Hi all!

Out of curiosity I purchased 3 DE1103's, plan being to give them away to
godchildren etc. Strangely one of the receivers was a poorer performer
on FM especially. On FM the frequency display was off by approx. 100kHz.

To remedy the problem I had to take the set apart and adjust the
quadrature coil of the FM-detector, T202 in
" http://lab.radioscanner.ru/schematics/de1103_main.jpg ".

Given this opportunity (reason to open the set) I inspected further.
Rather surprisingly the circuit board of the radio looked really bad.
All the components (SMD included) were soldered by hand! Flux residues
were left uncleaned! Shield plates were all corroded and poorly soldered!

I checked the two other units and they were OK meaning they were
manufactured in a proper SMD-reflow soldering process. Additionally the
tiny screws attaching the main board to back cover were given a locking
compound treatment. This prevents the screws becoming loose and rattling
inside the set.

Now, the "bad" unit was labelled as "MK2", the OK radios were "MK4". I
suspect it could be that with a new PCB-revision Degen subcontracts
manufacturing of the radios with the remaining stock of old PCB's
instead of scrapping the boards. Alternatively the radios just reflect
the variation in chinese "domestic" quality. Hopefully export quality
sets are all as shiny inside as in the following picture of an Eton E5:
" http://web303.server-drome.net/Eton_E5/E5_009.jpg ". Incidentally
shielding of a "MK4"-set corresponds to that of an E5. My crappy
"MK2"-set lacks the shield above the PLL (biggest shield in picture).

In conclusion the situation is rather awkward. It is impossible to
tell whether a DE1103 is crap inside by the outside. Buing a "domestic
quality" DE1103 from eBay really involves a risk of getting a crap
product. One out of three radios was crap for me.