Another non-SW feature is the really quite impressive sound through the
supplied earbuds on stereo FM stations.

"JS" wrote in message
.. .
Have looked at reviews on sub $100 portables.
This one has analog styledigital tuning and fine tuning.
Plus it has ssb.
Anyone have one, comments?

running dogg wrote:

JS wrote:

The 1102 looks to be less user friendly than the 1103.
I think the analog style tuning on the 1103 will be better for me,
since I like to listen when I'm in bed.
Just shopping around for price now.
Universal radios, online, has it for $78 and change, so far the best price,
and reputable apperaring vendor.

Buy it on ebay. Liypn of V Com Collections ebay store will likely have
the Degen version (same radio) for around $50. He can't use the name
Degen, however, so the ad will just say "1103 SW radio".

Why can't he use the name 'Degen' if that is indeed the brand name? That is somewhat
akin to putting up an R8B on eBay and not being able to use the name 'Drake'.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Well, I had the Kaito 1101. For the money, it really is a good little
radio. That being said, it's gone, and has been replaced by a Grundig
YB 400PE. What do you gain from the use of the Grundig? Everything.
It's a pleasure to use, sounds and performs wonderfully. Looks better
too. Just one guy's opinion. Darren

I've used one since December of 2004.

For the price I cannot think of a radio that comes even close.
Positive points:
-Very sensitive on all bands.
-Dual filters do a good job of minimizing splatter on AM.
-A tuning knob makes band scanning a breeze.
-Does a good job on ssb signals and stable enough to allow tuning
around without retuning.
-Lots of memory channels.
-Stereo FM through headphones sounds good on this set.
-Direct frequency entry.
-Audio from the speaker is amazingly good considering it's size.

Negative points:

-Images abound as you would expect on a radio at this price. Not a big
deal, just be aware that Radio Havana doesn't broadcast on 5100 khz.

-S Meter is disabled on FM for some reason...not a big deal.

-An unfortunate method of numbering memory channels restricts the
usefulness of 268 memories. For some reason Degen chose to use
hexadecimal (base 16) numbering which adds several levels of complexity
to organizing and using memories. Compounding that is a bug in the
firmware that retunes the AM frequency when an FM frequency is
retrieved from memory.

Analog shortwave dial has some retro visual appeal but the space could
have been used for something else.

I own 2 of the 1103's, one purchased in Dec 04 and the other about a
month and a half ago. Absolutely no complaints with either of them.
You can buy a better radio, but not at the sub $50 price that the 1103
goes for or anywhere near that. For more info and personal reviews and
accounts you can check the 1103 group on Yahoo groups.

Good Luck

Mark

Went ahead and ordered the 1003 this morning.
Looking forward to it, since the only radio I've been using for several
years
is an analog am/fm sony cassette walkman.
Have gotten real fond of listening at night.
Art Bell comes on too late here, 1am and I get up at 4am.
Had quite a time finding one, there were only 3 left on ebay, price was
high.
Didn't want to fool with the chinese version.
Universal was out for next 2 months.
And most places were at $100 or thereabouts. CC Crane I think wanted $109.
So I'm happy to have found one for $86 shipped.
Most money I spent on a radio ever, but figure it should be enough for
a casual listener and if we get storms, then we don't have to listen to
storm news all the time.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I own 2 of the 1103's, one purchased in Dec 04 and the other about a
month and a half ago. Absolutely no complaints with either of them.
You can buy a better radio, but not at the sub $50 price that the 1103
goes for or anywhere near that. For more info and personal reviews and
accounts you can check the 1103 group on Yahoo groups.

Good Luck

Mark

"Didn't want to fool with the chinese version. "

It's a nice radio and you will get a lot of good listening. But they
are all chinese...only difference is the label.

"JS" wrote in message
...
Didn't want to fool with the chinese version.
Universal was out for next 2 months.
And most places were at $100 or thereabouts. CC Crane I think wanted $109.
So I'm happy to have found one for $86 shipped.

Well, these radios are all Chinese-made, but some of the American
distributors are offering them under the Kaito badge with the 120 V AC
adapters; plus it's easier to return them to the seller here in the USA in
the unlikely event you'd get a defective piece. The $86 is about as low as
I've heard of for an American distributor's price. I bought mine from Liypn
off eBay for about $45 or so bucks... a great deal, even with relatively
high shipping of $20 (from China)... and it only took a week for delivery to
my address. Hope you enjoy your 1103, I certainly do! It is a nice
portable... nothing else is even close in this price range for the
features/performance.

Jackie

So true. For the price, it can't be beat!




"Buzzygirl" wrote in message
...

"JS" wrote in message
...
Didn't want to fool with the chinese version.
Universal was out for next 2 months.
And most places were at $100 or thereabouts. CC Crane I think wanted
$109.
So I'm happy to have found one for $86 shipped.

Well, these radios are all Chinese-made, but some of the American
distributors are offering them under the Kaito badge with the 120 V AC
adapters; plus it's easier to return them to the seller here in the USA in
the unlikely event you'd get a defective piece. The $86 is about as low as
I've heard of for an American distributor's price. I bought mine from
Liypn
off eBay for about $45 or so bucks... a great deal, even with relatively
high shipping of $20 (from China)... and it only took a week for delivery
to
my address. Hope you enjoy your 1103, I certainly do! It is a nice
portable... nothing else is even close in this price range for the
features/performance.

Jackie

Didn't want to fool with the chinese version.
Universal was out for next 2 months.
And most places were at $100 or thereabouts. CC Crane I think wanted
$109.
So I'm happy to have found one for $86 shipped.

Well, these radios are all Chinese-made

What I meant to say was that I just preferred to get the 120 volt version.
If I was traveling alot, then the degen would have been fine.

, but some of the American
distributors are offering them under the Kaito badge with the 120 V AC
adapters; plus it's easier to return them to the seller here in the USA
in
the unlikely event you'd get a defective piece. The $86 is about as low
as
I've heard of for an American distributor's price. I bought mine from
Liypn
off eBay for about $45 or so bucks... a great deal, even with relatively
high shipping of $20 (from China)... and it only took a week for delivery
to
my address.

Thats a good price, the few left on ebay were $89.


Hope you enjoy your 1103, I certainly do! It is a nice
portable... nothing else is even close in this price range for the
features/performance.

It's nice to have had the http://www.radiointel.com/reviews.htm
site to look at.
I found the reviews easy to read.
Took some time, nonetheless to go through the radios.



Jackie