From news.cs.tut.fi!news.funet.fi!sunic!EU.net!uunet!convex!convex!darwin.sura.net!spool.mu.edu!agate!headwall.Stanford.EDU!hubcap.clemson.edu!usenet Tue Feb 1 19:59:56 EET 1994 Article: 27057 of rec.radio.shortwave Xref: news.cs.tut.fi rec.radio.shortwave:27057 rec.radio.scanner:3640 rec.radio.info:3886 Path: news.cs.tut.fi!news.funet.fi!sunic!EU.net!uunet!convex!convex!darwin.sura.net!spool.mu.edu!agate!headwall.Stanford.EDU!hubcap.clemson.edu!usenet From: jlloyd@pluto.cs.clemson.edu (John LLoyd) Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave,rec.radio.scanner,rec.radio.info Subject: Radio Reviews Followup-To: rec.radio.shortwave,rec.radio.scanner Date: 1 Feb 1994 14:47:05 GMT Organization: Clemson University Computer Science Dept. Lines: 933 Approved: rec-radio-info@ve6mgs.ampr.ab.ca Distribution: world Message-ID: <2ilq19$218@hubcap.clemson.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: pluto.cs.clemson.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------- Below is a collection of SW receiver reviews written by readers of Rec.radio.shortwave. The number following the brand and model number is the number of readers, who indicated they use this type of receiver. All credit for these reviews should be given to the readers of this group and not me. John Lloyd Sony 2010 - 3 I found it VERY easy to plug in and start listening. The supplied instructions are adequate for what they do, but are not really enough to really start enjoying the radio. The whip antenna works great at home, but just doesn't cut it at work (way too much metal/interference). Even the supplied wire antenna does not seem to help at work (I have not yet tried it at home (no real need). ***************************************************************** Realistic DX-342 - 1 I've owned this little radio for about a year now and am really pretty happy with it. Advantages: Size - Measuring approximately 4 3/4 x 2 5/8 x 1, you can take this little mini anywhere! Even slip it into your shirt pocket! SW bands - Covers 9 SW bands: 49m, 41m, 31m, 25m, 21m, 19m and 16m. MW, FM, FM Stereo (thru headphones) Travel Power lock Push button control Runs on two AA batteries or AC adapter Travel pouch Carrying strap Disadvantages: It's an analog unit, guys and gals, no digital display. No back stand Antenna does not rotate up I've had a lot of fun with this little receiver. The SW sensitivity is quite good for my area of the country, Cleveland, Ohio. The speaker has a nice sound and improves thru the earphones. FM stereo thru headphones is great! MW DXing is surprisingly good! I can grab signals from Boston, Chicago, New York and Cincinnati much better than on my Magnavox AE 3625 Digital! Summary: A nice little travel radio that's fun to fiddle with or take for travel when you're in a pinch. Radio Shack has discontinued this model so you might be able to find it on sale for around $50.00. I love the size! Ideal for travel! I'm beginning to think that anything larger is too cumbersome. I do miss the Digital Display and all the features that go with it: Freq. display, Alarms, world time display, etc. If I were buying today, though, I'd consider what else is out there for just a bit more money. For example, the new Sangean 606 is only slightly larger and has all the digital features mentioned above that I miss. I 've seen it priced for as little as $179.95! ***************************************************************** Realistic DX-375 - 1 It costs $99.99 though I got it for $89 since I had a coupon for a rebate. For the price I think I got a good deal. It has digital tuning and direct input of frequencies which allows tuning to be a pretty simple job and not a time consuming act of patience. It uses two C type batteries... I use rechargable ones and they last a pretty long time.. It is not small enough to carry in your shirt pocket but it could fit in the front or side pocket of an average sized backpack. It is just great when you are walking back home from school/work ... it can be easily carried in one hand as you catch up on the news from BBC/Deutschewelle/Radio Australia/etc.... as you walk home.. I get decent reception of all the `big stations' even indoors and have, on occasion also been able to tune to Radio UAE.... The sleep function is perfect for someone like me who likes to fall asleep with music... the FM sound is pretty good in stereo (headphones)... The AM reception is also fairly good but it has a very high tendency to catch those Bible bashing stations...probably a reflection of the region where I live... The strap is a little shoddy and I have a feeling I may have to `fix it' soon... I expect it to pop out any moment.... Despite that, I like it... ***************************************************************** Realistic DX-380 - 1 I am by no means an expert, but I have a DX-380 and can give some of my experiences. First of all, I would pay the extra to get the 390 to get the single side band capability. I miss it. I miss it. Also, the sensitivity for foreign broadcasts (I'm in DC) without an external antenna is poor. You get the BBC and some German broadcast relays from Canada transmitters, some south american stuff, and that's it. BUT with a 50 m Cu wire out my 2nd story window attached to the antenna with an alligator clip, I regularly get Abu Dhabi and Australia at night. ***************************************************************** Realistic DX-390 - 2 Great mid-sized digital portable. Good sensitivity and selectivity. Digital display shows time, frequency, signal strength, and memory location. Covers LW (in 9 kHz steps), MW (in 9 or 10 kHz steps) and SW continuously from 150 kHz to 30000 kHz. FM reception (88-108 MHz) with stereo through headphone jack. BFO control for SSB reception. Built-in timer/clock, 9 programmable memory locations per band, except 18 on SW. Good audio output. RF Gain and AM bandwidth controls. Keypad frequency entry. External antenna, AC-adapter inputs. A great radio for the beginner or as an upgrade from a smaller and/or analog unit. Purchased from Radio Shack for $219 in January, 1992. I have a new Realistic DX-390 (alias Sangean 813??). Seems to be a great value for the price $169 US. I haven't yet heard from someone who can recommend a radio for the same price that is better, and can back it up with facts. ***************************************************************** Grundig Satellit 700 - 3 Truly a world-class portable, digital receiver. Excellent sensitivity and selectivity. Digital display with two separate clock/timers, signal strength meter, band selection, frequency readout, and user-definable eight-character "name" for each memorized station. Has RDS circuitry on FM to decode the newly- phased-in system for identifying stations by call letters, format, etc. 512 memory positions, upgradable to 2048. Tunes in .1 kHz increments. Selectable wide/narrow bandwidth for AM mode reception. Tunes MW in 9 or 10 kHz steps. Keypad frequency entry. Receives USB and LSB. Synchonous detector helps pick difficult- to-receive stations out of the crowd. Selectable automatic/manual gain control. Covers LW (150-353 kHz), MW (528-1611 kHz), SW (1612-30000 kHz), and FM (87.5-108 MHz). Excellent audio output, with separate treble and bass controls. Stereo through headphones or external speakers. Line-level out (left and right), external antenna, and 12 VDC-in jacks. Local/DX switch. Built extremely rugged. Multi-national power supply included. An outstanding performer, and worth the price to a serious SWL or DX'er who requires portability. Purchased from Universal Radio for $479 in April, 1993. The Following is a comparison of the SONY ICF-SW77 and the GRUNDIG SATELLIT 700: Both of the receivers you are looking at are pretty solid. The Sony is slightly smaller and has a somewhat more "finished" feel about it. The Grundig is SOLID with a much better sound. Neither is as good a SW signal receiver as the previous Sony, the '2010 (2001). However, they both have very advanced features; multiple (and in the Grundigs case, expandable) memories with alphanumeric tags so that you have a name as well as a frequency, all sorts of memory grouping and scanning etc. The Grundig has good RDS ident. on it's FM band, but I have a feeling that this isn't used much, if at all, in the US. If you intend to buy second-hand, be very wary of the SW77 - the early version was pretty flakey. The later version is better but still not as good as the '2010. I think that the choice comes down to "feel". They are both quite complex to use, but both work as advertised. Try 'em both as they have quite distinct operational methods. If sheer performance on SW is the main point for you, compare them with the Sony ICF2010. You'll buy it and save some loot ! For what it's worth, I tried them both and settled on the Grundig. I have my Satellit 700 in daily use and it's performed without a hitch. My reasons for the choice were: 1. Performance. The Grudig was much better than the early SW77. 2. Sound. I happen to prefer the slightly bassy Grundig sound to the somewhat sharper Sony. 3. Power. The Grundig takes D cells and can self-charge Nicads in the set, which is how I have it set up. (The SW77 used C cells) They both run down batteries fast. The Sony worse than the Grundig due to it's smaller cells. 4. RDS. I love it and the SW77 doesn't have it. 5. Feel. I like the, I don't know, Germanic solidity and sheer heft of the Satellit. A Satellit with a full load of 4AH Nicads can tip the scales at twice the weight of a SW77. Of course, if drop one on your foot the Sony would be the better bet ! I only use the Grudig about the house. I have a '2010 for the road. I hope this splurge hasn't clouded the issue for you. Editor's Note: I have one of these radios and love it! I sent the following message to someone just after I bought it. I just recently forked out $500 and bought a Grundig Satalit 700. The sound from the radio is truely impressive! I have always wondered why broadcasters put music on shortwave, because it alway sounded like garbage. However with the 700 I can listen and enjoy the music. The 700 has Bass and Treble controls, which improve the sound quality but the Automatic Gain Control most likely does the most toward improving the sound (I'm not an expert, so this is just a guess!). Anyway my Wife regularly listens to music coming from a 60m band radio station in Guatemala, and can enjoy the sound. However there are some bad points. It is programable, but I have not worked out how to do it yet. Well I tried once and gave up. This is not too bad though, because BBC, Deutche Welle, and about 10 others are stored in a ROM table. And these frequences actual work (i.e. they are the frequencies for North America and NOT Germany). Also I connected a long wire antenna and found my local AM station on shortwave. I guess the front-end is not good enough to sort the signals out when coming from a large antenna. But don't worry about this either. If you only want to listen to the biggies like BBC, Deutche Welle, you won't need an external antenna. I am planning to put a Pre-selector between The Radio and the Antenna, and I think this will cure the problem of AM stations on shortwave and cut out some interference. Finally I recommend this radio to you. I'm sure you will have hours if enjoyment from it. ***************************************************************** Grundig Satellit 500 - 2 Formerly Grundig's flagship portable SW receiver, this is still an excellent piece of equipment. Excellent sensitivity and selectivity. Digital display with two separate clocks (only one displayed at a time), signal strength meter, frequency readout, and four-character user-definable "name" for each memorized station. 