Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ed, who writes:
While perusing products for a disabled family member, I came across this shortwave portable for visually impaired listeners. Its HF coverage is limited to 2300 – 21950KHz, but it also receives
standard AM & FM and plays mp3 files from a microSD card. Interestingly, its advertised features include, “Large easy to see buttons, Large LED display screen, Unique memory and delete design”!This could be a piece of Chinese junk, but I’ve long been drawn to weird and unusual radios, no matter how well they perform. For $39.95 this radio might be fun to play with and give to a
visually-impaired friend or family member if it works. Do you or any SWLing Post readers know anything about this strange radio?https://www.maxiaids.com/ez-fm-am-sw-multiband-radio-mp3-speaker
Post readers: Please comment if you have any experience using this radio! I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this model marketed under other brand names.
Thanks, Ed!
Its main problem is strong interference from the indication. Shielding and remaking from a magnetic antenna to a telescopic one can achieve a very decent reception. This radio is assembled on a KT 0913 chip and is characterized by a very high selectivity. Personally, I did not like the clicks that occur during the operation of the automatic gain control system in this microcircuit. When listening through headphones, they are annoying. In the loudspeaker they are almost inaudible.
Ah, the Tivdio / Retekess / Pruno / Dewant / LCJ / etc / etc L-258. There’s also an L-238 without the media player, and a slew of other variations with solar charger, torch, bluetooth speaker, etc, etc.
I own this radio & am also visually impaired. While the performance of the radio isn’t the best, it is more sensitive & selective than the Retekess/Tivdio V-115. The red LED readout is large & bright. The markings on the buttons are large as well. However, the buttons have no tactile feel. Unless you can see them, it is nearly impossible to find an individual button.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CTKSK5Y/ref=cm_sw_r_apa_i_QxlVEb99XQT9F
I should mention that one of my pet peeves are number keypads that aren’t in one of the standard formats. 🙂 But that’s just me, likely.
Looks like it come in various names and model numbers… here’s on on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Retekess-L-258-Shortwave-Transistor-Rechargeable/dp/B01MYUFCSM (used to be about $17 until recently)
I bet that’s where I’ve seen this model before!