Choosing A Second Radio Pt. 2

[ditto1958]

I posted in my original thread that I’d had my XHData D-109WB for about a month and that I “needed” a second portable radio. I narrowed it down to a choice between the Qodosen DX-286 and a Tecsun (not sure which one).

The answer arrived today from Amazon. But wait!! There’s more! The radio is actually my third SW receiver, as an XHData D-219 for $8.78 came from Amazon the other day, lol.

Number 3 is the Qodosen, which is charging right now. Hope I can figure it out tonight. In the end, I am curious about whether the Qodosen is as sensitive as the reviews say, so I chose it over some more expensive and fuller featured radios.

 

[Omega-TI]

If you ever get tired of spinning the dial, or want to try something new, an SDR (something like this) will blow your mind.

 

[a727469]

I just do not understand the overall market for all the xhdata radios..the 219 mentioned above is in some minor competition (I know, a few more featues) with their own
328
368
901 and maybe others…not to mention all the other manufacturers …who is buying these besides us radio nerds?🤓

 

[ditto1958]

I just do not understand the overall market for all the xhdata radios..the 219 mentioned above is in some minor competition (I know, a few more featues) with their own
328
368
901 and maybe others…not to mention all the other manufacturers …who is buying these besides us radio nerds?🤓

I don’t know, but if I make an educated guess, those radios are marketed in Asia as gifts for people to give to older family members. If you scroll down a radio listing on Amazon, that’s often in the sales pitch.

 

[Boombox]

I just do not understand the overall market for all the xhdata radios..the 219 mentioned above is in some minor competition (I know, a few more featues) with their own
328
368
901 and maybe others…not to mention all the other manufacturers …who is buying these besides us radio nerds?🤓

My guess is that its Boomers and older GenXers who want a cheap but decent working portable with an analog dial.

Radio doesn't get much simpler than on/off, bandswitch, volume control, analog tuning.

 

[ditto1958]

My guess is that its Boomers and older GenXers who want a cheap but decent working portable with an analog dial.

Radio doesn't get much simpler than on/off, bandswitch, volume control, analog tuning.

lol, Boomer here, and I resemble your remarks.
Except, it’s true. Portable “transistor” radios (that’s what we called them) were amazing at the time. My family would take ours to the beach, and we thought we were cool.
But they allowed us to carry music and news around with us everywhere we’d go.
They were a family item, not a personal radio- they were expensive, yes, but mainly that’s just how things were back then.
Later they became even cooler when 1. They got way smaller and 2. They got FM. And got way expensive for awhile.
So, to older guys, we see that D-219 for $9 and say wow- a radio like that back in 1974 would have cost more than $9 in 1974 dollars. It’s an amazing deal to us. 🙂

 

[Boombox]

lol, Boomer here, and I resemble your remarks.
Except, it’s true. Portable “transistor” radios (that’s what we called them) were amazing at the time. My family would take ours to the beach, and we thought we were cool.
But they allowed us to carry music and news around with us everywhere we’d go.
They were a family item, not a personal radio- they were expensive, yes, but mainly that’s just how things were back then.
Later they became even cooler when 1. They got way smaller and 2. They got FM. And got way expensive for awhile.
So, to older guys, we see that D-219 for $9 and say wow- a radio like that back in 1974 would have cost more than $9 in 1974 dollars. It’s an amazing deal to us. 🙂

I'm in between X and Boomer, so I know that you're talking about.

One appeal for analog dial radios is that digital radios with all the buttons and excess features actually may turn off younger people who are used to smartscreen interfaces. An on off switch, volume, and analog dial is more visually oriented than a Tecsun, which looks more like a huge calculator with a speaker attached. For introducing a young person to 'radio' (which they often don't know much about), an analog dial machine like a D-219 would at least give them an easy to use device to discover what the MW and SW bands have to offer.

And the fun thing about these new analog dial radios is they work better than the old school, pocket transistors did. Aside from Channel Masters and a few others, the pocket transistors really didn't DX as well as the D-219 will. Some Walkmen were decent DXers, though. My 1982 Sanyo walkman is still really good at DXing MW.

 

[ditto1958]

I’m a boomer, but would actually like it if someone did a good job of making a good portable radio with 2 or 3 dials, but that worked like an iPhone/iPad. There are quite a few videos and articles on those homemade looking radios that are like that, but they are quite crude. Some are literally produced in people’s basements

And I agree- a good part of the appeal of radios like the D-219 is how good they work.

 

[W8WCA]

I am a 'boomer' also: My 2 Cents: I like the Old Dial Radios (I have a Icom R71A and a new to me Kenwood TS-850 I loaded with I.F. Filters).

