Small Portable Radio's?

[Monocrom]

Here's something you don't hear of every day. I looked on EBay for several weeks for an opportunity to buy a like new DT-400w for a discount. Late last week I found one listed as new, offered at a big discount outright, and also accepting offers. It was missing the long wire antenna, but I've got replacements for that. Anyway, the seller accepted my bid. The total with shipping amounted to $20 off the retail price at Amazon now. I communicated with the seller to confirm it was in new condition.

The radio arrived this week with the metal earbud plug packed right up against the display. Sure enough, there were small scratches in the display. Not big one that are glaringly obvious, but I was unhappy. I submitted a return request with photos of the damages, which weren't easy to obtain with my phone, given the nature of the scratches. I received a return label and began packing the radio for the return.

To my surprise, the seller sent me a message very quickly after the return was initiated. He apologized for his mistake in packing the item, and told me to keep the radio for my trouble. I responded to ask him if he was sure about letting me keep the radio - but he said he wanted me to keep it. I certainly didn't expect that kind of integrity and generosity, given my past experience buying items in that community, but there it is.

I'm finding that the DT-400w provides the quality reception on the AM and FM bands that is provided by the DT-200x. The weather frequency reception seems rather weak on my unit, but it works. The interface with the controls is intuitive and functions well. Overall, it works and feels like a high quality product that I'll use quite a bit and enjoy.

Well, that tops my experience. The eBay seller whom I ordered my Tecsun from mentioned earlier in this thread, contacted me. Told me that shipping was delayed. It clearly wasn't his fault. Delay would be about 3 days. Surprisingly, he offered to refund my money or take 10% off, and do a partial refund. I took the 10% off. He was honest, and showed integrity. Very surprised by it.

Most sellers would have simply stayed quiet. And if a buyer sent an e-mail, the response would likely be, "Must have gotten hung up at the post office. It happens. Nothing I can do about it. I sent it out to you on time. Just be patient and wait awhile. It'll reach you. Sorry for the delay, but this isn't my fault. Post office screwed up."

Edit ~ Clarification.

 

[mightysparrow]

Well, that tops my experience. The eBay seller whom I ordered my Tecsun from mentioned earlier in this thread, contacted me. Told me that shipping was delayed. It clearly wasn't his fault. Delay would be about 3 days. Surprisingly, he offered to refund my money or take 10% off, and do a partial refund. I took the 10% off. He was honest, and showed integrity. Very surprised by it.

Most sellers would have simply stayed quiet. And if a buyer send an e-mail, the response would likely be, "Must have gotten hung up at the post office. It happens. Nothing I can do about it. I sent it out to you on time. Just be patient and wait awhile. It'll reach you. Sorry for the delay, but this isn't my fault. Post office screwed up."

Edit ~ Clarification.

Well, that's definitely an unusually nice response, so I'm impressed. Even though I was pleasantly surprised by a seller's behavior this week, I'm still going to be reluctant to buy anything of value in that particular marketplace, from here on. There are just too many dishonest people I've encountered there, and ways for transactions with honest people to go wrong, for me to take the risk and endure the trouble.

I've recently bought a few small camera cases on eBay that were new and offered cheap, for use with my new pocket radios, and I don't have hesitation in buying that kind of cheap and relatively unbreakable item from someone who seems to have a good feedback record and a photo of the item. But I'm going to shy away from anything more delicate and costly than that. That's just me - but I realize everyone has their own experience there and balances the risks and rewards of buying there in their own way.

 

[Monocrom]

Well, that's definitely an unusually nice response, so I'm impressed. Even though I was pleasantly surprised by a seller's behavior this week, I'm still going to be reluctant to buy anything of value in that particular marketplace, from here on. There are just too many dishonest people I've encountered there, and ways for transactions with honest people to go wrong, for me to take the risk and endure the trouble.

You mean eBay? Oh! Trust me, if you want to gamble on getting what you ordered, Etsy is the place for you. Over the past handful of years, I have ordered a staggering amount of items from Etsy. The con-man situation used to be somewhat bad back then. Now it has turned into a miserable cesspool! Speaking from a great deal of experience. My purchase pages on that site sits at 78. Which, for anyone who has gone over 1 page, will be a shocking amount of items bought!

