Small Portable Radio's?

[StarHalo]

Well you'll need a good radio while you're laying there recovering, hang in there; if I had to start from scratch today, I'd just get a CCRadio 3 and be done with it. Those older DX units are legends without question, but to get a copy and get it to stock condition would be more money and effort than just shelling out the $200 for a new radio with a warranty.

 

[jrgold]

Does anyone have experience with the Kaito KA700? It using a standard 18650 makes it very appealing to me.


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[StarHalo]

Does anyone have experience with the Kaito KA700? It using a standard 18650 makes it very appealing to me.

The aforementioned Tecsun PL-880 is an 18650 radio; its passive radiator speaker and feature set are geared for better DXing and casual listening than the Kaito, but the Kaito is more suited to emergency/no power scenarios.

 

[jrgold]

The aforementioned Tecsun PL-880 is an 18650 radio; its passive radiator speaker and feature set are geared for better DXing and casual listening than the Kaito, but the Kaito is more suited to emergency/no power scenarios.

Thank you, that's a high quality option. I really like the Bluetooth compatibility on the kaito tho. If the tecsun has that it would be a homerun


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[StarHalo]

Thank you, that's a high quality option. I really like the Bluetooth compatibility on the kaito tho. If the tecsun has that it would be a homerun

The catch is that the Kaito's speaker doesn't hold a candle to the Tecsun's; the Kaito is going to sound as you would expect, whereas the Tecsun is literally the same design as a standalone Bluetooth speaker, on par with a modest bookshelf/monitor speaker.

 

[jrgold]

The catch is that the Kaito's speaker doesn't hold a candle to the Tecsun's; the Kaito is going to sound as you would expect, whereas the Tecsun is literally the same design as a standalone Bluetooth speaker, on par with a modest bookshelf/monitor speaker.

I'm hoping the ka900 is a compromise

 

[Gene]

Not to change the subject and just filling space but perusing some of the Chinese sites lately, I've noticed almost all of their radios are now taking 18650 cells and most are now using TWO 18650 cells even with their very small radios.

They are also including battery compartment covers where you can remove the cells to replace them with better 18650 cells. It's amazing how things have changed when we were wishing just awhile back where they would accept better, long lasting cells.

Maybe, CCrane radios should do the same.

 

[StarHalo]

Not to change the subject and just filling space but perusing some of the Chinese sites lately, I've noticed almost all of their radios are now taking 18650 cells and most are now using TWO 18650 cells even with their very small radios.

They are also including battery compartment covers where you can remove the cells to replace them with better 18650 cells. It's amazing how things have changed when we were wishing just awhile back where they would accept better, long lasting cells.

Maybe, CCrane radios should do the same.

Only some people keep a charged phone charger on hand, otherwise I'd recommend that change since far more people have experience with charging their phones vs buying large format batteries now. But if you don't have a means to keep your devices charged for several days, the radio had better be running on some battery format that's common in your house..

 

[Gene]

I agree SH. Even though 18650 cells aren't as common as AAA, AA, C and D cells but with the vaping rage awhile back and with flashlights...etc., they are now fairly common.

They have decent capacity, chargers are cheap and good examples can sit for a good while without discharging much and when used in low drain electronics like radios, they can go on for a long time. Plus their smaller size is perfect for radios. I applaud the Chinese manufacturers for now including them in almost all their radios.

 

[vadimax]

You don't need a charger with a radio, batteries are being charged internally.

 

[StarHalo]

You don't need a charger with a radio, batteries are being charged internally.

Gonna want a powered wall outlet for that adapter; if you have a USB battery pack, now your radio is another device that can be charged with your phones/tablets/etc.

 

[5S8Zh5]

Panasonic RF-2400D spotted: The Assistant (2020).

 

[bmstrong]

https://www.youtube.com/c/hoshnasi/videos

 

[Lebkuecher]

The new Tecsun PL-990 and H-501 are finally nearing release. The first radio to become available will be the PL-990 and could start shipping as early as next week with the H-501 starting to ship in August or September. Anna has already shipped at least one final production copy of PL-990 international version with all of its features for review so hopefully within the next few days we will have a good idea how the radio compares.

