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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:
There’s been a new flurry of these posts on eBay, always the WJ 8711A. These items have prohibited listing practices, and should be ignored — definitely not something to bid on. I have reported these on numerous occasions to Ebay, which has expressed appreciation, but they keep coming back. Location is often listed as Pennsylvania, and other states.
Example of item title
And they can’t even get the spelling right!
Thank you for the heads-up and warning, Dan!
It’s frustrating and I assume it’s a scammer who has hijacked valid eBay seller accounts. The seller above, for example, has 16,000+ feedbacks 99.7% positive. TIn every way, the top of the listing appears to be valid.
But if you scroll down the page, you’ll find this message:
Let’s be clear: If you ever see the message above, you are viewing a fraudulent eBay listing!
The scammer actually embeds the convoluted BuyItNow message above as a graphic in the eBay listing. This makes it difficult for eBay to automatically find the scammers and delete the postings.
Many thanks, Dan, for apprising us of the situation.
I haven’t seen one either, Jeff. Appears to be pretty compact. At first, I was curious how an analog radio could have so many presets until I took a peek at the top of the radio.
Each preset is individually tuned. Hard to believe such a compact radio has a total of eight tuning mechanisms! Two presets are designated for FM, two for AM and four presets can be either. Pretty clever! Since it’s a Panasonic, I bet it’s a sensitive little portable.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Cap Tux, who writes:
The Zastone ZT-D9000 radio has actually been out for a while and is a Dual Band Mobile (Triband with option), nothing fancy there and bears a striking resemblance to the Icom IC-2820H (clone?). Options include GPS, Bluetooth, 220Mhz and LW (The latter is really weird!).
What caught my eye is the 2.3-30 MHz Shortwave coverage, a quick search on YouTube turns up a video showing Shortwave working!
Yes, probably as wide as a barn door with no filtering except the 12kHz default but an extremely useful feature if you did need a dual band mobile in your jeep/car.
Two other noteworthy features are a dedicated RX BNC antenna socket and a built in FM Transmitter so you can listen to it on the FM Radio in your car/jeep, very cool. A bit like a pimped IC-2820H. Also has all the bells and whistles a Dual Bander should have,
A/B Band RX:
136-174MHz
200-260MHz (OPTION)
400-470MHz
470-520MHz
B Band RX:
153-279kHz (AM) (OPTION)
0.5MHz-1.8MHz (AM)
2.3-30MHz (AM)
64-108MHz (WFM)
113-137MHz (Airband – AM)
TX:
136MHz-174MHz
222-225MHz (Type USA 200-260MHz) (OPTION)
400-520MHz
Channel Steps: 1.5, 6, 6.25, 10, 12.5, 15, 20, 25, 50, 100kHz Frequency Stability: +-2.5ppm Repeater Shift: +-600kHz(144MHz), +-5MHz (430MHz) Emission Type: F1D, F2D, F3E Antenna Impedance: 50 ohms Supply Voltage: Nominal: 13.8VDC, Neg Gnd, Operating: 12-24V Neg Gnd Operating Temp: -40F to +-1400F(-20C to +-60C) RF power Output: UHF: 40W/25W/5W VHF:50W/25W/5W Case Size: (WxHxD) 6″ x 2.3″ x 1.3″ (Panel w/o knobs and connectors)
6″x6″x 1.8″ (Rear chassis w/o connectors) Weight: 3.7 lbs
Transmitter:
RF Power Output: UHF: 40W/25W/5W, VHF: 50W/25W/5W
Modulation Type: Variable Reactance F1 D, F2D, F3E
Maximum Deviation: +- 5KHz
Spurious Emission: at least 60 dB below
Microphone Impedance: 2 k ohms
Receiver:
Sensitivity Radio Band:
B Band:
5uV TYP for 10db SN (153-279 KHz, AM)
5UV TYP for 10 db SN (0.5-1.7 MHz, AM)
2uV TYP for 10db SN (203-30 MHz, AM)
2Uv TYP for 12db SINAD (64-108 MHz, WFM)
0.8 uV TYP for 10 db SN 9113-134 MHz, AM)
A&B Band:
0.2 uV for 12db SINAD (136-174 MHz, FM)
0.2 uV TYP for 12db SINAD (200-260 MHz, FM)
0.2 uV for 12 db SINAD (400-470 MHz, FM)
0.2 uV TYP for 12 db SINAD (470-520 MHz, FM)
Squelch Sensitivity: 0.16 uV (144/430 MHz Band)
Selectivity: NFM, AM 12 KHz/30KHz(-6dB/-60dB)
AF Output:
6W@4 ohm for 10% THD (@13.8V) EXP SP
3W@ 8 ohm for 10% THD (@13.8V) Normal EXP SP/CH
AF Output Impedance: 4-16 ohm
3 Speakers
Included in Purchase:
– Radio
– Microphone
– Power Cables
– Remote Install Kit
– Software CD
– Programming Cable
– All Mounting Hardware
– 1 Year Warranty
Options:
– Bluetooth
– GPS
– Barometric altimeter and thermometer
– 220MHz
– LW Band
Very interesting, Cap! Thank you for sharing. Honestly, I have a very difficult time keeping up with the radio equipment being produced and sold out of China.