Etsy Admins. do less-than-nothing when buyers get conned out of their money. At this point, they know what is happening. They don't care. They get their cut of money on each sale. No standards in place to vet out con-men from opening up shops on their site. They care enough to put up a B.S. banner that says they have Buyer safeguards in place. They don't.

At this point, I only buy from sellers whom I've known for years. Or, if I'm feeling lucky, I'll once in an extremely rare while take a chance on a new seller. But yeah, compared to Etsy; eBay does a fantastic job to lessen the chances of getting conned out of your money. (Bought a ton of stuff on eBay too.)

 

[mightysparrow]

You mean eBay? Oh! Trust me, if you want to gamble on getting what you ordered, Etsy is the place for you. Over the past handful of years, I have ordered a staggering amount of items from Etsy. The con-man situation used to be somewhat bad back then. Now it has turned into a miserable cesspool! Speaking from a great deal of experience. My purchase pages on that site sits at 78. Which, for anyone who has gone over 1 page, will be a shocking amount of items bought!

Etsy Admins. do less-than-nothing when buyers get conned out of their money. At this point, they know what is happening. They don't care. They get their cut of money on each sale. No standards in place to vet out con-men from opening up shops on their site. They care enough to put up a B.S. banner that says they have Buyer safeguards in place. They don't.

At this point, I only buy from sellers whom I've known for years. Or, if I'm feeling lucky, I'll once in an extremely rare while take a chance on a new seller. But yeah, compared to Etsy; eBay does a fantastic job to lessen the chances of getting conned out of your money. (Bought a ton of stuff on eBay too.)

Interesting to read of your Etsy experiences. I've had better luck there, although I haven't bought a lot there. I've run into a few Etsy sellers trying hard to help me get what I need from them, and not charging much for their work. But my experience there is limited. I appreciate the warning, though.

 

[W_D22]

Hello!

How surprising: this thread barely mentions the PL-330, and I haven't seen any reference to the CCRadio Solar. (The Solar is quite a nice "piece of kit" as they say—perhaps the nicest radio to incorporate a crank.)

I'd been considering buying the ICR-110 and PL-330 together. Would you all have any thoughts or suggestions? I've heard that the ICR-110 isn't the most robust device, so I'm slightly apprehensive.

Thanks.

 

[timbo114]

I own 3 of the ICR-110 units.
I have nothing but high praise for them.
The fact that I can power it with 18650 cells is just pure happiness.

Buy one, you'll be very pleased.

 

[aginthelaw]

Xiaomi Walkie Talkie 2S launches with 120-hour battery life

Xiaomi has launched the Walkie Talkie 2S in China. The gadget has a 1.77-in color display and weighs 139.5 g (~4.9 oz). The device can last up to 120 hours on a single charge in standby mode and can be used to communicate with other gadgets or listen to the radio. Plus, the Walkie Talkie 2S has...

www.notebookcheck.net

Is this legal to use in the USA without a license? Wondering if the fm radio is worth $44 if i can't use it as a walkie

 

[mightysparrow]

Xiaomi Walkie Talkie 2S launches with 120-hour battery life

Xiaomi has launched the Walkie Talkie 2S in China. The gadget has a 1.77-in color display and weighs 139.5 g (~4.9 oz). The device can last up to 120 hours on a single charge in standby mode and can be used to communicate with other gadgets or listen to the radio. Plus, the Walkie Talkie 2S has...

www.notebookcheck.net

Is this legal to use in the USA without a license? Wondering if the fm radio is worth $44 if i can't use it as a walkie

No. In the USA, 420-450 MHz is allocated by the FCC to the 70 CM amateur radio band.

 

[mightysparrow]

Hello!

How surprising: this thread barely mentions the PL-330, and I haven't seen any reference to the CCRadio Solar. (The Solar is quite a nice "piece of kit" as they say—perhaps the nicest radio to incorporate a crank.)

I'd been considering buying the ICR-110 and PL-330 together. Would you all have any thoughts or suggestions? I've heard that the ICR-110 isn't the most robust device, so I'm slightly apprehensive.

