Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Christian, who writes:
Hi, Thomas, I just discovered that the Retekess V115 is currently $16.99 shipped on Amazon with free freturns. You might wish to mention this to your readers because this is a low price for this very inexpensive radio. As I mention with any Amazon sale, pricing is dynamic and can change at any time.
Thank you, Christian, for the tip! Readers: click here to read our previous reviews of this radio.
Click here to check out the Retekess V115 on Amazon.com (affiliate link).
Perhaps the worst I own out of 41 receivers chi junk
I had one: it’s as deaf as a post. I was on the Isle of Skye and couldn’t get BBC Radio Scotland on 810 kHz with it! It grudgingly pulls in the CRI blowtorches, that’s about it. Not a thing which anyone half-serious about DX listening should consider.
Curious, did you try the internal antenna wire modification? Seems the radio can be hit or miss across multiple bands depending upon how the wire is routed near apparently unshielded ICs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJXS723tgmA
I have a Retekess something or other model in a similar format. IIRC, it sufficed for the usual powerhouse SWL broadcasters, though I mostly use it for local FM stations.
Found mine. It is a TR102. It is much noisier on MW+HF than I remember, but FM is generally okay.
I took it apart awhile ago and replaced the antenna wire with ground shielded coax. Not sure it made much difference, though I can note the stock wire is rather long and can float around various components like its V115 sibling, so YMMV either way IMO.
FM performance is pretty good for a cheap radio. Auto-tuning found nearly as many stations as some of my more expensive portables. Sound quality is decent for a small portable, too.