|
RANK/VOTES
|
RECEIVER
|
LIKES
- COMMENTS
|
DISLIKES
- COMMENTS
|
|
6/2
|
Grundig
YB300 |
1)
Size. Ability to pull in the major stations. Price. 2)
Alarm setting, good (great) reception. |
|
|
3/5
|
Sangean
CCRadio
Sangean CCRadio+
|
1)
Backlit dial. Digital display. 2) The Humane Wake System.
Good AM to go to sleep by. Easy to use sleep timer. 3)
I like the timer and the alarm on the CCR+, in addition to the
great reception. 4) Light stays on, even when you turn
it off. 5) Big LCD that whose backlight is switchable.
Memory buttons, separate on timer/sleep timer, and AUX input for
other devices. Hard to knock over.
|
1)
Carrying handle. 2) A little bigger than I would like.
Overpriced except on clearance for under $100. 4) Way over
priced, no sycro. 5)Dislike how easy it is to miss the
snooze and turn the f'ing thing off by accident. |
|
1/12
|
Sangean
ATS-909
Radio Shack DX-398 |
1)
Ease of use. 2) Great reception. 3) LED light stays
on. 4) Great reception, all bands. 5) It's the only
radio I own. I have to like it. Glad I do. 6) Big buttons
that I can find in the dark. I like to listen to a number of DX
MW stations throughout the evening. 7) Pros- Small; travels
well; AC or DC power; good sound. 8) Good sensitivity,
usable SSB reception. 9) It has decent performance, 10kz
spacing on the wheel, and has easy memory buttons to find in the
dark. 10) I like this radio for it's excellent sw reception
and well lit display. 11) I love it's sensitivity, selectivity
and also the page system.
|
1)
Memory names not changeable in fixed areas. 5) Consumes
batteries a little quickly. 7) Cons- It's my only SWR.
8) LW section gets too many MW images. 11) poor
battery life, fair AM section |
|
4/4
|
Sangean
ATS-803A
Radio Shack DX-440 |
1)
It has wonderful sound characteristics and variability, separate
bass, treble slider controls; a sleep feature which goes from
90 to 10 min in 10 min increments; very clear FM band; not so
hot reception on SW bands; near existent storage capabilities,
e.g., only 9 positions to cover all bands. It is visually alluring
to view, with gold and deep black/silver accents. Truly, no one
manufactures a radio as handsome as this any longer. 2)
Good tone and a hot receiver. 3) Timer 90 - 10 min, lighted
dial at the push of a button. Memories. Buttons are large enough
to make it easy to memorize and use in the dark. Not a DX machine
but does everything I need. Size is an advantage on this radio.
Makes it less likely to fall off the night stand. Though only
9 memories, I can mix FM memories with MW and SW memories. I don't
use the wake function though it is there. I have tried a few different
radios as bedsides and this one has been my favorite. 4)Great
audio, good sensitivity, versatile. Paid $5 for mine; cleaned
up some dry battery acid powder and it has run fine since 1992.
|
3)
Switches make a bit more noise (not radio noise) when using them.
BFO switch is harder to rock than the others. RCA jack on the
back for external antenna. BFO is sometimes a bit touchy but it
works and stays stable. |
|
?/1
|
Yaesu
FT-7
Amateur Xcvr |
1)
Decent receiver performance, audio fidelity, multi-color front
panel indicators to help with those weak signals. Has surprisingly
good selectivity for such an old radio and stays right on frequency
once it has warmed up for a few minutes. |
1)
No 160 meter coverage means you have to rely entirely on 75 to
satisfy your appetite for obnoxious, "good ol' boy"
QSO's. |
|
?/1
|
Drake
SW2 |
1)
Simple to operate, excellent sensitivity, good selectivity. |
2)
Can't tune in 1 kHz steps. |
|
6/2
|
Sony
ICF-7600 |
1)
Sensitivity, audio and memory. 2) It is flat enough for
me to keep it always under my pillow. Preset tuning that I can
engage by feel. Last thing I hear at night and first thing I hear
in morning. Speaker directly under my ear means it does not disturb
my spouse. Light for readout. Sleep timer, fixed only (30 minutes?).
