Randy,

Thanks for the review.
Got an e-mail from K&B ,out in Arizona
with a UPS tracking link.

- Keep us posted !

Dan


In article ,
(Randy Padawer) writes:


Well, my $10 jWIN shortwave radio arrived right on schedule today via
UPS. I bought from hififorless.com. Here are my initial thoughts:

1) The audio is much better than the Bell+Howell unit. Actually, for
a cheapie radio, the Bell+Howell isn't that bad, but the jWIN has a
more resonant ring to it.

2) I like the digital readout. The frequency is not selected via
buttons, but actually by a thumbwheel control (a variable capacitor, I
surmise) on the upper right side of the radio. The frequency is
actually selected analog-style, while the digital display simply
follows and reads the freq. (This is different than almost every
digital radio out there today in which the digital circuitry plays a
large role in tuning the radio.) As a result, the digital readout in
this unit produces no spurious noise or chuffing that I could discern.
Moroever, the display seems accurate -- WWV is right where it should
be in multiple places.

3) Tuning, however, seems a bit more fiddly than the Bell+Howell unit.
On the B+H, when you light upon a station, it stays there, and there
is no backlash when you let go of the frequency knob. On the jWIN,
there is a very minor (yet ever-so-noticeable) backlash, and you'll
find yourself working for just a second or three more to tune in a
station just right -- especially if it's not a very strong station.

4) When the jWIN first arrived, I removed my Bell+Howell batteries and
shoved them into the jWIN, turned on the jWIN, and... oh no... I hear
noise but the digital readout isn't working right. I realized,
though, that these batteries were weak. Putting in some new strong
batteries solved the problem. Interestingly, though, the weaker
batteries powered the B+H unit just fine with no noticeable
degradation in sensitivity (I played with the B+H, swapping out new
batteries, etc.) Clearly, the jWIN is much more demanding with
respect to battery quality -- possibly chalk that up to the presence
of the digital freq readout.

I'll soon dig out last year's Coby 12 band cheapie radio and do a
comparison with all of these units.

I must close with one interesting note, though... I still have my
cheapie Pomtrex from 1992 (a plastic analog multiband shortwave radio
from China which sold for ~$30). The Pomtrex at that time won an
amazing TWO STARS (!) from Passport to World Band Radio, and I concur
-- its sensitivity and selectivity still beat the Coby, the
contemporary Bell+Howell, and my new jWIN. However, the jWIN's audio
is slightly more pleasurable to hear.

(Does anybody remember the Pomtrex other than me? I still enjoy
mine.)

In closing, I was happy to get this unit for $10 plus shipping instead
of $30+ plus shipping. It's a good unit, and the digital freq display
is really unique to this radio in the ten buck price class.

Randy (WA4FJF)