The new Sangean SG-108 portable HD radio

Many thanks for SWLing Post contributor, Zack Schindler, who shares the following:

Sangean released a new MW/FM/HDRadio this year, the SG-108: https://www.sangean.com/products/product.asp?mid=261&cid=3

It seems to be identical to the HDR-14 except for the color https://www.sangean.com/products/product.asp?mid=230&cid=3.

I wonder if the receiver is any better than the HDR-14? I have an HDR-14 and am amazed by its performance every time I use it.

Thanks for the tip, Zack! I, too, love the HDR-14. I also love the fact the SG-108 still uses AA batteries as well.

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7 thoughts on “The new Sangean SG-108 portable HD radio

  1. Mike S

    The SG-108 is simply the HDR-14 in a white cabinet. The totally different product names suggest that they are intended for different distribution streams; there are other exmaples within the current Sangean product line.

    Reply
  2. Mike

    Canada is hardly in trials. It’s been in use here for many years now. There are 14 Toronto area stations + 4 American stations broadcasting HD that I can receive in the car. Most have three HD channels and several ethnic stations have four HD channels active. My car is a 2016 model and has an HD radio.

    Reply
  3. TK Wood

    If Sangean HD portable radios are anything like their DAB line I would look elsewhere. I own the Sangean HDR-18 and sold off my HDT-1 tuner for pennies. The main issue remains their HD line is devoid of any “DX” capability. My Sangean DAB radio was pretty “deaf” when using it in Europe – only the strongest MUXes would appear. For DAB DXing, the great Italian DXer Dario Monferini taught me these four letters: S-O-N-Y.
    (Like many of the SWLIng blog readers , I too owned the great Sony XDR-1 HD tuner which of course died from poor CPU ventilation. If we could convince Sony to redesign that discontinued product we FM/HD nuts would be happier.)

    Reply
    1. Mike S

      Not a formal test, but my DPR-39 (em … er … “Pocket 390” – chosen mainly because of the use of replaceable batteries) did quite well on a trip to Switzerland using just the headset leads an antenna. Consistently got at least 50% more hits than a top rated British portable from Majority.

      My main issue with many of the Sangean digital sets is the use of long-outdated display technology. Scrolling low-res alpha displays that convet little information, and the use of chipsets that don’t even support displaying the full alpha fields, make them frustrating to use.

      Regarding the Sony XDR-F1, I’ve already had two of them upgraded for the ages by Dave (the “XDR Guy”) including PS rebuilt with ventilation, HD manual on-off switch, ultracapacitor memory backup, and replacement of the entire analog audio board with one having significantly higher specs among other things.

      Reply
  4. Mine bennett

    ….unless these “new” radios can be AM/FM long distance (DX’ing) mean machines, then they are wasting their time, and they won’t sell! During the 1970’s and ’80’s, Panasonic R-2200 and Sony I feel-2010 were good at picking up and DX’ing AM/FM/shortwave/longwave/ air band / CW, but how can it be that this technology has been lost in the 21st century?

    Reply
  5. Mangosman

    I wonder if this radio has a short battery life when listening to HD radio programs eg HD2. This is the complaint many use against true pure digital radio eg DAB+ Their solution is now to use Lithium rechargeable batteries like phones.
    Pity it doesn’t have a colour screen to show album covers.

    I don’t know why it has AM steps of 9 kHz which is not used in the Americas, as HD radio is unique to the USA & Mexico. Canada is only trials.

    Reply
    1. Mike S

      Battery life on the HDR-14 (and the NiceTex as well) is short regardless of mode.

      Presumably the 9KHz/10KHZ switch is there because the analog AM and FM modes are usablel anywhere; that’s why it is still positioned as a travel portable.

      Reply

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