Thanks.

I just picked up a PL-330 on Amazon for a great price. I think it's great. It seems very sensitive and selective. The speaker sounds good for its size. Sure, the speaker doesn't sound like the PL-880 speaker, but it shouldn't be expected to.

I don't experience any major problems in tuning the radio - even though I can see why some reviewers have expressed qualms about the robustness of the tuning and volume knobs, and about difficulty in rapid tuning because of those knobs being surrounded in large part by the cabinet. Time will tell how it holds up over time.

My major questions about the radio are about how well the battery holds a charge, and how long the battery will remain healthy. I'm thinking about buying spare batteries, but I'm happy to report that, so far, my test for how long the battery will hold a full charge is going very well. It doesn't seem to be draining quickly while the radio is off. For the features and performance of this radio, I think it is an excellent value, from my perspective.

 

[Flying Turtle]

Recently gave in to the urge to add another cheap radio to the collection. I'd been watching some video reviews on YouTube by Todderbert. One kind of stood out. It was for a little AM/FM/SW unit from an unheard of brand, Rysamton. It was said to have good reception and sound decent. Furthermore it cost all of $16. First off, it's quite small - 4.5"x 2.5"x 1" and uses 2AA batteries. It's digital, has a dial light, sleep timer, rotatable antenna, key lock, and a kick stand. It sounds fine with earphones. No low level hiss and it has stereo. What really surprised me was its ability on AM. It pulls in stations almost as well as my Skywave. All is not perfect. It scans all the band to put stations into the presets. You can delete ones you don't want, but you cannot add those you want. But there are three favorites per band. Manually scanning the band is slow via a thumbwheel. Unfortunately there is no seek function, which would be especially useful on SW. Of course, no direct entry. Even with the shortcomings I'm pretty happy. I really didn't need this little radio, but that's never stopped me. BTW, I did just today see that this was available now with weather band instead of shortwave.

Geoff

 

[Flying Turtle]

One more inexpensive radio that I actually got prior to the Rysamton. Decided that any collection needed a modern crank and solar emergency radio. My ancient Freeplay and Lextronix (Eton) never worked that well, though they still function. I searched our favorite retailer for something with a digital tuner, dial light, clock, sleep timer, 18650 battery, and decent ratings. I only found about four that met those requirements, C. Crane, Sangean, Tecsun, and Maksh. Being a confirmed cheapskate of course I went with the Maksh at about 1/3 the price of the others. It does a decent job. Great reception on FM (thanks to DSP) and even good on AM. Weather band comes in well and it has an alert function. It's got volume and tuning knobs (I like that). Unfortunately it scans the bands and loads all the presets if you don't manually tune. You can't add or delete a preset manually. The flashlight is bright, but nothing special (only one mode) and the siren is loud. I'd say I'm pleased (except for the red-orange color). I shouldn't need another emergency radio for a long time.

Geoff

 

[KITROBASKIN]

I knew it would take some time but still waiting to hear back from @Monocrom about his radio comparisons.

 

[bykfixer]

Years ago my pop gave me his Bose table radio. That thing sounds sweet.

 

[Monocrom]

I knew it would take some time but still waiting to hear back from @Monocrom about his radio comparisons.

Sorry for the delay. Like I said, a few months of testing them both out. Last thing I want to do is recommend something after using it for a short while, works great; then craps out on me months down the road. Now I've just recommended something that only lasts a little while.

CountyComm GP-5 vs. Tecsun PL-368:
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Hate to say it but it's going to be very anti-climactic.
If Single Side Band is an absolutely Must-Have. No contest.
Get the Tecsun. Other aspects, I legit didn't notice much.
AM/FM both work reliably on both radios. Biggest difference?
Clarity. Tecsun is just better in that regard by a significant amount.
Huge amount? I'd say no. Overall: Tecsun. Clear winner.
If someone has the GP-5 already, is it worth upgrading.
I'd say, no. Otherwise, Tecsun all the way.
Trying to track down a GP-5 online? You're buying a used radio.
Better off just buying a brand new Tecsun.

