FM Radio Shootout: Part 2

Posted on June 29, 2024 by Kevin

For the start of this tale, see FM Radio Shootout: Part 1.

Junior League

Update:

I received a strongly-worded challenge from the International Little Radio League (ILRL) over my selection of contestants. They contended that the Mesqool CR1015 was oversized, and took me to task for omitting another very qualified candidate, the Raddy RF75A. Mea culpa.

It’s a really interesting radio with Bluetooth, MP3, App control, weather alerts and VHF. I’ll update the material below to include some of the points of this radio.

Raddy RF75A radio / Music player

The main story

As temperatures climb outside, I’ve gotten interested in the junior league, prompted in part by the receipt of my latest radio, a Tecsun Q3 Pocket Radio Recorder/Digital Audio Player. It’s upper left in the Junior League contestants photo:

Top Row: Tecsun Q3, Tecsun PL-118
Bottom: Mesqool CR-1015, Degen DE15, Degen DE28, HanRongDa HRD-701

Comparison table:

FeatureCR1015DE15DE28HRD-701PL-118Q3RF75A
MWYYYYY
SWYYYYY
WeatherYYY
VHFY
MP3YYYY
RecordYYY
ATS2351500297YY396
AUX inYY
TuningButtonButtonKnobKnobButtonDirectButton
ClockYYYY
BluetoothYY
AppY
Radio feature comparisons
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Qodosen DX-286 vs LiJiANi Rd239

Posted on June 24, 2024 by Kevin

I bought the LiJiANi Rd239 in November of 2023 because of long list of features and a blow-out Black Friday price on Amazon. My article, LiJiANi Rd239: A different radio, reviewed the radio. Since then it’s been the radio I keep in my car, and in that role it’s not used much and tends to get overlooked when comparing things. Other articles about it include:

The new kid on the block, the Qodosen DX-286, has caused a lot of excitement in the SWL community because of its outstanding FM performance and a mountain of options. I bought the early version, the SR-286 in February of 2024, and wrote several articles, including, The Burning Question: is the Qodosen SR-286 worth it? At that time the price was somewhat high, but has come down for the mass market DX-286 model (essentially the same radio but with some firmware changes). Other articles:

Qodosen SR-286 / DDX-286 (Vendor Photo)
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FM Radio Shootout: Part 1

Posted on June 22, 2024 by Kevin

I’ve been having a lot of fun lately with my new Qodosen SR-286 radio that is reported to be outstanding on FM, and indeed it is. But how outstanding? RadioJayAllen gave it 5.5 out of 5 stars.

Serious reviewers, like Gilles Letourneau in Montreal, Canada, have benchmark stations they look for; he has one, WVPS in Burlington, Vermont. I thought I would try to pick my own benchmark station, and so I got out my Qodosen DX-286 (same as SR-286) and found a station I could barely pick up unless I held the radio just right. It was a rock station on 96.9 MHz, one of three FM stations on that frequency in Virginia. I finally identified it by comparing the radio to the online streaming content. The station is a 3 kW station in Bowling Green, Virginia. Here’s its coverage map:

I live 54 miles away and well outside the estimated fringe listening area of WWUZ.

For a first pass, I took out two more small portable radios, a Tecsun PL-330 that will be familiar to many folks, and a lesser-known LiJiANi Rd239 that I’ve found to have good results on FM.

The three radios were held in my hand in close to the same position, horizontal, roughly in a north-south direction.

WWUZ FM 54 miles away on 3 radios
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Qodosen DX-286 vs Sihuadon R-108

Posted on June 17, 2024 by Kevin

I want to compare these radios for a couple of reasons: they are the same size (with the same length antenna), and they got about the same number of MW stations in my daytime band scan. Inside they are powered by different DSP chips.

Sihuadon R-108 — Qodosen DX-286

I reviewed the R-108 in February of 2024: Sihuadon R-108: an overlooked radio and have published many articles about the SR-286/DX-286. This will be just a short comparison to point out some significant differences.

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The New Qodosen DX-286

Posted on June 13, 2024 by Kevin

Disclaimer: Qodosen provided me with this radio to test. I like it just as much as the SR-286 that I paid for myself and have written about extensively.

