Small Portable Radio's?

[herektir]

I havent had any battery operated radios for quite a few years um, something like a decade since my last one died. After some reading on this forum, and on some others, along with some review sites i bought the sony icf s10mk2. It arrived, works well enough picking up city fm stations 80 miles to the south(dallas) if i stay away from noise sources, as well as am dxing from texas to missouri, ohio, michigan and alot of faint stations i didnt wait for the station id.

Having had it a few days i wanted better overall sound when i just want to listen to music on fm. Just how much better sounding is the sangean dt400w? Does it recieve signals a little better, or a good bit better than the sony analog?

 

[StarHalo]

I works well enough picking up city fm stations 80 miles to the south(dallas) if i stay away from noise sources, as well as am dxing from texas to missouri, ohio, michigan and alot of faint stations i didnt wait for the station id.

Having had it a few days i wanted better overall sound when i just want to listen to music on fm. Just how much better sounding is the sangean dt400w? Does it recieve signals a little better, or a good bit better than the sony analog?

FM is local-only, you're not going to get notably more distance from a different radio. Sound from pocket radios like these differs only through the headphones; the S10 is mono, so the stereo Sangean will be an improvement using headphones.

 

[herektir]

Yea, i know fm is local only, just wondering if the sensitivity or selectivity will be better. There are times that i get my favourite station washed out by 2 nearby stations during the day.

 

[StarHalo]

Yea, i know fm is local only, just wondering if the sensitivity or selectivity will be better. There are times that i get my favourite station washed out by 2 nearby stations during the day.

Yes, the Sangean will be significantly better than the S10 at selectivity, enough so that it may be able to get stations the Sony can't get at all, but no guarantees about your one specific station.

For casual FM listening at roughly the same price, you should look into one of the DSP portables like the Tecsun ICR-110 or Meloson M8, which have passive radiator speakers and signal processing for sound that's on a completely different level from anything smaller than a full boombox.

 

[timbo114]

+100 on the Tecsun ICR-110
I own 2 of them.
I live in a rural valley where even my cell service is spotty.
I have 29 FM stations in the memory at this moment.
I have not checked the mileage distance of the furthest broadcaster received, but I can tell that the 110 is an amazing product, very big sound from a smallish footprint.

My DT400W is not close to the excellent reception of my ICR-110.

 

[StarHalo]

The Anker Soundcore 24-Hour Bluetooth speaker is half-off today; ~6"x2"x2" so it's about right for a desktop, stereo, bass port, has an outsized battery section that will provide 24 hours of playback, mic for calls, line in, a reviewer compares it favorably to the Bose Soundlink. $40 (I'm not allowed to link to my employer..)

 

[Lebkuecher]

The Anker Soundcore 24-Hour Bluetooth speaker is half-off today; ~6"x2"x2" so it's about right for a desktop, stereo, bass port, has an outsized battery section that will provide 24 hours of playback, mic for calls, line in, a reviewer compares it favorably to the Bose Soundlink. $40 (I'm not allowed to link to my employer..)

The reviews on Amazon are outstanding.

 

[herektir]

Well comparing the 2 radios i seem to be better at isolating a station on the sony s10mk2 than the sangean on am. Perhaps because its analog and i can partially tune in on a frequency instead of all or nothing with the 10kz steps of the sangean. They are going to have 2 different uses. Listen in bed to some music before going to sleep the dt400. Am dxing, emergency, and use as a portable radio for a smallish room the sony with the built in speaker.

I guess if i really get into dxing ill look into something like the cc radio ep since i dont live near any strong am stations. Its just not as portable as id like taking 4 d cells.

 

[StarHalo]

Well comparing the 2 radios i seem to be better at isolating a station on the sony s10mk2 than the sangean on am.

The by-the-book way to determine selectivity is to compare during the middle of the day, when signals are only groundwave and dead stable; the Sangean should handily outpace the Sony using this method. If you're referring to one particular station you're trying to tune, it may be that it's just a very difficult separation and any standard-tuning radio would have trouble with it - if that's the case, you'll want to try a radio that features Single Sideband (SSB) and/or Synchronous Detection (Sync), as these actually "cut off" the signal above or below where you are currently tuned, which can pull out a very weak station right next to a very strong one on the dial.

