On Thursday, July 31, 2003 12:49:38 PM UTC-4, Judah Smith wrote:
THE REVIEW OF THE AGES FOR THE DX-160 -

Yes, after a number of months on hiatus JUDAH has returned to finally
produce the long await and highly anticipated review of my new
Realistic DX-160. (I also got a The FRG-7, this review will follow
shortly) My shack, or should I say bedside table now consists of the
afore mentioned radios and a GRUNDIG YB-400, which I use as my digital
frequency counter (since both my big rigs are analog). And not even
god knows where the hell I'm tuning when I'm using my DX-160. In
honor of the two new radios I acquired, I put up an outdoor random
wire antenna…(about 100 feet of insulated copper wire, it runs the
southern and eastern sides of my roof's edging, then half way around
the eastern side it proceeds up on top of my roof, to the highest
point where it is then connected to a pair of VHF-TV rabbit ears I
acquired at the DOLLAR store. (Yeah mock me if you will, or just tell
me how to improve it with no money….) At any rate with the new
antenna in place I sit down for in front of the sweet glow of this
steel signal monkey.

SIDE NOTE: I noticed the floor noise level on my antenna is rather
high. I'm not sure if that is the right term. But on certain bands I
get the Signal meter showing I am at 5 out of 10…for almost the entire
band, and there is a hissing….but no stations. When a station comes
in sometimes it doesn't even move the signal meter, or if it's really
a strong station it will go up from 5. I don't know if it is a power
line or something in the house. I always make sure my computer isn't
running when I'm DXing. And I have checked other appliances. Like I
said it doesn't do it on all bands….some are quite quiet, but others
are noisy as heck. Is there something I can do to improve this….would
an external antenna tuner or some other device help? (since my frg-7
doesn't have an antenna trim feature) Maybe a filter of some
kind….anything….? Remember I'm still kind of a newbie with
electronics….so state things in laymen's terms. (this effect is also
present on my FRG-7)

BACK TO REVIEW:
Before I dive in I should mention that my DX-160 does not have its
external speaker. So I use headphones. Second it has been completely
recapped, and re-aligned…. (Not by me of course sense I barely know
which way to hold my soldering iron). It also has the AUDIO MOD- that
is intended to produce a richer sound. This was all done by Peter
Maus. Who sold me the radio. A great guy to deal with. Very honest,
and definitely a SW expert (at least to me) I was very glad he took
the extra time and care to make the radio the best it could be so I
could get the most enjoyment out of it!! And I do love the
radio….even with it's faults.

Again remember all reviews are in laymen's terms, simply because for
the most part I am a layman.

THE REALISTIC DX-160

It is huge. It seems like they took the housing for an old tube radio
and just transistorized it. I mean this baby is big. This is not
really a bad thing. (For me bigger is better) It gives you the feel
that you're working with something really large and powerful. Large,
yes. Powerful, well….we shall see. It looks much like an old HI-FI
AM/FM stereo of the early-mid 70's minus the cheesy wood paneling. In
fact without closer inspection one might start looking for the eight
track player slot on the side.

With a snap it's on. A warm glow fills the room. The front panel
light is bright. I mean bright. Like read a book with it, bright.
Like standing under a streetlight, bright. Like Carl Sagan, bright.
Well you get the idea. I click to LONGWAVE. A few chugs and
beeps…nothing much to be found. But I live in NEW MEXICO (south
western USA) so that is pretty much a given. I never receive anything
on LW-

I click over to the SW bands. All the big broadcasters come in loud
and clear. However until the unit warms up…. (20-35 mins) it takes
constants twiddling to keep the signal at its best. The sound is
quite pleasing over the headphones, and not quite as good as my YB-400
(which has nice sound especially for a portable)…but still it makes
for pleasant broadcast listening.

Ham radio listening – not so good. In fact….close to terrible. Why?
Too unstable. No sooner do you get them tuned in….then poof it's all
distorted again. Back and forth, back and forth. The BFO knob
twisted hither and yon. I was riding that switch like a two dollar
whor- well you get the picture. Jeez, I love fiddling…but this even
tired me out. So for HAM listening I have to give it a thumbs down.
It is doable…but it's a whole lot of work for not much pleasure.

My other gripe is the actual tuning dial. Or I should say the band
spread ...Who the hell was smoking the Shortwave CRACK ROCK when they
came up with this brilliant design. Someone was on some REAL BAD WEED
that day! Even when I got the manual to explain it. (Which Peter was
kind enough to mail me, long after the transaction. Did I mention
he's a really cool guy) Anyway, even after I studied that at length,
I still needed a ruler, a pocket calculator, three sheets of paper and
a mechanical pencil to figure out what frequency I was on. **Okay,
divide by 6; carry the 2; multiple by the square root of- oh S%@T!!**
All I want to know is what frequency I'm listening to, not brush up on
my high school algebra. The FRG-7 is a dream to tune by comparison.
(Even my old DX-300 was a dream compared to this. I no longer own
that radio…it was a turkey. Although it sure looked cool. I WOULD
LOVE TO FIND A NICE DX-302 all modded out!!! Keep that in mind if you
have one. I hear when they are modded that work pretty nicely….and
they do look sweet…..but I digress…..

Well let's break it all down shall we- (REMEMBER: My unit was
re-capped and aligned, if yours isn't your results may vary)

AUDIO – GOOD-Not excellent, but good. It's not quite the sound I get
from my Grundig YB-400 or the FRG-7 (which has a very rich warm sound)
even with the DX-160-audio mod. But for broadcast listening is
pleasant.