42 memory positions. Tunes to .1 kHz increments. Selectable wide/narrow bandwidth for AM mode reception. Tunes MW in 9 or 10 kHz steps. Keypad frequency entry. In addition to AM, has three receiving "modes" for LW, MW, and SW: USB, LSB, and "Sync," which should more accurately be described as "fine tuning," as this implementation of synchronous detection operates differently from the Satellit 700 or Sony 2010. Selectable automatic/manual gain control. Covers LW (150-353 kHz), MW (528-1611 kHz), SW (1612-30000 kHz), and FM (87.5-108 MHz). Excellent audio output, with separate treble and bass controls. Stereo through headphones. Line-level out (mono), external antenna, and 12 VDC-in jacks. Local/DX switch. Built extremely rugged. Power supply included. An all-around great performer. Now that it's discontinued, many outlets are selling this unit at close-out prices, making this radio an excellent value for the money. Purchased from Universal Radio for $379 in December, 1992. I have a Grundig Satellit 500 and am basically satisfied with it. I miss the 512 memories of 700 and 'SSB clarify' control sometimes. Yes, its 'sync' is exactly fine tuning in 100 Hz steps. However, it is rather simple to make it work similarly to '700 and '2010, because the detector chip is the same in all three. Only a switch with two pairs of contacts is needed. Another design fault, the excessive distortion in SSB mode, can be partly cured by adding two resistors. For serious DX-ers it may be important that the internal ferrite rod cannot be disabled on MW and LW in both 500 and 700, so the in-house noise may become a problem on these bands. ***************************************************************** Lowe HF-150 - 1 The Lowe HF-150 (sold by Universal and EEB) is a nice compromise. Similar number of cubic inches as the Sony (different shape), but offering some features of the R8. Also the Lowe is made with a mostly solid alumnum case, which is better than the Sony or the Drake. The Lowe has dual antenna inputs (wire or SO-239), record out, audio out, 12vDC in. It can run off any 12V DC battery. I use 7 aH gelcells which I recharge. The Lowe also takes 8 internal AA nicads *OR* disposable batteries. It will recharge the nicads with a builtin recharger if you plug it into an external power supply. It's a nice semi-portable radio. It has a few ideosyncracies, but you might want to look at it. ***************************************************************** Lowe HF-225 - 2 I've had an HF-225 for a few years now, and I'm pretty happy with it. I use it mainly for broadcast listening. It's connected to 25m of random wire via a 5m coax run inside the house. I tried using an ATU to improve the matching between the aerial and the coax, and on some frequencies it gave a (small) improvement in signal strength, but it was such a pain to keep retuning that I gave up using it. I recently bought a "magnetic longwire balun", and this seems to offer the best of both worlds - improved matching between the wire and the coax, but no retuning necessary. It's rather expensive, though, and it may be that I'd have been just as well off with a home brew transformer on a ferrite ring... The other potential advantage of an ATU, filtering out of strong signals well away from where you're listening, seems to be completely irrelevant on the HF-225. I've never yet found a case where switching in the attenuator did anything beneficial. The receiver's front end seems to be excellent in this respect. I've got the sychronous detector option, and I wouldn't be without it. It quite often makes a heavily fading signal quite pleasant to listen to. Pity it doesn't have a selectable sideband option, though - I quite often find myself tuning an AM signal in the LSB or USB modes to try to get rid of an adjacent interfering signal. Would I buy it again? Yes, unless I decided that I really wanted a receiver which offered a computer interface. ***************************************************************** Sony SW-1 - 2 I bought an SW1E over a year ago, for listening to broadcast SW and FM at home and while travelling. I like this very small radio a lot. It is maybe expensive for a portable, but the build quality is very good, - everything looks and feels right. Battery life is good, and the set DOES work with NiCads (2*AA) contrary to the instructions. Reception of broadcast SW is good, either with the whip or clothes-line antenna. I've never noticed any big problems from adjacent channels either. As a bonus, FM stereo reception is good through headphones. Audio quality from the in-built speaker is fair, but you'll want to use phones for noisy environments. The only bug with this radio is the memory capacity - only 10 mems is really not enough to cover ALL of AM and FM. Summary - if you want a very small portable, and appreciate high quality (and can afford it), I would recommend the SW1E. Note the E, which denotes the SW1 kit without the active antenna and brief case - these add a lot to the price, and I don't rate the antenna too highly either. ***************************************************************** Sony SW-15 - 1 I bought one of these puppies on impulse the other day (at my age you should give in to the occasional impulse, just so they keep coming). Cost $85; you could probably do better by shopping the discounters. Specs: Dual Conversion Receiver, 6 1/2 x 4 x 1 1/2 inches, 3 AA or 4.5v DC. Nine Bands: FM: 76-108 Mhz, 10.7 Mhz IF. SW: 5.775 -6.425; 6.875-7.525; 9.375-10.025; 11.6.5-12.265; 15.00-15.65 17.50-18.15; 21.325-21.975. 