I have wrapped a rubber band around the power cord connection
to keep it from slipping out.
|
|
|
4/4
|
Sony
ICF-7600G |
1)
Sync detector 2) I like the great reception and the fact
that this radio has served me without a problem for many years.
3) very good ssb. rf gain would be nice. 4) Sync
detector, small size.
|
1)
I forget how to direct enter frequencies (I forget to push the
F key) 2) Poorly lighted display - no lighted keypad. 4)
Forgetting to turn off the alarm. |
|
4/4
|
Sony
ICF-7600GR |
1)
Has SSB, sync can be useful, lotsa memories on the GR. 2)
The buttons are easy to find in the dark. It's pretty sensitive.
It's small size. The selectable sideband synchronous detection.
The sleep timer. 3) Great sensitivity, Wake up to different
freqs, sleep mode, 100 mems, BFO for sideband.
|
1)
LCD backlight won't stay on by itself . 2) The tinny sound.
(The AM filter is a bit too narrow.) No tuning knob. Clicky buttons.
The radio is picky about it's AC power supply. Easy to get hum.
No real S-meter. 3) dislike: light not staying on. Clock
sould have its own spot on the display. |
|
?/1
|
Sangean
DT-200V |
1)
Easy to operate in dark, great AM reception, auto shutoff, all
memories can be mixed between bands. |
1)
Wish it had momentary backlight |
|
6/2
|
Drake
R8B |
1)
Great performance. Display is not attractive. Keypad buttons feel
soft.
|
1)
Price of the R8B is now too high. |
|
?/1
|
Sangean
ATS-818CS
Radio Shack DX-392
Realistic DX-392
|
1)
Record function tape player |
|
|
5/3
|
Sangean
ATS-818
Radio Shack DX-390
Realistic DX-390
|
1)
Good reception even with just the whip antenna. 2) Tuning
modification from C. Crane Co. It has good audio, it's well built,
and although I only use the radio's own whip antenna, I've been
surprised at some of the things it picks up. BBC, Deutche Welle,
Israel, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, to name a few. |
1)
I wish it had a constant light for the frequency. I use a small
book light to see the other buttons for programing and memories.
2)I can't really think of much I don't like about it. It's
no tabletop superset, but for $174, I think it's a damn fine radio.
|
|
5/3
|
Grundig
Satellit 800 |
1)
Like everything - even it's size. 2) Large Lighted Display
and Large Buttons 3) I like it's great sound.
|
1)
It has no rf gain.
|
|
?/1
|
Panasonic
RF 4900 |
1)
Awesome audio |
1)
Poor selectivity. Age. |
|
2/11
|
Sony
ICF-2010 |
1)
Can be tuned in the dark including selecting memory channels.
2) Excellent sensitivity on AM narrow bandwidth, synchronious
AM detection, 32 "one button" memory access. 9 kHz wide
AM bandwidth for improved audio fidelity, no need to connect external
antenna -- hence bedside radio. 3) Like the synchronous
detector. Pretty sensitive too. A great radio -- sorry to see
SONY abandon it. 4) Instant access to 32 potential memory
presets. Sync easy to use and effective. Audio is decent, but
sounds better when I run it through aux input of Kloss 88 on the
other side of the bed. 5) sleep timer, sounds good 6)
very good sensitivity 7) sensitive 8) Works great!
Classic radio. 9) I like most everything. 10) It
gets the job done. Almost 20 years old and still working flawlessly
|
2)
FM reception is only average due to propensity of receiver to
overload; this is usually not a problem for strong local stations.
