I've just bought a slightly used 1103 (looks like unused), and can't
figure out which one I've got. The guys said it's a 2006 version, but
he didn't have anything with date of purchase - any receipt, or
anything. I've read a lot before choosing 1103 over Sony 7600 (costing
twice as much and not any better).

My 1103 does have "shuffling" when rotating the tuning jog-dial - light
"blip-blip" in quiet sections of MW and SW. It is barely audible, and
in noisy sections of SW I don't hear it at all. I've read that this
defect has been eliminated after March 2005.

Q1: Anybody has this "blip-blip" on his 2006 model? Is there anything
else that makes the latest 2006 models different from earlier ones?

Other than that, I'm satisfied. Functions are almost intuitive. Some
buttons are too close to each other, and I would like them to be larger
too. My apartment i is a RF nightmare - downtown Vancouver (Canada),
wooden building, but few hundred yards from railway depot and some
industries, and mountains all around. So I'm not surprised to hear so
little on SW. Just a few stations with a so-so quality here and there,
in 41, 49, and 31 m bands. MW is astonishing - not only I hear a bunch
of them in neigboring Seattle 200 miles away, but also as far as Texas
and San Francisco, - more than a thousand miles away. Wire antenna
doesn't change much, even when hanging out on the balcony.

Time and the last listened station are lost if you un-plug it or remove
the batteries - it returns to the deafault loud 40 level volume and to
FM band. But pre-set stations remain in memory.

Q2: I am confused about its "100-300000 khz continus coverage". Bands
on pseudo-analog dispaly are not overlapping. For ex. low AM ends at
520 KHZ. If I dial 519 and go down, it apperas to tune to 519, 518 etc.
But if I dial, say, 140, it displays 140, but tunes to 1040 AM (MW).
Anybody noticed this?

In article . com,
wrote:
I've just bought a slightly used 1103 (looks like unused), and can't
figure out which one I've got. The guys said it's a 2006 version, but
he didn't have anything with date of purchase - any receipt, or
anything. I've read a lot before choosing 1103 over Sony 7600 (costing
twice as much and not any better).

Other than that, I'm satisfied. Functions are almost intuitive. Some
buttons are too close to each other, and I would like them to be larger
too. My apartment i is a RF nightmare - downtown Vancouver (Canada),
wooden building, but few hundred yards from railway depot and some
industries, and mountains all around. So I'm not surprised to hear so
little on SW. Just a few stations with a so-so quality here and there,
in 41, 49, and 31 m bands. MW is astonishing - not only I hear a bunch
of them in neigboring Seattle 200 miles away, but also as far as Texas
and San Francisco, - more than a thousand miles away. Wire antenna
doesn't change much, even when hanging out on the balcony.

------------------
Wind a longer wire 15 times around the whip and then up
and towards the south or west window.

Railway Depot? Waterfront or the False Creek Pacific National?
There is no depot downtown anymore. And how much RF do
frain produce? These aren't electrical trains.
And what is the RF you are talking about? Mostly damp street lights
and hundreds of cars starting up all the time.

And what were you expecting in sw reception? Do you dismiss
anything that is not in English?
Which day was that? There have been huge fadeouts because
of solar activity which preclude high-latitude sources.

See the odxa.on.ca pages and their World English Survey for
some hints.

Most stations aren't broadcasting 24 hours a day, you have to be
up, awake and at the radio at 2 or 7 in the morning for some
stations.
Try for RNZI, RNW, DW, RTI, RA,CRI, RCI, RJ, RKI, VoR, VoA backend
(i.e. the Ascension or Delano signals going the other direction)
Get an Azimuth map from the web and use that to think about
where stations might be. Eg http://rivat.chez-alice.fr/software.htm
Get the WRTH and Passport (from library, or buy) and list all
the powerful (50 kw ) and where they are.

For MW, scan the lists of
http://members.shaw.ca/nwbroadcasters/recentnews.htm
and see what you have got so far.

The world is out there if you have the time and the ears.

Google the nearby Grayland DX expeditions that pick up
MW from Asia and other places. You might be amazed.

wrote:
I've just bought a slightly used 1103 (looks like unused), and can't
figure out which one I've got. The guys said it's a 2006 version, but
he didn't have anything with date of purchase - any receipt, or
anything. I've read a lot before choosing 1103 over Sony 7600 (costing
twice as much and not any better).


