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What Radio Should I Get?

boombox4 said:
As for DAB, I just looked at Sangean's website, they have two small Walkman sized radios that have DAB+ and FM w RDS.

Just scroll down and you'll see them. No idea about the price, though.

www.sangean.com

Portable Radio│The leading radio brand in Taiwan│SANGEAN Electronics

SANGEAN portable radios come in all shapes and sizes, they all deliver premium sound and outstanding reception with AM/FM bands, SANGEAN Electronics.
www.sangean.com www.sangean.com
Click to expand...
Looks to me like it would cost about 80 euros. A bit steep for a modern Walkman if you ask me. But maybe that’s just the way that things work with DAB+. One common complaint I’ve heard is that the radios just cost too much.
 
fordranger797 said:
I would like to have RDS, but if the AM is problematic on the 6686, I’ll probably have to go with a different option. One thing I’d like to do is catch some AM dx and sample the local AM offerings (for locations that still embrace AM).

I think Sangean may offer something that checks my boxes, but it probably won’t be small.
Click to expand...

Thats the thing about all these p[ortables... theyll do FM and SW well but not AM... or they do AM well, FM's ok but dont have RDs.... etc none of em do it all well.
 
Another radio you might want to consider is the XHDATA D-808 (or its clone, the Digitech AR-1780, which I own). It’s a little bigger than the CC Skywave (just over ultralight size) and has better sensitivity on AM and FM than the Skywave, plus RDS on FM.

It also shares with the Skywave the ability to narrow the bandwidth down to 1 kHz for those situations when you need good selectivity.

In addition, the XHDATA has the LW band, which could come in handy for hearing the remaining LW broadcast stations (not to mention NDBs) in Europe and Asia.
 
jim-satx said:
Another radio you might want to consider is the XHDATA D-808 (or its clone, the Digitech AR-1780, which I own). It’s a little bigger than the CC Skywave (just over ultralight size) and has better sensitivity on AM and FM than the Skywave, plus RDS on FM.

It also shares with the Skywave the ability to narrow the bandwidth down to 1 kHz for those situations when you need good selectivity.

In addition, the XHDATA has the LW band, which could come in handy for hearing the remaining LW broadcast stations (not to mention NDBs) in Europe and Asia.
Click to expand...
I’m really glad that you mentioned this! I’ve never heard of XHDATA before, and based on what you’ve said, that’s probably a bad thing (since this sounds like a good product).

Our friend in Alaska mentioned that no radio does everything perfectly. Good AM and FM reception is most important to me. Decent sound quality and overall build quality is probably second. Being able to check out LW would be an added bonus that I really didn’t think of.

If this radio does it all (and decently well), I’m interested. Are they pretty easy to find? Some brief searching online didn’t yield many results.
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
Thats the thing about all these p[ortables... theyll do FM and SW well but not AM... or they do AM well, FM's ok but dont have RDs.... etc none of em do it all well.
Click to expand...
Sadly that’s the problem. I’m glad someone else brought up XHDATA (a manufacturer that I had never heard of before). It seems like this company may have the edge over Tecsun in terms of overall build quality, but I’m still open to all possibilities right now.

I think I was focused on the Tecsun 320 since it seems like it does AM and FM pretty well. Maybe it’s not an amazing product, but hopefully it’s better than trying to dx and scan the local dial with a crappy hotel radio.

I’ll leave the floor open for any opinions on Tecsun versus XHDATA!
 
fordranger797 said:
I’m really glad that you mentioned this! I’ve never heard of XHDATA before, and based on what you’ve said, that’s probably a bad thing (since this sounds like a good product).

Our friend in Alaska mentioned that no radio does everything perfectly. Good AM and FM reception is most important to me. Decent sound quality and overall build quality is probably second. Being able to check out LW would be an added bonus that I really didn’t think of.

If this radio does it all (and decently well), I’m interested. Are they pretty easy to find? Some brief searching online didn’t yield many results.
Click to expand...

It’s available on amazon.com. Amazon also sells a smaller, cheaper model, the XHDATA D-109, which is supposedly closer to the CC Skywave in AM reception but still superior in FM reception.

I just noticed that there is also a D-109WB model that adds the weather band.
 
fordranger797 said:
Sadly that’s the problem. I’m glad someone else brought up XHDATA (a manufacturer that I had never heard of before). It seems like this company may have the edge over Tecsun in terms of overall build quality, but I’m still open to all possibilities right now.

I think I was focused on the Tecsun 320 since it seems like it does AM and FM pretty well. Maybe it’s not an amazing product, but hopefully it’s better than trying to dx and scan the local dial with a crappy hotel radio.

I’ll leave the floor open for any opinions on Tecsun versus XHDATA!
Click to expand...
i would take the xhdata over tecsun i think the xhdata has better audio and reception
 
Okay everyone, I believe we officially have a three way race. The radio dxing Olympics, if you will. Here is what I’ve narrowed it down to.

XHDATA D808. This is the one that would probably be best, as I’d like good AM, FM, and LW (as an added bonus). It seems like everyone likes this option the most.

Tecsun PL320. Another good option. Perhaps a bit cheaper. Seems to do everything I need.

C Crane Skywave. This model may or may not be discontinued, but either way it seems like it does most of what I need it to do. Probably won’t be getting this radio but since I called it three way race, I’ll add it into the mix.

I’m leaning towards getting the XHDATA and calling it good!
 
fordranger797 said:
Okay everyone, I believe we officially have a three way race. The radio dxing Olympics, if you will. Here is what I’ve narrowed it down to.

