What is the best radio for FM dxing of any size and price?
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Best FM DX radio
- Thread starter Carltheradioguy
- Start date
In terms of reception
Thank you for response, Have not tried the G5 but I have used a Sangean PR-4W I think it's called, It looks identical to D5 but without RDS. I wasn't too impressed with it, on FM it was ehh and AM was lousy. My current fm dx radio is C Crane 2E and sometimes use Tecsun PL-380.
R
Radio-X
Guest
As I see it, the best radio I have dealt with for DXing has been a Sony XDR-F1HD. Swear by the thing...actually, I am listening to CBCV 90.5 right now in full quieting...about 80 miles as the crow flies from Victoria, BC with strong local signals (think inside the red circle on Radio-Locator maps) on both adjacent channels. My Tecsun gets bleed-over from 90.7 KSER and no sign of a radio station on 90.5 at all.
This is, BTW, with just a broken pair of rabbit ears pointed towards Canada (my normal antenna isn't set up yet). I can't pick this station up solidly around here even on a decent car radio.
DXing is fun on this thing. When I was attending college in SC, the local Savannah, GA stations were off the air and I picked up "K-Rock" on 96.5. Given the American accent of the DJ's, I figured WHTQ in Orlando had flipped and I was pulling in some very common summer evening tropo from Florida.
Nope. It was 96.5 "Cay-Rock" out of the Cayman Islands. Pulled their co-owned country station up the dial too! This was using the supplied antenna to boot! That radio pulled everything in down there, from E-skip from Radio Enciclopedia and Radio Reloj in Cuba on FM to KLBJ-FM in Austin!
Another example: I was flipping through the dial in Northern VA, tuned into non-HD local WBQB 101.5 and noticed the HD light flashing...next thing you know, I was receiving WPOI's HD signal from Tampa, FL despite being 10 miles from WBQB's analog transmitter!
I was fortunate to get mine when they were pretty inexpensive. It set me back $99 new in 2007-08. They discontinued it less than a year later, and prices are now $250-300 online...Still worth every penny, as I see it.
Lots of online help for various mods including active cooling, battery preset backup, SDR capabilities, HD bypass, and more. They are small and durable for a separate tabletop tuner. Mine has been packed in my suitcase with a basic wire antenna, RCA to 1/8" female adaptor, and a headphone amp countless times...anywhere from Charleston, WV to Calgary, AB! It provides reception on FM that is very tough to duplicate with portable models, yet is light and compact enough to take up similar space as a portable when travelling.
I won't get into the AM side of the unit since you didn't ask, but suffice to say that it is respectable with an external antenna. It's FM capabilities are where it truly shines, though.
In terms of older stuff, I have always been a fan of the older Magnum-Dynalab tuners. They have a very true sound to them, they look gorgeous as a rack-mounted piece, DXing capabilities are no slouch, and Magnum-Dynalab's repair and upgrade facilities are second-to-none. Put it this way: I have been to more than one studio or transmitter site that used M-D tuners for rebroadcasting and/or monitoring a signal over-the-air!
Fanfare FT-1A is another excellent DX grade tuner that will also make your audiophile friends salivate. I'd dare say it's the only post 80's commercial-grade tuner that is (slightly) better than the Sony with DX capabilities...problem is, they cost many times more used what the Sony costs used. You'll get 98% of the DX capabilities of the Fanfare and several hundred extra dollars left in your pocket for a top-notch FM antenna.
XDR-F1HD definitely gets my vote for best FM DX tuner out there. There are some tuners that may very slightly out-perform it, but most will at least run you double what the Sony costs, won't have HD capability, and won't have the same portability.
Radio-X
This is, BTW, with just a broken pair of rabbit ears pointed towards Canada (my normal antenna isn't set up yet). I can't pick this station up solidly around here even on a decent car radio.
DXing is fun on this thing. When I was attending college in SC, the local Savannah, GA stations were off the air and I picked up "K-Rock" on 96.5. Given the American accent of the DJ's, I figured WHTQ in Orlando had flipped and I was pulling in some very common summer evening tropo from Florida.
Nope. It was 96.5 "Cay-Rock" out of the Cayman Islands. Pulled their co-owned country station up the dial too! This was using the supplied antenna to boot! That radio pulled everything in down there, from E-skip from Radio Enciclopedia and Radio Reloj in Cuba on FM to KLBJ-FM in Austin!
Another example: I was flipping through the dial in Northern VA, tuned into non-HD local WBQB 101.5 and noticed the HD light flashing...next thing you know, I was receiving WPOI's HD signal from Tampa, FL despite being 10 miles from WBQB's analog transmitter!
