Looking at a review of the 1103. I've inserted 7600-relevant comments
starting with ME:

The Basics
The radio measures 6.5"(w) x 4" (h) x 1" (d) and weighs approximately 1
lb. with 4 AA cells loaded. Size wise, it is somewhat smaller than the
Sony 7600g but larger than the Degen DE1102.

Frequency Coverage
AM/MW 520 - 1710 kHz
LW 100 - 519 kHz
FM 76 - 108 MHz
SW 1711 - 29999 kHz

ME: same as 7600G

While the DE1103 has ten shortwave band segments identified, the
coverage is indeed continuous. The radio is capable of receiving single
sideband on LW, MW and SW.

Tuning
The DE1103 can be tuned several ways:

(1) Direct frequency entry. Using this method, you enter the frequency
from the "keypad" (a single horizontal row of buttons, 0 .... 9) and
then hit the Bands+/AM button unless you are on FM, where you use the
Band-/FM button.

ME: 7600G, similar. except it has a more traditional keypad.

(2) Automatic scanning. This can be accomplished by holding the Band+
or Band- button down for a few seconds. The radio will scan until a
strong station is found. It will pause for 3 seconds and then continue.
In auto-scan mode, the tuning increments are 1 kHz for MW/LW, 5 kHz for
SW and 100 kHz on FM.

ME: 7600G, basically the same, except it tunes in 1khz increments in
SW, which really helps if you are looking for utility stations and, in
come cases, pirates. (also tunes FM in .05 mhz)

One way that the 1103 cannot be tuned is from up/down buttons. These
are not provided in this radio.

ME: 7600G does have up and down buttons. No tuning knob per se though.

Help, I'm trapped in a band segment! The 1103 has "carved" out ten
shortwave band segments. One example would be the 41 meter band from
6500-7500 kHz. An annoying feature of the radio, is that once you are
in a band segment, you can't manually tune out of it. Example - you are
tuning in the upper range of the 41 meter band...as you use the knob
and move past 7500, you are returned to the low end of that band
segment at 6500. The only way to get to 7501 is to punch in 7-5-0-1 and
hit the Band+/AM button (or get there with a memory pre-set button).
Not very convenient. It operates this way in auto-scan, which I can
understand.

ME: 7600G will tune continuously from the lower to upper limit of SW if
you want.


Performance
A couple of general notes. The wide-narrow filter on the DE1103 is very
effective. It does a really good job of whacking back adjacent channel
interference. Listeners will be impressed with both selectivity and
sensitivity.

ME: The 7600G has one AM filter, kinda between "wide" and "narrow". I
think it's a tad narrow. Two filters would be better.

AM/MW
The DE1103 is a good performer on MW. Selectivity seems to be the
strong point of the radio on MW. It did a pretty good job of reducing
the sidebands of my local MW pest station. Sensitivity on MW was
average to above average. You can really see the effectiveness of the
narrow filter on MW.

ME: 7600G is ok for MW but not spectacular, though it pairs nicely with
a passive loop like the select-a-tenna.

FM
Performance on FM is above average. Stereo reception is possible by
using headphones. It does a pretty good job of detecting weak stations.
The DE1103 allows you to switch between mono and stereo.

ME: 7600G is pretty good for FM, not as good as the ATS-909 or the
2010. The 7600 lacks a mono switch, which i think is indispensable when
listening to weak FM.

SW
The DE1103 performs very well on shortwave. I can copy the major
shortwave broadcasters easily. As mentioned earlier, the narrow filter
setting is quite effective. To test its ability to copy weak signals, I
gave it a good workout in the amateur 80, 40 and 20 meter bands. Both
sideband and cw signals were easily copied. The 1 kHz tuning increment
and the fine tuning (BFO) control works well to copy sideband. Often
times, shortwave portables fall short higher in frequency. I checked up
in the CB 11 meter band and got good copy up there.

ME: 7600G- SSB copy is very good. Like the 1103 it has a BFO wheel. I
like that a lot.

LW
There isn't much to listen to in my part of the world, but I was able
to copy a few beacons here.

ME: 7600G, basically the same. The expected local aeronautical beacons
come in just fine.