1st IF 10.7 Mhz; 2nd IF 455 Khz. MW: 530 - 1710 Khz; 455 Khz IF. Analog Tuning dial, volume control, music/news tone switch, 7 position SW band selector. FM/MW/SW select buttons double as "on" switches. "Off" button. "Hold" button to disable "on" (prevents accidental turnons) Slide rule, multicolumn frequency display. Hand strap, foldout stand to hold at angle on table, soft carrying case. Basic shortwave guide. Telescoping antenna. FM/MW/SW "on" and tuning LEDs. Mono earphone jack. Subjective Review: I'm pretty impressed. Sensitivity is up there with the Pomtrex [:-)] without the "splatter" of strong stations. Analog tuning dial requires a delicate touch but for me that's part of the fun. Drift seems nonexistent; you get a station and it keeps it without a lot of vernier twiddling. MW performance was surprisingly good, as was FM. I'd recommend it as a starter radio. ***************************************************************** Sony ICF-5100 - 1 I bought this radio in Kuala Lumpur in 1988, and I'm not sure if it goes by the same model number in other parts of the world. It is a shirt pocket analog tuned radio with coverage from 6MZ to about 21MZ in seven bands. The radio is very rugged and has served me well despite of the physical abuse it has gone through. Because of its small size the speaker is only small and the sound from it it a little tinny, but I used it mainly to receive news in countries without English language news services and in remote areas while camping etc. I recommend this radio to anyone, who considers size the most important factor. Cost was about US$70. ***************************************************************** Sony ICF-7601 - 2 In some respects this is my favorite radio. No bells no whistles no FM stereo -- just a good solid (feels like a small brick) analogue unit. It covers AM, FM and has 10 SW bands that cover most of the "out of band" frequencies. Band switching on SW is done by a slide on the front of the radio while buttons are used to switch from AM to FM to SW. The dial is accurate to 5 kHz so is very easy to locate a station. I believe that it was simply the best low cost analogue rig out there. It's still around and can be had for well under $100.00. Grab it!! I have a 7601 also. Most of its weight is from the batteries and the speaker, giving it better tone and volume than smaller, lighter sets. As with other cheap analog sets, it wasn't very hot out of the box. If you "super tweek" the 7601, it's pretty good on AM, but no match for a 2010 or Superradio III. Most of the shortwave bands peaked up well, but I never could get 19 meters working right. As with most analog portables, the whip is part of the RF tuned circuit, so one must be careful to duplicate the exact listening conditions when tweeking the radio. Even the presence of headphones will shift the antenna tuning. Unfortunately the 7601 picks up FM stations at various places on the shortwave bands. If you're far enough away from FM and TV stations you might have room for an R-390. When going on trips I usually take my SW-1 because of the convenience of the presets and the reception flexibility provided by the active antenna that comes with it. ***************************************************************** Sony ICF-SW33 - 1 I've owned this radio (SW33) for about 9 months and use it as my "carrying around the house rig." It was purchased to replace a Sony 7601 that now resides on my desk at college (things electronic can grow legs on a college campus). By far the best features of this unit are its convenient size and excellent performance on all bands, AM, SW and FM stereo. Don't get me wrong -- this is not a DX machine on SW but for listening to the major broadcasters, it's excellent. The single filter selection seems just about right and tuning on SW is in 1 kHz intervals. This at least gives you a "fighting chance" to move away from interference. That's a major improvement over the 5 kHz that many radios in this price range allow. In addition, the dual conversion design on SW keeps image interference at bay - a major plus for a small portable. The radio does not have a keypad so entering frequencies is a bit clumsy. However, by entering the middle frequency of each of the major SW bands in the 7 memories (5 memories plus 2 timer memories) and slewing up or down from those positions you can get around reasonability fast. The SW bands are changed by a combination of 2 keystrokes. The sleep control (shuts the radio off after 1 hour) can let you be lulled to sleep and the timer alarm can make sure that you get to work on time (radio shuts down after 2 hours if it is turned on by the timer). Setting the radio alarm is very easy - once you have set the clock, but that frankly, is a pain. The clock function, which works very well (combination world/home time), takes at least 7 distinct steps to set it. Fortunately the clock is fairly accurate (looses about 0.2 sec/day) so you don't have to reset it very often. The lighted dial (stays on for 20 sec at the touch of a button) is a nice touch. Battery life is excellent contrary to the 1994 Passport to World Band Radio (see below). The radio has a battery "gauge" that is activated at the touch of a button radio and shows in the display as a battery icon with 3, 2, 1 or 0 dots inside of the battery outline. It disappears after about 5 seconds. As soon as the number of dots reaches 0, the radio shuts off immediately. I ran a a