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What DX Radio is best that is currently manufactured for AM, FM?

The Sangean PR-D5 that some of you raved about got somewhat mixed reviews on Amazon. Perhaps some of them are defective? I was not especially fond of the physical appearance, and there was also a complaint about battery life. Somebody who owns one please reassure me and maybe I'll bite...
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Maybe the not so good reviews were not by DXers? And also consider, the stronger the antenna and reception possibility, the stronger the unwanted interference from various power sources too.

As far as the battery life, it exceeded my expectations. I got my PR-D5 last summer and only first changed the batteries about two weeks ago.

Now, I have used the AC plug in chord at times when inside but not always and of course never when I've done all the DXing outside.

I think the appearance is great, almost like an old time portable in some ways. I think the simple appearance gives a false impression of how good it really is.
 
My Sangean PR-D5 has arrived and I may right now I can hear 3 of NYC's blowtorches about 240 miles away and possibly WEEU 830 Reading, PA which nulls toward me.
 
How do you judge its FM performance, in terms of sensitivity, selectivity, and sound quality? I'm getting tempted...
 
Early observations show that first adjacent selectivity on FM is bit too wide but good on 2nd adjacent. My guess is wide ceramic filters are being used. I think that if there were narrow filters, DSP processing like that of the little Grundig G8, or even a built-in HD radio, then that would be great. However, I think the design of tha PR-D5 may be dating back to 2004. I haven't yet finish testing out the sensitivity or sound quality. The two little speakers put out reasonably decent sound on music at low volume. The RDS on FM is a great idea. Wish there is such thing as AM RDS. I bought the radio mostly for AM DX.
 
ddsparxx said:
My Sangean PR-D5 has arrived and I may right now I can hear 3 of NYC's blowtorches about 240 miles away and possibly WEEU 830 Reading, PA which nulls toward me.
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Where exactly are you?

In my limited experience either with the car radio passing through down 95 or the time I stayed in Washington and the time I went camping in Virginia about 30 miles outside Washington when I was a kid, any NYC statioins couldn't be picked up during the day and only at night.

There was, however a section of I 95 between Washington and Richmond where a weak signal from WFAN could be heard on the car radio because of the bays and inlets.

If you're getting New York stations 240 miles away during the day which is a greater distance than Washington, that's a good deal.
 
In the house, I love my GE Superadio III. I listen mainly on AM and occasionally FM. AM reception is great!!! ;D

In the car, the Pioneer Supertuner IIID rules when it comes to reception. NOTHING BEATS IT!!! ;D
 
gar fla said:
Where exactly are you?

In my limited experience either with the car radio passing through down 95 or the time I stayed in Washington and the time I went camping in Virginia about 30 miles outside Washington when I was a kid, any NYC statioins couldn't be picked up during the day and only at night.

There was, however a section of I 95 between Washington and Richmond where a weak signal from WFAN could be heard on the car radio because of the bays and inlets.

If you're getting New York stations 240 miles away during the day which is a greater distance than Washington, that's a good deal.
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Manassas, VA, which is about 20 to 25 miles SW-W of Wash. DC. It was about 10:30 AM when I heard WFAN, WCBS, and WOR, with this radio though the signals were very weak whough WFAN was a little bit listenable. WCBS appeared to be the weakest of the 3. Can't pick up WABC because of bleed over from local WAVA 780.
 
MarioMania said:
Is the Insignia NSHD01 HD Radio Portable Player good besides for DXing??
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Well, I think you're asking if the Insignia HD portable is good for DXing and the answer is yes - it's decent. It is far from the most sensitive radio I have, but it is one of the most selective. On sensitivity, various larger radios like the E5/G5, KA1103, G8, PL-310, etc. are quite a bit more sensitive. However, only those armed with a DSP chip (like the Grundig G8 and Tecsun PL-310) are more selective. That's important in the crowded metropolitan environments in which most of us live. I'd say that the Insignia is a better FM dxer than the Sony Walkman - basically because the Walkman has difficulty picking weaker stations out of the mud when there's a first or second adjacent strong local nearby.

Yesterday, I was actually using the Insignia (a rare event) from my location that's 25 mi NNW of Chicago and about 65 mi S of Milwaukee. That radio was able to pull in weak mono signals from most of the Milwaukee FMs, despite them being first adjacents to Chicago signals. In one case, there's a strong local on 103.1 (and 92.7 and 106.7) which transmits from a tower which is 3 mi from my house. Strong enough transmitter that the cable guy tells me that Comcast has issues with all the RF leaking into the lines in this area. Yet,I was still able to pick out and listen to a weak Milwaukee signal on 102.9. So that's pretty darn good. The only other radios I have which do that have the DSP chip. Those are more sensitive and I can pull in more signals with those - but they're also larger in size too.