 

[Flying Turtle]

I am sad to report that the Maksh emergency radio that I reported on a few posts prior has seemingly bitten the dust. I had hardly used it at all, largely because I have too many portable radios. Got it off its shelf today to exercise it. Everything seemed fine until I looked at the batteries. Slight leakage of the AAA auxiliaries had occurred. Normally I used the 18650. Cleaned up the mess and reinstalled batteries. Now nothing, where it was working fine. Got the back off and all power related wires looked fine, but who knows with circuit boards.

I'm not terribly sad, though, cause now I can start researching a new radio.

 

[PacificMoon]

Sorry for the delay. Like I said, a few months of testing them both out. Last thing I want to do is recommend something after using it for a short while, works great; then craps out on me months down the road. Now I've just recommended something that only lasts a little while.

CountyComm GP-5 vs. Tecsun PL-368:
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Hate to say it but it's going to be very anti-climactic.
If Single Side Band is an absolutely Must-Have. No contest.
Get the Tecsun. Other aspects, I legit didn't notice much.
AM/FM both work reliably on both radios. Biggest difference?
Clarity. Tecsun is just better in that regard by a significant amount.
Huge amount? I'd say no. Overall: Tecsun. Clear winner.
If someone has the GP-5 already, is it worth upgrading.
I'd say, no. Otherwise, Tecsun all the way.
Trying to track down a GP-5 online? You're buying a used radio.
Better off just buying a brand new Tecsun.

The GP-5 is a rebadged Tecsun PL-360 (the predecessor of the PL-368), while the GP-5 SSB is a rebadged PL-365. The PL-368 has been rebadged by CountyComm as the GP-7. If you want to "track down" a "GP-5", you can just go to anon-co.com and buy a PL-365 (or PL-360 for the non-SSB version).

 

[Batuche]

The GP-5 is a rebadged Tecsun PL-360 (the predecessor of the PL-368), while the GP-5 SSB is a rebadged PL-365. The PL-368 has been rebadged by CountyComm as the GP-7. If you want to "track down" a "GP-5", you can just go to anon-co.com and buy a PL-365 (or PL-360 for the non-SSB version).

Just discovered this topic & decided to chime in. Maybe the yellow Sangean DT-400W has been covered, but that's our emergency go-to radio for news and weather. We have owned this radio for 10 years, and while I've dropped it and had it apart a few times it still runs like a champ. It wasn't and isn't cheap so can't recommend it as a value, but other than that we like it 100%. The only problem we have had with it which was not self-inflicted was corrosion in the volume dial. It wouldn't self-clean so I tried various tuner cleaner sprays which provided temporary relief but the scratchiness always returned, that is until I discovered DeoxIT D5. One shot of this and the scratchiness never returned. I'm a believer in it, and also the DT-400W.

 

[TPA]

I also just discovered this thread. I don't listen to the radio much these days. I do have a Sony SW100E and Sangean 909, still working well.

As far as small radios go, I focus on ones for use during/after natural disasters. So, runtime and reliability are key here over everything else. My go-tos are the Sony ICF-19 and Sony ICF-P26/Sony ICF-P27. The ICF-19 boasts 400+ hours of runtime on 3x D cells. The ICF-P27 will run for ~100 hour on 2xAA batteries and speaker. Easily double that if you use headphones. I've given away quite a few P27s as gifts in hurricane-prone areas.

 

[Monocrom]

Just discovered this topic & decided to chime in. Maybe the yellow Sangean DT-400W has been covered, but that's our emergency go-to radio for news and weather. We have owned this radio for 10 years, and while I've dropped it and had it apart a few times it still runs like a champ. It wasn't and isn't cheap so can't recommend it as a value, but other than that we like it 100%. The only problem we have had with it which was not self-inflicted was corrosion in the volume dial. It wouldn't self-clean so I tried various tuner cleaner sprays which provided temporary relief but the scratchiness always returned, that is until I discovered DeoxIT D5. One shot of this and the scratchiness never returned. I'm a believer in it, and also the DT-400W.

Got that model myself, and whenever asked; I do recommend it to others as an Emergency radio in real life.

 

[Batuche]

Got that model myself, and whenever asked; I do recommend it to others as an Emergency radio in real life