Budget all-band radio?

[Quattro Pete]

I know we've had some discussions on these in the past, but it's been a while.

Looking for something that can run on regular AA or C batteries at a minimum. Weather/NOAA stations would be nice, but not mandatory - already have another radio that I can use for that.

Can $50 buy anything decent, like this Tecsun PL-380?

I believe @MolaKule uses something similar (310ET?)

Other recommendations are welcome. I'm willing to stretch my budget a bit.

Thanks!

 

[SubLGT]

There are a lot of budget radio suggestions in this lengthy thread:

Candle Power Forums

Come join out flashlight community. Flashlight reviews, and deals posted to our forum for free!

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[MolaKule]

I use a RadioWow R-108 in in my office.

The Techsun PL-310ET I use on my electronic's bench in the basement and can pick up Amateur radio traffic and most other SW bands. This is the better one of the two and more sensitive.

If you want to listen to single sideband then you will have to shell out a few more bucks.

 

[JHZR2]

I use a RadioWow R-108 in in my office.

The Techsun PL-310ET I use on my electronic's bench in the basement and can pick up Amateur radio traffic and most other SW bands. This is the better one of the two and more sensitive.

If you want to listen to single sideband then you will have to shell out a few more bucks.

Do either/both do NOAA weather radio? Maybe it’s obsolete with all the internet weather apps... but still is something interesting to listen to on occasion when needed...

The R-108 air band makes that one interesting, I like listening to air traffic control.

Given their sizes, I can’t imagine their internal ferrite antennas are very useful....

 

[Quattro Pete]

I use a RadioWow R-108 in in my office.

The Techsun PL-310ET I use on my electronic's bench in the basement and can pick up Amateur radio traffic and most other SW bands. This is the better one of the two and more sensitive.

Which one has a better sounding speaker on FM?

I like the R-108 except the less common BL-5C battery. I wish they went with AA.

BTW, this guy seems to think the R-108 is a better and more sensitive radio than the PL-380 I was looking at.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Do either/both do NOAA weather radio?

Those two do not have NOAA/weather channels. The C Crane Skywave does, but it's more expensive:
https://www.amazon.com/Skywave-Shortwave-Weather-Airband-Portable/dp/B00QMTI6YK

 

[eljefino]

Pretty much any police scanner can pick up NOAA weatherradio, and there are lots of other goodies you can listen to with one as well.

I would not buy a weather-radio new-- plenty of them exist at goodwill, yard sales, etc.

 

[mk378]

I prefer a dedicated weather radio with the SAME alert system. The radio is tuned to the NOAA channel 24x7, but stays silent unless a weather alert is issued for your county.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I used to love listening to short wave. I want to get another short wave radio. I had one in high school.

 

[Quattro Pete]

If you want to listen to single sideband then you will have to shell out a few more bucks.

Yeah, I just looked at XHDATA D-808 - it seems like a pretty good radio with SSB, and can be found for around $80. Tuner is more sensitive than in Radiwow R-108. Powered by an 18650 cell, too, which I have plenty of.

 

[JHZR2]

Pretty much any police scanner can pick up NOAA weatherradio, and there are lots of other goodies you can listen to with one as well.

I would not buy a weather-radio new-- plenty of them exist at goodwill, yard sales, etc.

It’s as good as obsolete. Long ago I remember we had a radio shack weather cube. You would tune it to the NOAA frequencies.

I always liked trying to hear other (bleed over?) on the ends of the tunable band of that. And by using the fine tube on U and channel 69+ on the turn dial tv.

My experience having been down in the Caribbean after both Irma and Maria, is that cell infrastructure is more robust than other legacy stuff, so weather by smartphone is a far more useful tool.

 

[MolaKule]

Which one has a better sounding speaker on FM?

I like the R-108 except the less common BL-5C battery. I wish they went with AA.

BTW, this guy seems to think the R-108 is a better and more sensitive radio than the PL-380 I was looking at.

My sensitivity tests were done with a $400.00 Agilent Signal generator and the Techsun PL-310ET, not the PL-380, had the higher sensitivity than did the R-108.

I bought the R-108 because it had the air-band so I could listen to the traffic at our local airport, and so the wife could hear my screams during flight training.

The audio from both are good for such small speakers but the PL-310ET has the higher frequency response.

The little internal rod antennas are good for AM and are directional of course. The external telescoping antenna is good for SW and FM and air-band (R-108), but again, the PL-310ET has the higher sensitivity.

Since I have a bunch of amateur radio specific receivers, I don't need SSB.