This is not a product review because it is essentially the same model as the SR-286, so the review of that radio applies to the DX-286. The difference is in packaging, small firmware updates and a much improved product manual. All that follows.

Unboxing

The predecessor SR-286 didn’t come in a box. That’s remedied in the new model. I’ve decided to link to an excellent unboxing video by Andre from the SWL YouTube channel. One shouldn’t mess with perfection. Andre has some cool videos showing what he can receive in South Africa on an interesting variety of radios.

DX-286 Unboxing on the SWL Channel

But not only does it come in a nice box, it also comes in a very nice hard-body case! The case looks large in the picture but it’s no wider than a Tecsun PL-990 radio without a case. This should be great for travel.

Qodosen DX-286 in sturdy carry case
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Incoming Radio! Qodosen DX-286

Posted on June 7, 2024 by Kevin

It was a mere 6 months ago when I wrote a very similar headline: Incoming Radio! Qodosen SR-286. I bought that radio because it looked interesting, it looked different, and there weren’t many others around (I like to be an early adopter sometimes). I wrote several articles on it both because I liked the radio and because there wasn’t much information out there already.

That leads to the disclaimer:

The Qodosen company noticed my articles. They contacted me and offered to send me the new model DX-286. They asked me to share my opinion about it. They didn’t ask me to write about it and they didn’t ask me to say nice things about it, but the reader should know that I didn’t buy this radio with my own money.

DX-286 Photo from Product Manual

The DX-286, according to Qodosen is physically and electronically the same radio as the SR-286 with the difference in packaging and firmware. The SR-286 didn’t come in a box, just wrapped around with bubble shipping envelopes. It didn’t come with a manual; I had to find that online, and the manual was what I would call a rough draft. The new one comes with a box and a manual. Neither comes with the 18650 battery.

This is what Qodosen says about the two radios:

Before the official version of the DX-286 (with complete packaging) was launched, the SR-286 radio has always been sold in a customized manner, only circulating in a small circle of enthusiasts; all are produced and delivered after pre-ordering, and there is no packaging. During the group purchase period, enthusiasts did indeed suggest that they hope to add AIR/SSB functions, but because adding these functions require a large amount of R&D time and hardware costs, and enthusiasts hope to get customized version radios as soon as possible, we did not add AIR/SSB functions after comprehensive consideration. We have rich design experience in SSB/AIR and will collect suggestions from enthusiasts in the future to try to meet their needs.

I want to follow up on that bit, “We have rich design experience in SSB/AIR.” The principle designer of the SR-286, Deping Zeng, was also the designer of the Eton Elite Executive that has AIR, SSB and SYNC detection.

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Tecsun PL-330 or Qodosen SR-286?

Posted on June 4, 2024 by Kevin

Update

Since this article was originally written, Qodosen introduced a mass market version of their radio, the DX-286. The DX-286 and the SR-286 are physically identical, only with differences in firmware, documentation, packaging and price.

Introduction

The Tecsun PL-330 is a well-respected radio. I’ve had mine for two years and it’s traveled across the globe with me. The Qodosen is brand new, with powerful reception on some bands and interesting features. Which one is the best? I’m a Gemini and I’m of two minds about everything. The best choice depends on what you value in a radio and here I hope to give you enough to help make up your own mind.

Qodosen SR-286 (top) and Tecsun PL-330 (bottom) – Click to expand

The Big Picture

There are some important feature differences and they might be make or break in your decision, so let’s get them out of the way first:

Things the PL-330 has that the Qodosen SR-286 does not:

  • SSB
  • Synchronous detection
  • SW coverage from 27 to 29.999 MHz.
  • BL-5C rechargeable battery

Things that the SR-286 has that the PL-330 does not have:

  • FM RDS/RBDS
  • Kickstand
  • 18650 rechargeable battery (not included)
  • Squelch

Both charge with a USB Micro cable, and neither has a thermometer.

The PL-330 is the choice for a shortwave listener. The SR-286 is a powerhouse on MW/LW/FM and on those bands the lack of SSB doesn’t matter.

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