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good inexpensive pocket radio for AM?

P

pianoplayer88key

I'd like to get a pocket AM(/FM) radio that's smaller than my Panasonic Shockwave (that has a built-in cassette player). For this one I only need a radio - mp3 player, cd player, etc is not required. (I also want an mp3 player but I won't go into detail on that here, except that the one that has an AM radio has much less storage & features than I need.

A decent AM section is required - for example it needs to be at least as good as my RQ-SW20 shockwave, preferably somewhat better. (I can hear KFWB 980 from ~ 32°45'N, 116'55°W, although faint - audio barely intelligible even with sound-isolating headphones in a quiet environment. Also, KDIS 1110 is barely audible under KSDO 1130, and I would like better performance in that area. Also a digital (as in PLL synthesized) tuner is a must, but I can live without HD or AM C-Quam Stereo capability.
FM for me is an afterthought, but if they put more effort into designing the FM side of the radio than they do for AM, then I'll want it to be at least as good as a decent quality automotive radio, using only the supplied antenna. Really though, I mainly want good AM.

I'd like to keep the price under $10-15, but would be willing to go up to $50 for a good one (and if I have to relax my ultra small size preference to get a good one I'm willing to do that too, so long as my T-Mobile G1 cell phone in the body armor case will also fit in the same pocket at the same time, along with a couple other things. If I spend up to $50, should I consider a Sangean model, or is the CCRadio-SWP ($49.99) a good one?
 
Well, you can go a couple of different ways with this. If cost is the most important issue, the little Sonk ICF S10MK2 is a great little portable radio of the old fashioned transistor style. The downside is that the headphone jack is really an earbud jack and works in only 1 ear. The upside is shockingly good sensitivity and selectivity for such a small and cheap (about $12) radio. It's analog, so you hunt stations the old fashioned way. However, I can tell you that from my location just north of Chicago, I can pull WISN 1130 in from Milwaukee despite locals on 1120 and 1160. Not the best radio in my "fleet" but it's a very good little radio - awesome for the money.

It's definitely more sensitive than the CCRadio-SWP, I can tell you.

If you want to go up a notch in price and features, then I'd recommend the DT-200VX, DT-210V, and (best of all) DT-400W. All offer very good to excellent sensitivity and selectivity on AM and FM. The DT-400W has weather band, the others don't. Sangean has other offerings in the "pocket portable" class, but the rest seem to be less sensitive than the 3 I listed above.
 
The Walkman style SRF-59 is very highly rated among DX enthusiasts for its performance:

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SRF-59-Radio-Walkman-Headphones/dp/B00006JQ06

I have an early predecessor - the SRF-A1 - and it picked up Dallas AM stations 300 miles away in the daytime with no trouble at all. There was some static, but they were listenable. Selectivity is decent, too.

I would steer away from the CCrane. Not only are their radios equalized for speech only, but they tend to overload on strong local stations, making the selectivity in your application (distant 1110 next to a strong local 1130) unacceptable.

If you can go a bit larger in size, you might be able to find a GE Superadio 3 on close out. A lot of them had unstable tuning, but there is a fix, and nothing will beat them at the price.

Supposedly, Radio Shack has a new DX model, but many people have had to return 2 or 3 before they found one that worked properly.
 
Small size=SRF-M37V / Digital. AM/FM. Fits in your shirt pocket. A great little DX machine for size. No speaker.

Shirt Pocket Radio=Sangean DT400W / Digital. AM/FM/Weather. Built in Speaker. Great filter. Great DX machine for size. Weather channels included. You can even modify it by adding a 7" ferrite rod external antenna for significantly improved reception. Of course, it will no longer fit in your pocket and looks like something a terrorist might carry.

I could go on.
 
Try Goodwill or Salv Army particularly if U live in a seasonal area (like Fla) where the snowbirds go home. (if looking for a walkman from the 80's.
 
Bruce, what's the fix for the SR3? I have that problem and it's even worse with IBOC. I get WLW alternating with it's own hash.
 
Icangelp said:
Small size=SRF-M37V / Digital. AM/FM. Fits in your shirt pocket. A great little DX machine for size. No speaker.

I could go on.
Click to expand...

Agree 100%.  Over the weekend I noticed that Wal-Mart is selling these for around $30.  $6 less than I paid for my first one at a Wal-Mart in Kentucky a few years ago.  That one was still going strong...as good as new....until I left it behind in a hotel room last month.  So...my next night of my trip, I just ran over the a Best Buy up the street from my hotel and bought another.  Only difference is that the VHF TV band is no longer included.  Presumably reflecting the disappearance of analog TV broadcasting.

My only complaints are two very minor ones.  First, the radio will overload on am if you're close to a local stick.  I'm about two miles from one and the bleedover involves several adjacent frequencies.  Secondly, I'd personally like to see a dial light that would go on during tuning or with a button that could pushed for checking the time (an alarm function with the clock would be nice as well).  But this is all secondary.  Its a great radio.  Great DX machine....with superb audio to boot!
 
gr8oldies said:
Bruce, what's the fix for the SR3? I have that problem and it's even worse with IBOC. I get WLW alternating with it's own hash.
Click to expand...

