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How many presets?

D

dxer720

Hi all:

Here's a fun thread...

I collect radios of all sorts.

I just got a 2nd Tecsun PL-660. These are great radios. One, however is a bit different (updated) than the 1st. But the 1st one performs better.

The reason I'm writing this, is that this radio has 2000 presets. WAY OVERKILL!! I'll never use that many. I still have my Realistic DX440 that has only 9 presets. That's not enough.

How many presets, do you think, are the right number for a LW/MW/SW/FM radio?
 
Depends on what city you are in. If you are in LA or NY, then you need many (say 15). If you are in a town with two stations, that kind of says it.
 
My Sony XDR-F1HD has 20 FM & 20 AM.

I rarely use the AM at all; in fact I have no AM antenna on it at this time; as for FM I use all 20 to good DX frequencies and/or local stations I like (which aren't many!). Its drawback is that once it's unplugged for a long time, you have to go thru the whole rigamorole again. (I take it on DX trips, so it's not unusual---apologies to Tom Jones).

cd
 
I used to have a Technics Tuner, connected to an outside antenna, with 39 presets, either AM or FM. It used to be cool, before IBOC, to put many of the regular near DX signals (within 100-200 miles) on the presets. You could put it on the 50 kHz tuning setting and detune 50 kHz to get stations that were first adjacents to local stations. It was a little distorted and had no stereo, but it didn't drift like some of the very best selectivity analog tuners.
 
My Eton E-10 has 500 presets....which I think is ridiculous. IIRC my old Grundig Yacht Boy 300 had 30, which seems about right.
 
If you travel at least have these on your FM presets:
92.3, 93.1, 93.9, 94.7, 95.5, 96.3, 97.1. 97.9, 98.7, 99.5, 100.3, 101.1, 101.9, 102.7, 103.5, 104.3, 105.1, 105.9, 106.7, 107.5.

Those are the big city allocations just in case you have a layover in NYC, LA, Chicago and Detroit.
 
radiorob2.0 said:
If you travel at least have these on your FM presets:
92.3, 93.1, 93.9, 94.7, 95.5, 96.3, 97.1. 97.9, 98.7, 99.5, 100.3, 101.1, 101.9, 102.7, 103.5, 104.3, 105.1, 105.9, 106.7, 107.5.

Those are the big city allocations just in case you have a layover in NYC, LA, Chicago and Detroit.
Click to expand...

Or, Manila.... :D (you can add the frequencies 88.3, 89.1, ....-91.5 there as well)

cd
 
I have a G8 traveller II that has 100 presets each for AM, LW, FM and SW I can also set the AM to 9khz spacing and add another 100 for AM without erasing the existing 10khz spaced presets. I've already opted for using the FULL FM band, from 64 to 108 MHZ. I have 3 stations programmed below 88.1. I have 77.77 for local CBC tv audio (unitl analogue shutoff) I get the local weather station at 83.91 for some reason and Global tv at 87.75 There's a 3rd tv channel...TV Ontario but the signal is so weak I can't always hear it.
 
I normally don't use presets, but on my Tecsun PL-390, I stored all the FM frequencies 88.1 to 107.9 on 100 of the 550 presets. I don't use the presets on the Sony XDR-F1HD due to presets being lost.
 
For worldband rigs, I would program all the frequencies for given stations next to each other for easy flipping back and forth to reduce fading. That was back in the day, as few broadcasters target first world countries these days. In my car, I have all the local Classical 24 frequencies programmed on adjacent buttos.
 
I have a 12 year old Philips jam box with 30 presets that can be used for AM or FM.

OK, along the same lines, how many presets are available in cars? My 2005 Ford Focus has 18 (12 FM and 6 AM) and my 2005 Dodge Caravan has 20 (10 each on AM and FM). For me 5 is plenty for AM, but I like having 12 or more for FM. I travel for my main job and I try to keep all the K-LOVE, Air 1, and WAY-FM stations that I can get (about 6), along with two other local CCMs and about 4 AC, rock, and oldies stations. As it stands now I keep about 10 for permanent stations and 2 for what I call floating presets for stations that I listen to when I'm in outer areas I work in or visit and will reset when I'm in other areas. I really wish I had 15 or 18 presets for FM, which I know is probably available on aftermarket tuners now, if not more.
 
ddsparxx said:
I normally don't use presets, but on my Tecsun PL-390, I stored all the FM frequencies 88.1 to 107.9 on 100 of the 550 presets. I don't use the presets on the Sony XDR-F1HD due to presets being lost.
Click to expand...

Thats a good idea on the Tecsun, its such a pain to tune on FM that thing. I unplug my XDR-F1HD when not using it, its on a switch with my amplifier/receiver.
 
ddsparxx said:
I stored all the FM frequencies 88.1 to 107.9 on 100 of the...presets.
Click to expand...
I hope you used 201-300 so they will be consistant with those FCC channels that nobody in the world except the FCC uses.
BTW...you can make 87.9 channel 200 as the FCC did!
dxer720 said:
Hi all:
How many presets, do you think, are the right number for a LW/MW/SW/FM radio?
Click to expand...
Everyone:
Stop telling about the presets on your AM/FM radios.
The OP is asking about multiband units, and multiband does not mean dualband.
And yes, the number of presets on a PDA or home PC can consist of a lot of digits.
 
ai4i said:
In my car, I have all the local Classical 24 frequencies programmed on adjacent buttos.
Click to expand...

In Europe, you can tune into a particular broadcaster (let's say Germany's HR 2 Kultur, for example) and they use the RDS to automatically change the frequency. As you start losing one HR 2 signal, it jumps to the next strongest HR 2 signal. Very handy, as you boot down the autobahn, from Frankfurt to Mannheim. ;D

As for my pre-sets, my DX-440 has 9, which is no where near enough. My D5 has 10 split between the AM & FM bands.

~BG
 
Some broadcasters in the US also used the RDS to change frequencies. I find it very annoying when travelling in the hills when it keeps switching, sometimes with unpredictable results.
 
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