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Question about Sangean Pocket radios

J

jras20

Not sure if I could post this, but I was wondering who all has a Sangean pocket radios? I'm thinking about getting the Sangean DT-300-VW mainly because it has weather reception. I have a sony radio but the problem that I dont like about it is if your near a strong tower it bleeds over to much on the other stations on FM. How does the Sangean handle that? I want to try a new radio next time, but it must have weather because I also take it out to the coast.
Thanks in advance!
 
I have the Sangean DT-300-VW and I have the DT-210V, as well as a number of Sony Walkman models. Both Sangean radios are a bit better for AM reception than the Sonys are. And, I find the DT-210V to be the better of the two when it comes to AM reception. The DT-300-VW has a red tuning light which sometimes interferes with marginally strong AM signals (a strange glitch).

However, if it's FM that you're interested in, I find that the DT-300-VW is a bit better than the DT-210V and better than any Walkman that I've had. It has better selectivity than any of the other personal portables that I've used and seems to do a good job of pulling in weaker stations - even in a metro area with numerous stong FM signals nearby. The TV portion of the radio works equally well.

The only drawback is that the weather band reception tends to be limited to one signal bleeding over about 6 channels - if you are in an area with one strong NOAA wx radio station. Not that this is unique to the DT-300, Sony Walkman-style radios do the same thing. But, it was worth mentioning.

Both Sangean radios have a speaker and a mono/stereo switch, which Sonys do not have. If you use the speaker for FM/TV/WB, you must have the pigtail antenna (which comes with it) or headphones plugged into the headphone jack because that's the antenna. Personally, I have no issue with this and the speaker makes the radio more useful for certain things where you'd rather not be using headphones (like the shower, shaving, etc.).

I have just ordered one of the DT-200Vs to see how well it works...I've heard good things. Hope this helps!
 
Looks like a good radio, but Weather reception is a must for me so I can check the latest bay waters forecastings...
 
Actually, I broke down and bought a Sony ICF-S10MK2. An awesome radio for $10 - you can't beat it for the price.

However, in a side by side with my Sangean radios, the Sangeans provide much better reception on both AM and FM. Plus, with the digital tuner, it sure is simpler to tune in weaker stations. Not to mention that the Sony does not provide stereo reception.

That being said, the Sony (which is 1/5 of the price) is a really nice little radio. It just depends what you're looking for. I see different uses for both.
 
BRNout said:
Actually, I broke down and bought a Sony ICF-S10MK2. An awesome radio for $10 - you can't beat it for the price.

However, in a side by side with my Sangean radios, the Sangeans provide much better reception on both AM and FM. Plus, with the digital tuner, it sure is simpler to tune in weaker stations. Not to mention that the Sony does not provide stereo reception.

That being said, the Sony (which is 1/5 of the price) is a really nice little radio. It just depends what you're looking for. I see different uses for both.
Click to expand...

But, aren't the Sangeans a bit smaller, thus would have smaller internal ferrite-bar antennas ? I grew up in the 1960's on transistor radios, so the Sony was a real natural - I am no longer using my digital PLL radios. :) The Sony, even with an analog-tuner, doesn't seem to drift, either - RadioIntel stated that it might use the same receiver chip, as their $90 digital PLL radios (I didn't know it, but there is such a thing as analog PLL). Anyway, I love the feel of it, and being able to slowly tune through the AM band - I had a real bad experience with the analog-tuned, digital-display Grundig S350, which I promptly returned to Radio Shack !
 
700WLW said:
But, aren't the Sangeans a bit smaller, thus would have smaller internal ferrite-bar antennas ? I grew up in the 1960's on transistor radios, so the Sony was a real natural - I am no longer using my digital PLL radios. :) The Sony, even with an analog-tuner, doesn't seem to drift, either - RadioIntel stated that it might use the same receiver chip, as their $90 digital PLL radios (I didn't know it, but there is such a thing as analog PLL). Anyway, I love the feel of it, and being able to slowly tune through the AM band - I had a real bad experience with the analog-tuned, digital-display Grundig S350, which I promptly returned to Radio Shack !
Click to expand...

Yes, they are a bit smaller - but have great tuners. The ferrite bar antenna systems in those units seem to work just great too.

Don't get me wrong, the Sony is a great little unit. But, it's tuner is more difficult (for some) to tune and is more subject to adjacent channel interference than the Sangeans. For dxers who are interested in having a nice, pocket sized radio - the Sangeans can't be beat.

On a cost per benefit basis however- the Sony can't be beat!

Frankly, I think that all of the above are great picks. Much better than most of the crap that you see on the shelf at Best Buy or Circuit City.
 
