I was not planning to get any radio gear during the holidays. But a friend and fellow ham got me a bit interested in looking over YouTube videos covering portable receivers.

Over the past year he has ordered the Tecsun PL330, the Chinese Tecsun PL365, the ATS-20 and ATS-25, the Belka DX and both the CountyComm GP5 and GP7/SSB receivers.  

The 1.5-31MHz Belka DX is undoubtedly the best bang for the buck because of its design, features and compact size. At more than twice the price of the other portable receivers mentioned above it seemed to me that the GP7/SSB might be a good compromise for my use.

As an occasional listener, the CountyComm GP7/SSB has a couple of features that attracted me to it. Those features are the direct entry keypad and SSB filters. What sold me on the GP7/SBB is the ability to narrow the bandwidth to copy SSB and CW transmissions. I have little to no interest in most of the other GP7/SSB features.  

After watching W2AEW’s detailed GP7/SSB YouTube review (see below) I knew it would be a good fit for my travel bag, backpack, etc.

I found out that the GP7/SSB is more popular that I imagined. The CountyComm web site told me to sign up for their ‘back in stock’ notification!

Stay tuned for a follow up post about the CountyComm GP7/SSB and Happy Holidays to all!

June 2022 Update: After owning the GP7/SSB for around 6 months I was very disappointed with the overall performance of the receiver. So much so that I recently sold it. Hopefully the new owner will have more patience when it comes to diddling around with it. In summary unless you have a specific need for this receiver, I’d recommend spending a few dollars more and pick up a receiver similar to the Tecsun PL-880.

W2AEW CountyComm GP7/SSB Review: