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Another Radio

The technical side of broadcasting. Think IBOC is a sham? Talk about it here! How about HDTV? Post DX reports here as well.
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Turkeytop
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Another Radio

Post by Turkeytop » Wed Jan 12, 2022 10:42 pm

I said on this board just a couple of weeks ago that I have so many radios already. there is no way I can justify or rationalize getting even one more.

Well, once again, I have succumbed to my weakness. Spotted a skid full of these in Home Depot for $39.95 each. It's an Eton AM, FM, Weather Radio. It's powered by a 2600 mAh lithium battery. The battery can be recharged with a USB charger. In an emergency, when there is no power, it can be charged using the hand cranked dynamo or the built in solar panel.

The biggest surprise was the performance of the radio. It punches far above its weight for a forty dollar radio. Good sensitivity and selectivity. Decent audio, for such a tiny speaker. It doesn't sound cheap and scratchy.

At night, I can get the big AM signals from up north. Atlanta, Nashville, Cincinnati, Chicago and New York

The dynamo can also be used to charge a cell phone.

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I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.

kager
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Location: GPS lost

Re: Another Radio

Post by kager » Thu Jan 13, 2022 4:57 am

Interesting unit, TT. Thank you for posting a review. TBH, looking at the radio's hand crank, I expected the story to end with, "I took it back".

Glad you found something new to keep that radio habit alive.


"The problem with communication is the illusion that it has occurred."

n8fnr
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Re: Another Radio

Post by n8fnr » Thu Jan 13, 2022 9:59 pm




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Turkeytop
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Re: Another Radio

Post by Turkeytop » Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:06 pm

n8fnr wrote:
Thu Jan 13, 2022 9:59 pm
I really want to get one of these instead';

https://radiojayallen.com/crane-cc-radi ... ncy-radio/
https://ccrane.com/ccradio-solar/

Looks like a good radio. Companies like Crane and Eton take pride in their products and wouldn't let their brand on a piece of junk.


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.

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ZenithCKLW
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Location: Livonia, MI

Re: Another Radio

Post by ZenithCKLW » Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:14 pm

TT, I believe you have a collection. What’s your favorite radio and why?



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Turkeytop
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Re: Another Radio

Post by Turkeytop » Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:50 pm

ZenithCKLW wrote:
Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:14 pm
TT, I believe you have a collection. What’s your favorite radio and why?
My best radio is my desktop radio at home, Palstar R30 A. I bought it over ten years ago as a retirement gift for myself. I said at the time it would be the last radio I would ever buy. Of course, it wasn't.

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My best radio here in Florida is my Grundig Satellit 750. It satys here all the time. Last year, when we couldn't come to Florida, I was wishing I had it.

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But in Florida, much of my listening is out on the patio. My outdoor radio is a Sangean ATS 909. It's a super radio and it too stays in Florida.



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But my sentimental favourite, although I rarely use it, is my Grundig FR 200, wind up radio. I like it for its simplicity. I love low tech. And it's a fine radio.

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I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.

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ZenithCKLW
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Re: Another Radio

Post by ZenithCKLW » Fri Jan 14, 2022 2:57 pm

Looks like a good collection. I've frequently told myself "no more radios" but I never keep that promise to myself. I remember being a teenager, before online shopping, and finding your Grundig Satellit for sale at Brookstone. Being that it was Brookstone, it was way too expensive for a teenager to afford. Now I am 37, but I much prefer the low tech with radio too. Almost all of the radios I use for scanning the bands and DXing are vintage portables, although I do have some old "boat anchor" radios from the 50's I could use.

I use a wide variety of radios depending on my mood, the band, selectivity and sensitivity, and where I am (either at home, up north at the cottage, or camping). Here are my most used radios:

