"Ultra" portable MW-SW-FM receiver recommendations?
 

On Sat, 04 Feb 2006 19:49:37 -0800, running dogg wrote:

mike wrote:


I was wondering why he needs to put the radio in a faraday cage myself.
I've read that a typical EMP pulse bomb like Al Qaeda would most likely
use would mostly work on anything *that was on the same frequency*.

Al Qaeda has no bombs. They don't need them. The destroyed the USA
with $20 worth of box cutters (and the help of an incredibly
incompetent [or worse] administration).

"Ultra" portable MW-SW-FM receiver recommendations?
 

"Ultra" portable inherently means a very small ferrite bar antenna for LW-MW
reception. Which will preclude any strong stand alone performance on LW-MW
without an external LW-MW antenna like the Terk Advantage AM loop or
something else for LW.

My picks for the ultimate "Ultra" portable are the Sony ICF-SW100 or
ICF-SW07. Both have Synch Detectors.

"Roger" wrote in message
...
I currently own a Radio Shack DX-399 (same model as the Sangean
ATS-606), which is a quite solid, portable LW-MW-SW-FM receiver with
quite good sound quality when delivered to ear buds (FM stereo to
earbuds.)

I mostly use this radio for local MW and FM listening, but will
occasionally listen to SW broadcasts, and DX-MW using a Radio Shack
loop.

I love this radio for its portability, but am looking for another to
put one of them away in a Faraday box for use in case of a major
emergency.

So, what other makes/models should I consider? Repeating some of the
above, here's my criteria:

1) The size of the DX-399 or smaller.

2) General coverage MW-SW (up to 30 kHz), and with stereo FM (when fed
to earbuds). Don't need LW.

3) Good sound quality (especially of FM) when fed to earbuds.

4) As good or better sensitivity than the DX-399 for MW dxing and SW.

5) Don't need SSB, but would be nice.

6) Don't care too much about speaker quality, since I would use it
exclusively with earbuds.

7) Don't care about the other bells and whistles (e.g. alarm), but
some station memory would be nice.

So what are my other options? New and/or used (buyable through eBay)
will be considered.

Thanks!

Roger

Degen/Kaito 1103 (where to get?) (was: "Ultra" portable MW-SW-FM...)
 

I thank everyone for replying to my inquiry about the best small
portable MW-SW-FM radio meeting my list of specs.

With regards to the various "Faraday Cage" comments, I'll not reply to
them in any substantive way since that is off-topic here (want to
focus on "radios"), but for those interested, just do a Google search
on "EMP Faraday," and several informative articles will result.

Now, as I look things over, I'm getting more and more intrigued with
purchasing a Degen/Kaito 1103 portable.

So, where can I find this model at the lowest price? Also, should I
stick with a Kaito (for the American market), or can I consider a
Degen? (I heard the walwart with the Degen is not for U.S. voltages.)

Thoughts? Recommendations?

Thanks!

Roger

Degen/Kaito 1103 (where to get?) (was: "Ultra" portable MW-SW-FM...)
 

On Sun, 05 Feb 2006 17:13:03 GMT, Roger
wrote:

I thank everyone for replying to my inquiry about the best small
portable MW-SW-FM radio meeting my list of specs.

With regards to the various "Faraday Cage" comments, I'll not reply to
them in any substantive way since that is off-topic here (want to
focus on "radios"), but for those interested, just do a Google search
on "EMP Faraday," and several informative articles will result.

Now, as I look things over, I'm getting more and more intrigued with
purchasing a Degen/Kaito 1103 portable.

So, where can I find this model at the lowest price? Also, should I
stick with a Kaito (for the American market), or can I consider a
Degen? (I heard the walwart with the Degen is not for U.S. voltages.)

Thoughts? Recommendations?

Thanks!

Roger

I think your money would be better spent on some psychotherapy.

Degen/Kaito 1103 (where to get?) (was: "Ultra" portable MW-SW-FM...)
 

David wrote:
Roger wrote:

Now, as I look things over, I'm getting more and more intrigued
with purchasing a Degen/Kaito 1103 portable.

So, where can I find this model at the lowest price? Also, should I
stick with a Kaito (for the American market), or can I consider a
Degen? (I heard the walwart with the Degen is not for U.S.
voltages.)

I think your money would be better spent on some psychotherapy.

*laugh*

Well, David recommended I look at the Sangean PT-80 ProTravel, so I
assume his comment about me needing psychotherapy is because I did not
take his recommendation.

David (and others), how does the PT-80 compare to the Degen/Kaito 1103
with respect to MW and SW reception performance?

I save quite a chunk of change going with the 1103, plus the 1103 is
a little smaller and lighter. Also, my research indicates the 1103's
performance in several important categories appears to be better than
the PT-80. To me, it seems like a no-brainer.

Comments?

Thanks.

Roger

Degen/Kaito 1103 (where to get?) (was: "Ultra" portable MW-SW-FM...)
 

On Sun, 05 Feb 2006 19:19:28 GMT, Roger
wrote:

David wrote:
Roger wrote:

Now, as I look things over, I'm getting more and more intrigued
with purchasing a Degen/Kaito 1103 portable.

So, where can I find this model at the lowest price? Also, should I
stick with a Kaito (for the American market), or can I consider a
Degen? (I heard the walwart with the Degen is not for U.S.
voltages.)

I think your money would be better spent on some psychotherapy.

*laugh*

Well, David recommended I look at the Sangean PT-80 ProTravel, so I
assume his comment about me needing psychotherapy is because I did not
take his recommendation.

David (and others), how does the PT-80 compare to the Degen/Kaito 1103
with respect to MW and SW reception performance?

I save quite a chunk of change going with the 1103, plus the 1103 is
a little smaller and lighter. Also, my research indicates the 1103's
performance in several important categories appears to be better than
the PT-80. To me, it seems like a no-brainer.

Comments?

Thanks.

Roger

What do you plan on listening to after Cheney detonates his bomb?
Anything left on the air will most likely be disinformation.

Degen/Kaito 1103 (where to get?) (was: "Ultra" portable MW-SW-FM...)
 

David wrote:
Roger wrote:

Well, David recommended I look at the Sangean PT-80 ProTravel, so I
assume his comment about me needing psychotherapy is because I did
not take his recommendation.

David (and others), how does the PT-80 compare to the Degen/Kaito
1103 with respect to MW and SW reception performance?

I save quite a chunk of change going with the 1103, plus the 1103
is a little smaller and lighter. Also, my research indicates the
1103's performance in several important categories appears to be
better than the PT-80. To me, it seems like a no-brainer.

What do you plan on listening to after Cheney detonates his bomb?
Anything left on the air will most likely be disinformation.

Er, ok.

Anyway, I'm considering using the Degen as my daily listener, and
relegating the DX-399 to storage. So I am interested in the here and
now ("pre-Cheney bomb".)

So, let's get back on track and compare. Let's compare the relative
sensitivity (MW-SW), and audio quality using earbuds between the
following "ultra" portable models:

Sangean PT-80
Sangean ATS-606 (essentially same as Radio Shack DX-399)
Degen/Kaito 1103
Sony ICF-SW7600GR
Sony ICF-SW100

(Of course, there's a great variation in price, and in features. The
ATS-606/DX-399 does not have SSB, which to me is not important, but to
others is important. When I bought my DX-399, I paid ~$35, so it was a
no-brainer to get -- I should have bought two.)

I'm sure a couple others could be added to the above list, but they
should not be any larger than the largest already there.

Roger

"Ultra" portable MW-SW-FM receiver recommendations?
 

The Sangean 909 is aka the Radio Shack DX-398, which I also acquired at
the same time that I acquired the DX-399. The DX-399 is about the half
the size. It is really a terrific choice for a backpacking tour of
Europe, Australia, Asia, etc. What a gem.

Degen/Kaito 1103 (where to get?) (was: "Ultra" portable MW-SW-FM...)
 

David wrote:


What do you plan on listening to after Cheney detonates his bomb?
Anything left on the air will most likely be disinformation.


Broadcsats of Miss Nude Islam, with our host Osama from the Iranian
Capital ??

Degen/Kaito 1103 (where to get?) (was: "Ultra" portable MW-SW-FM...)
 

"When I bought my DX-399, I paid ~$35, so it was a no-brainer to get --
I should have bought two.)"

No, I bought the other one.