Review: Cheap $17 portable radio with 7-band SW from Menards; how well does it work?
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 8:40 am
I made an impulse purchase yesterday.
I saw a $17 (made in China, of course) portable radio with the following characteristics at Menards:
- analog AM/FM tuner
- analog Shortwave tuner (split into 7 different SW bands)
- ability to run on 3 D-cell batteries, AC power, or rechargeable batteries
- USB input (including ability to play music files from USB flash drive)
- SD card slot
I figured for $17, I couldn't go wrong.
I must say - the tuning results were quite interesting!
AM band was about as one would expect for a cheap tabletop radio. The more powerful AM stations in the area came in OK; the flimsier ones were too faint for comfortable listening or didn't come in at all. The tuning needle was "off" a bit relative to the printed frequency scale on the unit.
Shortwave - I picked up audible stations in six of the seven bands. 13 meters was the only band where I heard nothing. I probably picked up 10 or 11 stations total. Five them were airing fundamentalist Christian programming (some were redundant), one was airing Catholic programming, one was airing Spanish language Christian programming, one was airing Spanish language political programming (perhaps from Cuba?), one was airing a Christian question & answer type show hosted by a man with what seemed to be an Australian accent, and the other was the atomic clock channel near 15 MHz.
FM - this is where this cheap Chinese made unit truly shined!!! First, the audio fidelity was quite good. Not much bass, but the treble response and frequency separation were both superb. However, that's not even the best part. The TUNER SENSITIVITY and ability to pick out weak stations was sensational!!!
Some examples:
- Smile FM translator at 103.9 MHz from near Utica: This station is usually very fuzzy or non-receivable on other radios/FM receivers in the house. I have to drive a few miles to the northeast to get a listenable signal in the car. On this tiny little $17 radio, the station came in CRYSTAL CLEAR with minimal effort. Even WOMC's IBOC side channel hash didn't faze it.
- 102.3 CINA Radio from Windsor: This station is hit-or-miss indoors, almost never can be received in stereo quality, and is prone to picket fencing type drop-outs in the car. This station came in splendidly. Almost like a local.
- 89.5 WAHS: High school station from Avondale High School in Auburn Hills. I live in a deep null and usually get OK reception in the car in my neighborhood and terrible reception indoors. On this unit, the station came in CRYSTAL CLEAR with zero effort.
- 96.7 WCHB translator: In the car and on other radios, I usually get a mish-mash of this station & CHYR from Essex County, ON. Instead, the WCHB translator came in crystal clear.
- Other area HD2 & AM translators on the FM band: 106.3, 101.5, 99.9, 94.3 and 92.7 all came in problem free. All had strong signals. 98.3 was a little challenging to tune in, but once I locked onto 98.3, I maintained a pretty stable signal.
- 97.5 CBEW-FM from Windsor: Came in almost as well as a local, despite having 97.1 WXYT-FM's tower just three miles down the street from me.
- 95.9 CJWF from Windsor: Came in every bit as well as a local, despite usually having crappy reception in the car from WKQI's IBOC interference. Those unfamiliar with the local dial would never know this is a medium powered station from 25 miles away that normally is unlistenable due to adjacent channel issues. CJWF just BOOMED in on this tiny radio.
- 91.7 WUOM from Ann Arbor: Came in well, although I could hear just a little bit of hiss in the background. Nonetheless, reception quality was favorable compared to other receivers in the house.
Next time I crack this baby out, I'll see if I can do some fine tuning to pick up 99.1 CJAM, 102.9 WWWW and 90.5 WKAR-FM.
I saw a $17 (made in China, of course) portable radio with the following characteristics at Menards:
- analog AM/FM tuner
- analog Shortwave tuner (split into 7 different SW bands)
- ability to run on 3 D-cell batteries, AC power, or rechargeable batteries
- USB input (including ability to play music files from USB flash drive)
- SD card slot
I figured for $17, I couldn't go wrong.
I must say - the tuning results were quite interesting!
AM band was about as one would expect for a cheap tabletop radio. The more powerful AM stations in the area came in OK; the flimsier ones were too faint for comfortable listening or didn't come in at all. The tuning needle was "off" a bit relative to the printed frequency scale on the unit.
Shortwave - I picked up audible stations in six of the seven bands. 13 meters was the only band where I heard nothing. I probably picked up 10 or 11 stations total. Five them were airing fundamentalist Christian programming (some were redundant), one was airing Catholic programming, one was airing Spanish language Christian programming, one was airing Spanish language political programming (perhaps from Cuba?), one was airing a Christian question & answer type show hosted by a man with what seemed to be an Australian accent, and the other was the atomic clock channel near 15 MHz.
FM - this is where this cheap Chinese made unit truly shined!!! First, the audio fidelity was quite good. Not much bass, but the treble response and frequency separation were both superb. However, that's not even the best part. The TUNER SENSITIVITY and ability to pick out weak stations was sensational!!!
Some examples:
- Smile FM translator at 103.9 MHz from near Utica: This station is usually very fuzzy or non-receivable on other radios/FM receivers in the house. I have to drive a few miles to the northeast to get a listenable signal in the car. On this tiny little $17 radio, the station came in CRYSTAL CLEAR with minimal effort. Even WOMC's IBOC side channel hash didn't faze it.
- 102.3 CINA Radio from Windsor: This station is hit-or-miss indoors, almost never can be received in stereo quality, and is prone to picket fencing type drop-outs in the car. This station came in splendidly. Almost like a local.
- 89.5 WAHS: High school station from Avondale High School in Auburn Hills. I live in a deep null and usually get OK reception in the car in my neighborhood and terrible reception indoors. On this unit, the station came in CRYSTAL CLEAR with zero effort.
- 96.7 WCHB translator: In the car and on other radios, I usually get a mish-mash of this station & CHYR from Essex County, ON. Instead, the WCHB translator came in crystal clear.
- Other area HD2 & AM translators on the FM band: 106.3, 101.5, 99.9, 94.3 and 92.7 all came in problem free. All had strong signals. 98.3 was a little challenging to tune in, but once I locked onto 98.3, I maintained a pretty stable signal.
- 97.5 CBEW-FM from Windsor: Came in almost as well as a local, despite having 97.1 WXYT-FM's tower just three miles down the street from me.
- 95.9 CJWF from Windsor: Came in every bit as well as a local, despite usually having crappy reception in the car from WKQI's IBOC interference. Those unfamiliar with the local dial would never know this is a medium powered station from 25 miles away that normally is unlistenable due to adjacent channel issues. CJWF just BOOMED in on this tiny radio.
- 91.7 WUOM from Ann Arbor: Came in well, although I could hear just a little bit of hiss in the background. Nonetheless, reception quality was favorable compared to other receivers in the house.
Next time I crack this baby out, I'll see if I can do some fine tuning to pick up 99.1 CJAM, 102.9 WWWW and 90.5 WKAR-FM.