Audio
The 3" speaker provides enough audio when the 1103 pulls in a station
that is strong enough to hear. As you would expect, better audio is
obtained by listening through headphones.

ME: 7600G, probably better. There is suprisingly good bass for a
speaker this small, but the high end in AM mode is a little lacking. FM
sounds great.


Left Side
From Top to Bottom:
External antenna jack for SW/MW
Local/DX switch
headphone jack
DC power jack

ME: 7600G has an external jack for SW/MW antennas. Together with the
Sony AN-LP1, it digs out a lot of signals (for an inside antenna).



Right Side

From Top to Bottom:
Tuning knob (which has many uses on the 1103)
Narrow-Wide filter (News-Music on FM)
Fine tuning (BFO) for sideband
Line Out jack
The light on/off switch is located next to the line out jack.

ME: Looks like the 1103 has a similar SSB facility as the 7600G.
the 7600G can select betw USB and SSB. Not sure if the 1103 can.




Ergonomics
Here is the radio's weakness. Let's start with the whole display
concept of the 1103. This is a digital radio with a simulated analog
dial in the 12 marked band segments (FM, MW and the 10 SW segments). As
you tune across a band segment, the digital display tells you what
precise frequency you are on. A digital pointer "sweeps" across the
fake analog dial and approximates your position there. The pointer does
not move continuously however. Example, you have to tune 30 kHz on MW
before the pointer moves. So, the pointer points to 670 as you tune to
that frequency. It stays there until you reach 700 when it jumps up.
The marker jumps with every 25 kHz of tuning on shortwave. The analog
simulation seems entirely unnecessary to me. It is like having a
wris****ch with the traditional hour/minute hands and then a digital
display to go along with it. Why? This analog simulation takes up a lot
of space on the 1103, is usually not accurate and you will need to grab
the bifocals to read the teeny numbers on the simulated dial.

ME: Sounds like an older Sony design that also flopped. It seems
ridiculous to me. Simply displaying the freq and meter band number
ought to be plenty.

Volume Control
Where is the volume control, where is the knob? Degen has turned the
most basic of operations into an engineering exercise. To adjust the
volume, you push a volume button and then turn the tuning knob. Now
that is not intuitive. I believe this was a poor design decision. To
add insult to injury, once you have set your volume setting, you have
to wait a few seconds for the volume icon to stop blinking. If you try
to tune before it stops, all you do is readjust the volume level!

ME: Okay, this feature would DRIVE ME CRAZY!! Excuse the shouting.

Keypad
I do not care for the single row of number buttons. We have all gotten
used to the basic keypad or something very close. Unfortunately, so
much space was used on the 1103 for the analog simulation, that there
is no space for a standard keypad.

ME: I have to agree with the reviewer. The 7600G has a more standard
keypad layout.

Backlight
The backlight is quite effective in dark conditions. With the backlight
on, all the buttons and display light up when you use any button or the
main tuning dial. The downside to this, is that you have to make some
kind of change (by pressing a button or moving the tuning knob) to get
the lights to come on.

ME: In my opinion, this is where a lot of radios fail in the ergonomics
department. Why don't more radios use LEDs instead of this backlit LCD
business? The LED is readable day or night. okay, okay, I'm backing
away from the soapbox..

Radio ON and OFF Display
With the radio on, the display shows the frequency, sleep (if
selected), memory position and a relative strength meter. The strength
meter shows 9 "bars" - however, it is really just a four position
setting as it moves between 2-4-6-9 bars shown. With the radio off, the
clock time shows along with any alarms set.

ME: seems like the the 7600's meter is more accurate than this.
The 7600G has to be turned off to view the clock, as well. It also has
sleep, alarm and timer functions.

Memories/Presets
The 1103 provides 256 available memories. They are named in 16 groups
of 16 presets.

ME: Here's where the 1103 whips the 7600G, which only has 22 memories .


Antennas
AM/MW reception is via the internal ferrite loopstick. FM and SW are
received off the 36" telescoping whip antenna. There is an antenna jack
provided to connect an external antenna for SW and MW.

ME: 7600G, same..