My Portables that are close to current are Skywave SSB & ATS 909 X2 - The Skywave SSB2 would be my choice for a 2nd Portable If I needed one.

Now: Where do I go first in my radio-computer room? - To my RF Space SDR-IQ and my SDRPlay RSP1A SDR's!

 

[Drake-r8]

I am a 'boomer' also: My 2 Cents: I like the Old Dial Radios (I have a Icom R71A and a new to me Kenwood TS-850 I loaded with I.F. Filters).

My Portables that are close to current are Skywave SSB & ATS 909 X2 - The Skywave SSB2 would be my choice for a 2nd Portable If I needed one.

Now: Where do I go first in my radio-computer room? - To my RF Space SDR-IQ and my SDRPlay RSP1A SDR's!

I miss my R71 but I can't complain too much - the Drake R8 I traded it for is still running after 30+ years of almost daily use - but the R71 just looks like a communications receiver should look.

 

[T680]

My guess is that its Boomers and older GenXers who want a cheap but decent working portable with an analog dial.

Radio doesn't get much simpler than on/off, bandswitch, volume control, analog tuning.

I bought mine because it was an inexpensive way to see if listening to SW was going to be interesting and enjoyable. I listened to it back in the early 70's on a Halicrafters and found it interesting. I already had a really nice portable radio that I listen to for hours most days (a Radio Solar) and the D-219 seemed like a good choice. And it was. It got me to buy another radio from them too.
It's their D-220 that makes me wonder what you do, why sell something that's slightly different?

 

[ditto1958]

I bought mine because it was an inexpensive way to see if listening to SW was going to be interesting and enjoyable. I listened to it back in the early 70's on a Halicrafters and found it interesting. I already had a really nice portable radio that I listen to for hours most days (a Radio Solar) and the D-219 seemed like a good choice. And it was. It got me to buy another radio from them too.
It's their D-220 that makes me wonder what you do, why sell something that's slightly different?

I’m not sure I’m if I’m understanding or not, but the D-220 fits the pocket radio segment. It’s smaller than the D-219, but also is made to be used in “portrait” mode, whereas the D-219 is “landscape.”

 

[T680]

I’m not sure I’m if I’m understanding or not, but the D-220 fits the pocket radio segment. It’s smaller than the D-219, but also is made to be used in “portrait” mode, whereas the D-219 is “landscape.”

It's not that much smaller than the D-219 but the dial area is a lot smaller. Plus it's more expensive, what's the benefit of having another choice there? The D-219 easily fits in a shirt pocket too. I can see a lot of people out age seeing the D-220 and instantly being reminded of the pocket sized transistor radios we had as kids. Andre compared the 2 with their D-368 (or maybe it was their D-328) and there wasn't much difference between the D-219 and D-220 beyond the form.

 

[ditto1958]

It's not that much smaller than the D-219 but the dial area is a lot smaller. Plus it's more expensive, what's the benefit of having another choice there? The D-219 easily fits in a shirt pocket too. I can see a lot of people out age seeing the D-220 and instantly being reminded of the pocket sized transistor radios we had as kids. Andre compared the 2 with their D-368 (or maybe it was their D-328) and there wasn't much difference between the D-219 and D-220 beyond the form.

Yes, I agree. But form is important to sales and both the D-219 and the D220 are made to look like two different popular analog radio styles. I have an old Radio Shack pocket AM/FM that’s about the same size as the D-220. It’s not that much smaller than my D-219, but for being pocketable that little bit makes a big difference.

 

[T680]

Yes, I agree. But form is important to sales and both the D-219 and the D220 are made to look like two different popular analog radio styles. I have an old Radio Shack pocket AM/FM that’s about the same size as the D-220. It’s not that much smaller than my D-219, but for being pocketable that little bit makes a big difference.

The transistor radio I had as a kid looked like the D-220 and I remember them all looking like that. I guess it's another detail of my childhood I forgot about.
The D-219 fits in any pocket I want, and if I want something smaller I use earbuds. I can stream any station I want to them with better sound, no static and I can listen to podcasts too.

 

[Boombox]

I just got a D-220, I think it's got its place......

It's probably cheap enough for XHDATA to turn out several different models with different features. The D-220 seems to be more designed to fit the pocket in portrait mode, as mentioned above.

I haven't used my D-220 enough to compare it properly to the D-219, although the D-219 seems to tune MW better. But I need more time with the D-220 to see what it can do. It pulls in SW well, even off the whip. Careful tuning is key, though.

MW using an external loop is doable. I have DX'ed MW with it using a loop, getting better results than I expected. Once again, careful tuning is key.