I was at Best Buy, the other day, and looked for HD radios (haha), and of course, there weren't any, but there were plenty of Sony pocket-radios (cool, never seen them at BB before). I have spent hundreds on AM/FM radios, both digital PLL and analog-tuned, but for some reason, I just love the Sony (I guess, I am just an old f*rt from the 60's, who grew up on transistor radios). That is what I figured, the Sony can't be beat on a per-cost basis (I am embarrased to admit that I bought a handful from J&R Music, at $10/each) - can't have too many radios ! On a very positive note, it looks like iBiquity's HD Radio/IBOC on the AM band is becoming more-and-more problematic (also, DRM in Canada), so it looks like AM DXing will be around for a while ! :) I am glad, that you are enjoying your Sangeans - just don't drop them ! :)
 
Hey WLW - you're right, the Sonys do take a better licking than the Sangeans. I suppose we have the small radio collection thing in common because I have different radios for different applications.

The Sony Sports Walkman AM/FM/TV/WB models seem to be the most rugged and - although not as sophisticated with reception as the Sangean models - they do a very respectable job. I've dropped those many times (sometimes spectacularly) and they keep on tickin'!! ;D

Am still waiting for my new Sangean DT-200 - its supposed to arrive from J&R tomorrow. An early Christmas gift to myself... 8)
 
I have no idea, if the Sonys are more durable than the Sangeans - at $50 - $60, I would hope the Sangeans are more durable. Have you done much DXing, with the Sangeans ? I haven't had the pleasure of dropping the Sony yet, but I bet, if I dropped it on the garage floor, it would come apart.
 
The Sony Sports Walkman units have a more rugged plastic case and handle dropping better than the average small radio. I've dropped 'em onto concrete floors a few times and they have been scuffed but undamaged. To be fair, I have dropped my Sangean radio once or twice - though not as hard. Like onto the tile floor from two or three feet up. No damage done. But, I wouldn't want to test that with a much harder drop - not at $50 a pop!!

I've done a bit of dxing with my Sangean Dt-210 and the DT-300VW and both do well as portables go. If you're in a setting where there are no overwhelmingly strong FM signals, they'll pull in just about everything that your car stereo can. I live about 20 mi west of Philadelphia and I can get Magic 93 from Wilkes-Barre (150 miles North) on both units. The Walkman and the S10 radios cannot pull the signal out from WXTU 92.5.

However, if you get too close to a really strong FM stick, the Sangeans will overload just as any other personal sized radio will. The DT-300VW seems to limit this issue better - and both do a bit better than any of my Walkman models. They'll both pull in AM signals very well - amazingly so for a little radio.

On the TV side, I can pick up signals from really far off!! Farther than standard FM signals travel. It's a lot of fun to travel with these. :D
 
Wish there was a walkman that wont overdrive a strong stick that is near, That is what I am really looking for is a good walkman that sticks near by wont bleed over all the others...
 
None of the little radios are great with the overloading issue. One of the more technically adept engineers can explain the reasons for that better than I can. However, in a side by side, you're still best off with the Sangean DT-300VW. The circuitry seems to be more sophisticated and it does a better (albiet not perfect) job of limiting overload.

From where I live, it's quite possible for a lesser radio to overload certain local FMs. The DT-300VW seems to shunt some of this over to TV channel 7 (where there's no local signal). In all cases, I can pull in a distant weak station that is as close as 0.4 MHz to the strong local.

However, in my travels I will admit that I have been in some small southern cities where there are a couple of 100 kw sticks very nearby and none of my portables did very well versus the overload factor. Not the Sangeans and not the Sonys. Augusta, GA comes to mind. But, even there I still pulled in some weaker stations from nearby cities - it was just that there was some bleed over near the frequencies in question and 10.7 MHz from them. Making some adjustments with the antenna cord was helpful in dealing with this too.

I didn't find that Sony's local/dx switch on the sports walkman was that helpful because when it was in local, you'd still only get the strong signals and nothing from the weaker ones.

In my experience, only good car stereos and great home receivers seem to avoid overload entirely. Every portable I have ever had can get overloaded. Even my Sony ICF-SW7600GR AM/FM/SW radio fights with overload. In its case, there's a dial that you can use to defeat the overloaded antenna (basically a sliding local/dx scale). It works, but it also goes to show that even this excellent radio has overloading issues - so they must be tough to avoid on portables.
 
Is there a local store that I can get it? I'd like to buy it locally just in case it doesnt work the way I'd like for it to. One of the problems with my sony, is that there is a 97.7 thats about 30-40 miles, then I get about 15 miles away from the transmitter and it almost kills all the other stations. 97.7 is a 100kw station, I would like to get others besides that one! :-[
 
I've bought these through J&R Electronics and through Amazon.com. Frys Outpost also has them. I do not know of any common, local type stores that have them (J&R is in NY and there are no 100000 watt 97.7s there! - so I know its not near you).

