Quick first impressions about my new Degen 1102.

It arrived seven days after being airmailed from Hong Kong. Seller was Lipyn
through eBay. Perfect condition. He delivered exactly as promised.

The radio arrived in a padded envelope. When I opened it, there was a small
white box on the end. Inside was a 220 to 110 converter.

The radio box was in full color and printed in Chinese. I opened the box and
there was a very well-laid-out tray containing the 220 power adapter on the
left, stereo earphones on top right, and the radio on the bottom right
wrapped in a plastic bag. I picked up the tray, and under it was a shortwave
antenna wire, a pack of three Degen brand Ni-MH 1.25V 1300mAh rechargeable
batteries, and an owners manual printed in English and Chinese. Very nicely
packaged!!!

I haven't taken time to read the manual yet. Sorry, but I'm a guy.
Instructions are for the weak-minded.

I picked up the radio, put in three AA NI-CADs and turned it on. It worked
fine, so I went outside and tested it against my DX-398.

On MW, the two were basically equal. Each one had frequencies on which it
beat the other. One thing of note, though... the Degen is extremely
directional. The DX-398 was a bit more forgiving. It's amazing that a radio
with a smaller ferrite bar can keep up with my DX-398. Of course, the 398
sounds better with more bass and everything, but that's to be expected.

On FM, again the two were comparable. Maybe the 398 won with the whip not
extended, but with the whip fully extended, there was no difference.

On SW, the Degen blew away my 398! Of course I realize that the 398 is
designed to work best with an external antenna attached. But that's not the
way I listen to a radio. In fact, most of the time, I like to keep the whip
unextended. When I fully extended both whips, the 398 came closer in
reception, but the Degen still shone.

I don't feel like writing more now. There are radio waves passing through my
house at this very moment, so I need to get my new radio turned on and tuned
in so I can find out where the waves are coming from and what they're trying
to tell me.

I love my new Degen 1102. Maybe I'll post more tomorrow when I get tired of
listening to it. Or maybe not.

"Corbin Ray" wrote...
[snip]
I love my new Degen 1102. Maybe I'll post more tomorrow when I get tired of
listening to it. Or maybe not.


Nice report Corbin.
It's a very cool radio.
I had to read the manual : )

Quick update on my 1102...

The SSB works very nicely. Of course I had to get out the manual to figure
out how to work it, but it works well.

I'm blown away by how much I'm getting on shortwave. It's like I've
discovered a new band tonight.

The speaker is really nice to listen to. It's not nearly as tinny as the
Sony 7600gr. But I thought I'd try a nice set of Koss headphones, and wow!
It sounds incredible on all bands, and FM with the bass boost is about as
good as it gets. In a comparison between my DX-398 with headphones and the
Degen with headphones, the Degen's wins hands down.

At this present time, I would put my Degen 1102 into the exact same level as
the Sangean 909, Grundig YB400, and Sony IC-SW7600GR. All have their unique
strengths and weakneses. But I was able to get my 1102 delivered to my door
for $68! So that puts the Degen in a class by itself.

"Corbin Ray" wrote in message
...
Quick update on my 1102...

The SSB works very nicely. Of course I had to get out the manual to
figure
out how to work it, but it works well.

I'm blown away by how much I'm getting on shortwave. It's like I've
discovered a new band tonight.

The speaker is really nice to listen to. It's not nearly as tinny as
the
Sony 7600gr. But I thought I'd try a nice set of Koss headphones,
and wow!
It sounds incredible on all bands, and FM with the bass boost is
about as
good as it gets. In a comparison between my DX-398 with headphones
and the
Degen with headphones, the Degen's wins hands down.

At this present time, I would put my Degen 1102 into the exact same
level as
the Sangean 909, Grundig YB400, and Sony IC-SW7600GR. All have their
unique
strengths and weakneses. But I was able to get my 1102 delivered to
my door
for $68! So that puts the Degen in a class by itself.


As something of a DX-398 buff, I have to ask where you think the
compromises are in the Degan? Or is it that rare product that really
does transcend its cost? You make it sound very interesting and my
finger has been twitching towards eBay! At that price, its SAF
(spousal acceptance factor) is a non-issue too.

I can attest to the fact that this radio is a "sleeper". You can't find
anything even close for $68.00. I can not get over the sheer number of
stations I can pull in with just the whip. This is what a portable should
be. I have owned several of the brands, and this is defintely the best
price/performance ratio I have seen. I don't even miss having a sync
detector on this radio. Yeah, its small (around the size of a Sangean 606),
so don't expect big sound but its not bad on the speaker either.


