Paul explores the incredibly affordable XHDATA D-219

24 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Jamet, who shares the following article that was originally published in the Radio Club du Perche Newsletter.

Note that Paul also includes information about the new XHDATA D-109 and an XHDATA sale in the addendum of his article!

Let’s discover the XHDATA D-219

by Paul JAMET

A truly incredible performance/price ratio

A year ago, many people wondered if it was wise to resume short wave broadcasts to Russia and Ukraine (CIRAF Zone 29). Although a century old, this technology is still widely used around the world. Moreover, the world market for Short Wave receivers is apparently doing well because new models are regularly arriving on the market, in particular ultra-portable DSP receivers with surprising performance. As proof, the latest XHDATA model: the D-219, marketed since November 2022. This is a very easy-to-use receiver, with a vintage look and a needle dial, which is available in gray or silver, for less than $7 (excluding shipping and batteries) on the XHDATA company website.

The D-219 is a “Full DSP” receiver which allows it to be very sensitive and power efficient. It is powered by two AA/R6 rechargeable batteries or by the mains (batteries and 220/5.0 volt adapter not supplied). A small multilingual manual – including French – is provided.

From my point of view, the most important innovation – on a DSP receiver of this price – is the possibility of precise tuning when searching for stations with a pointer dial; there is absolutely no play, which allows perfect and stable tuning to the desired frequency. This receiver has a 3.5 mm jack, a rear stand and a hand strap. The 7-core telescopic antenna is about 55 cm long and provides good reception of FM and SW stations. The sound quality is very good for this 150g receiver (without batteries)! It has two FM bands (87-108 and 64-87 MHz), the AM band (Medium Waves) from 522 to 1620 kHz and nine SW bands from 4750 to 22000 kHz. See photo above.

For a SWL, it’s a real pleasure to explore the 9 Short Wave bands. For instance, I have already easily tuned to international stations several thousand kilometers away only with the telescopic antenna, such as RFA – Radio Free Asia – broadcasting from Agignan Point and Tinian Island in the Pacific Ocean.

Audio samples:

VoA in Dari from Udon Thani on 12075 kHz (250 kW; 9900 km):

RSI in English from Kall Krekell on 6005 kHz (1 kW; 350 km)

Note: A 23-foot wire antenna was clipped onto the whip antenna
recordings made by placing my smartphone near the speaker of the receiver.

QSLs

I received two QSLs (Year of the Rabbit) sent by RFA. See attached images below. These QSL confirm my reception reports (recordings made with the XHDATA D-219 and sent to RFA)

Summary

In conclusion, the XHDATA D-219 is really very easy to use. I can only recommend it to anyone who wants to start exploring the wide world of shortwave with a receiver that offers a truly amazing performance/price ratio!

Paul JAMET

NB: DSP technology –  Digital Signal Processing – allows, among other things, to reduce noise and limit distortion; it is perfectly adapted to the processing of radio signals.

Addendum: XHDATA sale and new D-109

1.) The RADIWOW web site is no longer updated and will be closed soon
30% discount on D-808 (65$) and R-108 (37.80$) for instance, till Feb, 16th.

Have a glance to this website : https://xhdata.com.cn/

NB : I have no affiliation with XHDATA!

2.)  The new XHDATA D-109 is a new radio that will release in 2023:

Let say in one or two weeks … It could be only an upgrade of the R-108 with news features (Bluetooth and micro SD card)
Wait and see …

Spread the radio love

24 thoughts on “Paul explores the incredibly affordable XHDATA D-219”

  1. Robert

    Thank you for this detailed review.
    Just one question, that I have not be able to find the answer. Can the DC jack be used to charge the batteries?
    I mean, if I use rechargeable batteries (be it NI-CD or NI-MH, can I recharge them via the DC jack or do I have to remove them and charge them in a separate way?
    Best regards

    Reply ↓
    1. D T

      I guess I will reply to my own post here.

      After it disappeared from their website, it reappeared again later on. I heard that that was to fix a bug in direct frequency entry, that it could not take the digits entered to input a frequency of 5 digits on the SW band, that they had to pull the product and fix it before release it again.

      I ordered one on ebay lately and received it quite fast. It does not have that bug, thank goodness.

      The radio is quite good, and has better speaker audio and especially a lot better bass than the D-808, R-108, and even the Prunus J-401 that I have.

