review definitely gives me something to think about!

Well damn me. I just yesterday tried to find basically this very video. Remembered seeing a CCrane radio in a stream or two of yours and wanted to see if you had done a review on any of those. Much appreciated!

Nice review. Also liked your take on the antenna! 👍👍

Great video! I remember listening to Art Bell Coast to Coast and one of his sponsors was CCrane. I have one of these as well and it's one of the radios in the EMP proof bag. With so many bands and the ability to scan and create presets so easily makes this radio very useful in a new location. It's size is mostly what your are paying for given how small. I also have a couple of Kaito radios that have several power options including crank as alternatives, but not as small. As others have posted, only having RX does ding it a bit. But if "The Event" does occur and a person is not willing to invest time in comms, learning what is going on or has happened (SSB/SW) is still valuable.

I used to have the Tecsun 660, but gave it away to an ex-ham who is living in a nursing home. I think the CCRANE is going to be the perfect one for backfilling the Tecsun!

Great Review. My Grundig Yacht Boy Shortwave just died on me after decades of travel from Beijing to Berlin and everywhere in between. Thanks, I am ordering this on Amazon right now.

I just got this today and saw your video! I was using a Radio Shack DX-396 and doing well but wanted to explore SSB which it doesn't have. Thanks for posting!

Enjoyed this! I have a Kaitlin KA1103 that I have had for 14 years now. I enjoy listening to shortwave and have had great success with it. But I am always on the lookout for something new. I have the coil antenna also. And a antenna a friend made for me. Shortwave where I am is a bit harder for some reason but it could be that I am on the tundra in Alaska

I picked the the CC Skywave SSB radio back in December and I instantly fell in love with it. The radio has a lot of great features that I enjoy a lot like it's really small, takes only 2 AA batteries that last a long time and more... To me I think it's worth every penny I spent for it.

That moment when your green screen makes your radio look transparent... O.O

PS: I have been using a Sony ICF-SW7600GR PLL synthesized receiver for about 8 years now. But has gotten too heavy for me on very regular travel; so I may well go for the CCRANE after your splendid review of that particular model here. Cheers again!

I bought one of these at at REI mine seems to be working but I think it's a good thing for emergency preparedness it has every little thing that you need in order to get news and weather importance I will have to try to get that wire antenna it was shown in this video I thought that was pretty cool thanks for the information I have one of the original versions of the sea crane skywave

Thanks! My ICF-SW7600 has died, and my ICF-4910 is pretty basic, so I'm looking for a replacement. Amazing that this receiver is closer in size to the 4910 but has the capabilities of the 7600 (except for synchronous detection). This looks like a good solution.

great little receiver! I gave one to my dad for Christmas and he loves it!

I’m liking the ISP for feathering in the lower bands. I like to work 40 meters myself and there’s plenty to listen to outside the amateur bandwidth. 6 megs is always fun!

Exellent radio. I dont' expect PL-880 or ATS-909x2 sound quality on this small a radio, but the Skywave is a great combination of size, bands, pull-strength, intuitive adjustments, and quality. Sometimes you actually get what you pay for. Worth every penny for my road warrioring.

that screen in the radio becomes see through due to the green background, and it really looks weird.

By contrast to others commenting, I have ordered this and it will be my first C Crane ever! I love all the functions and am hoping I will see what all the fuss is about!!! :0)

I like radios with SSB but I also like to see synchronous detection ability too. Synchronous detection, to explain things, allows you to listen to a full AM station ( both side bands with the center carrier ) but select just the carrier and only one of the side bands. For example, let's say you're listening to either a traditional AM station in the old AM band or a regular AM shortwave station from Europe or something. If you are on an AM station on 560 on the dial, let's say you also have a strong station on 550 on the dial that is interfering with your station on 560. With synchronous detection you would select the 560 station you wish to listen to but set it on synchronous and select the upper side band to listen to. Because it's on the top side, farther away from 550 this minimizes that interference from the lower frequency station on 550. You are literally "on the other side" of the interference. If you had a station on 570 that also interfered equally, well then God help you. In that case just listen to the full station on both upper and lower side bands because "SD" would not help in this case!. But normally, this can work wonders and I fell in love with synchronous detection back in the day listening to my old Drake SW8 shortwave receiver. Those were the days and wish I still had that SW8!!!

You are very interesting and informative to listen to. Thanks . .

Your videos are great and very helpful. I like the live streams, but really like to see these reviews. Hope to work you some day 73's

Dude. Weird. I've been looking up portable shortwaves the past week or so. Never even knew about this model but it has everything I want!

