Hi all!

Out of curiosity I purchased 3 DE1103's, plan being to give them away to
godchildren etc. Strangely one of the receivers was a poorer performer
on FM especially. On FM the frequency display was off by approx. 100kHz.

To remedy the problem I had to take the set apart and adjust the
quadrature coil of the FM-detector, T202 in
" http://lab.radioscanner.ru/schematics/de1103_main.jpg ".

Given this opportunity (reason to open the set) I inspected further.
Rather surprisingly the circuit board of the radio looked really bad.
All the components (SMD included) were soldered by hand! Flux residues
were left uncleaned! Shield plates were all corroded and poorly soldered!

I checked the two other units and they were OK meaning they were
manufactured in a proper SMD-reflow soldering process. Additionally the
tiny screws attaching the main board to back cover were given a locking
compound treatment. This prevents the screws becoming loose and rattling
inside the set.

Now, the "bad" unit was labelled as "MK2", the OK radios were "MK4". I
suspect it could be that with a new PCB-revision Degen subcontracts
manufacturing of the radios with the remaining stock of old PCB's
instead of scrapping the boards. Alternatively the radios just reflect
the variation in chinese "domestic" quality. Hopefully export quality
sets are all as shiny inside as in the following picture of an Eton E5:
" http://web303.server-drome.net/Eton_E5/E5_009.jpg ". Incidentally
shielding of a "MK4"-set corresponds to that of an E5. My crappy
"MK2"-set lacks the shield above the PLL (biggest shield in picture).

In conclusion the situation is rather awkward. It is impossible to
tell whether a DE1103 is crap inside by the outside. Buing a "domestic
quality" DE1103 from eBay really involves a risk of getting a crap
product. One out of three radios was crap for me.

Armed with your discovery, you should contact the ebay seller you dealt
with. If it was Liypn or Tqchina, let them know about this problem and I'm
sure they in turn will contact the manufacturer directly for an explanation.
Both of these sellers are conscientious and very good to deal with.

Given the expense of returning substandard electronics back to China for
warranty replacement, the seller and manufacturer should BOTH make a
coordinated effort to ensure overseas sales do not include substandard units
predisposed to failure.

Two of the three radios I bought from one of these sellers had to be shipped
back for warranty replacement. The DE1103 had to be sent back upon receipt
because the LCD display and the sound was bad. The replacement DE1103 had
cosmetic flaws but it worked OK. The DE1107 worked very well, but the LCD
clock didn't display after several months of use. I thought there may have
been a loose connection inside so I asked if it was OK to open up the case
for inspection. The radio appeared clean inside and all the ribbon wire
connections were secure. I got a DE1107 replacement a couple of months ago
and it's perfect. The third radio I bought that didn't fail is a Tecsun
BCL3000. The tuning knob isn't as smooth as I would like -- it's a little
stiff at some points, and then moves very freely at other points. Other
than that it works just as I expected (knock on wood).

Your observations merit further investigation and I hope you post any
developments to this group..



"Vesa" wrote in message
...
Hi all!

Out of curiosity I purchased 3 DE1103's, plan being to give them away to
godchildren etc. Strangely one of the receivers was a poorer performer on
FM especially. On FM the frequency display was off by approx. 100kHz.

To remedy the problem I had to take the set apart and adjust the
quadrature coil of the FM-detector, T202 in
" http://lab.radioscanner.ru/schematics/de1103_main.jpg ".

Given this opportunity (reason to open the set) I inspected further.
Rather surprisingly the circuit board of the radio looked really bad. All
the components (SMD included) were soldered by hand! Flux residues were
left uncleaned! Shield plates were all corroded and poorly soldered!

I checked the two other units and they were OK meaning they were
manufactured in a proper SMD-reflow soldering process. Additionally the
tiny screws attaching the main board to back cover were given a locking
compound treatment. This prevents the screws becoming loose and rattling
inside the set.

Now, the "bad" unit was labelled as "MK2", the OK radios were "MK4". I
suspect it could be that with a new PCB-revision Degen subcontracts
manufacturing of the radios with the remaining stock of old PCB's instead
of scrapping the boards. Alternatively the radios just reflect the
variation in chinese "domestic" quality. Hopefully export quality sets are
all as shiny inside as in the following picture of an Eton E5:
" http://web303.server-drome.net/Eton_E5/E5_009.jpg ". Incidentally
shielding of a "MK4"-set corresponds to that of an E5. My crappy "MK2"-set
lacks the shield above the PLL (biggest shield in picture).

In conclusion the situation is rather awkward. It is impossible to
tell whether a DE1103 is crap inside by the outside. Buing a "domestic
quality" DE1103 from eBay really involves a risk of getting a crap
product. One out of three radios was crap for me.