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JVC KT-HDP1 now $9.97 at Radio Shack on line
- Thread starter phil
- Start date
Nick said:
Its not that they are cheap, its that they aren't selling, so retailers like Radio Shack are taking a loss to get rid of their slow moving inventory. Then companies like Sony simply stop producing the units. Maybe its the recession, maybe its the short comings of HD radio, but either way people don't have an interest. But it wouldn't be a bad idea for a radio station to buy up a bunch of these since they are so cheap and give them away on air or something to try to promote HD2, at least until Radio Shack sells out, and then I doubt they are getting anymore.
I won't buy one, even at that price, for two reasons: no RDS, and gets too hot. My 1st HD radio was a 'barn burner' running at 95 degrees F and it died in less than two years; with lead-free solder, anything that runs warm will die an early electrical death in 2-3 years. Same for original XBOX - lead free solder and the main power leads coming in would go to hell and catch fire, so Microsoft sent out a special "GFCI/AFCI" to plug into the box - well, even that crapped out too!
You can't get it at the store, and they also want another $7 to deliver it, so much for the $10, now $17 HD radio.
I purchased the JVC from Radio Shack two days ago. A store in St. Louis had a return, so they had it in stock, and I bought it at the $9.97 price.
For the past two years, I have used the Insignia portable to listen to some of the HD subchannels in the St. Louis area. To improve reception, I connect a simple wire to the outside car antenna. With that, the Insignia performs reasonably well on the stations I like (KSHE-2, and "Deep Tracks" on WARH's HD-2).
For the JVC, I am using the direct car antenna connection. Unlike the Insignia, a simple wire will not work as well. Both KSHE-2 and Deep Tracks perform well on the JVC. In addition, NPR's KWMU puts out a solid signal on their two HD subchannels. I have been surprised that it decodes KCLC St. Charles, MO and WLCA Godfrey, IL. KCLC directs its signal to the north and west, and WLCA is 1400 watts. Both are difficult to receive where I live as a rule, and the Insignia does not receive these stations at all at my home.
As for the AM section, the JVC performs badly, but I did not expect it to work anyway.
The JVC does get warm, as others have said. Neither my Insignia nor my Sangean tuner heat up.
Like the Insignia portable, the HD subchannels cannot be stored as a preset. The radio will default to the main channel. That is a major drawback. My Sangean does store the individual HD-2's and HD-'3's.
For me the real test for the radio will be along the Great River Road between Alton and Grafton, IL. Digital of all types (cell, radio, DTV) takes a beating when the limestone bluffs are between you and the tower. I'll know more about that after the weekend.
I wouldn't have spent $140 on it, but for $10, sure.
For the past two years, I have used the Insignia portable to listen to some of the HD subchannels in the St. Louis area. To improve reception, I connect a simple wire to the outside car antenna. With that, the Insignia performs reasonably well on the stations I like (KSHE-2, and "Deep Tracks" on WARH's HD-2).
For the JVC, I am using the direct car antenna connection. Unlike the Insignia, a simple wire will not work as well. Both KSHE-2 and Deep Tracks perform well on the JVC. In addition, NPR's KWMU puts out a solid signal on their two HD subchannels. I have been surprised that it decodes KCLC St. Charles, MO and WLCA Godfrey, IL. KCLC directs its signal to the north and west, and WLCA is 1400 watts. Both are difficult to receive where I live as a rule, and the Insignia does not receive these stations at all at my home.
As for the AM section, the JVC performs badly, but I did not expect it to work anyway.
The JVC does get warm, as others have said. Neither my Insignia nor my Sangean tuner heat up.
Like the Insignia portable, the HD subchannels cannot be stored as a preset. The radio will default to the main channel. That is a major drawback. My Sangean does store the individual HD-2's and HD-'3's.
For me the real test for the radio will be along the Great River Road between Alton and Grafton, IL. Digital of all types (cell, radio, DTV) takes a beating when the limestone bluffs are between you and the tower. I'll know more about that after the weekend.