The tuning pots are defective - the fix is to replace the pot. 300k is a bit of an oddball value - I use a 500k, trimmed down with resistors in parallel to make it 300k. Be sure to get the linear taper, not audio taper.
 
Ok, so I went to Fry's yesterday and picked up the Sangean DT-210 and Sony SRF-M37W. They also had a Coby (PLL tuned) for $20 which I turned down, and the Sangean DT-400W, which considering it was only $10 more than the DT-210 and had weather, probably had equal performance on AM to the DT-210, so I didn't get that.

So... here's some quick audio I recorded from three radios - my Panasonic RQ-SW20, the Sony SRF-M37W and Sangean DT-210, in that order.
On all these tests, only the built-in antennas were used - no Select-A-Tenna was used, although I had it available in case I wanted to test a couple radios with it, but I didn't get to it. The tests were conducted in the early afternoon 7-24-2009 in the area boxed in by 32°46'30"N 116°57'30"W / 32°45'00"N 116°56'00"W.

First, rapid bandscans (staying on each frequency only a second or so approximately) for each radio:

North/South orientation: Panasonic RQ-SW20 ; Sony SRF-M37W ; Sangean DT-210
East/West orientation: Panasonic RQ-SW20 ; Sony SRF-M37W ; Sangean DT-210

Then, DX comparisons of several frequencies on all 3 radios, in the same order (all were oriented for strongest reception of the desired station, or in some cases best null of a strong nearby station):
530 WNHV296 (LAX TIS) - barely readable on all 3, but you should be able to tell that something is there
670 KIRN Simi Valley - definitely strongest on SRF-M37W, with DT-210 coming in a close second. Still audible on RQ-SW20, though.
710 KSPN Los Angeles - strongest on SRF-M37W, DT-210 not far behind, RQ-SW20 bringing up the rear but still somewhat listenable
730 XEEBC Ensenada - barely detectable on RQ-SW20, ID'able on SRF-M37W, weak but still kind-of there on DT-210
820 XEMVS Mexicali - almost silent on RQ-SW20, faint but ID'able on SRF-M37W, barely ID'able on DT-210
870 KRLA Glendale - barely detectable on RQ-SW20, weak but ID'able on SRF-M37W, slightly weaker on DT-210
890 KPB792 (Cabrillo National Monument TIS) - probably no signal on RQ-SW20, ID'able (but weak) on SRF-M37W, barely audible but some audio on DT-210
930 KHJ Los Angeles - weak but usable on RQ-SW20, strongest on SRF-M37W, not far behind on DT-210
970 KNWZ Coachella - very faint, but audible on RQ-SW20, much better signal on SRF-M37W, slightly weaker on DT-210
980 KFWB Los Angeles - basically same as 970 KNWZ
990 XECL Mexicali + KTMS Santa Barbara - barely detectable on RQ-SW20, audible enough to hear co-channel interference on SRF-M37W, slightly weaker on DT-210
1020 KTNQ Los Angeles - very faint but audible on RQ-SW20, definitely strongest on SRF-M37W, somewhat weaker on DT-210 (but still better than RQ-SW20)
1050 XED Mexicali - barely detectable on RQ-SW20, ID'able on SRF-M37W, slightly weaker but still ID'able on DT-210. KNX 1070 IBOC hash coming through on all 3.
1110 KDIS Pasadena - severe splatter from KSDO 1130 on RQ-SW20, but signal detectable when KSDO audio is quiet. Audio comes through fairly well through significant KSDO splatter on SRF-M37W. Slightly weaker on DT-210, but KSDO only has occasional chirps of interference (compared to the other two).
1250 KZER Santa Barbara - faint but ID'able on RQ-SW20, considerably stronger on SRF-M37W, somewhat weaker on DT-210
1280 KFRN Long Beach - strongest on SRF-M37W, slightly weaker on DT-210, weakest but still readable on RQ-SW20
1290 KZSB Santa Barbara - barely detectable but can hear audio on RQ-SW20, easily ID'able on SRF-M37W, slightly weaker but still quite audible on DT-210V
1300 KROP Brawley - barely detectable on RQ-SW20, faint but can hear some audio on SRF-M37W, and DT-210 is slightly better than RQ-SW20
1330 KWKW Los Angeles - barely detectable on RQ-SW20, ID'able on SRF-M37W, barely audible on DT-210
1340 KCLU Santa Barbara - similar to 1330 KWKW, maybe slightly better signal overall
1490 KIST Santa Barbara - similar to 1340 KCLU
1520 KVTA Port Hueneme - very faint but audible on RQ-SW20, much better but still somewhat faint on SRF-M37W, DT-210V comparable to RQ-SW20 or slightly worse
1580 KBLA Santa Monica - very faint but still somewhat audible on RQ-SW20, definitely ID'able on SRF-M37W, barely detectable on DT-210

My basic conclusion between the three: The SRF-M37W has the best sensitivity across the band by at least a few DB. The DT-210 is almost as good through most of the band, except the high end, where it's actually possibly weaker than the RQ-SW20. RQ-SW20 is weakest overall except the high end where it at least matches the DT-210. As for selectivity, the DT-210 wins easily. SRF-M37W is actually worse somewhat in selectivity than the RQ-SW20, but I think that's partially because of its superior sensitivity.