5) lighted buttons would be nice 7) poor ergonomics
9) the LCD can be obscure from some angles and my furnace
causes a significant about of interference |
|
6/3
|
Icom
R-75 |
2)
Kiwa mods. Small footprint, excellent reception, lots of features
and knobs and buttons to tweak received signal, synchronous detection,
great filters . 3) Adjustable backlighting, as my eyes
adjust to the darkness....reception qualities
|
1)
It's location. It should be WAY out in the country hooked up to
~500 feet of Antenna with me keeping it company. Aside from that,
lack of broadcast FM |
|
?/1
|
Grundig
YB400PE |
1)
Like how well it works. This radio has nice audio, outstanding
on FM Stereo. |
1)
Wish it had Synchro detector. |
|
?/1
|
Drake
SW8 |
1)
Has AM, great FM and great SW. |
1)
A little heavy. |
|
6/2
|
Radio
Shack DX-402 |
1)
Multi-band, sleep timer and alarm feature. 2) Timer listening
to whatever's on shortwave before bedtime. |
|
|
?/1
|
Icom
IC-765
Amateur Xcvr
|
1)
It's a transceiver, yes, but it blew away my Drake R8. Bulky rig
but awesome. |
|
|
5/3
|
Grundig
Satellit 700 |
1)
Audio, sensitivity and portability |
1)
The one failing of the Grundig is that it doesn't have a real
synchronous detector. Therefore, I have always have my 15-year
old Sony ICF-2010 sitting next to the Grundig. Also, I will have
say the Sony is easier to use. But it's the Grundig's audio that
makes my number one receiver. 2) Keypad is not illuminated
like Satellit 500
|
|
?/1
|
Sony
Dream Machine
|
1)
It seems to have a nice ferrite bar antenna that I could pick
up faraway MW signals....all while in bed and stuff.
|
|
|
?/1
|
Grundig
Satellit 600 |
1)
Best audio quality of ANY transistor portable shortwave radio
ever made. Easy to use in the dark, large knobs and controls...nothing
"whimpy" here. (NOTE: Listed Grundig Satellit 650
as second favorite - ed.)
|
|
|
?/1
|
Sony
ICF-C16W |
1)
18 years of continuous service! Great big snooze bar. Easy to
set.
Big red LED shows when alarm is set. Lock prevents accidental
changing of time. Big bright display. Backup battery keeps time
when power fails. Looks really good.
|
|
|
?/1
|
Sangean
DT-300VW |
1)
Use w/ C. Crane pillow speaker. Like TV Audio and FM, built in
speaker. |
1)
Difficult to operate in dark. |
|
?/1
|
Eton
ESP2000 |
1)
I like that it is an 'atomic' clock that sets itself, and even
compensates for daylight savings time. It also has various sounds
(ocean, rain, etc.) that are nice to listen to while trying to
get to sleep. |
1)
The volume and tuning dials seem intuitively backwards to me.
|
|
?/1
|
Sangean
ATS-808 |
|
|
|
?/1
|
GE
SuperRadio I |
|
1)
Absence of digital display |
|
6/2
|
Radio
Shack DX-394 |
1)
Sensitive enough to work well on a slinky hooked up under the
bed. Lighted dial. Easy access memories. Nice tuning knob. Audio
not bad with outboard speaker. 2) Convenient tuning, display,
compact size, frequency resolution and stability
|
2)
High background noise, variable-speed knob tuning (rate changes
when I don't want it to)
|
|
?/1
|
Sony
ICF-SW35 |
1)
Mainly or AM band. It has 10 memories each nested under 5 buttons.