"T. Early" wrote in message
...

"Corbin Ray" wrote in message
...
Quick update on my 1102...

The SSB works very nicely. Of course I had to get out the manual to
figure
out how to work it, but it works well.

I'm blown away by how much I'm getting on shortwave. It's like I've
discovered a new band tonight.

The speaker is really nice to listen to. It's not nearly as tinny as
the
Sony 7600gr. But I thought I'd try a nice set of Koss headphones,
and wow!
It sounds incredible on all bands, and FM with the bass boost is
about as
good as it gets. In a comparison between my DX-398 with headphones
and the
Degen with headphones, the Degen's wins hands down.

At this present time, I would put my Degen 1102 into the exact same
level as
the Sangean 909, Grundig YB400, and Sony IC-SW7600GR. All have their
unique
strengths and weakneses. But I was able to get my 1102 delivered to
my door
for $68! So that puts the Degen in a class by itself.


As something of a DX-398 buff, I have to ask where you think the
compromises are in the Degan? Or is it that rare product that really
does transcend its cost? You make it sound very interesting and my
finger has been twitching towards eBay! At that price, its SAF
(spousal acceptance factor) is a non-issue too.

In article ,
T. Early wrote:

"Corbin Ray" wrote in message
...
Quick update on my 1102...

The SSB works very nicely. Of course I had to get out the manual to
figure
out how to work it, but it works well.

I'm blown away by how much I'm getting on shortwave. It's like I've
discovered a new band tonight.

The speaker is really nice to listen to. It's not nearly as tinny as
the
Sony 7600gr. But I thought I'd try a nice set of Koss headphones,
and wow!
It sounds incredible on all bands, and FM with the bass boost is
about as
good as it gets. In a comparison between my DX-398 with headphones
and the
Degen with headphones, the Degen's wins hands down.

At this present time, I would put my Degen 1102 into the exact same
level as
the Sangean 909, Grundig YB400, and Sony IC-SW7600GR. All have their
unique
strengths and weakneses. But I was able to get my 1102 delivered to
my door
for $68! So that puts the Degen in a class by itself.


As something of a DX-398 buff, I have to ask where you think the
compromises are in the Degan? Or is it that rare product that really
does transcend its cost? You make it sound very interesting and my
finger has been twitching towards eBay! At that price, its SAF
(spousal acceptance factor) is a non-issue too.


I live in northern NJ, close to a lot of MW transmitter sites. A few MW
stations bleed 100 or more KHz above their nominal frequencies. It looks
like the front end is getting overloaded in the same way that people have
described SW overload when using an external antenna. I have only two
other radios that exhibit this phenomenon so strongly: the Degen DE105,
and a Kaiwa KA-818 ... both "cheap" portables. Several other radios I own
- Grundig, Sangean, Sony, etc - do not have this problem around here.
On stations that do not suffer this kind of bleed-through, adjcent-channel
selectivity is excellent; thanks to decent bandpass filters and dual
conversion design (though I wonder if that applies to MW, despite the
blurb on the box).

I suspect one of the design compromises is in the usual trade-off with
portables: sensitivity vs. dynamic range. The DE-1102's sensitivity is
remarkable. Just tonight I happened to hit the power button while the
radio was sitting in the box, antenna completely collapsed and retracted.
It was tuned to 5975 KHz, and I was able to clearly copy BBC .. noisy, but
perfectly readable. The price is for this is increased susceptibility to
overload.

You don't get something for nothing! The 1102 is a remarkable performer
for the price; especially if you get a Degen version from China. (I think
I read in one review that the factory price comes to about US $34). But there
are some aspects of its performance, under difficult conditions, that a
"better" receiver may do better with. My two cents'worth.

Since this is newer than the three units he compared it with could it be
that the difference is in circuit integration? He mentioned it weighing
less also. Combining more IC's might make it a bit lighter and perhaps
more battery efficient as well.

Newer, thinner IC technology; i.e. micron thickness?

Concerning cost -- Could it be that cheap SLAVE LABOR?

Just a few possibilities.

Al

========

T. Early wrote:

As something of a DX-398 buff, I have to ask where you think the
compromises are in the Degan? Or is it that rare product that really
does transcend its cost? You make it sound very interesting and my
finger has been twitching towards eBay! At that price, its SAF
(spousal acceptance factor) is a non-issue too.

