In article . net,
Jim Hackett wrote:

"Mike S." wrote in message
...

I also have an "extra" Kaiwa KA-818, which was also sold by Grundig in
years past. It looks like the Mini World 100 with a digital (analog to
frequency counter) display. Doesn't perform any better, I'm afraid; but
it's a lot easier to tune and I think I paid all of $15 for it.

I also have the KA-818 and a mini-100. Strangely enough, I feel the mini
100 tunes much more easily than my 818. Just goes to show the varying
degrees of construction of these cheap Chinese radios!

I've seen comments ranking them both ways. I agree that sample to sample
quality control variations are certainly at work here.

Far and above, the best analog-tuned-with-frequency-counter pocket model
I've tried is the Tecsun R9702, which is dual-conversion and also has
excellent audio for size. Its downside is dividing the whole shortwave
coverage into only 2 bands (with a gap between 10 - 11 MHz), which means
you must have a REALLY steady hand. Sorta like using the BCL-2000 without
using the find tuning gear.