Small Portable Radio's?

[chillinn]

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.

I see iheartradio.com and iheart.com. Maybe maintenance? If not, check DNS settings. Locally, you may find a faster DNS, but Google's DNS is consistently pretty fast no matter where you are: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

 

[Burgess]

Now, the Next Day,
it seems to be Working FINE once again !

Guess it must've been Maintenance or something . . . . .

Thank you, Everyone, for this GREAT thread !

lovecpf
_

 

[Umbrosoccer]

As a Ham radio operator i can say that the yaesu 817 and 818 are a good choice. I specialize in what we call QRP operations on phone (ssb) and i use these radios for emergency comunications as well as for hilltopping( ham radio activity of going to the top of hill and making as many contacts as you can in a limited time). I do reviews on ham radio gear and hiking and camping equipment as well. Here are a few videos i have done.

3 radio go bags https://youtu.be/sjkdC9qCubg

Hilltopping radio kit https://youtu.be/pZ5CpyMJ_fk

Micro HT vhf uhf dual band radio yaesu vx1r https://youtu.be/RCVDUQG9hrE

And my lightweight HF 160m-6m all mode radio for operations https://youtu.be/Nexaw4XKVVA

Radio is correct in that obtaining one of these radios - yaesu 817, 817 nd, and the newer 818, or an elecraft kx3, xiegu x5105 will enable you to listen and transmit if you have a fcc license on most if not all the hf bands. One thing I recommend is learning how to build antennas. Antennas are key to any successful radio whether it be listening or transmitting. I recommend auto transformers of 49:1 cut to end fed halfwave specifications for specific bands you wish to listen to. I can explain more but that is all for now.

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.

 

[Gene]

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.

Thanks for your thoughts on it chilling and the good info. Thanks to SH,😜, I pursued one of these awhile back and did a short report on it. It's a neat little radio but for me living so rural, most of the extra bands are useless. I wish it had much more sensitivity but I'm not handy enough to do the upgrade that you linked to but who knows. I might try it anyway. I like the battery upgrade suggestion.

 

[chillinn]

No problem. Please note, the HanRongDa HRD-737 has increased in price since my post. I don't see it at Amazon anymore, $54 at Walmart, ~$40 on eBay from China, ~$33 on AliExpress. Bummer.

 

[Gene]

I bought mine in June of 1999 and the cheapest I could find mine was $35.22.

 

[chillinn]

I bought mine in June of 1999 and the cheapest I could find mine was $35.22.

I guess I just complained about almost nothing LOL, the extra $7 from a domestic seller, but about $3 less from AliExpress. And it isn't like it won't show up at Amazon again for $47.

 

[Lebkuecher]

No problem. Please note, the HanRongDa HRD-737 has increased in price since my post. I don't see it at Amazon anymore, $54 at Walmart, ~$40 on eBay from China, ~$33 on AliExpress. Bummer.

It would be nice to have access to the CB bands on a road trip. I have thought about investing in a CB radio but I am not sure how much I would really use it. I also read somewhere that truckers do not really use CBs anymore to report on road conditions but I'm not sure if that is really true. Maybe someone reading the thread who has a CB can comment on how useful a CB radio is these days.

I am curious how well the HRD-737 would pickup CB broadcast driving down the interstate in a car. Anyone have any experience?

 

[Lynx_Arc]

It would be nice to have access to the CB bands on a road trip. I have thought about investing in a CB radio but I am not sure how much I would really use it. I also read somewhere that truckers do not really use CBs anymore to report on road conditions but I'm not sure if that is really true. Maybe someone reading the thread who has a CB can comment on how useful a CB radio is these days.

I am curious how well the HRD-737 would pickup CB broadcast driving down the interstate in a car. Anyone have any experience?

