R
rbrucecarter5
Guest
I have been really curious - is this thing the real deal? Having been frustrated for weeks by lack of stock at Frys and Amazon - I finally snagged a $57 return from Amazon - that has a scuff on the front panel, but not bad.
Being - as I am for the moment - a Houston / Dallas gypsy - after hefting heavy boxes all evening out of my van - I didn't even get to unpack the unit until 10PM last night. I was desperately tired. But could I resist the temptation to try out this mysterious little tuner? I think not!!!
I was prepared to be disappointed - and chalk this one up to hype - $57 wasted on another unit relegated to the guest bedroom. For once, I was pleasantly surprised! My relatives would probably not appreciate me putting up a yagi, so I did what most consumers would do - strung the dipole across anything I could - a headboard in this case. I am on a second floor which probably makes a difference --- but the dipole is by no means straight, it droops over the edge.
Power up - 87.5, I started up through the frequencies in Houston. It became very apparent this thing is a real station seeker - low power FM across town, came right in. As I went up through the frequencies, there were some Beaumont and Austin stations coming right in - and a double check with a GE Superadio FM section confirmed there was no skip going on. The real shocker was Dallas station KLTY coming in - on a dipole - with no skip! Granted my Cypress location gives me quite a boost towards the DFW area, but KLTY is definitely more than 200 miles away, and reception of an FM station 200 miles away with just a dipole - and no skip going on - is enough for me to take notice! I am going to see whether it is there after work today - usually a really bad time for FM skip, and keep documenting how reliable this might be.
I've heard the Sony ripped for AM performance, so with the little loop I started some exploring. I found it a solid performer, picking up the Cuban 530 without a problem, and the usual group of 50 kW clears you would expect from Houston at night, although ducting last night definitely favored Spanish language stations from the South, even WBAP and WOAI were seriously degraded by Spanish language chatter underneath.
If anybody cares about HD --- my listening location is 35 miles from the Mo City towers - all stations on that array locked in HD with no problems whatsoever. The only problem I had with a Houston local was with KSBJ, which is on a relatively short stick (900 feet) and probably a good deal further than the other Houston stations. Again, this was with a dipole incorrectly used. But still managing easy 35 mile range on HD - yet another indication that a power increase for HD FM is not justified by actual reception observations. The problems observed in the East are bad transmitting facilities and terrain - coupled with lower power. Probably - analog stereo was blending and dropping out on the same stations which people are complaining about HD coverage now.
AM HD would not lock on a single station, although I do acknowledge WOAI was seriously degraded by interference to the South no matter how I oriented the antenna.
Being - as I am for the moment - a Houston / Dallas gypsy - after hefting heavy boxes all evening out of my van - I didn't even get to unpack the unit until 10PM last night. I was desperately tired. But could I resist the temptation to try out this mysterious little tuner? I think not!!!
I was prepared to be disappointed - and chalk this one up to hype - $57 wasted on another unit relegated to the guest bedroom. For once, I was pleasantly surprised! My relatives would probably not appreciate me putting up a yagi, so I did what most consumers would do - strung the dipole across anything I could - a headboard in this case. I am on a second floor which probably makes a difference --- but the dipole is by no means straight, it droops over the edge.
Power up - 87.5, I started up through the frequencies in Houston. It became very apparent this thing is a real station seeker - low power FM across town, came right in. As I went up through the frequencies, there were some Beaumont and Austin stations coming right in - and a double check with a GE Superadio FM section confirmed there was no skip going on. The real shocker was Dallas station KLTY coming in - on a dipole - with no skip! Granted my Cypress location gives me quite a boost towards the DFW area, but KLTY is definitely more than 200 miles away, and reception of an FM station 200 miles away with just a dipole - and no skip going on - is enough for me to take notice! I am going to see whether it is there after work today - usually a really bad time for FM skip, and keep documenting how reliable this might be.
I've heard the Sony ripped for AM performance, so with the little loop I started some exploring. I found it a solid performer, picking up the Cuban 530 without a problem, and the usual group of 50 kW clears you would expect from Houston at night, although ducting last night definitely favored Spanish language stations from the South, even WBAP and WOAI were seriously degraded by Spanish language chatter underneath.
If anybody cares about HD --- my listening location is 35 miles from the Mo City towers - all stations on that array locked in HD with no problems whatsoever. The only problem I had with a Houston local was with KSBJ, which is on a relatively short stick (900 feet) and probably a good deal further than the other Houston stations. Again, this was with a dipole incorrectly used. But still managing easy 35 mile range on HD - yet another indication that a power increase for HD FM is not justified by actual reception observations. The problems observed in the East are bad transmitting facilities and terrain - coupled with lower power. Probably - analog stereo was blending and dropping out on the same stations which people are complaining about HD coverage now.
AM HD would not lock on a single station, although I do acknowledge WOAI was seriously degraded by interference to the South no matter how I oriented the antenna.
