Re: [IRCA] Revolutionary IC's Bring Revolutionary Fun in Small Radios

["Bruce Bacon" <bwbacon@xxxxxxxxx>]

Gary, thanks for your enthusiasm and for educating us on the latest amazing
teeny weeny radio technology. I'd like to pipe in because this has been a
fun dialog and has prompted me to buy a few early Christmas gifts for
myself, including an SRF-59, M37, Olympus WS300M recorder, and a CCrane twin
coil ferrite loop antennna, to supplement the Sangean DT210V and Sangean
DT300 already in the baby RX-stable.

I've been impressed with the '210 and the '300 over the last couple of
years, using them for ultra-lite DXing on my motorcycle tours. Of the
mini-rigs, the two tops in sensitivity for me were the '59 and the '210; as
such, I'll be commenting on those two only. Overall, with no external
antenna, testing with fringe daytimers the winner in the sensitivity
department has consistently been the '210, with the '59 down a couple ticks
behind it. When listening last night, WBAP was clearly heard on both radios
but in the deep fades, the '59 lost signal first and recovered it last. 

These radios really shine with a little help in the ferrite department, to
the point of amazement; surpassing my 25 year old Super Radio II in overall
sensitivity and selectivity and giving my Kenwood R2000 a run for its money.
Lay the little radios on the ferrite pick-up and it's a whole different
ballgame. Twist the knob on CC tuner and the frequency absolutely comes
alive - these are real signals, not images. Now, I live quite a distance
from any of the Boise locals (20+ miles) so your mileage may vary...but rest
assured that you will hear serious domestic DX. The '59 is susceptable to
overload when peaking the CC antenna - but, in fact, I've been unable to
overload the front-end on the '210V. Pure signal. The Sangean DT210V is
actually less susceptable to front-end overload than my Kenwood R2000. In
terms of selectivity, the Q of the CC antenna is sharp enough to tighten up
the desired listening frequency on both the '59 and the '210. Adjust the
direction of the antenna element to null and peak as desired. I would love
to test these rigs on the coast, especially with the '210's 9kc digital
tuning. Alas, I have learned that my qth (at 3200 feet, with a 5200 foot
mountain on the west side of my house) is not good at all for TP's...sigh.
Unfortunately, I get audible TP signals only a handful of times a year.

So, thank you Gary for piquing my interest, adding to my radio collection
with modest $$ output, and enlightening me of the possibilities of UL-DXing.
I am really looking forward to reading your Round Two of the mighty-mite
shootout.

And to all, have a very Merry Christmas, and may '08 bring you that exotic
DX catch; be it domestic or from another corner of the world.

73,
Bruce Bacon N7BWB
Boise County, ID


>      Sony's phenomenal 30-pin CXA1129N IC, the heart of  the 
> SRF-59, is deeply praised by the Chinese PhD rocket scientist 
> Dr. Xin  Feng on his _http://www.fixup.net_ 
> (http://www.fixup.net)  web  site. Those who dismiss pocket 
> radios as inferior toys are in for a  huge shock if they try 
> out this radio...it is fully capable of almost any  DX task 
> you choose to give it!  Superlative IC's have finally made 
> the tiny  pocket radio able to not only compete, but win.

> between Sony and Sangean has brought about a true revolution 
> in  pocket radio performance, and a true revolution in 
> Ultralight DXer fun!
>  
>      If you have a little pocket change and a  little spare 
> time, why not order one, and get in on the fun?

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