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Old 27th Sep 2017, 9:32 am   #1
electronicskip
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Default Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

I was in Tescos the other day and I came across a Small portable radio which seemed really good value for money.

Its called a 12 band world receiver and comes equipped with FM,AM,LW and also 9 shortwave bands 13m 16m 19m 22m 25m 31m 41m 49m and 60m.

Cost was just £8 so I thought id take the plunge and I was pleasantly surprised as to the reception quality.

Well worth a punt at £8, no mains adaptor but has the facility to plug one in.
Ideal for the person who wants one for a holiday or just very casual use.
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Old 27th Sep 2017, 9:49 am   #2
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tescos

Interesting that the big chains are still selling non-DAB radios in spite of the power that be telling us that they're all but obsolete.
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Old 27th Sep 2017, 10:00 am   #3
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tescos

I bought one a couple of years ago to throw into our camping box. Reception, when you're away from the noise of civilisation, is quite respectable for the size/complexity of the radio.

IIRC the radio uses a DSP chip with volume and tuning both achieved using potentiometers (band selection via a chain of resistors).
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Old 27th Sep 2017, 11:00 am   #4
Craig Sawyers
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

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Cost was just £8 so I thought id take the plunge and I was pleasantly surprised as to the reception quality.
Good heavens - £8 for a multiband radio. Clearly from China, which means that once it has been through various hands, all making a significant percentage, and then shipping cost, the ex-works price will be between £1 and £2. I have no idea how they manage to do that.
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Old 27th Sep 2017, 11:07 am   #5
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

Similar cheap multiband radios have been around for a while now. The first one to get a lot of attention was sold by Superdrug when they still stocked consumer electronics. People have done lots of mods to that one, including adding a BFO. Once you start making hundreds of thousands of these things the unit cost becomes very low.

http://www.hanssummers.com/superdrg.html
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Old 27th Sep 2017, 11:13 am   #6
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

I'm going to Tesco this afternoon so will pick one up if they have any and take it to bits. At that price it's worth having a look. If it has a relatively sane frequency synthesizer in it, some fun could be had

Here's the link for reference: https://www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-r...o/498-0233.prd

As for cost, these sorts of things are rather popular across the world so there's a huge volume shipped. I think I remember reading a couple of years ago that rural community radio is a big thing in most non-highly developed countries so everyone has them for listening to FM and world SW broadcasts from VOA, Radio Free whatever etc. That and cheap Baofeng VHF handsets makes up the local net where there is no GSM coverage or people can't afford the network subscriptions.

I kind of wish it was like that here to be honest sometimes
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Old 27th Sep 2017, 11:37 am   #7
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

I bought one a few months ago, performance not bad, the chip is DSP chip, there are no tuned circuits, I think adding a bfo would be extremely difficult. The superdrug radio was a conventional superhet and easier to hack.

Dave

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Old 27th Sep 2017, 11:50 am   #8
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

I've got one of those radios. I bought it a couple of years ago as a 'bed' radio (yes, actually in bed with me so the cat can't fiddle with it) for snoozing to listening to 'Today' on the BBC as I drift in & out of sleep before getting up.
FM is surprisingly good. MW is OK but the IF filter has poor stopband and our local GOLD is audible for quite some distance on each side! SW works, but with conditions being so poor recently it isn't much use. Good value though.
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Old 27th Sep 2017, 1:23 pm   #9
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

My local Tesco didn't have any
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Old 27th Sep 2017, 2:39 pm   #10
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

If you order online you can get it delivered to your local tescos i think.
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Old 27th Sep 2017, 4:32 pm   #11
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

Spec in the online offer says battery life is 1 hour. Is this for real?
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Old 27th Sep 2017, 5:12 pm   #12
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

I used to have a Philips around 20 years ago that looked just like that, though I'm sure the technology has changed. It seems there's one in my local store - I think I can risk £8!
Thanks for the heads-up
Glyn
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Old 27th Sep 2017, 6:05 pm   #13
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

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Spec in the online offer says battery life is 1 hour. Is this for real?
That's certainly possible if there's a DSP chip running inside.
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Old 27th Sep 2017, 6:11 pm   #14
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

I bought one about a year ago and the FM did not work so customer services had to change it for another.
They are good for hunting for places where FM is strong enough to use better quality radios without the lugging.
It is also good for hunting around on short wave.
Mine works for a lot more than one hour on a couple of NiMh cells.
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Old 27th Sep 2017, 6:44 pm   #15
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

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That's certainly possible if there's a DSP chip running inside.
What? that would be two amps for AA cells, would make a hand warmer! My Tecsun PL-606 has a DSP chip and it only takes 25mA on FM, (just measured it) 100 hours give or take.
 
Old 27th Sep 2017, 6:45 pm   #16
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

Battery life is many hours, not sure how many but mine lasts for ages.

Dave

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Old 27th Sep 2017, 9:36 pm   #17
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

Hi.

I've just ordered one from Tesco Direct. At £8 it's worth a gamble, who knows, in 60 years time it may well be a collectable set.

Regards
Symon.
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Old 27th Sep 2017, 11:05 pm   #18
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

Mine lasts for months, listening about 1 hour per day. I think they use conventional analogue circuitry.
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Old 27th Sep 2017, 11:57 pm   #19
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

I bought one on the way home (rather a roundabout one from Eynsham to Standlake via Abingdon!) and measured the current- it's about 50mA so I guess battery life around 20 hours or so.

Works OK though tuning "feel" is 'orrible and nothing like a normal set- more like something with heavy duty AFC you can't turn off even on AM.
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Old 28th Sep 2017, 8:09 am   #20
ParcGwyn
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Default Re: Multiband shortwave radio from Tesco.

Quote:
I think they use conventional analogue circuitry.
Definitely not analogue circuitry, I pulled the back off mine and had a look the day I bought it. Can't remember the chip number, It may have had the number removed.

Dave

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