Last night, I noticed an untested American Electrola DXC-100 shortwave/AM/FM radio listed on eBay: it had a BuyItNow price of $49 shipped.
The seller (who has an excellent feedback history) disclosed that the power supply was missing, thus the receiver couldn’t be tested.
As you can see from the photos, it’s in great cosmetic shape.
I’ll admit it: I purchased the DXC-100 in a moment of weakness this morning. I don’t expect it to be much of a performer, but it is a relatively rare 1990s receiver that was built in Pittsburgh, PA. I believe only 2,000 units were produced. I have a weakness for odd-ball receivers.
I’m willing to bet the DXC-100 is functional, though the backup battery may need to be replaced.
Does anyone have a schematic or owner’s manual for the DXC-100? I will have to find or build a suitable 9V power supply but need to determine the proper polarity first.
I’ll do a short review of the DXC-100 if I’m able to get it on the air.
Does anybody have any documentation i.e. manual, schematic, or pin out of the Din connector on the back?
Shortwave coverage on the label says 100kHz – 29.999MHz, so continues coverage from Longwave into Medium wave and Shortwave?
In that case, the label should have been edited differently.
By the way, to me it looked like a hotel safe…
Best Regards,
Moshe.
Ha! Moshe, you’re right! I now see a hotel safe with front-facing speaker!
-Thomas
Looks like a microwave oven..
Yes it does! A microwave with front-facing speaker!
I have to get one of those!
No problem! I was a serious PPTWBR addict back in the day and recall this radio being reviewed. I didn’t remember the year though, so I had to hit the archives. 🙂
There’s a writeup in the ’94 PPTWBR. It got 2.5 stars.
No kidding! I just looked it up–there was even a lengthy history of the radio after the review. Thanks for the tip, Mark!
Thomas, what is the DIN jack on the back used for? Remote?
Ken
Hi, Ken,
According to Fred Osterman’s Shortwave Receivers Past and Present, the DIN jack is used for line out audio and remote recorder activation. I may fashion a connector to use that line out audio, in fact.
-Thomas
Pittsburgh, PA has an “h” at the end… 🙂
Noted and corrected, Robert! You get an editor Kudos point! 🙂
Just did a google search to get some background on that radio. Looks like an interesting project. One thing, on one of search results it was mentioned that the radio performed better at 12V than 9V, Apparently it’s spec’d for 9-12V DC.
Ken
Why don’t you expect it to be a good performer?
Paul
I’ve read that the microprocessor/display does inject some noise on the shortwave bands. I’ve also heard that it’s relatively sensitive, though. I’ll suppose I’ll form my own opinions soon enough! 🙂
Well I will looking forward to hearing more. I almost bought this a few months ago. Glad I didn’t just yet