I haven't used CB in decades but know a trucker or two. CB radio is still being used but not heavily at all. Truckers have GPS and cell phones to get information easily in most places it is more of a backup than anything a lot of truckers don't even turn on the CB till they need it they simply get on their phone and call folks that way for help.
If you are traveling a lot over long distances in areas with little cell phone service (towers) it may be useful to have. The problem with CB is however that there are times when the atmosphere allows for great transmission ranges (skip) and that fills the bands with a lot of noise such that ranges of transmission/reception can be limited to a few miles unless you have top of the line antennas and power microphones with audio compression etc to help punch through the noise. If there is no skip you can get about 10-20 miles depending on the terrain and the person transmitting. A lot of truckers run twin antennas which can make for a bi-directional reception/transmission that is front and back of them is increased while side to side of them reduced and if you are on a road that curves or they are going 90 degrees of you they can fade out of sight quickly. At one time I had a top of the line car antenna and a very good radio and mic (Cobra 29 GTL) and I could talk up to 50 miles with it if it was quiet enough and the other person had a base station.
I still have the radio and antenna but it hasn't been fired up since the late 80s.

 

[Frijid]

I have a road king, that's a cheap copy of the cobra 29. I still swear by the cobra 29 and the cheaper uniden 510xl. But really, your antenna can be more important than your radio. Channel 19 is still your best channel to get information on. I've also got some handheld cbs. Two are old crystal radios from radio shack that have extending antennas that are about 4 feet and only 3 channels. The problem with cb is the noise, even more so in the city. I have to keep the squelch about 3/4 to drown it out. The last time I was on the road running channel 19 for about 50 miles I heard about 99% garbage and 1% useful information. Heard a guy offering to sell bootleg movies. Gave his email address and said to email him your list and contact info and he'll do movies for a couple bucks on DVD. I also heard two guys cussing each other out. Ok for amusement.

My ex brother in law used to drive trucks and he was dropping off and load and wanted to meet up at a truck stop afterwards. His range was horrible. Found out the company he was driving for didn't allow external antennas on their trucks, so the antenna was inside. As far as a portable in a vehicle, range is gonna suck. The vehicle will destroy a lot of the signal. Case in point why the fm antenna is outside the vehicle. I still like cbs, but high frequency radios can be unpredictable. Same with sw. My grundig with the telescopic antenna sucks indoors when the power is on. But when the power goes off, it works great. But again, that's why antennae belong outdoors.

To be honest, if I drove for extended periods of times in a group, I think I would opt for the Midland mxt115 over a cb. Requires a license to transmit on but 1 license covers a whole family, but its more reliable than cb, has repeater access, and can talk to already existing GMRS radios. I never looked at the frequency chart, but it could probably talk to FRS radios on certain channels. Although part of me hopes not. I programmed them into my scanner but had to block them. Nothing more annoying than hearing kids screaming on channel 1 and the sound of Motorola roger beeps and call alerts.

But of course, you can't talk to cbs with it, so.....

 

[5S8Zh5]

...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

I glanced through the initial assessment link ^ and did not see the mention of degraded audio performance. PL-880 equivalent audio playback of mp3s using Micro SDHC flash memory cards would be the only reason for me to purchase the PL-990.

.

 

[Lebkuecher]

and did not see the mention of degraded audio performance.

.

Dan mentions it at 9:40 and in the summary.

I thought by now Thomas would have posted his review, hopefully Thomas will provide audio samples on FM to better compare the two speakers. I can hear the difference on SW but it is harder to compare. Given we both already have the PL-880 I agree with you regarding the only reason for buying the PL-990 is for the SD playback but I would also add Bluetooth. What would also make a difference in a buying decision for me would be if the PL-990 performed better on MW with a lower noise floor.

 

[Lebkuecher]

I apricate the responses regarding CBs.

Normally twice a year I will drive from Tennessee to some destination out west like Big Bend National Park or Yellowstone and of course every once in a while traffic will come to a complete stop and I will have no idea why. It would be nice to find out why or if while driving if I get bored it would also be nice to strike up a conversation but it is hard to justify the cost for two trips a year. The Midland mxt115 looks interesting, I read a few reviews on amazon it reviews well. If I traveled with a group the Midland mxt115 would be my first choice given the performance over a CB. I also like the 6in antenna.