Power/Charger
The 1103 runs on 4 AA cells. My test of the radio was not long enough
to ascertain battery life. The radio comes equipped with 1300 mAh
rechargeable NiMH cells. These provided batteries can be recharged
right in the radio with its internal recharger. The radio can also be
powered via AC. The DE1103 comes with a 220 volt AC adapter, so
obtaining a 110 volt step down transformer-adapter is a must.

ME: the 7600 gets about 25 hrs on 4 AAs.

Other 7600G reviews he http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/1215

here's the 7600 compared with the Grundig YB400PE and ATS-909
http://www.radiointel.com/portwars.htm

Nawwwww,,,,, Nawwwwww,,,,,, all I want is to see some enter her tainment
and see some FIREWORKS from the boosh "ranch".
cuhulin

"michael_s" escribió en el mensaje
ups.com...
Volume Control
Where is the volume control, where is the knob? Degen has turned the
most basic of operations into an engineering exercise. To adjust the

ME: Okay, this feature would DRIVE ME CRAZY!! Excuse the shouting.

That's the reason why I don't think the 1103 a valable option, perhaps the
1102 would be a better choice? It seems to come at a nice price too!

How the 1102 stands compared with the Sony and the Grundig?

here's the 7600 compared with the Grundig YB400PE and ATS-909
http://www.radiointel.com/portwars.htm

If I cannot find a 7600G /R at a good price (even used) then I'll look for a
Grundig YB400 /PE, I assume it's a good radio... but I don't know.

The synch detector included in the 7600 does it make really stand out of the
croud?

I don't consider the ATS-909 because its high power requiriments.

Y'all help me!

"Teddy Bear" wrote in message
...
"michael_s" escribió en el mensaje
ups.com...
Volume Control
Where is the volume control, where is the knob? Degen has turned the
most basic of operations into an engineering exercise. To adjust the

ME: Okay, this feature would DRIVE ME CRAZY!! Excuse the shouting.

That's the reason why I don't think the 1103 a valable option, perhaps the
1102 would be a better choice? It seems to come at a nice price too!

How the 1102 stands compared with the Sony and the Grundig?

here's the 7600 compared with the Grundig YB400PE and ATS-909
http://www.radiointel.com/portwars.htm

If I cannot find a 7600G /R at a good price (even used) then I'll look for
a Grundig YB400 /PE, I assume it's a good radio... but I don't know.

The synch detector included in the 7600 does it make really stand out of
the croud?

I don't consider the ATS-909 because its high power requiriments.

Y'all help me!

I own a KA-1102, KA-1101, PL-550 and Sony 7600gr. At one time I also owned
a YB-400. The 7600gr is by far the best of all of them. The 1102 is a good
little radio, but it is not in the same class with the 7600gr. The sync
detector on the 7600gr is a valuable feature for sw program listening, but
aside from that alone, it is a great all around portable radio. The 7600gr
is a also a great portable radio for MW use too. For both MW use and sw
program listening, the ssb selectable am sync is idea for cutting out
interference or hets from adjacent signals. It also performs very well in
ssb mode. The ergonomics are good, the build is solid, memory features are
very good. General performance is excellent. Its sensitive and selective.
It does well off of the whip and it can handle a substantial external
antenna. It is also good with power usage. I use rechargeable batteries and
I can get about 25 hours of usage out of a full charge. If you had a Sony
7600gr , YB-400 and KA-1102 to test out for a few weeks but could only keep
one of them, I'm willing to bet that just about everyone would take the
7600gr. If you decided to buy the KA-1102 before you had a chance to use
the 7600gr, you may like the KA-1102 just fine. After you got a chance to
use the 7600gr, you'd think about your KA-1102... "hey this thing sux"
--
Respectfully,

Michael

Location: New Jersey
Primary Receiver: R-75 with full Kiwa mods
Antennas: G5RV, 200ft "Frankenstein" roof wire
Additional Radios: 7600GR,KA-1101,KA-1102
PL-550, KA-989, Info-Mate 837, GE-SR III
Westinghouse H-104 (seven tube)
Web Site: http://md_dxing.tripod.com