Just rec'd this little gem from KB, gave it to my 12 year old as her
first SW radio. She is playing with it right now and thouroughly
engrossed! I think this is a great find for $12!! Thanks!


"BC" wrote in message news:PVMKb.47175$HQ.31735@okepread02...
I too enjoy the inexpensive shortwave radios in my collection. I have a
$20 Coby AM/FM/Shortwave from Fry's and my little Grundig PE-100 ($30 at
Radio Shack and other retailers). A note about the JX-M14, it is not
"digitally tuned" as Barry states but is an analog radio with a digital
frequency readout. This is a growing trend, my Grundig S350 has it,
Grundig's (Eaton) new pocket radio has it (not the YB550, the $49 one that
just came out), and this little jWin radio too. Truly digitally tuned radios
start at about the $60 price point (the Kato in Passport, I think, is about
that price).

Typically on these inexpensive radios you're giving up selectivity,
frequency stability, inteference rejection and other basic RF related
bugaboos. They tend to be, though, thrifty on batteries, sensitive enough to
be fun, and are simply bargain basement in price. Kind of hard to argue,
huh?

My shortwave collection ranges from my little Coby to a Radio Shack DX394
(aka Sangean 909). On the short list is to get an ICOM PCR-1000 (I had one
for a while and it is truly amazing). Computer controlled and a coming
generation of SDR (Software Defined Radios) truly make SWL and BCL DX'ing as
fun and as exiciting as ever.

Enjoy,
BC

"Andy and Barry" wrote in message
...
Hello folks,

It has been a while since I have posted here, but I thought I would do
so today to let you know about a small inexpensive radio ( JWIN JX-14)
that I bought yesterday here in Rhode Island in a store named Benny's.
This radio may or may not be a nice gift to introduce the hobby of short
wave to somebody. I will leave that up to you.

For Photo and features go to manufacture's site:

jWIN Electronics - JX-M14
Address:http://www.jwin.com/Products/ProdDetail.asp?ProdID=353

My opinions of this radio:

To start with this is a $15 radio. For those of you who like
perfection STOP HERE and leave this thread.

My first impression of this radio was and is that this radio looks
pretty nice. It has a silver plastic box much like most radios being
used made days. The volume control, ear phone plug and external power
plug are located on the left side of the radio. Tuner and power switch
is on the right side. All other switches, buttons, lights and digital
read-out are on the front. The radio has a small stand like the YB400 on
the back that lets the radio stand on an angle.

I put two well used batteries into my radio because I didn't have fresh
batteries. I was surprised at how loud the radio played. The sound
quality of the small 57mm speaker surprised me as it was pleasing to
listen to and not as harsh as one would expect from such an inexpensive
small radio.

The radio is digitally tuned and in the instructions it is stated, "Each
index of the radio is adjusted well, so please do not adjust the
components in the radio." The Technical Data supplied states that the AM
Frequency Range is 530-1710. My digital read-out on the radio reads
from
529-1755 0r 1756. When tuned to WPRO 630 the radio picks up the station
from 605-671 passing over 660 WFAN. So how do I adjust the settings
inside the radio? I was able to pick up Toronto and Baltimore on AM
with my very brief DXing expedition but had to rely on the stations to
id themselves to know what I was listening to.

My experience with FM is pretty much the same. WGBH in Boston wasn't as
strong as I would have liked but it was still strong enough to listen to
without lots of noise. Perhaps new batteries would work better.

Knowing where you are or what you are listening to wIll be a never
ending task with this radio......still the sound quality is better than
the worst radios in this price range..

SW features are the real test and serious SWavers will be disappointed.
But if you are looking for the fun of using a cheap radio to see what
you can squeeze out of a $15 radio. Fun can still be had.

For the SW review I want to start with the antenna. The length of the
telescoping antenna is approximately 18 inches. It is real stiff and
seems like it will take a long time before it starts to flop over
uncontrollably asking for you to tighten the screw that holds it on the
radio.

The 7 SW bands are gotten to by a slider switch that hold the different
band settings. My guess is that this will be the first part of the radio
that will fail. Only time will tell. Data sheet states ranges as:

SW1 5.95-6.20
SW2 7.10-7.30
SW3 9.50-9.90
SW4 11.65-12.05
SW5 13.60-13.80
SW6 15.10-15.60
SW7 17.50-17.90

This morning I was able to pick up Radio Australia, the Netherlands,
several spanish speaking stations as well as several stations
broadcasting religious programs as well as a BBC World Service
broadcast. (listening time after 8Am eastern)

I am use to my YB400's digital read-out giving frequency info. This
radio doesn't do this. Example. Yesterday a set the clock by going to
3330 Canada. The Digital display on the radio read 7.35 as I was
listening to the clock on the 90m band tick of the time. Obviously this
radio will challenge ones comfort level. But that aside during my
daytime listening I was able to listen to 10 SW stations with strong
signal strength and a minimum of noise. Station drift is a problem but
to be honest I was expecting that with a radio in this price range so
there is now surprise over this and I can live with this problem as it
meets my expectations.

Setting the clock is easy and the instructions are very clear on how to
do so. You have to have the radio off to set the clock and to set the
alarm. The time is only displayed while the radio is off.
What I like about the alarm is that when it turns on the radio at the
time you set the radio will play for one hour and turn itself off. Nice
feature to be able to listen while in bed with out the fear of leaving
the radio on if you fall asleep. Just set the alarm to turn on the radio
then fall asleep. (Alarm clock in reverse.)

The digital display is best read with the radio on an angle. If the
radio is standing up-right reading the display is near to impossible.
(no light to show display at night)

WHAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE.

This is not a $15 radio that picks up only one SW station. It has sound
quality that can be listened to with comfort on AM, FM, and SW.. There
is nothing fancy about this radio it is very very very basic. It does
what it says it will do with a little guess work....The only question
is: How long will it do it for?

I plan to listen to mine and maybe do a little bragging about the
simplicity of it all. I just buy a couple more so Santa can turn people
on to SW.

73,

Barry

http://community.webtv.net/Timetrav2/TIMETRAVELERS

There is no relationship between the DX 394 and Sangean 909.
"BC" wrote in message
news:PVMKb.47175$HQ.31735@okepread02...

My shortwave collection ranges from my little Coby to a Radio Shack
DX394
(aka Sangean 909).