 

[vadimax]

Gonna want a powered wall outlet for that adapter; if you have a USB battery pack, now your radio is another device that can be charged with your phones/tablets/etc.

Having a Jackery Explorer 240 this is not an issue to me

 

[Radio]

I may have already posted this but if I did it was ten years ago, if you can spend $500 for a flashlight you can spend $500 for a lifeline to the world. It is small, will run on AA batteries or 12v DC, Is handheld and completely self contained. You get AM, FM, Shortwave, all modes, all bands and if you have a license you can transmit. It will even do 4 watts on CB with a slight modification. It will do VHF and UHF, an amazing radio. It is the Yaesu FT-817 and has recently been upgraded to the new FT-818. Everyone should have one. Used they are $300-$500, you can get the new FT-818 on sale now for $569.69, almost $100 off the regular price.

I know it sounds crazy but just take a minute and look at what it can do, as a matter of fact I defy you to find something it doesn't do. Any questions feel free to PM me, I would love to help you decide, you may even end up getting your ham license so you can transmit. I know it's only 6 watts but that is what you want in an emergency. It can listen almost anywhere and thats what you will want in a SHTF situation. An all in one wonder box, small, light and runs on AA batteries.

 

[Lebkuecher]

I'm am now able to pick up communications from the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) on my Shortwave (7.268 lower sideband). I am in Tennessee. I'm sure as the sun goes down communication will be even better.

Anyone else?

 

[chillinn]

This one sounds fun; a thin (0.6") pocket radio with AM/FM/SW/CB/AIR/VHF [which covers WX.] Clock with seconds, signal db power meter, physical whip antenna, includes longwire antenna, internal Li-ion with Micro USB recharge, $37. Quite the pocket radio rig..

Not much discussion on it...

HanRongDa HRD-737 @ $37 on Amazon,
includes FM Stereo/AM/SW/CB/Air/VHF world band, which is really kind of a lot for such a small radio.

My only complaint is the battery is weird, would have preferred they use a 14500 or 10440, so one could use their charger and carry spares. Here's extra 900mAh 902040 batteries on eBay, with a little more capacity than the one it comes with. HRD-737 charger is built-in, and let's hope the charger specs are listed somewhere... but for such small capacity, I suppose we can assume it is slow charging at low mA.

Here's a mod to make it more sensitive

I had been eyeing the Eton Elite for some time, and it has come down dramatically in price, but it just doesn't compare to the HanRongDa HRD-737, which costs $7 more, unless you don't want all the shortwave bands, as well as CB, Air and VHF (everyone else here likely did not make this mistaken assumption, but VHF TV is no longer analog, so it does not receive TV channels). I prefer the click volume on the HanRongDa to the volume dial on the Eton.

 

[Lebkuecher]

There is finally a English review of the new Tecsun PL-990 international version posted on SWLing. I have been waiting for information on the PL-990 for some time as well as information on its big brother the duel speaker Tecsun H-501. The international version of the H-501 has yet to be reviewed but should be out shortly.

After watching the almost hour long review, I have to say I am disappointed. I have been a big fan of the PL-880 and was thinking its replacement would step up the performance but I'm not sure it has. Unfortunately the reviewer primarily focused on shortwave so I really have no feel for AM of FM performance but what is clear is the audio quality from the speaker which I love on the PL-880 was sacrificed to allow for more control functions to be placed on the front of the radio. Adding a SD card for a MP3 player as well as Bluetooth is a plus but with decreased audio quality I'm not sure what the point is. The Sync performance is also disappointing.

Tecsun PL-990x Initial Assessment

 

[Burgess]

Great Thread here !

lovecpf


Since we have all these intelligent, well-informed people gathered
together in one place, perhaps SOMEONE can help me:


Did SOMETHING just now happen to iHeartRadio ? ? ?


Worked FINE yesterday, on 8/26/2020,
and now, the VERY NEXT DAY, it doesn't work AT ALL ! ! !


Even their Website says: Sorry, NOT FOUND !


Anyone know WHAT'S going on here ? ? ?

Thank you for your help and insights.