I wouldn't have spent $140 on it, but for $10, sure.
The direct car connection would be a problem for me… the antenna in my car has an amplifier built into its base and it has completely corroded out. It does not work anymore. It's a cheap fix, but involves dropping the headliner. Ouch.
As for HD, St. Louis is one of those markets where it works a lot better than you'd expect. With just the Insignia portable and the antenna wire draped over the rear view mirror, I drove the entire "loop" (I-270 and I-255) one evening and didn't receive more than one or two second-long dropouts on one of the high powered HD-2 channels. WLCA never decoded anywhere in the city and KCLC only in the far western suburbs, and was tricky at that. The rest were pretty solid. I carried the HD on the big stations most of the way west to Hermann, if I remember correctly.
I live in a pretty strong signal area and if the JVC had RDS and worked better with a wire antenna I might spring for it. My big issue here with the Insignia is dropouts due to overload. It works pretty good at about 20 miles out, but anything less (where I can usually see the three tall towers for this market's high power TV and FM stations) it has a lot of troubles.
As for HD, St. Louis is one of those markets where it works a lot better than you'd expect. With just the Insignia portable and the antenna wire draped over the rear view mirror, I drove the entire "loop" (I-270 and I-255) one evening and didn't receive more than one or two second-long dropouts on one of the high powered HD-2 channels. WLCA never decoded anywhere in the city and KCLC only in the far western suburbs, and was tricky at that. The rest were pretty solid. I carried the HD on the big stations most of the way west to Hermann, if I remember correctly.
I live in a pretty strong signal area and if the JVC had RDS and worked better with a wire antenna I might spring for it. My big issue here with the Insignia is dropouts due to overload. It works pretty good at about 20 miles out, but anything less (where I can usually see the three tall towers for this market's high power TV and FM stations) it has a lot of troubles.
If it had RDS, I'd be happy with my $17 purchase. But it doesn't.
$17 isn't worth the hassle of returning it, since nearly half the price was shipping and sales tax. Even though it was cheap, it wasn't money well spent. I got more than what I paid for, but not buying it would have been a better decision. Now I have to put up with daily spam messages from Radio Shack. There is no free lunch.
Mine will probably be relegated to my junk box which is full of other foolish electronic devices. It rates up there with my Pet Rock, but consumes a lot more energy.
$17 isn't worth the hassle of returning it, since nearly half the price was shipping and sales tax. Even though it was cheap, it wasn't money well spent. I got more than what I paid for, but not buying it would have been a better decision. Now I have to put up with daily spam messages from Radio Shack. There is no free lunch.
Mine will probably be relegated to my junk box which is full of other foolish electronic devices. It rates up there with my Pet Rock, but consumes a lot more energy.
I ordered one of these when I saw this post last week, received it Friday and installed it over the weekend. I've been an HD skeptic right along and vowed I wouldn't invest major money in a radio for it. For less than $20 I was willing to take a chance.
Had my first test of it this morning on my way to work (traveling from Cape Cod to Boston) and it worked a lot better than I expected. On the Cape I was able to reliably receive several Boston FMs in HD and their sub channels(most of the Boston FMs are fringe on the Cape - the local stations aren't running HD). As I headed north toward the city, the number of HD stations decoded increased sharply. Most of the Boston FMs were running HD with many HD2 and 3 sub channels as well. Also was able to reliably decode WSRS in Worcester and WHJY in Providence.
On AM, coverage on the Cape is fringe at best (even for WBZ which has its null toward the east) but by the time I got to Plymouth WBZ HD was decoding and soon after WMKI (Radio Disney) and then WKOX (Spanish).
All the stations I heard had the analog and HD in sync so the transition from analog to HD was smooth. Most stations were broadcasting text (song info, etc.) a notable exception being WBZ-AM (its simulcast on WBZ-FM HD3 had text displayed).