XHDATA D808. This is the one that would probably be best, as I’d like good AM, FM, and LW (as an added bonus). It seems like everyone likes this option the most.

Tecsun PL320. Another good option. Perhaps a bit cheaper. Seems to do everything I need.

C Crane Skywave. This model may or may not be discontinued, but either way it seems like it does most of what I need it to do. Probably won’t be getting this radio but since I called it three way race, I’ll add it into the mix.

I’m leaning towards getting the XHDATA and calling it good!
Click to expand...
I had two XHDATA D-808s and sold them because of constant battery drain, even when the radios weren't used. They had to be charged at least once every couple of weeks. I tried different 18650 lithium-ion batteries; there was some variation in drain, but it never went away. Since I had two Digitech AR-1780s, which are essentially the same radio (using 4 AA batteries), I sold the XHDATA units to Gary DeBock for his loopstick modification projects.

The XHDATA is very good on AM, aided by its slightly larger size that enables a longer ferrite antenna to be placed in the unit compared to other radios in this class. On FM, the threshold for triggering stereo is set too high; in other words, stations that should be strong enough to be received in stereo are received in mono instead. Another annoyance is that, to enter a station's frequency directly, you have to first press the FREQ button. If you start by just pressing numbers, you wind up in whatever memory position corresponds to the first number you pressed. On the other hand, there are up and down buttons for tuning as well as a knob, which is a nice feature for lightweight scanning. Alarm setting is super easy.

The XHDATA D-808 has reportedly been through two revisions - Jay Allen has the details on his website. The units I had were the first generation models.
 
Mark Roberts said:
I had two XHDATA D-808s and sold them because of constant battery drain, even when the radios weren't used. They had to be charged at least once every couple of weeks. I tried different 18650 lithium-ion batteries; there was some variation in drain, but it never went away. Since I had two Digitech AR-1780s, which are essentially the same radio (using 4 AA batteries), I sold the XHDATA units to Gary DeBock for his loopstick modification projects.

The XHDATA is very good on AM, aided by its slightly larger size that enables a longer ferrite antenna to be placed in the unit compared to other radios in this class. On FM, the threshold for triggering stereo is set too high; in other words, stations that should be strong enough to be received in stereo are received in mono instead. Another annoyance is that, to enter a station's frequency directly, you have to first press the FREQ button. If you start by just pressing numbers, you wind up in whatever memory position corresponds to the first number you pressed. On the other hand, there are up and down buttons for tuning as well as a knob, which is a nice feature for lightweight scanning. Alarm setting is super easy.

The XHDATA D-808 has reportedly been through two revisions - Jay Allen has the details on his website. The units I had were the first generation models.
Click to expand...
Well that sounds a bit frustrating. I'd probably rather have the more basic Tecsun radio if it means not having to deal with constant charging and battery life issues.

Then again, I could just go out and get Kelly's crystal radio set and call it a day.
 
fordranger797 said:
Well that sounds a bit frustrating. I'd probably rather have the more basic Tecsun radio if it means not having to deal with constant charging and battery life issues.

Then again, I could just go out and get Kelly's crystal radio set and call it a day.
Click to expand...
Ha!

If it weren't for the problem I have with the one FM station that won't go into stereo despite fairly decent signal strength, I'd be more favorably disposed toward the Qodosen DX-286, since I'm more of an FM listener than an AM listener. It's been pointed out here that there's no perfect receiver; there are always compromises. The Tecsun for me is something of a compromise because of the very aggressive AGC on AM. But many other things about it work for me. The Qodosen is almost as good for me, but aside from the KJAC issue, the ergonomics can be a little weird. The XHDATA D-808 is probably the most sensitive of them all on AM, but there are more deficiencies on FM than I would like. That, at least, is my own perspective.
 
Mark Roberts said:
Ha!

If it weren't for the problem I have with the one FM station that won't go into stereo despite fairly decent signal strength, I'd be more favorably disposed toward the Qodosen DX-286, since I'm more of an FM listener than an AM listener. It's been pointed out here that there's no perfect receiver; there are always compromises. The Tecsun for me is something of a compromise because of the very aggressive AGC on AM. But many other things about it work for me. The Qodosen is almost as good for me, but aside from the KJAC issue, the ergonomics can be a little weird. The XHDATA D-808 is probably the most sensitive of them all on AM, but there are more deficiencies on FM than I would like. That, at least, is my own perspective.
Click to expand...
That you’re wrong! My vintage GE SuperRadio is the perfect receiver. Sadly, it’s too heavy to be lugging around on all of my travels, so I guess I have to compromise and pick something that will get the job done.
 
Just to add a couple of data points. I now have a Terk passive loop for AM reception and tried it out with both the Qodosen and the Tecsun PL-320. Both radios can accept a direct mediumwave antenna input, bypassing the internal antenna. The Qodosen came out ahead on this comparison: it was less susceptible to noise than the Tecsun. Some of it may be the Tecsun's extremely aggressive AGC which can really beat up a station with highly compressed audio, but I think the Qodosen is just better able to deal with noise on weak signals.

It would be great if a radio performed well with few quirks on both AM and FM, but I have yet to see it. The Qodosen almost got there, but the problem with not getting stereo reception even from a moderately-strong FM signal from one station (KJAC) has spoiled it for me. I'm planning some travel in October and November; if I take the Qodosen, I'll have to take something else for FM as well.
 
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