This Aircastle 162F51H from 1969 looks like a cheesy multiband portable with its plastic and fake leather sides, but its tuning is very selective. It has an external antenna input that really makes signal strength jump even more than its already great reception. I wish the tuning knob was bigger. I think this was sold by Radio Shack, as there is an identical Allied brand version.
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I also have the Zenith Royal 1000 Transoceanic, and its AM/FM sister, the Royal 2000. My Royal 1000 Transoceanic is one of the early Royal models without FM. It has an antenna in the fold out handle that is long enough to scratch the ceiling. The Royal 2000 is both selective and sensitive. I had to restring the dial cord, and I'm not a master at that, so it still sometimes slips. The batteries in these things last forever. I also use the 2000 for simple AM/FM listening for the sake of listening to music because of its great sound quality. I've also taken it to the drive-in movie theater early in the pandemic. We'd watch the movie in the back of my truck with this radio for our sound.
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I'll use a Zenith Royal 400 transistor radio (date stamped 1961) for listening and DXing AM while in bed or if I can't sleep. Probably the most powerful AM portable I've got. Always has great sound quality for a small AM portable. The leather case makes it easy to throw in a backpack when I travel. TSA agents at the airport typically stop me to inspect this old-fashioned thing.
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The first radio I bought with my own money was a RadioShack DX-375 when I was 15. I recently had to have it repaired professionally. It's a great DXer on all bands. I usually use this when I need the digital readout and I would otherwise have trouble identifying a station. I believe it is made by Sangean.
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My Standard SR-L555F (I think from 1965) is very sensitive and does a great job nulling out stations with its internal ferrite antenna. I received Cuba from Michigan with this one. It's pretty heavy for its size though because of the 3 D batteries. I'll take this camping, it's pretty rugged.
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The Eton Mini is when I prefer to listen with high quality headphones or if I'm on the beach or somewhere I need an ultra-compact radio. The speaker doesn't sound great because it's so small and thin, but headphones sound great. The batteries don't last as long because the clock is always running and it has a backlight, but it has great DX performance, especially on AM.
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This GE P-780B from about 1960 is AM only, 6-D batteries, almost all Chrome, and a heavy beast. This thing sounds like a console radio, you wouldn't believe an AM-only radio this small sounds as big as it does. Mine is currently being restored as I try to rebuild some circuits and replace some components.
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Sorry for the quality of some pics, I grabbed them from various sources online. I'm not sure how to resize them, but I've never really attempted to figure that out LOL.



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Turkeytop
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Re: Another Radio

Post by Turkeytop » Mon Jan 31, 2022 10:35 pm

The stack hasn't gone down much. I must be the only radio geek in Seminole.

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I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.

Circle Seven
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Re: Another Radio

Post by Circle Seven » Tue Feb 01, 2022 9:01 am

Turkeytop:

I also had a Grundig Satellit 750. I had a little issue with it. Slack when tuning would probably be the best way to describe it.

Remember the old radios where the knob moved the tuner with a string? My Satellite would act like the old radios would when the string had some slack. I never did any surgery on it to see why. Gave it to a ham friend when another ham gave me a desktop Hallicrafters.



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Ben Zonia
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Re: Another Radio

Post by Ben Zonia » Thu Feb 03, 2022 2:54 pm

radiojayallen had issues with the Satellite 750 when it first came out. They did resolve some of the issues. I do wish that the FM First Adjacent Selectivity was better. The Wide Setting is almost useless in signal congested areas. The Narrow Setting rarely has problems with Second Adjacents. There should be a third Super Narrow position, because with all the translators, LPs, Docket 80-90 stations, and additional reduced classes since, there are often signals that would otherwise be tunable. Does anyone hear WRME-LP 97.75 in Michigan more than 100 miles away on a somewhat regular basis?


"I had a job for a while as an announcer at WWV but I finally quit, because I couldn't stand the hours."

-Author Unknown

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Turkeytop
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Re: Another Radio

Post by Turkeytop » Thu Feb 03, 2022 8:18 pm

I got my Sat 750 new in 2018. It's never given me any trouble.

Because of covid, we didn't get to Florida last year. So, when we did come back it had been sitting in a baking hot, humid mobile home for two years. At first the volume control was a little scratchy. But after working it a few times it was OK.


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.

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Ben Zonia
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Re: Another Radio

Post by Ben Zonia » Fri Feb 04, 2022 9:03 am

radiojayallen had issues with the Satellite 750 when it first came out. They did resolve some of the issues. I do wish that the FM First Adjacent Selectivity was better. The Wide Setting is almost useless in signal congested areas. The Narrow Setting rarely has problems with Second Adjacents. There should be a third Super Narrow position, because with all the translators, LPs, Docket 80-90 stations, and additional reduced classes since, there are often signals that would otherwise be tunable. Does anyone hear WRME-LP 87.75 in Michigan more than 100 miles away on a somewhat regular basis?


"I had a job for a while as an announcer at WWV but I finally quit, because I couldn't stand the hours."

-Author Unknown

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WOHO
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Re: Another Radio

Post by WOHO » Sat Feb 05, 2022 7:35 pm

I think I'm going to have to make a new treatment center: The Betty Marconi Clinic, where most of us need to go to reduce our insatiable radio appetites!
Naw, the XYL might bitch about us havingradios all-over hell's half acre, but hey at least they know where we're at, we're not getting into trouble, and it keeps us out of their hair...so mostly a good thing, if I must say so myself?



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