I’ve run out of excuses to buy radios. There just isn’t anything interesting out there in the portable category, at least not interesting enough to spend the money and take the time. I have what looks like an acceptable Emergency Weather Radio, the Zhiwhis ZWS-2415, and of course my Qodosen DX-286 daily driver. I have options for SSB. And for testing I have lined up:
- ATS25 max-Decoder
- RTL-SDR Blog V4 SDR
- An array of power banks
- Reducing EMI in my home
- New long wire antenna outside
Radios I’m not buying:
Tecsun H-501
By all accounts, it’s a fine radio, but it doesn’t add much beyond a second speaker to my existing PL-990. It’s also really big and it’s expensive, over $300 US.
Raddy RF320
I actually bought one of these back in the day, but the antenna was defective so I returned it for another one also with a defective antenna. I returned that one and gave up. App control is cool, but I have two other radios that can be controlled with this app (HanRongDa HRD-757 and Raddy RF75A). They cover the same ground. The RF320 isn’t super expensive at $78, but it’s just another pretty face.
Raddy RF919
So yes, it has SSB, but so do several of my other radios. It seems big and clunky, almost a foot tall. It’s also over $200 US. Reviewers don’t single it out as special.
Tecsun S-2200x
Now here is a small temptation. The S-2200X was the great new Tecsun radio that no one expected.
The analog signal strength meter is cool even though it tends to lag behind. There’s a nice big knob on the front. It’s a very good radio, but it takes up too much space, and the price is almost $400.
2025 just doesn’t seem to be new radio year.
And then there is this
If I bought this, it would be the most I ever paid for a radio, except for the Realistic DX-300 way back in 1979. (The retail price of my Tecsun PL-990 is higher, but I got mine used at a huge discount.) It’s about $250 on Amazon. There is also a MINI version for $50 less, but it has no antenna jack and no separate fine tuning knob. I make a lot more than that selling perfectly good Amazon return Qodosen DX-286’s on eBay. The question is whether I would ever use it. A week ago, I would have said no.
It is a decent radio with SSB, but I can get internet radio on my phone. It has a nice display. These past few days I’ve been a bit less mobile and getting out multiple radios has been inconvenient. I got out 4 chairside radios: Qodosen DX-286, Tecsun PL-990, ATS25 max-Decoder and Zhiwhis ZWS-2415. I needed the ZWS-2415 for weather, but it’s not so good overall. I got out the Tecsun for CB because the Zhiwhis and Qodosen don’t cover that band. The ATS25 does cover CB, but it’s clumsy in the hand. And then if I want to use internet radio to confirm a station, I have to get the phone or a tablet.
I just checked and the maximum frequency for the LC90 is 26.1 MHz. Hmmm. Maybe I won’t buy one. That’s a relief.
PS. I was thinking of this as my armchair radio. When I asked the Deep Seek AI about the mini version, it dumped a massive amount of text discussing it massage capability. I didn’t saying about a chair, but the AI decided that the Choyong LC90 is a massage chair with a built in Bluetooth speaker.