Small Portable Radio's?

[RepProdigious]

I guess you guys will beat me silly when i say that my main radio is my 5g iPod nano right? I dont even know if it does AM (but my guess is it doesn't) but it does fm very nicely even with live-pause and stuff! So if i miss something important i can just rewind the radio transmission to hear it again. Pretty neat.

[StarHalo]

I guess you guys will beat me silly when i say that my main radio is my 5g iPod nano right?

Gotta love the Nano for playing podcasts, but if you find yourself in a completely dark space in an emergency situation, the Nano's inability to get to AM news or swap batteries will suddenly become a serious liability. When knowing what's going on around you is a survival issue, the radio becomes at least as important as the flashlight..

[RepProdigious]

Well, i do have one of those 'world-receivers' in my emergency pack but that would only do me any good if i am at home when disaster strikes and i need to tune in to find out whats-up. My iPod however is almost always in my pocket, i guess any radio you have with you is better than none at all right?

[StarHalo]

It's not realistic to carry a radio on you at all times - you're covered as long as you have a decent radio at home; make sure you know where the AM news stations are located on the dial.

[StarHalo]

Some interesting technical notes on the WRX911 I ran across on a radio forum:

WRX mod

One of the improvements that can be made to the Kaito WRX911 or the Tecsun
analogs like the R911 or te R9012 is to disconnect the SW-FM antenna from
ground. This will improve the AM reception of the radios. Since people still
want the FM-SW function, the whip-antenna ground can be routed through a simple
switch... ON if using SW-FM and OFF if using AM. This is a "Mod" and does
require making a case modification for the switch.

Even if the telescopic antenna is electrically disconnected from the
frontend of the receiver when listening to AM, moving the telescopic
antenna away from the top edge of the receiver, where it is proximate to
the internal ferrite antenna, may help. When it is in its closed position,
it will capacatively affect the internal ferrite antenna to a minor degree.

[StarHalo]

Jay Allen, the biggest name in radio reviewing, has just completed an AM Portables Mega-Shootout comparison, where he's taken virtually every radio he owns off the shelf and compared them all. Highly recommended.

[Sub_Umbra]

Jay Allen, the biggest name in radio reviewing, has just completed an AM Portables Mega-Shootout comparison, where he's taken virtually every radio he owns off the shelf and compared them all. Highly recommended.

Nice article. Thanks. Nice pics, too. The photo of the Panasonic RF-2200 reminded me of one that I loaned one to a friend 25 years ago. He still uses it to play Radio France in his store every day.

[Flying Turtle]

Thanks for the link, StarHalo. I'll be enjoying the article a bit later.

Geoff

[Bullzeyebill]

Interesting that he rated the CC Radio-EP right up their with the big boys. Is it really that good?

Bill

[Bullzeyebill]

Interesting that he rated the CC Radio-EP right up their with the big boys. Is it really that good?

Bill

[StarHalo]

Interesting that he rated the CC Radio-EP right up their with the big boys. Is it really that good?

Every other review I've read about it says yes, it's the successor to the Superradio series..

[Groundhog]

Just came across a used CC-SW on eBay for $75 + $7 s&h ($125 on C Crane site). Looks like it comes with the carry case as well ($30). Hopefully the cosmetic damage is on the cover not the radio, but the pic quality is poor.

Saw the guy had 5 offers yesterday that he declined so I figured I better hit 'Buy it Now' if I wanted it. Be good to me eBay gods!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...K%3AMEWNX%3AIT

[StarHalo]

Just came across a used CC-SW on eBay

Enjoy your new toy, it's one of the greats of FM reception; be sure to pick up a pocket reel antenna to get the most out of the shortwave band..

[Groundhog]

Definitely going to pick up a pocket reel. Also ordered a Degen DE31 (Kaito KA-31) from Hong Kong. I don't expect too much but it was only like $20 shipped.

The former owner shipped the CC-SW radio with leaking alkalines but luckily it looked fairly fresh and only onto the plastic in the middle of the battery compartment. It didn't crud up the contacts at all. After cleaning up the rest of the former user's cheese it looks like a nice radio. Tempted to break it open and give it a more thorough cleaning. A little curios to take a peek at the Twin Coil Ferrite Antenna. I've read some debate about what it is (not the same one as the CC Radio) but haven't seen any pics of the inside.

Pretty cool radio, but I'm not sure I'd want to pay full retail. Carrying case was included so that was a nice bonus.

The option to run on 4 D or 4 AA is sweet. Built in battery charger to boot (not sure I'll use it over my Maha 808). Great tone for an AM speaker. Stereo line out with a nice little rubber boot to cover the plugs when not in use. There's no 'line in' which kinda sucks. I had no plans to use it - but I'm sure many would.