What do you mean which one? Are there two different designs? Maybe
you are implying/suggesting that the manufacturer went through some
type of a major engineering change somewhere during the development
cycle which produced a significantly different radio.

I have heard that there was something different with the antenna
circuits when plugging in an external antenna that changed along the
way. I think my radio acted differently from the schematic that was
posted to Degen group.

It would be nice to have a list of engineering changes that took place
along the way, but not likely with a radio made in China.

73
NEO

N9NEO wrote:
wrote:
I've just bought a slightly used 1103 (looks like unused), and can't
figure out which one I've got. The guys said it's a 2006 version, but
he didn't have anything with date of purchase - any receipt, or
anything. I've read a lot before choosing 1103 over Sony 7600 (costing
twice as much and not any better).


What do you mean which one? Are there two different designs? Maybe
you are implying/suggesting that the manufacturer went through some
type of a major engineering change somewhere during the development
cycle which produced a significantly different radio.

I have heard that there was something different with the antenna
circuits when plugging in an external antenna that changed along the
way. I think my radio acted differently from the schematic that was
posted to Degen group.

It would be nice to have a list of engineering changes that took place
along the way, but not likely with a radio made in China.

73
NEO

The most comprehensive description of the KA1103/DE1103 appears to be
on the Russian Radioscanner forum. There is a compilation of material
on modifications by someone by the name of IRIS, a crude, computer
translation of which is available on the main English language forum at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/de1103/ in the Files area. It reports a
difference in the antenna input and one or two internal changes that
are obvious when opened up. However, this was a revision in effect
after October, 2004. Whether there has been any subsequent revision has
not been reported or, at least, is unknown to me.

The antenna input change may be detected by an external test. Tune to a
weak VHF-FM signal. insert a bare 3.5mm plug into the antenna jack. If
the signal decreases, you have a post Oct/2004 model, otherwise an
original one. The newer one disconnects the telescoping antenna when an
external antenna is plugged in; the older model left the telescoping
antenna always connected.

Tom

Tom wrote:
N9NEO wrote:
wrote:
I've just bought a slightly used 1103 (looks like unused), and can't
figure out which one I've got. The guys said it's a 2006 version, but
he didn't have anything with date of purchase - any receipt, or
anything. I've read a lot before choosing 1103 over Sony 7600 (costing
twice as much and not any better).


What do you mean which one? Are there two different designs? Maybe
you are implying/suggesting that the manufacturer went through some
type of a major engineering change somewhere during the development
cycle which produced a significantly different radio.

I have heard that there was something different with the antenna
circuits when plugging in an external antenna that changed along the
way. I think my radio acted differently from the schematic that was
posted to Degen group.

It would be nice to have a list of engineering changes that took place
along the way, but not likely with a radio made in China.

73
NEO

The most comprehensive description of the KA1103/DE1103 appears to be
on the Russian Radioscanner forum. There is a compilation of material
on modifications by someone by the name of IRIS, a crude, computer
translation of which is available on the main English language forum at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/de1103/ in the Files area. It reports a
difference in the antenna input and one or two internal changes that
are obvious when opened up. However, this was a revision in effect
after October, 2004. Whether there has been any subsequent revision has
not been reported or, at least, is unknown to me.

The antenna input change may be detected by an external test. Tune to a
weak VHF-FM signal. insert a bare 3.5mm plug into the antenna jack. If
the signal decreases, you have a post Oct/2004 model, otherwise an
original one. The newer one disconnects the telescoping antenna when an
external antenna is plugged in; the older model left the telescoping
antenna always connected.

Tom

Yes, the Russians - iris have done a very nice job of supplying info
for radio.
thanks
NEO

What do you mean which one? Are there two different designs? Maybe
you are implying/suggesting that the manufacturer went through some
type of a major engineering change somewhere during the development
cycle which produced a significantly different radio.

Yes, that's what I've heard. Russians on their forum (as much as I
could understand) are talking about 2 versions of circuits in Degen
1103. But may be it was only change in external antenna commutation
somewhere in 2004.