series of tests with Radio Shacks Super Alkaline batteries and got the following results: 3 dots showed for 37 hours, then 2 dots showed for an additional 11 hours, and finally 1 dot showed for 3.0 hours for a total of 51 hours. (Radio ran 1.5 to 2.5 hours/day with the volume control set at 1/2 volume most of the time). At $2.89 (plus 5% for tax) for a package of four AA batteries (the radio takes 3), that figures out to 4.5 cents/hour which is excellent. This figure differs greatly from that given in the 1994 Passport (25-30 cents/hour). I have no explaination for the difference but I stand by my test values. Would I recommend this radio to anyone? If you do a lot of band- scanning, forget it; it will drive you crazy. But at about $140.00 plus shipping (NYC mail-order) it's an excellent "second" radio to carry around for listening to the major broadcasters. I like it! ***************************************************************** Realistic DX-440 - 2 I have a DX-440 and I think it is a good 'dabble' radio but if I ever get serious I will look for a > $500 table model. I love this radio! It's my main radio and I use it exclusively at home, moving it from room to room. It really is too large for travel I've found the sensitivity to be tremendous on SW, MW and FM! Very rarely do I need to attach a clothsline antenna! It has continuous SW coverage, a great sounding speaker, BASS and Treble controls, two bandwidths, great sensitivity, good spurious signal rejection...It has all the features I wanted in a starter radio! I bought it about three years ago on sale for $150.00! I still don't know why Radio Shack discontinued it. If you're looking for a good starter shortwave radio and can still find one laying about at a Radio Shack store priced to move, GRAB IT! ***************************************************************** DAK DMR-3000 - 1 I bought this radio since they have a 30-day money back guarantee and I did not know if I would like the hobby or the radio. Good points: direct-entry tuning, 36 station memories, fairly small so it is easy to travel with, speaker sound was good, reception was okay, but improved dramatically with the addition of the Radio Shack 23' rollup longwire ($8.95). Bad points: only 5kHz tuning steps, only major broadcast bands tunable (large gaps between bands), selectivity not so good, no fine tuning, no BFO, no SSB or CW, poor FM reception. All in all, not a bad radio of $69.90, however, it left me wanting for more, so I got rid of it. I have seen a couple of posts asking for a low cost SW receivers. I have recently bought a DAK Model DMR-3000, for just $69.90+$6.00 shipping from DAK - a mail order company. The receiver has a direct access, so you can type in the desired frequency, and a manual / automatic scanning system. It also has a dual time clock with alarm and 'sleep' timer. Unfortunately you can tune only to the commercial frequencies on SW, AM and FM bands. I have to say though that cheapness comes at a price. The first receiver I got was defective so I had to ship it back and ask for a replacement. Now, I received a new one which works very well. Compared to my Sony ICF-7601 the DAK unit is an insensitive brick. The fancy clock and timer features aren't really worth it. About the only thing nice is the FM Stereo support if you plug in headphones but the FM sensitivity leaves much to be desired as well. Something else to watch for.... That pretty lettering on the buttons will wear off REAL fast. If you haven't used it much yet you won't see a wear off REAL fast. If you haven't used it much yet you won't see a problem. After you've done some tuning you'll see the pretty arrows disappear from the buttons. ***************************************************************** Sangean ATS-803A - 1 Since I was now turned on by SWL'ing, I moved up to what most people agree is the best all-around radio for this price. Good points: excellent frequency band coverage (150kHz to 30mHz), fine tuning, good selectivity, BFO for SSB and CW, many scanning options, lots of accessories included, good AM and FM reception. Bad points: way too big to travel with, high battery consumption, synthesizer noise in background all the time, scanning frequently skipped lots of "listenable" stations that I was able to get by manual tuning (what's the use in scanning, then?). I found that adding a longwire antenna only increased interference and noise while not improving the set's scanning sensitivity. Overall, a fairly good radio for the price... I have a Sangean ATS803A which I love. Comments to quote me on would be that it's an excellent beginner's radio for the price. Although I've heard that the 818 is the "latest and greatest" in this price/performance category. I especially love the full coverage 150kc-30mhz and the (albeit lo tech bfo) SSB capability. ***************************************************************** Sony ICF-SW20 - 1 I was in dispair when I could not find a decent travel portable for under $200. However, I accidentally crossed paths with a Sony ICF-SW20 on sale (normally $99, on sale for $49.99) at a local store and had to check it out. It is an analogue set, but since I got a 30-day return policy on it, what the heck? Good points: analogue tuning so no problem with confining 5kHz tuning steps, INCREDIBLE SENSITIVITY - this radio blew the DAK and Sangean away with the number of stations I picked up, good selectivity (no fine tuning knob - all you need to do is turn the tuning knob slowly), tiny size (4"w x 3"t x 1"d), small whip antenna (only 18"), addition of Radio Shack rollup longwire increased sensitivity even more, great low price (if I lose it or its gets destroyed, no problem