 

[5S8Zh5]

Dan mentions it at 9:40 and in the summary.

Thanks. I missed the video. Watching now.

 

[mightysparrow]

I apricate the responses regarding CBs.

Normally twice a year I will drive from Tennessee to some destination out west like Big Bend National Park or Yellowstone and of course every once in a while traffic will come to a complete stop and I will have no idea why. It would be nice to find out why or if while driving if I get bored it would also be nice to strike up a conversation but it is hard to justify the cost for two trips a year. The Midland mxt115 looks interesting, I read a few reviews on amazon it reviews well. If I traveled with a group the Midland mxt115 would be my first choice given the performance over a CB. I also like the 6in antenna.

One inexpensive option I've used on road trips to monitor CB communications is to use a cheap handheld CB radio attached to a removable antenna on the roof of the vehicle. Using battery power in the radio avoids the necessity of wiring the radio to the vehicle battery and dealing with interference from the electronics in the vehicle. It also allows the radio and antenna to be removed from the vehicle easily.

 

[mightysparrow]

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.

I have 18650's that I use on flashlights, my PL-880, and portable fans. I've actually upgraded the capacity of the 18650's in all of those devices, and I appreciate the run times and power of those cells. However, in my opinion, lithium-ion cells are not a good idea for use in emergency equipment for the average person. Cheap chargers are OK, but not a good idea for use with lithium-ion cells, in my opinion. The same is true for charging the cells inside the device. There is a risk of fire and explosion that should be minimized by using a good charger, good-quality cells, and a safe charging protocol that minimizes the risk of harm from fire. Most people aren't prepared to take those precautions all the time.

In addition, the cold weather performance of lithium-ion cells is severely compromised, compared to the performance of NiMH rechargeables and single-use lithium cells. This is a serious drawback of relying solely on lithium-ion cells in an emergency for most people in cold weather environments. AA and AAA cells are also more readily found at retail, which can be another advantage of those cells for use in emergency equipment. I think it would be a good idea in cold weather areas to have equipment available that can use AA and AAA NiMH cells, to complement equipment that uses lithium-ion cells.

 

[mightysparrow]

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.

The FT-818 is a great transceiver, no doubt, especially for listening to the widest range of frequencies. Alternatively, for $40 more, you can now buy a FT-891, which hears everything from 30 Khz to 56 Mhz and puts out 100 watts. As a fellow ham, I wouldn't personally recommend that a typical new ham who intends to upgrade their license to General Class and transmit on the HF bands buy a transceiver limited to QRP (low) power output - it's too frustrating for a new ham interested in transmitting on the crowded HF bands, in my opinion, unless they have a big interest in QRP operations. This is especially true now and for the next several years, as we're at the low end of the sunspot cycle.

However, the FT-818 definitely has a wider range of frequencies it can receive, covering HF (shortwave) and also VHF and UHF bands. So, if your primary interest is listening, or if you are a ham interested only in maintaining a Technician Class license and transmitting only on VHF/UHF, it would be a great choice.

 

[aginthelaw]

What's going on with my FM lately ? is it tropo skip, sunspot activity, or solar flares? my local stations that come in 5 x 5 are now fading or picking up stations from other states. I'm even getting other people's GPS on my car radio

 

[Lebkuecher]

What's going on with my FM lately ? is it tropo skip, sunspot activity, or solar flares? my local stations that come in 5 x 5 are now fading or picking up stations from other states. I'm even getting other people's GPS on my car radio

I just tested a couple of radios on FM and everything seems fine. Did your issues start today?

 

[Sway]

What's going on with my FM lately ? is it tropo skip, sunspot activity, or solar flares? my local stations that come in 5 x 5 are now fading or picking up stations from other states. I'm even getting other people's GPS on my car radio

I've had the same thing happen "fading or picking up stations from other states" several times this year the latest was last week, it's back to normal for now.