By the way, just got my DT-200 today and am a bit disappointed with it. The FM is quite a bit more prone to overload than any of the other Sangean units that I have in my arsenal - though the am seems fine.

My recommendation: get either the DT-210 (a newer model than the DT-200) or the DT-300VW (the one with AM/FM/TV/WB). My guess is that you'll like the DT-300VW better - and its a darn nice unit. You'll be pleased and will have no need to return it to a local store! ;)
 
BRNout said:
The Sony Sports Walkman units have a more rugged plastic case and handle dropping better than the average small radio. I've dropped 'em onto concrete floors a few times and they have been scuffed but undamaged. To be fair, I have dropped my Sangean radio once or twice - though not as hard. Like onto the tile floor from two or three feet up. No damage done. But, I wouldn't want to test that with a much harder drop - not at $50 a pop!!

I've done a bit of dxing with my Sangean Dt-210 and the DT-300VW and both do well as portables go. If you're in a setting where there are no overwhelmingly strong FM signals, they'll pull in just about everything that your car stereo can. I live about 20 mi west of Philadelphia and I can get Magic 93 from Wilkes-Barre (150 miles North) on both units. The Walkman and the S10 radios cannot pull the signal out from WXTU 92.5.

However, if you get too close to a really strong FM stick, the Sangeans will overload just as any other personal sized radio will. The DT-300VW seems to limit this issue better - and both do a bit better than any of my Walkman models. They'll both pull in AM signals very well - amazingly so for a little radio.

On the TV side, I can pick up signals from really far off!! Farther than standard FM signals travel. It's a lot of fun to travel with these. :D
Click to expand...

Hey BRNout, you were correct that the Sangean is the best DX'er - take a look at this review, and test results:

http://www.dealtime.com/xPR-Sony-ICF-S10MK2~RD-173554503300~r-1~CLT-INTR~RFR-aolsearch.aol.com
 
I believe my Sony walkman is about as sensitive as a car radio. The only problem that I dont like about it is that if a station is very strong, and your in a more fringe area than you will just recieve that one station for the most part. Other than that its a great walkman.
 
I've had a Sangean DT110 for several years, and it's durability seems find. Admittedly, I'm not particularly rough on it. And being a radio nerd, I have tons of radios...so sometimes I'm carrying my Sony SRF-M35 (cleaner on AM...lower distortion, better sound quality than the Sangean, and both more sensitive and less prone to overload on FM than the Sangean). I guess it comes down to how rough you are on radios. Remember...these things are cheap (25-40 bucks), so even if they break after two or three years, they still represent reasonable value!

I bought two SRF-M35s when my local Sam Goody store (now defunct!) had them on sale for half-price a few years back. I've never opened the second one...the first still looks, and performs like new. A GREAT Walkman portable...especially if AM is important to you, too!

The S350 is kind of a love it/hate it proposition. I love mine, but will concede that it has every fault 700WLW claims it does. To me, it's just worth the hassle. Your mileage may vary!
 
I bought one of the Sony ICF-S10MK2's at Sears in Daytona Beach. For a transistor radio, it does extremely well, good selectivity and sensitivity and great for late night listening with a set of earbuds. You can go to Radio Shack and get an adaptor (model # 274-882) to convert the mono output of this receiver to work on both earbuds. The only problem is it tunes to only part of the extended AM band, mine only up to 1660 khz. I haven't had time to "open it up", but anyone have a mod or tweak to allow it to tune to 1700 khz?

Thanks, Bill
 
KE4KLS_Radio said:
I bought one of the Sony ICF-S10MK2's at Sears in Daytona Beach. For a transistor radio, it does extremely well, good selectivity and sensitivity and great for late night listening with a set of earbuds. You can go to Radio Shack and get an adaptor (model # 274-882) to convert the mono output of this receiver to work on both earbuds. The only problem is it tunes to only part of the extended AM band, mine only up to 1660 khz. I haven't had time to "open it up", but anyone have a mod or tweak to allow it to tune to 1700 khz?

Thanks, Bill
Click to expand...

I have a handful of the Sonys, and absolutely love the radio - I find, that for a pocket-radio, the 2 1/4" speaker is pretty good (with the grill on the back, one reviewer, on Amazon, thought that it had two speakers):

"This nice pocket radio has speakers both in the front and the back (which I have never seen on any other portable radio), giving good full audio. From the other reviews, I expected decent value for the purchase price ($12.99) and this Sony is better than what I thought I'd get." :)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cu...630159-9046047?ie=UTF8&n=172282&s=electronics

Understandable, since it does sound that way. Yea, it only extends to 1660 khz (I'de have no idea how to tweak it)
, but there isn't much past that, at least, from Maryland - and yes, it's great for late-night AM DXing ! Glad, you are enjoying it !
 
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