The most comprehensive description of the KA1103/DE1103 appears to be
on the Russian Radioscanner forum. There is a compilation of material
on modifications by someone by the name of IRIS, a crude, computer
translation of which is available on the main English language forum at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/de1103/in the Files area.

Yes, thanks - and here is "normal" English translation, edited by some
american user:
http://www.radioscanner.ru/receivers...n1103_eng.html . IRIS
has done a great job - very detailed review, not just a compilation.
There are, as I understand, other his publications on modifications
made by IRIS and other users (not by the factory) in Degen 1003, but
this requires knowledge of Russian.

Dan Say, - thanks for the link to Ontario Dx website. Now that I knew
where and when to look for, and got rid of AC adapter on SW - using
batteries instead, as my friends suggested, and stepped out to the
balcony - I think SW works fine for my particular location. Yesterday
late evening Radio Australia was more-less where it should.

I really have a terrible apartment - it was miracle to get any
reception at all in the room. The exterior walls, as it turned out, are
covered with metal sheets (wet weather protection), and the window and
balcony is facing North, towards Rocky Mountains some dozen miles away.
And between those mountains and me there is an electrical Skytrain
viaduct, railway terminal at Main Str (I'm at Main and 2nd), plus
freight rail-yard, railway engine depot or some engine repair
facilities few hundred meters away. Cars and trolley-buses are probably
generating more noise than rail yard, though.

Btw, I was wrong about Kaito 1103 tuning to AM 1040 when dialing 140 -
it is, as I understand, really 140, i.e. Long Wave channel of the same
station.

wrote:
Btw, I was wrong about Kaito 1103 tuning to AM 1040 when dialing 140 -
it is, as I understand, really 140, i.e. Long Wave channel of the same
station.

No, it's not the LW channel - there are no LW broadcasters in North
America. Rather it is an unwanted effect of the superheterodyne
receiver: a signal can be shifted into the intermediate frequency stage
at more than one setting of the tuning control. The DE1103 uses a 2nd
IF of 450kHz. When the radio is tuned to 1040 kHz, the local oscillator
is effectively operating at 1490 kHz to produce a mixer difference of
450 kHz. However, a LO frequency of 590 kHz also will produce the IF -
that corresponds to a tuning of 140 kHz, known as the image frequency
of 1040 kHz. Better superhet radios have sufficient selectivity ahead
of the mixer that the 1040 kHz energy and consequent image signal are
very weak and almost undetectable.

Tom

wrote:
....
Yes, thanks - and here is "normal" English translation, edited
by some american user:
http://www.radioscanner.ru/receivers...n1103_eng.html .
IRIS has done a great job - very detailed review, not just a
compilation. There are, as I understand, other his publications
on modifications made by IRIS and other users (not by the
factory) in Degen 1003, but this requires knowledge of Russian.


Get and use Firefox / Seamonkey browser and
load the Foxlingo extension.

Or paste the Russian site into Google and let
them provide a "Translate this page?" button.

By the way, Russia World should be below you
on Main Street in the Bosa Towers. Go in and have a chat.

Dan Say, - thanks for the link to Ontario Dx website. Now that I
knew where and when to look for, and got rid of AC adapter on SW
- using batteries instead, as my friends suggested, and stepped
out to the
balcony - I think SW works fine for my particular location.
Yesterday late evening Radio Australia was more-less where it
should.

And also RNZI which booms in on a summer evening.

The 'blanks' in the ODXA.on.ca World English Survey
are usually when they broadcast either their vernacular
(Chinese, Swedish, Japanese, etc.) to North America
or the Spanish language. Get thee to a Spanish language
class in the new year.

I really have a terrible apartment - it was miracle to get any
reception at all in the room. The exterior walls, as it turned
out, are covered with metal sheets (wet weather protection), and
the window and balcony is facing North, towards Rocky Mountains
some dozen miles away. And between those mountains and me there
is an electrical Skytrain viaduct, railway terminal at Main Str
(I'm at Main and 2nd), plus freight rail-yard, railway engine
depot or some engine repair facilities few hundred meters away.
Cars and trolley-buses are probably generating more noise than
rail yard, though.

