Quick first impressions about my new Degen 1102.

It arrived seven days after being airmailed from Hong Kong. Seller was Lipyn
through eBay. Perfect condition. He delivered exactly as promised.

The radio arrived in a padded envelope. When I opened it, there was a small
white box on the end. Inside was a 220 to 110 converter.

The radio box was in full color and printed in Chinese. I opened the box and
there was a very well-laid-out tray containing the 220 power adapter on the
left, stereo earphones on top right, and the radio on the bottom right
wrapped in a plastic bag. I picked up the tray, and under it was a shortwave
antenna wire, a pack of three Degen brand Ni-MH 1.25V 1300mAh rechargeable
batteries, and an owners manual printed in English and Chinese. Very nicely
packaged!!!

I haven't taken time to read the manual yet. Sorry, but I'm a guy.
Instructions are for the weak-minded.

I picked up the radio, put in three AA NI-CADs and turned it on. It worked
fine, so I went outside and tested it against my DX-398.

On MW, the two were basically equal. Each one had frequencies on which it
beat the other. One thing of note, though... the Degen is extremely
directional. The DX-398 was a bit more forgiving. It's amazing that a radio
with a smaller ferrite bar can keep up with my DX-398. Of course, the 398
sounds better with more bass and everything, but that's to be expected.

On FM, again the two were comparable. Maybe the 398 won with the whip not
extended, but with the whip fully extended, there was no difference.

On SW, the Degen blew away my 398! Of course I realize that the 398 is
designed to work best with an external antenna attached. But that's not the
way I listen to a radio. In fact, most of the time, I like to keep the whip
unextended. When I fully extended both whips, the 398 came closer in
reception, but the Degen still shone.

I don't feel like writing more now. There are radio waves passing through my
house at this very moment, so I need to get my new radio turned on and tuned
in so I can find out where the waves are coming from and what they're trying
to tell me.

I love my new Degen 1102. Maybe I'll post more tomorrow when I get tired of
listening to it. Or maybe not.