The Last Incoming Radio: SI4732 Pocket Mini

I ordered this from AliExpress and have been promised delivery by April 29. This remarkably featured shirt pocket sized radio sells for around $32 with free shipping (even less from other sellers, and on eBay). It even detects single sideband. That delivery date is important because if it arrives in the United States after May 1, there will be a $100 tariff slapped on it, and I’ll refuse delivery. At this point (see updates in the comments below) late delivery seems unlikely.

Update: It made it through customs on the 25th. There was a note online that their logistics company had made some special effort.

And with that, I’m out of the radio importing business until US trade policy changes.

Update 2: AliExpress is a little different from a seller on eBay. They don’t ship direct to the consumer, but rather ship in bulk to a US agent that breaks the large shipment into individual packages and puts them into the mail stream. For this reason, the $100 minimum per item doesn’t apply, but the 145% tariff still does.

While we wait, here is a very informative video from OM0ET.