Review: Cheap $17 portable radio with 7-band SW from Menards; how well does it work?

[Turkeytop]

Can you post a pic of it?

[CK-722]

The Tecsuns at around $45 are pretty good. Maybe they are dumping ones using the same chipset?

[CK-722]

Could W280EL (103.9) possibly be running on the CP on the WWJ-TV tower?

[Turkeytop]

Nope. Signal still stinks in the car and all other receivers in the house.

The radio brand is SuperSonic. SC-1082 is the model. It is a cheap, low quality knock off of a Sangean. But man oh man, that FM tuner is impressive. The tiny instruction manual is filled with spelling and grammatical errors. I would not suggest using the AC power cord unmonitored.

[bmw]

I have quite a collection of portable radios, and the gem of my collection is this Japanese import:



A Panasonic RF-1188. I bought that 7 or 8 years ago from Yahoo Auctions Japan for something like $250 shipped, and in nearly pristine condition. It has AM, FM (76 to 108 MHZ), and SW from 1.6 to 30 khz. It sounds amazing and has stellar reception on all bands. Also a bandwidth selector switch (wide/narrow) for AM/SW and a fine tuning knob on the right also for AM/SW. This has probably the most sensitive FM receiver of any radio I own. Build quality is second-to-none - they sure don't make 'em like this any more.

[Arthur Mometer]

For a while, Sony and Panasonic were putting the same chips in several levels and price ranges of radios, like the Sony Shower Radio, which outperformed much more expensive radios on AM. Not sure what the FM problem was, but it could have been antenna related.

[Turkeytop]

I have quite a collection of portable radios, and the gem of my collection is this Japanese import:



A Panasonic RF-1188. I bought that 7 or 8 years ago from Yahoo Auctions Japan for something like $250 shipped, and in nearly pristine condition. It has AM, FM (76 to 108 MHZ), and SW from 1.6 to 30 khz. It sounds amazing and has stellar reception on all bands. Also a bandwidth selector switch (wide/narrow) for AM/SW and a fine tuning knob on the right also for AM/SW. This has probably the most sensitive FM receiver of any radio I own. Build quality is second-to-none - they sure don't make 'em like this any more.

Wow. That's a nice radio. One of my favourites is my Sony ICF 5900W. I bought it new in 1978. I wasn't making much money back then. I had to put it on layaway and make payments for about 6 months, before I could take it home. It was a great radio to have. That was back in the golden age of short wave broadcasting and we were right at the peak of strong solar cycle. It was my main radio for a lot of years.

Now, like you, I have a sizable collection. I have about 35 here at home and about a dozen more that I keep in Florida. It's difficult to suppress the urge to expand the collection, but I'm trying to keep it under control.

[CK-722]

Somebody posted an AM bandscan near Tawas City here a few years ago. It was similar radio, but as I recall, it was a Sony. A big portable. What radio was that? There was a picture, and all the AMs showed an signal meter reading. The scale on the meter was linear.

[bmw]

TT - that's a nice radio as well. My collection isn't as large as yours and I don't have any Sony's. But I know I did almost buy a 5900 a few times, just never did.

CK - that was me who posted that - been quite a while back now. Was Grundig Satellit 2400-SL. http://www.radiocorner.de/candies/satel ... g_6759.jpg (that isn't mine but same model). Quite a bit larger than my Panasonic and in FM stereo. Very similar reception between the 2 radios, though the Grundig has the advantage of the digital display so that made it much easier to do a bandscan.

[Turkeytop]

TT - that's a nice radio as well. My collection isn't as large as yours and I don't have any Sony's. But I know I did almost buy a 5900 a few times, just never did.

CK - that was me who posted that - been quite a while back now. Was Grundig Satellit 2400-SL. http://www.radiocorner.de/candies/satel ... g_6759.jpg (that isn't mine but same model). Quite a bit larger than my Panasonic and in FM stereo. Very similar reception between the 2 radios, though the Grundig has the advantage of the digital display so that made it much easier to do a bandscan.

I expect you are a true collector. I would characterize myself more as an acquirer or maybe even a hoarder. I never buy used, always new. I think this maybe stems from the fact that, for much of my life, I lived in poverty. I was always having to settle and make do.

Now that I am at a point in my life where I can afford to buy nice things I sometimes can't resist the urge.

This is the Grundig Satellite 750 which is my main radio in Florida

[bmw]

I got big into collecting them between like 2011 and 2015 but haven't added to my collection since then. I like the Grundigs - cosmetically they're some of the coolest-looking radios out there and they perform very well.

If I were ever going to buy another Grundig, I'd like either an Ocean Boy 820:



...or a Satellit 2100:

[CK-722]

CK - that was me who posted that - been quite a while back now. Was Grundig Satellit 2400-SL. http://www.radiocorner.de/candies/satel ... g_6759.jpg (that isn't mine but same model). Quite a bit larger than my Panasonic and in FM stereo. Very similar reception between the 2 radios, though the Grundig has the advantage of the digital display so that made it much easier to do a bandscan.