Of course, the major drawback to the Insignia is it's lack of an AM tuner. So, if you want to dx AM signals, you're out of luck. Also, it's no superstar when it comes to pulling in the HD signals. Then again, my thinking is that the technology has more to do with that than the design of this particular radio.
 
With the reviews surfacing about the Tecsun PL-310... I'm getting MORE than tempted! I already have a Kaito 1101. The 310 sounds better though. Can anyone justify the Tecsun outperforming the Kaito??? I would hope that the 310's DSP chip would be the "clincher".

The Kaito appeard "loaded" when I first got it. Now the Tecsun seems to offer even more! ;D
 
RBW said:
With the reviews surfacing about the Tecsun PL-310... I'm getting MORE than tempted! I already have a Kaito 1101. The 310 sounds better though. Can anyone justify the Tecsun outperforming the Kaito??? I would hope that the 310's DSP chip would be the "clincher".

The Kaito appeard "loaded" when I first got it. Now the Tecsun seems to offer even more! ;D
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The Tecsun is a lot better than the KA 1101. I have a four year old 1101 and the PL-310 outclasses it in every way. The 1101 is sensitive, but not so selective. So, it'll do pretty well with distant FM signals if you're nowhere near any towers. But, if you're in a major metro area, it doesn't do a particularly good job of picking out weak signals from adjacent strong ones. The PL-310 is great in all categories and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with it.
 
Thanks for the ringing endorcement ;D

I'd primarily be using it for AM, (and mostly to pick up regionally-distant daytime signals) so I'd hope in that regard that it would be useful... and again, superior to the Kaito.

My general theory (experience) has always been, that for skywave listening, most ANY decent AM radio will have its shining moments. It's during the daytime that my requirements are very stringent!
 
RBW said:
Thanks for the ringing endorcement ;D

I'd primarily be using it for AM, (and mostly to pick up regionally-distant daytime signals) so I'd hope in that regard that it would be useful... and again, superior to the Kaito.

My general theory (experience) has always been, that for skywave listening, most ANY decent AM radio will have its shining moments. It's during the daytime that my requirements are very stringent!
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The 1101 is more selective on AM (with narrow band set) than it is on FM; however, you still get a lot of adjacent channel slop. Don't get me wrong, I actually like my 1101 very much. One thing that's nice is how good an AM station can sound when in the wideband setting. If you're listening to a non-IBOC spewing AM signal in wide AM, it almost sounds as good as FM with that radio. That's why it's still a favorite of mine. But more for general use than dxing these days.

All that said, the PL-310, with the DSP chip and multiple bandwidth options (6, 4, 3, 2 and 1 kHz), seems to be a lot better at pulling out weak signals that are next to stronger ones. They are more equally matched when interference is not an issue, but even there I'd still give the edge to the Tecsun. That DSP chip really does wonders.
 
That's what I was hoping to know.

Thanks again BRN ;D
 
DanielBoone said:
In the house, I love my GE Superadio III. I listen mainly on AM and occasionally FM. AM reception is great!!! ;D

In the car, the Pioneer Supertuner IIID rules when it comes to reception. NOTHING BEATS IT!!! ;D
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I've settled in on a Supertuner IIID for the car (only downside is on FM it desenses within a mile of 50KW FM's) and the Tecsun PCL-310 portable. The 310 pulls in a 19 watt transaltor at 28 miles with the whip antenna extended. It pulls in good Class A FM's at 30 miles with the whip down. I'm very pleased with my selections.
 
My Tec-Sun PL-310 came just before I left on my trip to Germany. My initial reaction is that it's an incredible little set, with two caveats: 1) I bought mine on e-Bay from an outfit in Hong Kong and the model they sent me appears to only tune to 1620, which is no good because my Part 15 is on 1640 and 2) The sound quality coming out of that tiny, tinny little speaker leaves much to be desired for general listening. But that said, I noticed two things that I think are awesome: the FM sensitivity and selectivity appear to be really good, and I loved the digital signal strength meter on AM. I think that will be a very useful tool for my Part 15 AM operation (if I can get a unit that can tune to 1700).
 
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