 

[y_p_w]

I have a Sony ICF-38 myself. Really basic - just AM/FM with manual tuning. Runs on 4 AAs (I use rechargeable) or AC (cord stows inside the battery hatch). Really simple and it works. It's probably bigger than it has to be with a lot of empty space inside. The only problem is that it's been discontinued so maybe there's new old stock somewhere. When I got mine it was via some credit card points, but I think the retail price was around $20-25.

https://www.sony.com/electronics/radios/icf-38

The picture is really old because they canned the TV and weather bands a while ago. TV obviously won't work because of the switch to digital TV.

For some reason it's selling for a lot. I really don't think it's worth more than $40, but I guess scarcity is still propping up the price.

 

[Quattro Pete]

The audio from both are good for such small speakers but the PL-310ET has the higher frequency response.

The R-108 has two EQ settings (VOICE and MUSIC). VOICE is the default. The MUSIC one has more treble (more higher frequencies), but for longer listening sessions, too much treble is ear fatiguing, at least for me, so I like that the VOICE one has treble slightly rolled off.

Since I have a bunch of amateur radio specific receivers, I don't need SSB.

Being new to all this, I am not even sure if SSB is something that I would want. Is SSB mainly used for ham radio?


I bought the R-108, but haven't had much time to play with it yet. Sound quality on FM is great, especially considering how small it is. I'll have to spend some more time with it at night to see if I'm happy with its sensitivity or if I want to get the XHDATA D-808 instead. Really the only lame thing about this R-108 is the silly old BL-5C battery. Some of the button descriptions are also hard to read. Nice radio otherwise.

 

[dk1604]

Does it need to be a portable stand-alone radio? If you're open to using a computer instead, you might want to consider a software define radio (SDR) and upconverter. You'll be able listen to and decode just about anything that's not encrypted. There is quite a bit of digital traffic on the ham bands and you'll need a computer anyways to demodulate them.

If you're new to shortwave, and you want to explore what is on the airwaves before you invest in a radio, I suggest visiting one of the online web SDR radios and having listen there:

www.websdr.org

Even if you don't want to go the SDR route, those online radios can listen to single side band so you can give it a try before deciding whether it's something you want to spend extra for. You might find you only want to listen to broadcast radio in which case you can save a few dollars.

David

 

[JHZR2]

The R-108 has two EQ settings (VOICE and MUSIC). VOICE is the default. The MUSIC one has more treble (more higher frequencies), but for longer listening sessions, too much treble is ear fatiguing, at least for me, so I like that the VOICE one has treble slightly rolled off.


Being new to all this, I am not even sure if SSB is something that I would want. Is SSB mainly used for ham radio?


I bought the R-108, but haven't had much time to play with it yet. Sound quality on FM is great, especially considering how small it is. I'll have to spend some more time with it at night to see if I'm happy with its sensitivity or if I want to get the XHDATA D-808 instead. Really the only lame thing about this R-108 is the silly old BL-5C battery. Some of the button descriptions are also hard to read. Nice radio otherwise.

I too pulled the trigger on this little radio. Since it can tune CB and air bands, I think that might make for some interesting listening on occasion. I agree that I wish it would take an 18650 or 14500. Had I found that 880 radio on prime or for less than $100, id probably have grabbed one... but this is a good deal for what it is, I think... we will see...

Will be used in different locations, but similar to my Sony... currently tuning in WGN from Chicago, clear as a bell, from NJ, ~765 miles.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Had I found that 880 radio on prime or for less than $100, id probably have grabbed one... .

D-808 is $80, shipped from UK, alas if you need to send it back for whatever reason, it'd be a PITA.

XHDATA/SIHUADON D-808

Hot selling product XHDATA /SIHUADON D-808 FM/SW/MW/LW /SSB/ AIR/ RDS Multi Band Portable Digital Radio High Quality With Built-in speakers Portable Radio for family or Work.It is suitable for daily use, with high sensitivity, power saving and beautiful appearance, and can meet most of your...

radiwow.com

 

[MolaKule]

The D-808 certainly has some impressive specs and I can see why it would do well on AM since the loopstick is longer than in most other brands.

XHDATA D-808 Internal Photos – The SWLing Post

swling.com

 

[JHZR2]

This radio is tiny! iPhone 7 is longer and almost as wide.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Yeah, just a little larger than a deck of cards.

Let us know how the SW reception compares to your Sony.

I played with mine last night. SW reception isn't great, using external antenna wire, but I don't have a good point of reference.