Tesonic R-3000 Receiver

[Twinstars]

In the late 1990s, while in China, I purchased a Tesonic R-3000 digital AM-FM-shortwave radio. Is anyone familiar with with this receiver? Ever heard of Tesonic? Interestingly all the text on the radio is in English, e.g. "36-Programmable Memory Computer Controlled Direct Tuning World Band Receiver" and a list of SW bands received.
While living overseas during the 80s & 90s, I relied upon shortwave to get my news. VoA & BBC were favorites. At the time, a Radio Shack DX-398 was my workhorse. When I saw this Tesonic I thought it would make a good back up. Lousy selectivity but serviceable in a pinch.

 

[kc2asb]

Never heard of Tesonic. A quick search revealed some discussions/photos of the radio, but the websites are all based in China and not in English. It looks like a decent radio and its appearance is very similar to models sold under the Sangean name.

 

[ditto1958]

Can you post some pics?

 

[kc2asb]

Can you post some pics?

Sure. I should have done so before. Nice looking radio. Sorry for the small image size - it's all I could find.

 

[ditto1958]

Cool 😎

 

[Twinstars]

Thanks for the replies. I should have included photos in my original post; so am making up for that now.
If you will forgive me for reminiscing -- in the 80s and early 90s overseas I my receiver was a Sony ICF-2010, which I am convinced to this day is the best ever for shortwave. Sadly it went belly up in the late 90s, and on a rushed trip back to the States, I picked up the DX-398 as a replacement. The 398 served me reliably, only going into storage when I returned, some 5-6 years later.
Now that I'm retired, I'm dusting off the old receivers only to learn that shortwave isn't what it used to be.

 

[Twinstars]

P.S. I still find it very curious that text on the receiver is in English, despite apparently never exported from China.

 

[ditto1958]

P.S. I still find it very curious that text on the receiver is in English, despite apparently never exported from China.

English is the world’s language. I just watched video of a guy giving a speech in Helsinki about boat building. His introduction and his speech-

Thanks for the replies. I should have included photos in my original post; so am making up for that now.
If you will forgive me for reminiscing -- in the 80s and early 90s overseas I my receiver was a Sony ICF-2010, which I am convinced to this day is the best ever for shortwave. Sadly it went belly up in the late 90s, and on a rushed trip back to the States, I picked up the DX-398 as a replacement. The 398 served me reliably, only going into storage when I returned, some 5-6 years later.
Now that I'm retired, I'm dusting off the old receivers only to learn that shortwave isn't what it used to be.

No, it’s not the same, but there is no reason it can’t come back. Maybe there just needs to be more demand for it.

 

[kc2asb]

Thanks for the replies. I should have included photos in my original post; so am making up for that now.
If you will forgive me for reminiscing -- in the 80s and early 90s overseas I my receiver was a Sony ICF-2010, which I am convinced to this day is the best ever for shortwave. Sadly it went belly up in the late 90s, and on a rushed trip back to the States, I picked up the DX-398 as a replacement. The 398 served me reliably, only going into storage when I returned, some 5-6 years later.
Now that I'm retired, I'm dusting off the old receivers only to learn that shortwave isn't what it used to be.

Thanks for posting the photos! It's great to see the radio close up. It appears to be a decent quality radio and comparable to Sangean models of that era.

The ICF-2010 is widely regarded as one of the best portables ever made. Passport to Worldband Radio used to liken its performance to that of tabletops costing 2 or 3 times as much.

Shortwave is a ghost of what it was in the 90's and earlier, but there is still a lot to listen to, including utility stations and amateur radio. Stations like the BBC and Radio New Zealand are still on, but many broadcasters are off shortwave and now stream online.

 

[kc2asb]

No, it’s not the same, but there is no reason it can’t come back. Maybe there just needs to be more demand for it.

Unfortunately, it's almost certain that shortwave broadcasting is not returning to its former glory. The cost of building, operating and maintaining 100kw+ transmitters and antennas cannot compete with the far cheaper option of internet streaming.

 

[KT4HX]

Unfortunately, it's almost certain that shortwave broadcasting is not returning to its former glory. The cost of building, operating and maintaining 100kw+ transmitters and antennas cannot compete with the far cheaper option of internet streaming.

Sadly must agree with this. I remember the SW bands from the 70's and 80's. They were full of broadcasts. I particularly enjoyed DX'ing African stations on 60 meters around sunset in Indiana as the stations in west Africa were closing down for the day. Then starting around 0300Z as the east African stations came back on the air and following the openings across the continent until 0600Z when the west Africans came on the air to begin their daily broadcasting.

One of my best DX catches (along with a QSL) came with Radio Cook Islands on 11760 kHz with their 500W transmitter back in the early 80s. It certainly was a glorious time to be an SWL.

 

[kc2asb]

Sadly must agree with this. I remember the SW bands from the 70's and 80's. They were full of broadcasts. I particularly enjoyed DX'ing African stations on 60 meters around sunset in Indiana as the stations in west Africa were closing down for the day. Then starting around 0300Z as the east African stations came back on the air and following the openings across the continent until 0600Z when the west Africans came on the air to begin their daily broadcasting.

One of my best DX catches (along with a QSL) came with Radio Cook Islands on 11760 kHz with their 500W transmitter back in the early 80s. It certainly was a glorious time to be an SWL.

Amazing catch snagging Radio Cook Islands! Not many SWL's had that one in their logs. I tried countless times to log Radio Tahiti. I think I did, but never got a positive ID.

 

[KT4HX]

Amazing catch snagging Radio Cook Islands! Not many SWL's had that one in their logs. I tried countless times to log Radio Tahiti. I think I did, but never got a positive ID.

Yeah, I remember Tahiti. I heard them a few times, I think on 15.170 IIRC.