I was fortunate to get mine when they were pretty inexpensive. It set me back $99 new in 2007-08. They discontinued it less than a year later, and prices are now $250-300 online...Still worth every penny, as I see it.
Lots of online help for various mods including active cooling, battery preset backup, SDR capabilities, HD bypass, and more. They are small and durable for a separate tabletop tuner. Mine has been packed in my suitcase with a basic wire antenna, RCA to 1/8" female adaptor, and a headphone amp countless times...anywhere from Charleston, WV to Calgary, AB! It provides reception on FM that is very tough to duplicate with portable models, yet is light and compact enough to take up similar space as a portable when travelling.
I won't get into the AM side of the unit since you didn't ask, but suffice to say that it is respectable with an external antenna. It's FM capabilities are where it truly shines, though.
In terms of older stuff, I have always been a fan of the older Magnum-Dynalab tuners. They have a very true sound to them, they look gorgeous as a rack-mounted piece, DXing capabilities are no slouch, and Magnum-Dynalab's repair and upgrade facilities are second-to-none. Put it this way: I have been to more than one studio or transmitter site that used M-D tuners for rebroadcasting and/or monitoring a signal over-the-air!
Fanfare FT-1A is another excellent DX grade tuner that will also make your audiophile friends salivate. I'd dare say it's the only post 80's commercial-grade tuner that is (slightly) better than the Sony with DX capabilities...problem is, they cost many times more used what the Sony costs used. You'll get 98% of the DX capabilities of the Fanfare and several hundred extra dollars left in your pocket for a top-notch FM antenna.
XDR-F1HD definitely gets my vote for best FM DX tuner out there. There are some tuners that may very slightly out-perform it, but most will at least run you double what the Sony costs, won't have HD capability, and won't have the same portability.
Radio-X
As far as portables go, my Sangean PR-D15 beats my Tecsun PL-380 and CCRadio-2E in digging out weak FM signals. I'm disappointed to hear that the PR-D4W isn't that great. I was thinking about getting it since it allows you to adjust the FM bandwidth down to 40 kHz. I've got strong locals on 88.3 and 89.1, and the PR-D15 (not to mention the other radios) does poorly on the adjacent frequencies because of the bleed.
Back in July I bought an Insignia NS-HDRAD at Best Buy for around $50. It is at least as sensitive as the PR-D15 but with better selectivity. It also has RDS and will decode HD stations. I've been able to log e-skip and tropo catches on 88.1, 88.5, and 88.9, which I could never do with the PR-D15 or my other portables.
The Insignia does have a few negatives, including the controls being push-button only and only so-so performance with the limited-movement whip antenna. However, with the included plug-in pigtail antenna it does great. You just have to take the time to move it around sometimes. Also, I've seen reviews saying that the Insignia will handle a decent-sized external antenna well, which is something I hope to try this next year.
Back in July I bought an Insignia NS-HDRAD at Best Buy for around $50. It is at least as sensitive as the PR-D15 but with better selectivity. It also has RDS and will decode HD stations. I've been able to log e-skip and tropo catches on 88.1, 88.5, and 88.9, which I could never do with the PR-D15 or my other portables.
The Insignia does have a few negatives, including the controls being push-button only and only so-so performance with the limited-movement whip antenna. However, with the included plug-in pigtail antenna it does great. You just have to take the time to move it around sometimes. Also, I've seen reviews saying that the Insignia will handle a decent-sized external antenna well, which is something I hope to try this next year.
Thanks for comment, I might have just been me but I wasn't impressed with the PR-4W. I've heard people talk about the Insignia but I've heard mixed reviews on it. Plus it's purely FM. If it truly has better sensitivity and selectivity as my C Crane and Tecsun then I might consider it. My go to external antenna is just a sangean shortwave wire.
AM dxing should improve dramatically in the next few years since I expect there to be about 4,000 fewer stations!
I also have to go with the SONY XDR-F1HD, although it's just a tuner, so needs to be used with an amp and speakers. The selectivity is its best feature, truly outstanding. No more not being able to DX weak signals adjacent to a strong local. Also this tuner does not overload, although I experience some desensitizing from strong locals, and also I get distortion sometimes on weaker signals. SONY under-priced it at $100 but it's long since discontinued. They're available used now on EBay for $250 on up.... and that high price attests to how good a DX machine this is. You'll never want to use a portable again after using the XDR-F1HD.
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