My Christmas Present Has Arrived!

[Calvert DeForest]

My wife ordered it off eBay last month. Took a while to make the trip from Hong Kong, but well worth the wait!



AM/FM and 10 SW bands. Takes 4 Nimh rechargeable or standard Alkaline cells. Includes DC power/charging adapter and long-wire external antenna for SW. Telescopic antenna extends to about 3 feet. 268 presets. Best feature is that it receives SSB....handy for listening to hams. Granted, the SSB button has one setting. Don't know if it's USB or LSB, but I assume it's the latter as it seems to be the preference for ham operators.

Suffice to say I'm having fun with my present.

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

Those were running about $60 a few years ago. Curious to know how much they are now. Interesting.

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

My search on Amazon revealed no results.

[Calvert DeForest]

I was looking at the models on CCrane's website, but the radios they have with SSB run about twice what this one cost.

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

My SONY 7600GR was $150 when I bought it like new back in 2008. Now, it is on Amazon for $340 pre owned good condition. Crazy. I should sell it. I am keeping my Drake SW8. That thing is awesome at FM and AM DX'ing. Not so great on SW but only due to me being in a condo.

[fuzzpower]

I am on the lookout for a good, portable radio. The old one is having issues with the FM/shortwave antenna, plus the AA battery terminals. The AM is still fine.

I need something durable, AM stereo, FM and shortwave, and the HAMS would be a bonus. It also has be very durable because I take it with me when I travel.

[Turkeytop]

I am on the lookout for a good, portable radio. The old one is having issues with the FM/shortwave antenna, plus the AA battery terminals. The AM is still fine.

I need something durable, AM stereo, FM and shortwave, and the HAMS would be a bonus. It also has be very durable because I take it with me when I travel.

My Sangean ATS 909 checks all those boxes except AM stereo. I didn't even know anyone was even broadcasting that mode anymore.

The ATS 909 is one of my favourite radios and I can't use it. It's sitting at our place in Florida and I'm stuck here in the frozen north.

[Deleted User 14896]

I was looking at the models on CCrane's website, but the radios they have with SSB run about twice what this one cost.

Looking on the 'net, you have a DSP version of the Kaito KA1103.

I found the manual for the KA1103. You may or may not (I could not find any side pictures of your radio) have a SSB fine tune on the left side of the radio at the bottom. If so, I'm thinking this may tune in whichever sideband you want to listen to. Here's a link to the manual I found for the KA1103:

https://kaito.us/downloadable/download/ ... ple_id/41/

[Turkeytop]

So, Cal. Now that you've had a couple of nights to try it out, how do you like it? Reception conditions on the SW bands have been awful, lately. But MW has been pretty good..

[Calvert DeForest]

I found the manual for the KA1103. You may or may not (I could not find any side pictures of your radio) have a SSB fine tune on the left side of the radio at the bottom. If so, I'm thinking this may tune in whichever sideband you want to listen to. Here's a link to the manual I found for the KA1103:

https://kaito.us/downloadable/download/ ... ple_id/41/

Funny you mention that. I took another look at the manual that came with the radio and discovered the fine-tuning knob for upper and lower sidebands. Works really well for tweaking the ham frequencies.

So, Cal. Now that you've had a couple of nights to try it out, how do you like it? Reception conditions on the SW bands have been awful, lately. But MW has been pretty good..

The LW/MW tuner leaves a bit to be desired during the daytime, even with fairly local AM stations. Distant reception with nighttime skip has been a lot better. Picked up an AM in Iowa city on 1630. Listened to it for over an hour with sustained reception. I checked the station specs and saw that their nighttime ERP is all of 1KW. That's pretty impressive for a stick 600+ miles away with that little juice.

SW is pretty good although it can be sparce at time. The 80M, 60M and 49M bands seem to be best for nighttime listening, especially with hams. I get pretty good reception of CFRX (CFRB's SW simulcast on 6.07 MHz) during the day, but it goes away at night. Wonder if they vary footprint patterns at different times throughout the day.

[Turkeytop]

My wife ordered it off eBay last month. Took a while to make the trip from Hong Kong, but well worth the wait!



AM/FM and 10 SW bands. Takes 4 Nimh rechargeable or standard Alkaline cells. Includes DC power/charging adapter and long-wire external antenna for SW. Telescopic antenna extends to about 3 feet. 268 presets. Best feature is that it receives SSB....handy for listening to hams. Granted, the SSB button has one setting. Don't know if it's USB or LSB, but I assume it's the latter as it seems to be the preference for ham operators.

Suffice to say I'm having fun with my present.

It was probably stuck in your chimney for the past month and just finally came loose.

[TC Talks]

Here it is, seems like a good radio.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DEGEN-DE1103-2 ... 0930.m5375

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

I found the manual for the KA1103. You may or may not (I could not find any side pictures of your radio) have a SSB fine tune on the left side of the radio at the bottom. If so, I'm thinking this may tune in whichever sideband you want to listen to. Here's a link to the manual I found for the KA1103:

https://kaito.us/downloadable/download/ ... ple_id/41/

Funny you mention that. I took another look at the manual that came with the radio and discovered the fine-tuning knob for upper and lower sidebands. Works really well for tweaking the ham frequencies.

So, Cal. Now that you've had a couple of nights to try it out, how do you like it? Reception conditions on the SW bands have been awful, lately. But MW has been pretty good..

The LW/MW tuner leaves a bit to be desired during the daytime, even with fairly local AM stations. Distant reception with nighttime skip has been a lot better. Picked up an AM in Iowa city on 1630. Listened to it for over an hour with sustained reception. I checked the station specs and saw that their nighttime ERP is all of 1KW. That's pretty impressive for a stick 600+ miles away with that little juice.

SW is pretty good although it can be sparce at time. The 80M, 60M and 49M bands seem to be best for nighttime listening, especially with hams. I get pretty good reception of CFRX (CFRB's SW simulcast on 6.07 MHz) during the day, but it goes away at night. Wonder if they vary footprint patterns at different times throughout the day.

Curious if you are using an external antenna and also if you are in an upstairs area?

[kc8yqq]

Picked up an AM in Iowa city on 1630. Listened to it for over an hour with sustained reception. I checked the station specs and saw that their nighttime ERP is all of 1KW. That's pretty impressive for a stick 600+ miles away with that little juice.

Ah yes, KCJJ. I stopped by the station a few years ago and was met by very friendly staff. When I told them I was from Michigan and listened to them, in stereo, when driving at night, they were amazed the signal made it that far. They gave me a station tour and allowed me to take tower pictures.

KCJJ was an AC music station broadcasting in stereo. Now they are talk and are no longer in stereo.

[Calvert DeForest]

Curious if you are using an external antenna and also if you are in an upstairs area?

Single-story ranch. The telescopic rod for FM/SW extends to about one meter. LW/MW uses the internal ferrite antenna. It also included a 50-meter external long-wire FM/SW antenna that can be strung all over the place (windows, doorways, etc). The long-wire improves reception somewhat, although the manual recommends that it works best when used outdoors. Another reason to look forward to spring.