The metal isn't that think and you can 'induce'
an antenna on your side with a sheet of aluminum
foil on the wall and a thin wire off it.
Same with foil on the windows or that sticky tape
foil window alarm.
The metal was another of the infamous Brad Holmes
"artist lofts" idea of selling under-furnished
apartments for too much money too little fitting,
but creating instant 'street-cred' with industrial
sheet metal cladding.

See the book lists in the back of the ODXA "Listening
in" sample issue and think about ordering some.

Go to both Com-west on 8171 South Main and also
Burnaby Radio (4257 East Hastings) and brows their
shelves on antenna books. As a receiver only you
don't need thick wire antennas.

See from the ODXA.on.ca book lists what your public
library has of of the same titles.
Burnaby Public used to have a lot of
'ham' and radio books pushed by local entusiasts.
You have equal borrowing privileges with them.
www.bpl.burnaby.bc.ca/
www.vpl.vancouver.bc.ca/

Those are NOT the Rocky mountains which are 400 kilometres
to the east, but the start of the Coast Range of mountains,
what the Americans call the Cascades.
http://www.bivouac.com/default.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...itish_Columbia

Mountains don't affect you in the middle of of the Fraser
Valley as you are too far away (8 km from a 1000 metre
"mountain" and most signals won't come that nothern way (and
1000/8000= is a pretty low mountain unlike Mayo in the
Yukon where you don't see the sun), for a signal from the sky
to be blocked by them. Besides if you have your azimuth
map you can see that sometimes you'll get long path radio
from around the world.

If you are are at Main and 2nd then you have welding and
light machine shops causing arcing as do the trolley buses
on wet days. How is it on dry days if you have them, and
what about after 6 when many businesses close down?
Check the signals when you come home from late-night xmas
partying at 4 in the morning. (Europe is having lunch
and sending signals to the rising East Coast), but signals
don't stop there but arrive after a few attenuating
skips to Second and Main.

Make a long wire with such things as a PVC pipe or hockey stick
Example :
http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx...al/broom3.html
http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx.../northant.html
It's not easy to get long continuous wire in town. See what
R P Electronic Components Ltd. 2060 Rosser Ave Burnaby has.
They have a web site.

Learn about loop antennas and their breadth and directionality.
And loops don't have to "round" but more like a spider web
of spiral wire
http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx...inducloop.html
http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx.../reducin1.html

The word "hidden" antenna often means for apartments, e.g.
http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx...den/index.html
but have you gotten permission to go on the roof and thead
a long wire across its expanse, with a small feed line down?
2 two by fours each stuck in one of those decorative cement
breeze blocks for stability and some scarecrow flashes hanging
from the wire to keep humans from tripping into it.

What area of the balcony can see the southern sky? What
neighbour wouldn't mind a stick on one corner of their
south-facing (east- or west-) balcony out-of-the-way and a wire
to your balcony? And think in three dimensions: a neighbour
above, below, to the east to the west.

However since you say that you got a good signal from
RAustralia, the problem of only being able to see north
is moot.

Here's a thought about noise sources
http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx...noise_pol.html



Btw, I was wrong about Kaito 1103 tuning to AM 1040 when dialing
140 - it is, as I understand, really 140, i.e. Long Wave channel
of the same station.

There is only a weather long wave.
Everything else is a harmonic. Useful but unintentional
See the range of Canuck freqencies for Long Wave
at Industry Canada Spectrum Search pages by : Geographical Area
http://sd.ic.gc.ca/pls/eng_alpha/web...raphical_input
More generally
Spectrum Direct®: Main Menu
URL: http://sd.ic.gc.ca/engdoc/main.jsp#Radio

There is an FCC version of the same thing as you have found
that you can get 30 Canadian AM stations easily and 100
US stations, being so close to the border.

have fun with Xmas loggings
You are logging your hits aren't
you in UTC-DAY and UTC-Time?
--
-\_,-~-\___...__._._._._._._._._._._._.
For real Dxing,
see]http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~vz6g-iwt/index.html

Try having a set of recharged batteries on hand. Replace them immediately
after removing the spent batteries and you won't have this problem.




wrote in message
ups.com...

Time and the last listened station are lost if you un-plug it or remove
the batteries - it returns to the deafault loud 40 level volume and to
FM band. But pre-set stations remain in memory.