RadioBanter - View Single Post - Tecsun PL-550 or DEGEN DE1103 ? Which one to choose ?

June 27th 04, 10:08 PM

From: "Michael"
Date: 27-Jun-2004 19:41 GMT Daylight Time
Message-id: t

"Al Arduengo" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 27 Jun 2004 15:06:56 +0200, Orion wrote:

Tecsun PL-550 or DEGEN DE1103 ? Which one to choose?

I know the DEGEN has a dual conversion circuitry which the PL-550 has
not.
Is this this sufficient to eliminate the PL-550 from my choice?

Has anyone been able to compare the two models?

Thanks.

Orion.

I own both and in my opinion the 1103 is the winner for several reasons:

1. I think the 550 is terribly sensitive but not so with respect to
selectivity. The 1103 is good on both counts.

2. No SSB on the 550.

3. Lighting on the 1103 is superior.

The 550 is a great radio though. It has excellent sound and like I said
it can pull out weak signals pretty well. It also has an IF switch and
volume knob (which the 1103 does not). The 550 is more solid feeling and
looks nice but the 1103 tuning is sweet.

I like them both but I use my 1103 much more.

Does the 1103 have selectable ssb or is it like the KA-1102 with only a ssb
switch and no usb and lsb??? Also... Is there a US version of the 1103
that has English labeling ???

I have the DE1103 and from memory it decodes LSB for low frequencies and USB
for higher ones. I think the changeover occurs around 10MHz but I'd have to
hunt for it on the web as I can't remember! The DE1103 is only available with
English labelling.