It is easy to know what station you are on once you have memorized
the sequence of favorites. It also has a lighted dial if you get
lost.
|
|
|
?/1
|
TEN-TEC
1254 |
1)
Only three knobs, easy to tune, works OK. Built from a kit and
works fair as SW radios go. |
|
|
?/1
|
Grundig
Satellit 500 |
|
|
|
5/4
|
Sangean
ATS-606
Radio Shack DX-399 |
1)
Good sensitivity. 2) Small. Good reception on the whip
3) Small size, good performance, ease of use.
|
1)
Needs SSB. If you are going to use it for any length of time,
A/C adapter is a must. |
|
?/1
|
Sony
ICF-SW07 |
1)
Super powerful radio in a small package |
1)
Horrible audio because of the small speaker |
|
?/1
|
Radio
Shack DX-397 |
1)
Not digital.... easy to figure out in the dark... Cheap |
1)
Only as good as its antenna |
|
?/1
|
Panasonic
RF-2900
|
1)
This is a good radio with great sound, and excellent sensitivity
across all bands, including FM. |
|
|
?/1
|
Yaesu
FRG-7700 |
1)
not complicated, easy to use
|
1)
You have to twist a knob to a new switch position to change freq.
by 1 MHz |
|
6/2
|
Grundig
YB-400 |
1)
great reception on sw(with portable antenna attached)and mw using
only the built-in ferrite rod; sleep timer incements of 10 min.
allow additional settings over the traditional 15 min. increments
of some other radios 2) I like the sleep timer. |
2)
I dislike the interference from a motor in the CPAP (sleep apnea)
machine which I must turn on for my sleep disorder every night.
|
|
?/1
|
Yaesu
VX-5R |
1)
Small, but with good all around recieve capability to 16Mhz, and
airband to 900Mhz. I can get worldbands, as well as police/fire
coms and local news. If I am paged by RACES/ARES or M.A.R.S.,
then I can use it to check into the net. With one push of a button,
I can also transmit FM on 2m VHF, 70cm UHF, or 6M. It will also
show a barometric pressure graph, and temp. The antenna is easily
lengthened with a long wire if needed, but I find the supplied
antenna works well for stronger stations such as BBC or Radio
Netherlands. Audio is good. This radio cannot be destroyed. I
closed my truck hatch on it last year, and all it did was damage
the front glass. Yaesu sent me another glass, which I installed
in 2 minutes. Any other radio would have been trash after the
impact. If I ever have to replace it, I will get another one.
|
|
|
6/2
|
GE
Superradio |
1)
I like its long range receiving capabilities and the price. Also
the two way speaker configuration makes for plenty of sound. |
1)
I don't like the fact that it has no back light or presets, but
for the money, I'm not sure it can be beat. 2) no presets
|
|
?/1
|
Palstar
R30C |
1)
Outstanding, compact no frills quality radio |
|
|
?/1
|
Kloss
PAL |
1)
wonderful sound, FM tuner is magic |
1)
AM band needs loop antenna |
|
?/1
|
Emerson
Clock Radio |
1)
HUGE green LED clock. Great to view without glasses. Battery backup
of clock. |
1)
The worst AM and FM reception of any radio I have ever used in
40 years. Even worse than the no name portable I bought at Bradlees
in 1971. Great clock. Terrible radio, wires broke off dial indicator
LED 6 months after purchase. Got it as a xmas gift from in laws.
Can't throw it out or wife will give me h*ll. I hope it burns
one day or the dog chews it up. This radio is proof that you can
sell radios to the public that look great but receive signals
as well as a brick.
|
|
?/1
|
1960
GE Disney Edition
|
1)
Looks great, plays great, with clock and alarm. |
|
|
?/1
|
Grundig
Traveller ll
|
1)
I like the analog dial. The AA batteries last forever. Selectivity
is not that bad for a small, cheap portable. It goes with me everytime
I leave town. I got a Sony ICF-SW77 for Xmas, but still have the
Grundig at my bedside. If I have to listen to SSB, I will grab
the Sony. I won't travel with the Sony; too expensive....very,
very nice radio...
|
|
|
?/1
|
Radio
Shack DX-396 |
1)
Great audio. Operates super economically on 2 c cells
|
1)
Tunes only in 5khz steps |
|
?/1
|
Bose
Wave
|
1)
Sound and reception. The most sensative radio for AM/FM reception
on the market.
|
|
"Radios
are like women, you grow tired of them after awhile and begin to
lust after the newer, flashier model. To mix a metaphor, the grass
isn't always greener on the other side." Editor's
note:
Amen brother... pass the pitcher!