SENSITIVITY- GOOD TO VERY GOOD -Falls behind the FRG-7 in this
department. But holds its own against the YB400 (using the whip
antenna) once it warms up. Now granted I'm using an external outdoor
antenna on the DX-160…so it is not exactly a fair comparison…but it
does have decent sensitivity. (And I am in a very poor reception
zone). All the major broadcaster on SW (BBC, Radio Japan, Radio Cuba,
Radio Netherlands, Radio Australia) come BOOMING in. I usually have
to trim down the antenna a bit to make them more listenable.
ADDITION SIDE NOTE: The antenna trimming knob – is very cool. Daddy
likes! I definitely feel all radios should have this option.

STABILITY- GOOD TO NOT SO GOOD -Once it warms up it is pretty stable
on Broadcast SW. Maybe an occasional twist here and there on the band
spread just to tweak it. But for the most part once it's all warmed
up you can tune it and leave it. HAM/CW stuff…can you say carpal
tunnel syndrome! Expect to be manipulating knobs all night long….very
unstable. But I still can manage to get something listenable tuned in
for a few minutes (or seconds) at a time. This is due to my rigorous
analog training on my COBY CX-CRAPOLLA. Who says those cheap radios
don't come in handy. I still have it by the way. Great for
traveling. (Did I mention it was under 10 bucks new….) Okay focus
Judah…..DX160….DX-160.

SELECTIVITY – FAIR – can't hold a candle to the YB-400. FRG also has
far better selectivity. It's not terrible. But when there is a
really powerful station next door to a weaker one. Expect to get some
mingling if you're trying to tune in the weaker. And in some
cases….just don‘t bother. I should also mention I don't seem to get
a lot of ghost signals. Even with a good size antenna, I don't get AM
bleeding through or duplicate bogus SW signals…. (This was the curse
of my DX-300) In this respect it blows the DX-300 away.

BUILD QUALITY – EXCELLENT-Built like a tank. If treated right should
last well past your lifetime. (But like any piece of electronic
equipment, don't drop it. Nuff said.

PRICE: Worth 50-75 bucks to me. I don't feel you're getting ripped
off even you pay anything under 99 bucks with shipping included. Why
do I say that? It has a very high FUN FACTOR rating to me. And it
will to you to, if you're a knob turner. It definitely is more fun
than my YB-400. Punching in a frequency on a digital keypad is just
pansy!! You heard me PANSY! No offense to any pansies out there….
(As I suppose this is not a politically correct term). But keypad
tuning was never the same to me, as tuning the old fashion way. But
that's just my preference. Basically you're hard pressed to get a
table top radio with a tuning knob any cheaper than this baby.

NEGATIVES: -The tuning concept for the radio BLOWS!!!! Even when
you grasp the idea of "tuning points" on the main dial (little white
and red diamonds painted on the faceplate) and using the band
spread…its just bad bad bad. It's too much work. In most cases I use
the band spread simply as a fine tuning knob. I crank it almost to
the highest point on the band spread dial, and then just tweak it a
little when I find a station with the main dial. But everything is a
guessing game. I tune a little past 12 MHz on the main dial and then
band spread around till I hear the BBC. Usually I use my YB-400 as a
way to find my general tuning reference point. If your just band
scanning to hear what you hear, it's okay. If you're looking for
something….it'll take some time. No matter how I look at it…this was
a terrible design. The FRG-7, DX-300/302 is a breeze to tune by
comparison. (The preselector – set up on these models is light years
ahead of the DX-160.) And that may not be saying much, but it's
true. Also for HAM radio listening. I rate it rather low. You can
do it…and it's nice they included this option, but it is a real
challenge to enjoy it. And in most cases a lesson in frustration.

ADVANTAGES – It's CHEAP!!! If your on a shoestring budget like me.
It maybe your only chance to own a tabletop receiver. No matter what
anyone says this is truly a shortwave receiver. Why? It feels like
one, when you use it. The weight of the tuning knob, all the little
switched and knobs….it just feels right. You can curl up next to its
glowing faceplate with all the lights out in the house and you feel
like a real DXer. Sure it could be more powerful…but it is still a
respectable piece of equipment if you in the under 60 dollar radio
buying category. I would take it any day over (DX-300, Grundig YB
207, 217,Traveller II, Realistic-351, DAK 101, COBY or anything else
in the under $60 category) This unit can handle a nice long random
wire antenna….most radios under 60 bucks can't. They overload. You
can even use the ANT trimmer on this baby to fix that if it happens,
but I never notice it getting too over loaded to begin with….except
and occasionally super-strong signal. All the radio experts here say
the antenna is vital…if not the most important thing….so having the
advantage to be able to use a good size antenna without overloading is
a big plus.

OVERALL – Fun radio for broadcast stuff. Not a real DXing powerhouse,
but with some patience you may get some nice catches. I recently have
gotten some good stuff out of AFRICA, PRAGUE, AND EVEN A UTILITY
STATION OUT OF NY. If you like playing with knobs….get this baby.
You'll be in twiddle heaven for a very low price.

These are only my opinions. And are simply based off my own
listening, and usage. My comparisons are not based on any actual
testing, but on something much more basic….how is sounds and feels to
me.

Hope this review was entertaining and useful to other SW NEWBIE-NON
TECHIES like me.

WRITTEN BY JUDAH SMITH

Great revues! Lay-mans words that a layman can understand!!!

Ernie