On SW, the Degen blew away my 398!

Ahhhhhhh, now I know why you jumped in my Moriccan post.....lol. I'm sure you
love your Degen, but id you 'think' it 'blows away' the 398 then you are in
the "I just got a new toy stage." sheesh

Yep,pitch out my 398 and Hammars and JRC and go grab that Degen, sarcasm
hopefully noted

Sorry (but not a lot) I read this a lot when someone gets a new radio and
someone that 100 out of a 100 would say is a better receiver than the new toy
and he's posting that he's hearing on his 'whip' what a superior radio on 600
ft. of wire is hearing also.

Pitch em' all out I say and RUN and get that Degen (which I'm sure is an OK
radio) but come on. You're not gonna hear clandestines on, oh heck, you
probably will also and really stcik it to us. ;-)

I'm glad your enjoying your new 'radio.'

On MW, the two were basically equal. Each one had frequencies on which it
beat the other.

then they weren't 'basically' equal.

It's amazing that a radio
with a smaller ferrite bar can keep up with my DX-398.

It sure is, isn't it. ;-)

Of course, the 398
sounds better with more bass and everything, but that's to be expected.

But of course. You sure though?

On FM, again the two were comparable.

Maybe the 398 won with the whip not
extended, but with the whip fully extended, there was no differenc

You think. :-)



On SW, the Degen blew away my 398!

Oh quit it Corbin....lol...why don't you start a yahoo group on your new piece
and see how many join. I'm sorry, this one is the hardest for me to believe.
Anyone else? Is this even 'remotely' possible. I've got a log book my friend
has just from my DX398 that hasn't even been modded yet (it will be) just so he
can see if he can catch the same stations and countries as I have)....I know I
live out in an RF free environment but still. I need another coffee now. ;-)

Of course I realize that the 398 is
designed to work best with an external antenna attached.

well then. :-) Which I have, two of the



In fact, most of the time, I like to keep the whip
unextended.

Do you mean 'extended' maybe? Just curious. Unextended for listening to what?

When I fully extended both whips, the 398 came closer in
reception, but the Degen still shone.

Meaning? What? The Degen *you* just bought slammed the DX398? Huh?

I love my new Degen 1102.

I can tell :-)

Maybe I'll post more tomorrow when I get tired of
listening to it. Or maybe not.

I'll be anxiously awaiting (seriously.) I'm tempted to borrow my friends that
I talked into buying one and sitting it next to MY DX398 and Hammarlunds and
RCA Victors and GE P-780 and see what the results are. Or on AM sit it next to
my GE P-780 and see what the results are. That'd be a barn burner I'm sure.

Sorry Corbin (I don't know if you're new or not) your post just *kind* of
rubbed me the wrong way.....soory if I made you upset. Heck I may just go out
and buy one of the radios myself and see what they're all about. That IS what
this hobby is for. But I don't have much room for it and my 'needs' (radio
wise) are taken. Until I get the Hammarlund 180 or an SP600 model, I might
hold tight.

Happy Dxing with your new radio, sounds like your enjoying it.

I'm still enjoying my new little friend.

You have to understand what I am about. I was born in 1958 here in Kentucky.
I grew up listening to local radio until 1972 when a friend introduced me to
nighttime radio (WLS, WOWO, WCFL, WAKY, WLAC...) and my whole world changed.
The radio became a magical place where I could get away from the doldrums of
the boring stuff around me and escape to wherever those magical voices were.
I imagined myself being in everyone of those places. Our internet today was
like my radio then, but my radio had better pictures. Of course, my first
job was as a DJ at a local station. I worked in radio many years, eventually
managing a group of top-rated stations. I'm now out of the radio business,
but I can never get radio out of me. When I go to bed at night, I cuddle
with my radio (my wife cuddles with a TV, but that's another story). And if
conditions permit, I tune my radio around the AM band just like I did 30
years ago. To me, the perfect radio has nothing sticking out of it. I have
owned expensive desktop radios, but they have to be plugged into the wall
and to a bunch of antennas. I even had a computer-controlled radio. That was
even worse. Listening to radio through my computer made no sense at all.
It's no different than listening to a real audio stream. No thanks. A
wireless radio was sufficient for me in 1972, and a wireless radio is
sufficient for me today. And sometimes late at night, when I hear the
announcer on WLS say that the outbound Dan Ryan is 15 minutes to O'Hare,
then I feel like I'm 14 again, and the magic of radio is still in me.