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Old August 11th 06, 03:27 PM posted to rec.radio.shortwave
John S. John S. is offline
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 97
Default FA: Degen-DE-1103 very nice


gil wrote:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Degen-DE-1103-li...QQcmdZViewItem


I'm going to have to rain on your parade I'm afraid. There are
apparently some quality control problems that have come up for several
owners of DE1103 radios sold in 2005 and 2006. Check the Yahoo board
for details. I've read stories about boards not being cleaned properly
leading to rapid oxidation and poor connections and ongoing problems
with the optical encoder. Indeed the optical encoder on my DE1103 is
acting squirrely. Turning the wheel slowly in one direction may
actually tune in the opposite direction or it may rapidly jump forward
many channels. That behavior tells me the encoder is dirty or loose
internally. Spinning the encoder for a minute seems to buy some
temporary usability, but it isn't a permanent fix.

Although I've been a big proponent of the DE1103 in the past, I'm going
to have to retract that open recommendation. I would not recommend
that radio unless the price were very very low and the prospective
owner was willing to put up with the frustration of an unstable radio.