Kaito KA1103

[Woodstock]

I want to get a shortwave radio and am looking into the Kaito KA1103. Has anybody had any experience with this radio? Is there something else in the same price range that would be better? I don't want to spend several hundred dollars on a radio, but I also don't want something that doesn't work very well.

 

[ka3jjz]

We have numerous links for reviews in the SWL and Ute Monitoring wikis; in particular, insofar as the portables go, there's an interesting article on RadioIntel's first page in PDF form that briefly reviews many of the various portables; EHam links, as well as comments and notes from the publishers of Passport to World Band Radio.

The links for the 2 wikis - among many others - are in the sticky at the top of the forum

73s The Red Baron
aka Ka3jjz Mike (sri, just couldn't resist - I miss Charles Schultz...)

 

[Woodstock]

Ok, I see it now. I guess overlooked the SWL wiki when looking through some of that stuff earlier.

(Red Baron )

 

[wabc770]

there's an interesting article on RadioIntel's first page in PDF form that briefly reviews many of the various portables

Informative. Anybody who can expand on just the SSB performance of the 1103 against
the Sony 7600GR? I'd like a little portable for mainly listening to 80/40-meter ham bands.
My DX398 is insensitive off the whip and my B45 is okay but tunes in 5khz increments,
fine tuning is touchy and seems to drift somewhat. Are the Sony or Degen any better??

I don't really care about FM or SWBC that much. Besides SSB, I'd use it for MW stations.

Thanks..

 

[djeplett]

I have the 1102 and I love it for the price I paid. ($55 including shipping.) I listen to 80 and 40M all the time and I also like to listen to aircraft over the Atlantic. The MW listening is not bad either. The FM is very good. The 1102 however, should be used with decent headphones as the built in speaker is not very good. The opinion on the Yahoo 1102 group has been that the 1103 is a little more sensitive, but the controls are a little less intuitive. The 1102's big drawback is memories: you only get the memories in "page 9" for SSB. And that's only 19.

I think with these radios you get what you pay for because they do have problems with overload if you connect a longwire to them. To "get your feet wet" they perform very well in my opinion.