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I’ve been fascinated with Music 4 Joy since 2023 when its techno music AM signals directed towards Africa, the Middle East and the Far East were hard to hear where I lived in Virginia. I finally heard it, only to lose the privilege when they switched to DRM modulation.

When version 16 of the MLite-880 firmware with support for DRM decoding, it was on the warpath again and tried for two weeks to snag one of their broadcasts. Finally I succeeded today.

I had been going outdoors using a 7m reel antenna in various locations and angles. Receiving a signal was not difficult, but receiving one clean enough to decode the music escaped me. Finally this norming at 23:56 UTC on 17.670 MHz, I threw the antenna over the side of the porch, about 7m to the ground, and there was a burst of sound. Music 4 Joy was there.

The Raddy ATS-200 was first released in May of 2024. I ordered one from Raddy today because it was on sale for $69.99 (plus about $10 shipping). That’s $50 off.

It’s an attractive package at that price, with LW, MW, FM, SW, AIR, featuring both RDS, CW and SSB. It has touch screen operation plus lots of settings for AGC, bandwidth, attenuator and LNA. Plus it sports a flashlight. Operation is almost all touch screen.

Saw this on Facebook on the MLite-880 groups with “Elecevolve’s new product, the RT-880X, gets an early reveal — pre-sale is coming soon. Stay tuned for more details!” plus these photos:

Here’s that feature list in text form:

• High-Sensitivity TEF6686 Reception
• DX Scanning & Full RDS Support
• Switchable MW Ferrite / SMA Antenna Input
• 118-137 MHz Airband Reception
• Auto Scan & Store / 198 Memories

I’m scratching my head over this. The first thing that jumps out is how much this looks like the Sparkelec DP-666 that I own and that has been talked about on this blog:

The rather unique dual power switch on the DP-666 is also on the RT-880X, albeit on the opposite side, and one notes a third knob (or something) on the RT-880X top.

The teaser image tells us up front that it uses the TEF6686 DSP chip, and hence the prominent support for FM RDS. But it also says the receiver has AIR band and that is something the TEF6686 does not support. Perhaps they downconvert AIR band signals.

Here’s a video I found:

My first attempt at DRM on the MLite-880 was Radio Romania, and there I got a wonderful sound experience. Today at 9:45am local time in central Virginia (13:45 UTC), I tried my old favorite from 2023, Music 4 Joy from Nauen, Germany.

Today on 17670 kHz with the 20′ WUT antenna out on the patio with the MLite-880 and its newly-installed V1.6.1 firmware I received Music for Joy’s DRM broadcast, but there was no sound. Here’s what showed on the radio’s display:

Over the years, radio manufacturers have sometimes included antennas with radios, including ones ones like the following comprised of a longwire, a connector and a reel.

The photo below shows the basic structure. There is some kind of a clip to attach the reel on one end to some fixed object, for me often a tree branch. Then there is a 3.5mm plug connected to one end of a coil of wire inside the reel. One pulls the plug out and the wire extends. This model, as do most, adds an adapter to allow a clip-on to the antenna for radios that lack a suitable antenna jack.

The Zhiwhis ZWS-777 (aka HanRongDa HRD-777 / Raddy RF750 Plus) is a little product, a mere 2.8″L x 1.7″W x 2.3″H plus a 10.6″ telescopic antenna. It’s also hefty at 7.7 oz. with BL-5C battery and accessory ferrite loop antenna, compared with 4.7 oz. for the larger HRD-701. I suspect some of the weight is due to the metal case and perhaps the 3W speaker (both use the same battery).

This a member of the military-styled radio class from Shenzhen Hanrongda Electronic Corp: the HRD-700, ZWS-702, ZWS-702X, HRD-A320, and HRD-C919. It has sort of a geeky retro military feel to it, from the olive drab color, the five-pointed stars stamped in various places and the schematic circuit symbols around the speaker.