replacing it), tuning bands are wider than the major broadcast bands, so you do get some utilitiy reception as well as WWV, AM and FM are really sensitive while FM goes from 76mHz to 108mHz so I can pick up some TV as well. Bad points: frequencies cover only seven broadcast bands (I can live with that, though), only monaural earphone included (however, you can get a $1.39 mono to stereo headphone plug), no BFO for SSB or CW, no station memories. All in all, this radio gave me the best price/features/size ratio of the ones I checked out first-hand. It's a keeper for me! ***************************************************************** Magnavox 3625 - 1 Finally received my Magnavox 3625! Well, I'm certainly happy I purchased this little radio. Sure, it's not top shelf, but it's suitable for travel purposes and gives adequate SW coverage. Has these features: Travel Lock Alarm (beeps, does not turn on radio) Sleep Timer 9/10 KHz switch - for world travel 12 hour clock (however, when unit is swith to 9 KHz steps 24 hour clock kicks in) 20 presets - 5 for each band FM, AM, SW1, SW2 Dual time Auto store - this feature allows the radio to automatically find the five strongest stations in an area and program them into the memory of the FM & AM band. Back stand Antenna swivels and rotates Runs on four AA batteries. Well, the sensitivity is quite good. Steps in 1 KHz increments. No tuning knob but the slew tuning buttons work just fine. It's about the size of a paperback book and can be taken anywhere reasonably well. No carrying strap, though. The SW coverage is limited but it grabs the major broadcasters exceptionally well. Example: the 41 meter band is covered from 7100 to 7300. So if you want to listen to the BBC on 7325, you're oput of luck. However, I like to listen to the BBC on 12095 or 15070 European signals during the day that I cangrab when I attach a long wire. The 3625 can't tune these freqs. but it can grab 15400 (from africa) WITHOUT a long wire antenna! I'm pretty impressed. Bottom line....A GREAT little travel radio for $70.00! Call a Magnavox outlet if you are interested. ***************************************************************** Magnavox AE-3805 - 2 Great little digital portable. Good sensitivity, average selectivity. Covers MW (in 10 kHz steps only), FM (no stereo), and SW in two "bands": 3200-7300 kHz and 9500-21750 kHz. Built- in timer/clock (12 hour format only), 5 programmable memory locations per band. Great for travel use. Purchased from Damark for $49 in May, 1993. $50 from Damark closeout -- cheapie category ***************************************************************** Emerson PSW-4010 - 1 Great analog portable. Good sensitivity and selectivity. Covers MW, FM (stereo through headphones), and SW in 8 bands (roughly split out as 13m, 16m, 19m, 25m, 31m, 41m, 49m, and 60/75/90/120m). An excellent travel portable. Purchased from DAK for $49 in June, 1988. ***************************************************************** Sony ICF-5900W - 1 Sony ICF-5900W was a good radio in its day, but isn't worth listing now. ***************************************************************** Icom IC-R70 - 1 I purchased my R70 in early 1983. It came with a scratched plastic window for the digital display, which the factory replaced. It is an extremely sensitive receiver. I installed the FM detector board option, which is highly useful for Sub-Carrier detection from FM broadcast receivers in conjuction with the R70's ability to tune below 100khz without a frequency convertor. The so-called PassBand Tuning (PBT), in actuality an asymmetrical bandwidth narrowing control, is very mediocre with the factory 455khz filters. Replacing the 455Khz ceramic SSB filter with a Fox-Tango FT-44 2.4khz 8-pole crystal filter (equivolent to the ICOM FL-44) makes the passband filter work as one would want. The AM 455Khz ceramic filter is junk, and was replaced with a higher quality "4Khz" ceramic filter from the long-defunct Radio Plus firm. The actual specs for the 4Khz filter indicate that it is a slightly asymmetrical filter of 5.6Khz bandwidth, causing a slight degredation of the "highs" (The original spec is for a 6Khz bandwidth; the 9Mhz AM filter is a 6-pole device). Inclusion of both replacement 455Khz filters results in a combined shape factor of much better than 2:1 on AM or SSB. In addition, the RF amplifier was enabled for AM broadcast band use, and an MOV was placed across the AC input for protection against voltage transients. [Actually, a Transorb would be far better in defending against narrow transients.] For awhile, I replaced the diode AM detector with a Shottkey diode, but my ears could detect no difference in distortion, and so the original AM diode was returned to the circuitry. It's been serviced once by ICOM for an intermittant problem ($150 ouch). There exists several modifications to enable selection of the 455Khz SSB filter whilst in AM mode for additional selectivity. ***************************************************************** YORX AM908 - 1 ***************************************************************** Drake R8 - 1 ***************************************************************** Drake SPR-4 - 1 ***************************************************************** Icom R-71A - 2 Eskab & Edvis of Sweden used to offer a Phase-Locked AM (PLAM) detector for the R-70 and later R-71; they also offer a version for the NRD525. I have the R71 version. It is a synchronous detector which allows selection of USB or LSB via the IF filter/BFO offset. The PLAM board phase-locks one of the R71 local oscillators (I forget which one, probably the BFO) to the AM carrier. It contains its own product