[tam17]

Grundig (not Eton) used to manufacture excellent World portables. Standard features were FM/AM/SW/LW, SSB, Local/DX, small step PLL tuning, portable reel antenna, operation on AC adaptor or standard batteries, etc.

Unfortunately I had chance to use my Yacht Boy 400 during war time. Good batteries were hard to find, though. If you know how to use it properly, this type of radio is far more useful than TV.

Cheers,

Tam

[Sub_Umbra]

I still have a reel antenna I made back in the 90s out of a chalk line.

[StarHalo]

The new CCrane Solar Observer looks promising; 3xAA + internal battery pack + solar panel + crank. The battery config means only ~150 hours playback tops, and the crank isn't all that efficient, but it's a pretty solid design overall.

[Flying Turtle]

Kind of looks like they've adapted the old Grundig/Eton/Lextronix case design to the new features. I wondered about this one. Think I heard an ad for it on the radio recently.

Geoff

[StarHalo]

CCrane snuck a surprise on their website, the CC Gozo; 4"x6" in size, featuring a passive radiator speaker assembly so it sounds much larger:

[Gene]

Man, that is one nice little radio! If I didn't have so many radios, I would jump on that in a minute. I love simple and that's as simple as they come. It's simplistic beauty at it's finest!

CCrane snuck a surprise on their website, the CC Gozo; 4"x6" in size, featuring a passive radiator speaker assembly so it sounds much larger:

[StarHalo]

Jay Allen just posted a comparison review of five ~$20 pocket radios; ideal for you budget folk. Looks like the old Sony ICF-S10Mk2 has been eclipsed..

[Monocrom]

I still have the Radio Shack brand version.

Not surprised that it didn't take the top spot.

[Burgess]

Thank you, StarHalo.


Very interesting article & review.



BTW -- i guess i'm the only one who didn't know the AM band was expanded to 1710.





Just did a quick info-update (on Wiki), and i see this happened around 1993.


Hey -- nobody ever tells me ANYthing ! ! !



_

[Black Rose]

Jay Allen just posted a comparison review of five ~$20 pocket radios; ideal for you budget folk. Looks like the old Sony ICF-S10Mk2 has been eclipsed..

Thanks for that link.

I've been debating getting a Sony ICF-S10Mk2 to use at the office instead of the Sony ICF-M260 I have there now.

The ICF-S10Mk2 I can get locally, everything else I've looked at has to be ordered online.

I'm also looking at the Sony ICF-38 for a larger radio to take with us when we go away.
It reminds me of a larger version of the Sony ICF-380 I keep at home for emergency use.

[StarHalo]

i guess i'm the only one who didn't know the AM band was expanded to 1710.

Eh, there's nothing up there; there's some station on 1700 in the LA area that just does finance news all day, unless you speak Spanish, that's about it..

I've been debating getting a Sony ICF-S10Mk2 to use at the office instead of the Sony ICF-M260 I have there now.

Had to look up the M260 as it's not a US model; it's selling for ~$85 online, which if that's correct means it's overpriced and probably still many times better than the $10 S10Mk2. What's your budget and intended use (FM or local/distant AM, big/small/no speaker)?

[Black Rose]

Had to look up the M260 as it's not a US model; it's selling for ~$85 online, which if that's correct means it's overpriced and probably still many times better than the $10 S10Mk2.

I've had it for at least 10 years, if not longer. I paid about $30 for it at the time.

What's your budget and intended use (FM or local/distant AM, big/small/no speaker)?

Budget is under 30, local FM only, small physical size and small speaker since it can't be too loud otherwise it would bother the other inhabitants of the cube farm.

[StarHalo]

Budget is under 30, local FM only, small physical size and small speaker

There isn't anything in the under-$50 range that would better what you have now; unless something is wrong with it, and you're limited to only those radios you could buy locally, then I'd get the S10Mk2, as it's almost certainly a sizable downgrade from the M260.

[Black Rose]

Honestly, I'm not even sure if the ICF-S10Mk2 would work for what I need, as it needs to be able to stand up in the storage bin over my desk. It looks like it would be top heavy.

If the WRX911 didn't get low grades for FM reception, I'd grab one of those.

[StarHalo]

You're not going to find anything in the under-$50 category to replace an over-$50 radio; I'd stick with what you have now unless your budget grows.

You could alternately sell the M260 for $50 and then use your $30 to buy the current king of FM reception, the C.Crane EP.

[Black Rose]

The C. Crane catalog sits on my desk, taunting me daily

Lots of goodies in there, although I can get the Redsun (their manufacturer in China) versions of the CC-SWP and CC-SW for less than the C.Crane branded version.

The EP is a nice radio but is too large for the office. Plus it would require additional funds, as it costs $31 to ship the radio to Canada

Guess I'll stick with what I have for now.