My EDC (Every Day Carry) radios are an ICOM IC-7000 All Band in my truck, a Yaesu FT-7900R in my wife's car, an Alinco DJ-580T handie-talkie for 2 meter/70 CM (plus Wx and Air) and the excellent little CCrane CC Skywave SSB for getting out of the truck at the farm or in the woods on a camping remote trip or short RXpedition - the Skywave SSB is an excellent AM/FM/WX/AIR/SW/SSB receiver and adds a lot of info obtaining capability when away from my vehicle on foot or inside the house. I also use a Grundig Satellite 800 and a Realistic DX-302 at home on occasion but over the last year and a half I've exclusively used the Skywave with great satisfaction. KC5DOV

I have accumulated a drawer full of those reel type antennas , tried one a couple of times, reeled it in the threw it in the junk drawer with the rest.

I have a Sony ICF-7600 and I love it. It is bigger than the CCrane, but cheaper. I don't do a lot of traveling, but it is a nice radio to take to the park.

good review Josh Thanks!

This is one of the best radios for prepping and bug out bags, forget emergency radios. Just pair this with rechargeable batteries, protective case, and of course some portable solar panel like nomad 7, and/or hand crank generator, like Torch 250 Flashlight from Goal Zero.

This is a fantastic little radio❗️ I’ve got several radios, including the PL-600. ( I had a PL-660) One of the things about the C.Crane, it is very high quality. So , that is part of the price. This is well worth the price. (( the CCSKywaveSSB also has the Weather Band - nice . I think it’s the only Short Wave radio that does)) That Radio Havana Cuba show was DXers Unlimited with Arnie Coro.( not much of a fan of RHC, but Arnie has a great show for Short Wave Radio listeners). 📻🙂

I found a new Grundig G6 aviator for 50 bucks that basically has most of these features. No weather band but my local weather station booms in loud and clear on the aircraft band and it has external antenna jack plus a bass boost that eliminates the tinny sound. It isn't as easy to use as this though and has lots of bugs in the memory and such. It's a great AM receiver though. I was very impressed with that. I just wish it had an RF gain control. Listening to amatuer radio bands without it is frustrating and impossible with a longwire. It overloads sometimes even using the tiny whip. I ruined my good radio with RF gain by leaving the batteries in it after a hurricane. I don't have the money to spend hundreds on another one at the moment.(EDIT) I found out that switching the tone switch to voice eliminates overloading on SSB. Apparently it`s a narrow/wide filter. The G6 has no soft mute or muting on tuning and it`s a breeze to quickly scan the shortwave and AM bands manually to find signals. It`s a non DSP PLL tuner.

I have this radio and love it

Good Review,

Very nice. Thanks.

I just bought this radio!

I will show this video when people ask me "Why you buy so expensive radio??" Great Vid!!!!!

That 660 is well loved. :-)

Just ordered one.

Hi. Thank you for this video. Have you checked out the XHData D808 which is slightly larger, cheaper and an excellent performer. There's also the recently released Radiwow R108 which is similar in size and performance to the CCrane but lacks ssb.

Hello, thank you for sharing your video of the Skywave SSB. I do have a question, do you use alkaline AA and/or NiMH AA batteries? If you have used both, do you notice any difference in receiver performance? I do really like this receiver, and still deciding which radio I plan to purchase... Thank you Sir...

Thank you once again. Looking for something smaller than my Grundig Satellit 500 and bouncing between the Tecsun and the Skywave. The Tecsun's lack of NOAA WX band is leaning me toward the CCrane but I am thinking what are the chances I am not going to have a VHF HT with me 99% of the time. Decisions, decisions....

great review. I have the CCRANE Skywave SSB .got direct from CCRANE. I like the NiMh AA battery's . will charge from USB 5V Big Blue folding solar panel. how I charge. my camping radio. I also have the PL880 and that super. much better receive and runs on a 18650 battery. also have a Alinco DJ-X11 receiver .I like them all . fit in my backpack .Boston NY ,73's

Nice review, I enjoy mine. Though I use my regular Skywave more often.

I use tecsun 660 as portable but I love the size of your c crane.

Im new to shortwave radios with a SSB. Just bought one for its portability. But i don't fully understand the function of the METER button. Great video. Please help. Thanks

Super product review. I'm mostly interested in CW. Would this radio be satisfactory? Thanks 3s

Great video.looks like a nice radio.please do a comparison withPl880 and the Xhdata808.

Good radio I have the C Crane SSB 2 radio its a great radio too good sensitive selective radio too

Hai Sir, your videos very interesting and helpfull, thank you very much, i am from india and i trying to take ham radio licence, for the SWL which is the best receiver can you suggest me.. thanking you Jayan

The wire antenna packaging is identical to the one that came with the Sony SW100. The only thing I don't like about the CCrane is that, even with headphones on, I don't find any of the SW voice stuff readable / copiable... :-(

Question with this radio , does the digital display stay on showing the time when off or does it completely shut down? Only thing I don’t like with the Kaitlin is the clock feature.