      I am looking forward for someone’s review here on the D-109, but so far I am quite happy.

      Reply ↓
  5. Sergio Potes

    I bought two d-229 and both lasted about a week …..they started working and them stared making a winning noise so they are defective or go into no audio….how did I get two defective ones? Have other XHDATA radios and they all work but this model is defective!

    Reply ↓
    3. PAUL JAMET

      Could be a very bad batch! This can unfortunately happen… For now, mine which I received on January 11th still works very well… And I use it every day in FM and SW.
      In your place, I would write to XHDATA: [email protected]
      by attaching a short video showing the defects you cite.
      Your two receivers are under warranty…

      Reply ↓
      1. Sergio

        Paul. I sent a video of both radios going onto a winning noise and them stopping to work completely and the are going to credit the money towards another different model.

        Reply ↓
    4. Stephen

      Well so far so good. Baught 3. Then keep them near. I find them good. perhaps there was a bad batch. . How ever I place each in bag w/there complement of toys. . Spare wire /power cells .ect. got one that has 100 hours on it according to it’s log.

      Reply ↓
  6. Julio Cesar Pereira

    It seems this is a very good radio for your buck. But this review has something very important missing. How this radio performs in environments with extreme intermode interference such as FM spurious. All DSP based portable receivers I know have very low noise rejection, specially to intermode interference. I believe that is the case with the XHData D-219. One positive thing is that it this radio does not have that false peaking on AM, a feature programmed into their chips that supposedtly would help you tune in stations, but is a nightmare when you are AMDxing. I also presume it doesn’t have auto squelch, another infamous feature that used to plague many DSP based radios.

    Reply ↓
  7. Lars

    Just purchased the D-219 on their website for grand total of…wait for it…here it comes… US $11.38 (includes shipping, and the website uses PayPal, which will give you an option of just paying via your own credit/debit card and no PayPal account).

    Reply ↓
    1. Chuck E

      The MW (AM) tuning is also probably in 9 kHz steps. 9 kHz tuning steps bring in surprisingly many AM stations at my location in east-central Missouri.

      Reply ↓
    2. mangosman

      https://cdn.shopifycdn.net/s/files/1/0670/0443/2702/files/D-219_Manual.pdf?v=1673918869
      Agrees. This radio is designed for all of the world International Telecommunications Union regions 1 and 3. Region 2 which is North and South America has different bands.
      Region 1 Europe/Africa
      Low frequency band 152 – 279 kHz with 9 kHz steps. Modulation AM (bandwidth 18 kHz) (DRM 9 or 18 kHz)
      Region 1, Region 3 Asia, Oceania
      Medium frequency band which is 530 – 1602 kHz at 9 kHz steps Modulation AM, DRM (bandwidth 18 kHz)
      Worldwide
      High frequency bands 3.2 MHz – 26.1 MHz 5 kHz steps Modulation AM (10 kHz), DRM (bandwidth 5 ,10, or 20 KHz)
      VHF Band 1 – 47 – 50, 54 – 68 MHz is designated for broadcasting and was used for analog TV. and currently vacant. It could be used for digital radio mondiale using 100 kHz steps (bandwidth 96 kHz) . 50 – 54 is the 6 metre amateur band.
      VHF band 2 87.0 – 108 MHz For frequency modulation broadcasting uses 200 kHz steps and if used by digital radio mondiale is in 100 kHz steps.
      VHF band 3 174 – 230 MHz is Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB+) using steps of around 1.762 MHz.

      Region 2
      Medium Frequency 520 – 1700 kHz, 10 kHz steps. AM bandwidth 20 kHz and HDRadio® (bandwidth 30 kHz)
      VHF band 2 88 – 108 MHz, 200 kHz steps FM and HDRadio® (bandwidth 400 kHz)
      Digital Radio Mondiale https://www.drm.org/drm-technical-specification/
      DAB+ https://www.worlddab.org/dab/technical-specifications
      Owners of new radios please send this information to their manufacturers to give the greatest listening choice worldwide.

      Reply ↓
      2. Doug Miler

        I ventured inside the D-219 and found the resistor that is used to activate the “AM ” that the band selector switch connects . If you drop the resistance 10-15 K By adding a higher resistor in parllell to the board mounted reisitor, the AM 10k functionality of the chip can be activated. The radio is not easy to put back together but for 12 dollars , have some fun. Also this mod skews some of the other bands.

        Reply ↓

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