I guess if i really get into dxing ill look into something like the cc radio ep since i dont live near any strong am stations.

You don't need a large or expensive radio to AM DX, any basic radio can pick up AM signals from many hundreds of miles away at night, when signals bounce off the ionosphere. I have a couple of AM stations from ~800 miles away set into memory in my car radio as they come in so regularly and clearly after sunset.

 

[herektir]

Ive ided ohio, chicago(strong), nova michigan, orlando(semi strong), st. louis, new orleans(strong), denver(strong), holbrook Az, topeka ks, and a good number of 200 to 500 mile away stations in tx, ok, ark,and la at night on the sony. A large number of faint stations I just couldnt wait for the station id while they went on bible thumping or talking endlessly about politics. Daytime i mainly get stations from dfw(80 miles south) or oklahoma.

Maybe the nights i listened on the sony were just better for dxing, which thinkng about it, is reasonable as they were clear calm skies vs the rainy pattern we have right now. Perhaps also this particular s10mk2 is well tuned for reception as mass production always has variability in cheaper products.

Either way ill just have some fun with both till i decide to spend real money.

Update, daytime testing the 2 radios side by side, the sony is picking up more stations as i slowly moved both along the band while rotating both radios for best strength.

 

[StarHalo]

You have to tune around near the top of the hour as this is when stations identify themselves. Remember each time you tune to listen while rotating the radio ~90 degrees [horizontal to the Earth, moving through compass directions] as the AM antenna is unidirectional; there may be stations you are missing entirely just because the radio isn't pointing in the relevant direction, and there will be instances where one station comes in facing one direction and another comes in facing another. Tune AM 640 tonight and face west, you'll probably be able to hear KFI Los Angeles.

 

[Gene]

I wanted to give folks who own the Tecsun ICR-110 a heads up on the perfect case for it. I got this case at monoprice.com for under $5.00 and it fits the 110 like it was made for it. It's very quality for the money. It's padded and lined on the inside with a soft, plush material.

It's made for the iPad Mini but like I say, it could have been made for the 110. Here's a lousy picture of the 110 next to it:



Here another lousy picture of the 110 inside it:



A great carry case for the 110!

 

[herektir]

Yea i rotate the radios for best signal as well as tilt for skywave bounce. I have not been able to id any station west of the rock mountains nore any of the big nyc 50kw stations.

 

[StarHalo]

Yea i rotate the radios for best signal as well as tilt for skywave bounce. I have not been able to id any station west of the rock mountains nore any of the big nyc 50kw stations.

You don't have to tilt, a loop antenna is by its nature omnidirectional longitudinally and unidirectional laterally; it receives signals on a vertical plane equally in any direction, but can hear only in one line horizontally. Try also AM 850 KOA, Denver, CO, that would at least be the Rockies themselves.

Should also mention: If the weather cooperates at your location, do your DXing outside, where household RF noise is minimized. Headphones/earbuds help greatly.

I wanted to give folks who own the Tecsun ICR-110 a heads up on the perfect case for it. I got this case at monoprice.com for under $5.00 and it fits the 110 like it was made for it.

That's ironic; the place that replaced the radio place because they weren't selling enough radios now inadvertently sells accessories for radios. Looks like a nice fit though..

 

[Gene]

That's ironic; the place that replaced the radio place because they weren't selling enough radios now inadvertently sells accessories for radios. Looks like a nice fit though..

That's funny SH! I got a kick out of that.

 

[StarHalo]

Congrats to this thread on 400,000 views; we average well over 4,000 views a month here.

 

[Flying Turtle]

I'd guess that about 30 views/month are mine.

Geoff

 

[Monocrom]

I know I've got that average beat.

 

[Lebkuecher]

Today Jay Allen posted his 2016 AM Portable Mega Shootout update. I always get a kick looking at the pictures of the radios in his closet when he post his annual updates. What a collection.

AM Portables Mega Shootout – 2016 Update

 

[StarHalo]

Good catch Leb; Some madness in the ranks this year as the newer, simpler Sangeans outpace not only the Eton Satellit but even their own 909X, these are some fantastic bang-for-the-buck radios..