It mutes during manual tuning. Might be a deal breaker for me. Otherwise it seems like a great little radio. I have considered the Tecsun 660 but i keep hearing of quality control problems.

I went ahead and bought a retekess radio and the ccrane reel antanna since it was cheap. I'm hoping that will help me

I like the size of it. I wish the 817 had the WX channels as that is the only thing, imo, that keeps it from being the perfect travel radio. I have the X5105 too but it's hard to leave the 817 at home. 73 KF7VUT

Great video! What do you think about the Tecsun Pl-365? It is very small and has SSB

I'd like a radio for hiking and camping that gets a weather band and is strong enough to pull in a few distant radio stations for entertainment. The thing is, I hike in the Olympics and Cascades in Washington state, and sometimes I might be eighty miles away from a powerful station. Is the Skyway strong enough to catch stations that far away? The CCRadio 2E definitely is, but it's a boat anchor for a hiker to carry around.

Can't seem to find one with all those bands (AM/FM, Shortwave, SSB, Weather Alerts, NOAA, Airband, and 2 meter but more designed to be a bedside radio.

I have to admit it is a nice radio. How does it compare in sensitivity and selectivity with the Tecsun?

Love that show DXrs Unlimited Radio Havana!

Have you tried XHDATA D-808? It's not too big too. I have Tecsun PL-660 and XHDATA D-808. Sometimes it works much better.

How does this compare to the new TECsun pl-330? They are about the same size.

Any ham ht radios have the wx alert feature? I know some gmrs radios have them.

I can't find an online comparison between the Eton Elite Executive vs C Crane Skywave SSB What are your thoughts? they are about the same price.

Nice radio..

Great review sir, I have one of these myself. How does this compare with the Tucson PL880 for SW reception? I was thinking of getting a Tucson for dedicated SW.

Ccrane radio was still off frequency when you tuned hams on 7.168 mgs.

Nice video thank you.how does it compare with my pl880 ?

How do you think would this system work while out on a sailboat

How does it compare to the Tecsun PL-330?

What antenna were you using in the demonstration?

Yes very good for size.... Often wondered with the pl660 and this radio, would they benefit from an earth ( with the pl 660 the jack can have an earth ?)

If travel was not the primary factor in choosing a small SSB capable radio would you pic this Skywave SSB or the PL-660 ? Or is there another choice roughly $200 or under with a lot of capability? East coast here.

What is your advice on a 2-way radio for long distances for hiking? Something that I can talk to like 4 people in a party and a base station.

What kind of BNC connector is that for the Antenna? Having trouble finding one

Yes, excellent review, man! So, the CCRANE Reel Antenna is streets ahead of other similar reel antennas, yes?? If so, I'll definitely go get.

Oh man I love my PL-660, but that little guy is TINY for what it does! I def want one of those ccrane antennas now! How is the battery life on the ccrane?

I listen to mine every night.

Updated Skywave releases December 2022. Improved speaker, external antenna Jack, new charging port and improved charging circuits.

hello i am from germany and i brought the first skywave without SSB from the usa. I like it very much and now I'm thinking about getting the new Skywave. Unfortunately it is expensive and I would also have to pay customs duties and taxes, because it easily comes to $ 220 ... Is it worth buying? are there any improvements besides the SSB?

If size is not an issue, how do thee 660 and skywave ssb compare? I am thinking of buying one or the other. Mainly concerned about performance on all the bands. Don't want a radio that might be somewhat deaf on any of them.

Have you any experiance of the HanRongaDa 747?

I am here in Iceland and could not get any shortwave / ssb broadcast. Please explain.

Doesn't it have a CW mode, too?

I cannot imagine that I would want to listed to all that static. Does the SW ever clear up?

Any recommendations for a cheaper option? Doesn't have to be as good, but I'm trying to find one that'll do airband too. I've been looking at scanners, but they're all too expensive for what I want

I used to use a Santean ATS808 but it and my other radios got destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. Is there a sub $100.00 SW radio with SSB that you can recommend?

Would be nice if you could show us the inside of this radio. Thank you

USB charging is a great upgrade. Bluetooth would be a great wireless upgrade.

Let's not forget the incredible Battery 🔋 Life 👍

Vary good ..thanks...from Baghdad iraq...yi1hra 73

What is the antenna extension called??

I have CCRANE SKYWAVE (without SSB). Have you used this version without SSB and your thoughts please?

Will it tune down to 76MHz, FM broadcast?

Is this still your go to radio? Thanks!

Where to get the reel antenna?