Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Sheldon Harvey, who writes:
Hi, Thomas
Gilles and I have a special edition of the International Radio Report in which we discuss the new Tecsun H-501X portable shortwave receiver.
The special edition is available exclusively on our show’s YouTube channel.
Here is the link to the video:
Thank you for sharing this, Sheldon!
I had mentioned my stuck at external antenna problem on the 501X. AN CON in Hong Kong replaced right away. One week turn around and had new radio. I am central Florida. Great radio hope no more problems. I have owned most the better SW ssb portables over the years 2010,E1,700 etc.
I have 501x was working now have problem. It will not connect ferrite antenna. When switching ferrite and rod antenna stays connected to rod only. Display shows the change CH-5 or CH-A but stays connected rod only. Tried system reset multiple times no help. Not much of a portable AM mw radio with no ferrite antenna.
John
Why the hell does this radio uses microsd cards and no standard size? There is plenty of space and standard size is so much more convenient to handle! And you can always use microsds with an adapter.
Moreover I agree, a top f the line receiver nowadays should have DAB+ and DRM on all relevant bands.
Before this happens I will not buy any new “world receiver”. There would be no gain over good 10 or even 20 years old radios. But, we´ve been waiting for DRM since 15 years now. Although there are much more sophisticated chips these days now and we saw the rise of SDRs, nothings has happened on the field of standalone/portable radios. Maybe their time is finally over.
Obviously you know your stuff Sir, more so than me….kindly new to SW portables…..Since DRM is mostly a Euro feature and me living in the USA and not traveling overseas….i have no concern for this lacking feature. But go figure Tecsun hiding Bluetooth and DSP?…..odd marketing which might somewhat explain no DRM….I would certainly think it hurts sales in UK. I can understand hiding Sync…..I have $1500 tabletops that make it difficult to engage….like on my JRC 515 I just don’t use it….don’t really need it on that radio…..$2500 ICOM R-8600 (which not only has DRM but APCO25 and DSTAR and a whole host of decoding on board) it’s easily implemented but somewhat less effective than you might think. Point here is Sync D is not a rubber stamp universal utility….at least Tecsun includes it albeit “hidden”. I’ve got a 501x on its way and I really like my 880 so I expect to focus on what it has and what it can do. I listen to FM Radio and AM MW quite a bit….i have bated breath for SW use but will of course require external antenna and see how that goes. I live in a rural area and my 880 does excellent on FM and AM MW so I have yet to see how it will compare with my table top receivers on shortwave.
My conclusion is there are a number of desirable features the 501x lacks. No NOAA weather No Aircraft No 2 meter so on and so on. But it’s a $300 radio…..and that kind of puts it in perspective for me at least. At the very least it will make a good Blues Box that is needed when camping or other outings like going 4 wheeling…..swimming at the lake….whatever. It’s cheap enough to be replaced if required. I have other radios that will cover what this 501x missed. I would say buy it if it can meet a need. It does enough at its price point to make it desirable for me.
Jones
Since this band is nearly empty they have been experimenting with Digital Radio Mondiale in that band. The advantage is that the centre of band 1 compared to the centre of the international FM band has half the signal loss through the air, and when compared to DAB+ its 1/12th.
Since it is the top of the range radio why doesn’t it receive DAB+ which is in widespread use in Eu’s 500 million people or DRM in India which covers 600 million people and it will eventually cover 1300 million people using the Medium frequency and high frequency bands. A single chip can do this rather than plugging in a computer to decode the digital signals.
The OIRT FM broadcast band starts at 65,8 MHz. It was used in Eastern European countries, but only few stations are active in that part of the spectrum nowadays.