For one of my jobs I bought a Sony ICF-S10MK2 pocket radio, I’m pretty impressed with it for the price ($16 in Australia or about $8-9 in the US).
I was up til 4am one night looking for a radio for work before I come across this one and read about a dozen reviews and videos before I decided on this one and now having had it for about 2 days I couldn’t be happier with it.
There is no power where I work but this runs for 48 hours off 2xAA batteries, so far I would have used it for at least 24 hours and its still going strong.
I have many gadgets and toys like a Nexus 7, Nexus 4, a new computer I built myself, projector, game consoles, $1000+ amplifier (built n radio) but… I find the last few days I have hardly touched any of them as all I have been doing is listening to or playing with this little radio.
I don’t know what it is about it, maybe something that reminds me of simpler times but at the moment I find it fascinating.
Here they are trying to push for digital radio where I live, we recently just switched to digital TV and the analog signal doesn’t exist anymore. I would hate to see that happen with radio as well.
I also accidentally bought a Sony XDRS56DBP (below) while trying to test a coupon code for it, but it takes 4xAA batteries and chews through them fast apparently. It still hasn’t come yet though.
I actually prefer Panasonic/Sanyo but didn’t find anything suitable at the time
Pretty much just posting to see if anyone else has a radio they are fond of and what is it etc, I am considering buying another one. .
I’ve had a couple of those Sony S10MK2’s for a few years now and you really can’t beat em for the price. I think I paid $7 US for mine. It’s one of those really nice finds that does exactly what you want it to do at a good price.
The problem in the UK is that you really need to get DAB radios now - there are a number of BBC stations that don’t broadcast on FM - and they do chew up batteries. The only portable I use is a Roberts Ecologic 1. Loaded with 4 eneloops, it’s great for bathroom use (but a pain if it dies in the middle of a bath).
I have several Eton SW Emergency radios. They are were sold at many Bed Bath and Beyond's here in Maryland. BBB always sends 20% off coupons to you in the mail.
+1 for the Eton. One of the only decent hand crack products ever is a good eton emergency radio. I have a red cross one that I got lucky and picked up on e-bay for $20.
No desire to waste time listening to advertising or somebody blathering about what the station program director seems to think is important. Even less interested in what passes for “news”. Much of the music I listen to isn’t available on commercial radio anyway.
I either listen to music on my iPhone or computer (often streamed from my home server), or sometimes podcasts on specific topics of interest.
Exactly what I want when I want.
Two-way radios for personal communication are a totally different thing. I have a set of FRS radios used for ski trips, etc, and have some (currently receive only) SDR radios.
I thought I read somewhere last year those Baofeng models were actually bench tested at 4Watts, maybe they improved the 2013 model. The 2.5khz frequency stepping is a nice feature if you want to do some casual tracking of animal telemetry. Overall however, the Wouxun is better build quality, but also costs more as a result. If you need the 2.5khz step then you need to look at the UVD-6P
With that radio you could call them as well as listen to them. In fact as it’s dual band you could use it to chat on the FRS frequencies that were referred to above.
I have a couple of Eton dynamo radio/flashlight/cellphone chargers as well… great and doesn’t need batteries… pretty tough cause the kids bang them around quite a bit but they keep working!
Yes you would for the amateur band part of that radio E.G.: 144-148mhz (maybe slightly different in UK). For the Commercial part 149-174 it’s commercial licensing. However for the FRS part, there’s no license generally required, but these are not purpose built for FRS so you have to program them accordingly and get a better UHF antenna, but having done that at around 2.5w they end up being better than the average consumer FRS rigs that are usually 1w. That particular model may not actually have ‘Type Approval’ for use in the UK (it doesn’t for my neck of the woods), but that hasn’t stopped hundreds of users from buying them from eBay sellers and using them anyway. If listening to emergency services from home is the main goal, and you live near inspector Barnaby in Midsomer, then I guess those live internet feeds are a good way to avoid all those murder scenes on your way to the high street, and a cheap way to accomplish that end for free.
Chloe. You continually shock me with your knowledge on pretty much any subject on this forum that I have a firm belief that you work for some espionage group. The comment above ‘’I have no idea what that means’’ supposed to put me off the trail to identify you? It will not work. Your true identity will be solved soon. :nerd_face:
Honestly, I just saw it in DX new arrivals and read a little on Wikipedia and thought it would be cool to have one! The little I read did make me concerned about the laws since the airwaves are heavily regulated. :~
Although, thinking about it some more, maybe it wouldn’t be such a good idea to get one (to listen to emergency services); since I live in the city, I’ll be too scared to go out.
Older (25+ years) Sangean ATS 803A, multiband*. AC, batteries & 12v. Also a much newer Sangean workplace radio that has AC, batteries, 12v power but a sucky AM/FM tuner w audio jack input for CDs, Mp3, guitar, cassettes, etc. Decent sound.
*Always expected to get hooked on some of the shortwave type stuff, but never did…
I like listening to radio but not for the music, for the discussion...
I usually listen to national radio stations, that have a lot of debate, informative programs, political discussion, special music programs for marginal groups done with good expertise etc...
I’ve been using the pocket radio for about 12 days now, sometimes 12+ hours a day. It has far exceeded the 48 hours off 1 set of batteries and still going (NICE lithium AA’s).
I got the digital radio today and I must be just outside the digital coverage area but it has FM as well. The FM works good and the sound quality is very good but the volume isn’t very loud.
Ill be sticking with the first one for now and try to sell the digital one.