detector. The lock range is not very large, perhaps +/- 20 Hz. The detector seems to have lower distortion than the ICOM AM detector. Compared to ECSSB, aside from the advantages of phase-locking the product detector BFO, the PLAM unit also lowers the corner-frequency of ICOM's low-pass audio filter, giving better bass response than normal SSB mode on the R71. I find that this improves the intelligibility of the signal. The PLAM board piggybacks in the mounting area for the ICOM FM option board; both can coexist. Installation is somewhat difficult, as it involves connecting over a dozen wires to various boards in the R71. Eskab & Edvis also offered a 4 KHz 2nd IF crystal filter for the R71. This installs fairly easily in place of the narrow CW filter. It is very much better than the stock ICOM 6 kHz bandwidth, which is wide-open until it hits at cheap ceramic filter in the 3rd (455 kHz) IF. I don't know if Eskab & Edvis still offer the R-71 PLAM and 4 kHz filter. They used to advertise in the WRTH. Regarding other options: I believe Sherwood Engineering offers an outboard synchronous detector for the R71 as well as other receivers. The Kiwa MAP unit should also be adaptable to the R71. Also, Dom Moman of Shortwave Horizons publishes a modification manual, which details mods like enabling the preamp on MW, true pass-band tuning, sub-10 Hz RIT, etc. ***************************************************************** Kenwood R-2000 - 1 ***************************************************************** Kenwood R-5000 - 1 ***************************************************************** Kenwood TS-450-1 I know it's not a reciever, but since it has general coverage,I decided to put it in here.The TS-450S iaN amateur transciever that costs little more than a R-5000,and if you have your ham ticket or are thinking about getting it,may be worth checking out if you are in the market for a new toy.I'd be willing to bet the replacement for the 5000 will look just like the 450,just like the 5000 looks like the 450's predacessor,the TS440S.First thing it is EXACTLY the same size as the 5000/440.Unlike the 5000/440,it has an LCD display that is unlike any other I've ever seen.It is almost too bright!The brightness cannot be adjusted,unfortunatly.The 450 recieves in all the standard modes except for fax.It has a"normal"keypad unlike the 5000 and the aggravating CW that is producewhen a major button is pressed can be silenced by y -a simple menuss,you dont have to cut a wire like the 5000he S-Meter is a bar-graph type that I like but some people dont.It also has an Audio meter function that kin baffles me.I still dont know what use it is,but it looks nice!Probably the most notable thing you will observe when using the 450 is the QUIET!It is so quiet,it seems strange the first couple of times you use it.The AGC is non-defeatable and has a fast/slow toggle.It is the strangest and slowest AGC I've ever seen,on slow the S-Meter just sits there and then SLOWLY goes down.On fast,it just isn't quite so slow.It seems to work ok,but is really odd.The stock filter for AM is a mile wide but you can add the YK88 AM filter but you wll lose the open slot for the 8.83 ssb filter.I'm not sure,but the 450 seems to have the same stock am filter the 5000 has.On SSB,it uses one of the better Murata ceramic filters and is ok but the optional SSB filters are highly recommended.The audio is FANTASTIC on all modes and if you put one of the minimus speakers from Radio Shack on it,you will like it a lot.Dont bother with the Kenwood speakers,the one that goes with the 450 is not too good and is expensive too!The ergonomics are pretty good,except for the tuning knob,yes like all the recent vintage Kenwood rigs,IT DOESN'T HAVE A FINGER HOLE!!Why does Kenwood insist on putting these awful knobs on all the rigs they have made lately!All in all,it is a very good riever in almost all respects,and since t it only costs about $100 more than a 5000,it is worth a lookND as a bonus, the recieve coverage goes up to 40 mhz!If you are into low band scanning,you will hear things on the 450 you never knew existed on your scanner.If you can swing the 450's sister model the TS690,you can recieve all the way to 60 mhz. When the 5000 is put out to pasture,if it's replacement is the 450 without the transmitter,it will be very tough competition for the other makes.All it needs is Sync.detection and you really couldn't ask for much more. ***************************************************************** Japan Radio Company NRD-515 THE all time most user-friendly recieveof recent vintagHas PBT,analog fine tune,four I.F.bandwiths,AM,LSB,USB,and RTTY modes.There is no squelch but it really doesnt matter much.Of all the recievers I have owned,or ad over here to play with,it is the most sensitive in the SSB modeI have the standard 6 and 2.4 khz filters,and th600 and 300 hz filters whitch are great for RTTY or CW(if you are truly desparate!)The "protection"diodes have been removed due to intermod from a local AM station.The reciever's case,front and back panels are made of Aluminum,no plastic to crack on the 515!The audio in AM is very bad,almost as bad as the Icom R-71a,but in a different way.The audio is "fuzzy"out of the speaker jack,but not too bad out of the record jack but still a little "fuzzy".In the SSB modes,the audio is pretty clear and doesn't fatigue me like the Icom dos far as thergonomics goes,it's almost prefect!All the knobs are the right size,the tuning knob is large and has a nice deep finger hole(Kenwood,are you listening???).The S-meter is big and easily seen across the room.Dynamic range is very good after the diodes have been clipped(a one minute operation).The filters