"Bedside
radio dials shoul use electro-luminescent displays"
"I
have frequent "one-night-stands" with my radios. That's
just it, I like to experience the variety of radios my collection
has grown to include. Many features available when you consider
the entire collection. Wish I could stay awake longer, if I had
my way I would have my radio collection surgically implanted"
Editor's
note:
Beware of RTD "Radio Transmitted Diseases. No doubt you are
addicted.... welcome to the club.
"Recently
got a vintage Sony ICF-5900W to try as a bedside radio. Also have
a Grundig YB400, but I don't like it at all for this application."
Editor's
note:
I think you've got the right idea. Keep trying different radios.
Be convinced that nothing is just what you want. Repeat this process
until you are out of money or your wife/husband/gf/bf threatens
to kick you out.
"Great
Article on SWLing in Ham magazines, or should I say lack of. I have
been an SWL for 33 years." Editor's
note:
Muchas Gracias Amigo!
"By
the way, I have a CCRadio that I use only as an alarm clock and
occasional weather radio. I'm strange, aren't I?" Editor's
note:
Good lord no man! You have discovered one of the most valuable secrets
to buying a radio. Find a special use for it to justify buying it.
Have you bought a radio for the guest bed room? The bed has two
sides to it. How about a nice Sony 2010 on the other night stand.
Get the idea?
"RCA
- Has really big LCD numerals. Like just an excellent clock radio
without all the new gadgets. Excellent audio, large, easy to read
numerals/lettering with easy to operate features. This is a radio
that is operated while still 7/8's asleep in the morning and often
looked at during the middle of the night. Should have extremely
easy to read alarm on/off indicator from 10 to 12 feet away".
Editor's
note: Well that narrows it down to a few thousand models of radios.
"Radio
shack management are fools for dropping the electronics components
and amateur products line--will they suffer from loss of OUR business?"
"I
agree with the "Radio Shack" comment, this company has
lost their niche, They should remove the word "Radio"
from their name, can't figure out why they dropped the Sangean radios??"
"Fiance
doesn't like it in bedroom. It is allowed next to sleeping area
when traveling or camping, though." Editor's
note:
Thanks for participating PW.
Don't worry. After you are married you can do what the hell you
want.
"For real listening, I use my big Hitachi P-6, and my Radio
Shack
SW-100"
"I
love shortwave and reading a good web page such as this. Keep up
the good work"
"I
think this is a neat, interesting and perhaps totally USELESS survey.
I can't wait to see the results."
"I
don't hear radio while in bed" Editor's
note:
Sure, that's what they all say.
"I
wish I had never sold my (Radio Shack) DX-394. It would overload
when attached to an external antenna, but it was just the right
size for beside the bed, and had the constant light for the frequency."
"Other
radios are tabletop or equivalent (old T/O)and lack all other features.
Plus, I don't like sleeping on my living room sofa just to listen.
One nice feature about the T/O though - it glows in the dark as
a real radio should."
"I
like all of the tuning facilities of the DX-398, the sensitivity
of the ICF-SW7600GR, and the sound of the Satellit 500. Too bad
the 7600GR doesn't have the sound that the Sony ICF-7601 analog
radio had. Put the Sony AN-LP1 on the DX-398, and you have a great
setup."
"Beds
and radios are a nice combo....women beds and radios are even better."
Editor's
note:
No doubt but just beware of the length of your antenna.
"I haven't been into SWL but about 3 years. Like your site.
I've bookmarked it so I can check back frequently. Keep it up!"
"Lion
King Radio..weird animal noises for alarms ~will~ wake me up!"
- Editor's
note: This was mentioned as a second favorite radio. Gotta love
radio people...