Sound quality of HD - my initial impression is it was quite good. Radio Disney on AM-HD sounded better than on XM Sat radio. WBZ-AM used to sound very impressive in wide band analog AM Stereo on a Denon TU-680NAB and in my Ford Expedition. I'd say this was a close second. On FM I don't notice much difference between HD and analog. I may need to spend some more time, though, to get a better sense of it.
Compliments - HD worked and sounded better than I expected. For the price this JVC radio is a good deal especially with the pro-auto install kit which allows direct connection to the antenna and in dash radio to maximize reception.
Complaints - channel selection is via "scan" only; wish I could step through the channels manually. The unit does run hot when it's built in FM transmitter is used - runs much cooler with that feature turned off (my INNO XM radio does the same thing) but that requires an Aux input on the in dash receiver to accomplish. The "home dock" seems to be no longer available - will keep looking as I would like to try it out. The analog mode is not great (no RDS on FM and noisy/limited bandwidth on AM) but I bought this for HD. I'll use the in dash receiver for analog.
HD maybe end up going the way of AM Stereo but as a gadget guy living in an area with a good number of HD stations on both FM and AM, I've had $17 worth of fun with it so far.
Had my first test of it this morning on my way to work (traveling from Cape Cod to Boston) and it worked a lot better than I expected. On the Cape I was able to reliably receive several Boston FMs in HD and their sub channels(most of the Boston FMs are fringe on the Cape - the local stations aren't running HD). As I headed north toward the city, the number of HD stations decoded increased sharply. Most of the Boston FMs were running HD with many HD2 and 3 sub channels as well. Also was able to reliably decode WSRS in Worcester and WHJY in Providence.
On AM, coverage on the Cape is fringe at best (even for WBZ which has its null toward the east) but by the time I got to Plymouth WBZ HD was decoding and soon after WMKI (Radio Disney) and then WKOX (Spanish).
All the stations I heard had the analog and HD in sync so the transition from analog to HD was smooth. Most stations were broadcasting text (song info, etc.) a notable exception being WBZ-AM (its simulcast on WBZ-FM HD3 had text displayed).
Sound quality of HD - my initial impression is it was quite good. Radio Disney on AM-HD sounded better than on XM Sat radio. WBZ-AM used to sound very impressive in wide band analog AM Stereo on a Denon TU-680NAB and in my Ford Expedition. I'd say this was a close second. On FM I don't notice much difference between HD and analog. I may need to spend some more time, though, to get a better sense of it.
Compliments - HD worked and sounded better than I expected. For the price this JVC radio is a good deal especially with the pro-auto install kit which allows direct connection to the antenna and in dash radio to maximize reception.
Complaints - channel selection is via "scan" only; wish I could step through the channels manually. The unit does run hot when it's built in FM transmitter is used - runs much cooler with that feature turned off (my INNO XM radio does the same thing) but that requires an Aux input on the in dash receiver to accomplish. The "home dock" seems to be no longer available - will keep looking as I would like to try it out. The analog mode is not great (no RDS on FM and noisy/limited bandwidth on AM) but I bought this for HD. I'll use the in dash receiver for analog.
HD maybe end up going the way of AM Stereo but as a gadget guy living in an area with a good number of HD stations on both FM and AM, I've had $17 worth of fun with it so far.
Personally, the "Jump" was the best of the HD radios I saw/had. It was so good, it was stolen out of the car.
The "Jump" had a remote available but it only came with the home kit, which I was unable to optain.
I would put another "Jump", but I haven't found another.
..and you could step tune it.
Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
The "Jump" had a remote available but it only came with the home kit, which I was unable to optain.
I would put another "Jump", but I haven't found another.
..and you could step tune it.
Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
From personal experience this is why I would never install any aftermarket electronics in my car. They're an open invitation to break-ins. Nav units are a favorite for loser-types to steal so they can scrape up another ten bucks for crack. Long ago I tossed the Magellan into the old-stuff box and started using the voice-activated Google Nav function on my Droid, which works much better anyway.