all are good quality and have good shape factors.This was the first "affordable"rig that had a memory option that was worth something with 24 or 96 channels available. The NDH-518 I have(96 ch.)is also made totally out of cast and sheet aluminum and matches the 515's styling.It stores frequency only,unfortunatly, due to the year it was designeIm guessing.There are lots of these recievers floating around on the used market for about $600 or so.Universal seems to have a lot of them passing thrgh the store. ***************************************************************** Japan Radio Company NRD-525 - 1 This is a great reciever,marred only by bad audio and a hiss that will drive you bonkers if you have good hearing and a speaker that can put out the highs. I have had two of these,the first I traded for a sateite setup,and the one I have now.The newer reciever has mucbetter audio then the first one and lesess hiss too.Ergonomics are very good MUCH,MUCH better than the Drake R-8.(IMHO,the Drake is seriously overrated and all the stuff about made in the U.S.A.is kind of funny cause a LOT of the innards are MADE IN JAPAN!!!)Oh well,back to the 525,if you are into AM,it's probably not the reciever for you, but in allthe other modes,it is one of the best consumer grade recievers ever made.Performance in all modes is basically excellent except fothe audio pr problem,and stability is rock solid.JRC has only cut a few corners compared to the 515,probably the ultimate in construction for consumer recievers. The case is made of very thin sheet metal and the front panel is plastic.The keys fit loose in the keypad but work ok.The display has four brightness levels and is very easily read from across the room.The S-Meter is "digital" and is a floating vertical bar segment that seems to be yellow on some samples, and green on some others.It is sort of "spastic"and twitched a lot on the first one I had,but not as much on the seconone.The first 525 I had would "click" on strong AM signals,but the new one doesn't.The main tuning knob spins very smoothly and has a nice finger hole.(KENWOOD,WHY DONT YOU LISTEN!!) All in all, a great reciever. ***************************************************************** Japan Radio Company NRD-535D - 1 ***************************************************************** Yaesu FRG-100 - 1 ***************************************************************** Panasonic RFB-65L - 2 $220 from Universal, EEB, etc. -- my main set, an excellent portable, many features, nice construction and details. ***************************************************************** Sony SW-55 - 2 This is my principal radio at the present time (I also have the Sony ICF-SW33 and the Sony 7601). This rig is an extremely sophisticated piece of equipment. I especially like the fact that you can store up to 125 frequencies on 25 electronic pages that can be named as you wish (by country). Once programed this is very convenient. The two filter selections are well chosen (much better than the stock Sony 2010 filters). My use the radio to copy WEFAX with excellent results attests to its stability (and that it receives USB and LSB). The versatile timer/alarm and tape remote feature allow automatic recording with certain tape recorders (Sony and others) of up to five times and frequencies in a 24 hour period. I use this feature all of the time. Audio (stereo on FM) qualitity for a portable is very good; better I believe than the stock 2010 although as with the 2010, it is improved with a set of external speakers. Unlike the 2010, the SW55 does not have synchronous detection. That's too bad because I believe that if it had this feature it would blow away tition. As it stands it is an excellent radio. Most interference can be eliminated with the narrow filter or moving away from the interference a bit (the radio is tunable in steps of 0.1 kHz) so the lack of sd is not critical. I really believe that Sony did not include it because it would have then had a very negative impact on sales of the SW77. Would I buy this radio again. You bet! The only problem I've had in the year an owned it is that the lettering has worn off the 1, 5, 0 and EXE keys on the keypad. That should not happen on a $300.00 radio! ***************************************************************** Philips AE3905 - 1 In short, in my experience, the AE3905 is no real great shakes. It looks neat as hell, and marks its owner as a man of taste and distinction with more money than brains (like I said, *I* have one). Its shortwave performance is mediocre. Using this in a hotel last February, I found that attaching the included reel antenna caused the radio to overload fairly badly. The batteries don't last very long. The filters included are fair, but you still get a fair amount of interference from adjacent stations (not as bad as some small portables, but not good). I certainly wouldn't want to use this as my primary radio. For portability, it's fantastic. I can listen to the BBC or VoA anywhere. The radio fits in my shirt pocket, although reception in my pocket isn't all that good. In short, the radio isn't worth what Philips charges for it, but if you've got more money than you know what to do with and a desire to have a flashy looking toy, it'll do. The radio has only recently been available in small quantities in the U.S., and appears to have been discontinued in Europe. I got a reconditioned copy for $179 from the Magnavox factory outlet in Kentucky. Universal lists the radio in their catalog for something like $250 new if I recall correctly. You're not likely to find it anywhere else. John Lloyd Computer Science Dept. Clemson University Clemson, South Carolina, USA