I forgot to consciously test the directionality of the 3 radios - for example ability to null a strong station in order to pull in a weak first-adjacent or co-channel station.

I just did a quick check of a few other things on the two radios (but didn't record any audio)...
The FM band seems to have the best selectivity / overload prevention on the RQ-SW20. There are a few local stations that splatter all over the band on the other two, with the SRF-M37W being worse than the DT-210. As for sensitivity, all three seem to be comparable, although I really couldn't do the sensitivity tests I wanted to do because of the horrendous selectivity & overloading.
The weather radio on the SRF-M37W is way too weak - there was no trace of a local weather station (which I believe is atop Mt Wilson) that my dad's dedicated weather radio can hear just fine. Also I couldn't test weather selectivity on this, but I remember another (Sony I think) radio with weather band (I think this was also a CD player) on which weather stations splattered across the entire band - even weak ones.
Also the built-in speaker on the DT-210 is much weaker (20-30dB at least) than I would like.

Also why is it that some interference (for example from my GSM based cell phone) is heard in stereo on the AM band, even though none of the radios I have tested have AM stereo capability?

I may also want to go ahead and try the Sangean DT-400W. Also (right now I'm checking online - don't know for sure about in-sore availability) should I consider checking out the Sony SRF-M85W, Coby CX-90 (that was the $20 radio I mentioned earlier), Coby CX-789 (might be a bit larger than what I'm looking for), or Coby CX-96?

Also do any of these other ones have superb FM selectivity (and decent sensitivity)? I have sometimes wanted to pull in 91.5 KUSC Los Angeles from 120 miles away, with 91.7 XHGLX Tijuana being 20 miles away. Also I'd like to be able to hear KDB 93.7 Santa Barbara (I can if I go up another few hundred feet elevation and 1/2 mile north/northwest, but I want to hear it from my house using only the supplied antenna from whatever radio I would get) from 197 miles away.

Basically I would like something with the sensitivity of the SRF-M37W and the selectivity of the DT-210. What would be nice is something with a wide/medium/narrow switch for AM selectivity. In narrow mode, audio bandwidth would be comparable to analog IBOC, and you could be as close as 1 mile to a 50kW station before you start hearing more than an occasional chirp on the first adjacent. In wide mode, audio bandwidth would be full NRSC (10.2kHz), selectivity criteria would be changed to 2nd adjacent instead of 1st adjacent, distance increased to 2 miles from the 50kW blowtorch. Medium would be somewhere in between - probably an audio bandwidth of about 7.5 kHz.
FM isn't really important to me (in fact I wouldn't mind having one that doesn't even have it at all), but if they're going to put much effort into the FM section, I definitely want better sensitivity, better selectivity (I'd like to be able to pull in several Los Angeles area stations with locals on the first adjacents), and better overload protection (without having to use a local/dx switch).

So what would you recommend? I don't plan to keep both radios. I may go get the DT-400W and try that - should that be better than either of the other two I have tried (SRF-M37W and DT-210)?
 
Regarding directionality and the ability to null strong local signals.  The SRF-M37W performs well in this regard.  I live about 25 miles from the Chicago blowtorch sticks on 670, 720, and 780.  I'm able to null them easily and listen to the adjacent channels.  Easily enough to negate the previously discussed sensitivity issues.  I have a DX 375 and a Yacht Boy 300 that both outperform the SRF-M37W on the AM band, but the Sony still does quite well overall. Also, I do a lot of traveling in my work and the SRF-M37W is much easier to travel with. 

FM performance is okay....not great, but still noticably better than most walkman-type devices.  WB is weak....both in sensitivity and selectivity.  I have a WB in my wife's car, which regularly pulls in stuff from 50+ miles away (although the AM is pure crap!).  The SRF-M37W is generally only reliable for 10-15 miles....if that.
 
There is a new small radio that has exceptional FM capabilities now being sold in the US as the Grundig G8 and Tecsun PL-300WT. Tecsun makes the radio for Eton/Grundig, and the are identical. I have a G8 on order and I have read some very good things about the FM reception for these radios. You can purchase the G8 through Amazon and the PL-300WT through Chinese Ebay sellers. If you are looking for a small FM radio for carrying with you, this might be what you want. (5.3 x 3.4 x 1 inches)

You're delving into the world of ultralight radios and there are a couple of places you can look for advice. www.dxer.ca is a website dedicated to DXing primarily using ultralight radios and has documented a lot of comparison tests and information. You might also consider joining the Yahoo group, Ultralight DX.

Hope that helps.
 
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