About a year ago I had the passenger-side window smashed out of my Jeep while it was parked at Macaroni Grill, on a late sunny weekday afternoon and right under a surveillance camera, because there were a UPS and a FedEx package visible on the front seat.
Hope the perps enjoyed the size-ZERO dress my girlfriend had ordered and the nose-hair trimmer too (no, the shaver wasn't for her.)
About a year ago I had the passenger-side window smashed out of my Jeep while it was parked at Macaroni Grill, on a late sunny weekday afternoon and right under a surveillance camera, because there were a UPS and a FedEx package visible on the front seat.
Hope the perps enjoyed the size-ZERO dress my girlfriend had ordered and the nose-hair trimmer too (no, the shaver wasn't for her.)
Thank you for that clarification, the visual I was getting wouldn’t go away...Savage said:From personal experience this is why I would never install any aftermarket electronics in
my car. They're an open invitation to break-ins. Nav units are a favorite for loser-types
to steal so they can scrape up another ten bucks for crack. Long ago I tossed the
Magellan into the old-stuff box and started using the voice-activated Google Nav function
on my Droid, which works much better anyway.
About a year ago I had the passenger-side window smashed out of my Jeep while it was
parked at Macaroni Grill, on a late sunny weekday afternoon and right under a
surveillance camera, because there were a UPS and a FedEx package visible on the front
seat.
Hope the perps enjoyed the size-ZERO dress my girlfriend had ordered and the nose-hair
trimmer too (no, the shaver wasn't for her.)
My preference was always what was built in. Unfortunately, the car companies were slow
to jump on things such as stereo, cassettes, and ...hd.
In years past,Pioneer, Panasonic, Alpine have made much better radios than the
Automakers were willing to provide.
I have stated before, I have a NTG-4, “software-defined” radio. If it is indeed software
defined, I should be able to define what I want it to do.
Whether I want decoding of C-QuAM, Kahn, Belar, Magnavox, Harris, or HD, or digital
audio of the TV stations or incorporate a taximeter with the “radio” display.
Unfortunately, I am unable to do that with factory models.
It was not my first break-in, it won’t be my last. It will continue until the automakers can
incorporate my preferences with the audio system as easily as they can fulfill my request
for captain’s chairs instead of the leather bucket seats.
To add these features should be one cd-rom, flash drive, or download away.
Yes, I would pay for it. It is cheaper than the inconvenience of replacing the window
busted out.
Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
Ahh, all so true. And now, "the good news".....most factory audio systems now incorporate an 1/8" TRS Aux jack. Now, with the appropriate patch cable, you can just plug in anything from an HD tuner to your Nano to your 1949 Pilotuner (don't forget the 200-watt AC inverter!)
Before you park, you can stash it all away out of sight where it won't represent a temptation to unemployed and hungry former iBiquity employees. Or Guy Wire.
Before you park, you can stash it all away out of sight where it won't represent a temptation to unemployed and hungry former iBiquity employees. Or Guy Wire.
Tell me more about this "software - defined radio"! Is code readily available to decode various items such as C-Quam, RDS, SCA, and DSP noise-blanking?
Of course, no encoding of the 'top-secret' iBiquity!
Is there an in-dash unit, or do you need a laptop to 'feed it'?
Of course, no encoding of the 'top-secret' iBiquity!
Is there an in-dash unit, or do you need a laptop to 'feed it'?
That is something that was a very long time in coming.Savage said:
We had the 1/4 in jack for headphones, patch cords, etc. I can understand how the size would have been restricting at the time, but why did we ever need cassette adapters? and FM modulators?
By the time the cassette adapters came out, we had the 1/8in jack, what else would the plug on the end have fit into?
I blame the auto manufacturers for the break-ins...
Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
Because it took auto radio makers forever to get 3.5mm jacks added to radios. Since it only requires a little bit of hardware I'm not sure why it took so long. USB ports is another thing you'd think would be standard by now. This could replace the 12v jack for many things like cell phones, ipods, etc which all charge from USB's 5 volts. A simple fused 12v to 5v conversion is all you need for in car USB power.
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