And you’re right: what a surprise to find HF coverage on a dual-band mobile radio and especially longwave coverage! Like you, I wouldn’t anticipate stellar performance. The price is certainly “bargain basement” at $210 US shipped.
SWLing Post readers: Has anyone purchased and tested the ZT-D9000? Please comment!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares a link to this eBay seller who has recently posted a number of vintage solid state radios from his collection. Many of the radios have BuyItNow prices and auction dates nine days out. Many of these are Panasonic models and only a couple have shortwave.
Still, Dan knew how to tug on my heart strings (and enable me!) by pointing out the Panasonic RF-1170. It has a BuyItNow price of $119.95 plus shipping, I love the bold design from that era of radio–plus I know the ‘1170 has brilliant audio. While the ‘1170 lacks shortwave, it does have AM/MW and a dedicated, rotatable ferrite bar antenna much like my RF-2200.
Here are a few other notable radios from this seller’s offerings. I’ve included links with each image. To see all of this seller’s offerings, check out his eBay store.
I’ve had a massive amount of inquiries about this radio–mainly from readers in Australia and New Zealand–so I thought it would make sense to check it out and compare it to other portables.
The price, with shipping, will equate to about $142 US.
The AR-1780 is being sent via the postal service so I don’t expect it to arrive for at least a couple of weeks. eBay estimates a delivery between August 17-28.
Many thanks to Kenneth Crips who recently shared an eBay link to this antenna switch on the Gary J. Cohen’s Shortwave Listeners Global Facebook page.
The switch is not a kit–it is pre-built and appears to contain quality parts. The manufacturer, Electro Resales, makes a number of other products for the radio, astronomy, RC and model railroad markets. They have 99.9% positive feedback and a deep history of sales via eBay.
I’ve pasted the product description from eBay below:
Coaxial Electronic Switching unit for Antenna – 2:1 unit – Ready Built Unit
Switch 2 antenna to one radio or 2 radio to one antenna.
Using high quality Schrack Brand relays this antenna switcher works up to 200 MHz with SWR below 1:1 and minimal insertion loss.
Features include:
1. SO-239 input/output connectors
2. 8 Amp switching relay (Operation to 1 KW)
3. LED mimics indicate which port is active
4. Built in push switch for ease of operation – Selects relay coil to energize,
5. Remote installation operation possible
6. 1 KV Suppression capacitors and back EMF diodes on each relay coil
7. Relay coil : Capacitor tank frequency = 93 KHz – Minimizes RF interference on activation.
8. PCB Isolation Slots to minimize cross talk
9. 12 volt operation
10. Via stitching in critical signal paths and connector ground plane
11. Complete, self contained unit, ready to use. Not a Kit.
PCB dimensions are 4″ x 3.25″ (100 mm x 80 mm). Ready to mount in your installation
Pictures illustrate actual item that you will receive.
Questions – Please ask – Free Shipping as always
Sale includes:
1. Finished PCB with all components
2. Link to our on-line user guides
No other items such as power supplies, RF equipment or cables are included in the sale
I might purchase one of these as I have a remote antenna box with a solar-powered LDG ATU. This switch would allow me to change antennas without manually changing feed lines outside. I had planned to build a switch like this with my buddy, Vlado (N3CZ), but the price is awfully enticing! Have any SWLing Post readers purchased from this store before? If so, please comment.
Thanks, Dan. I was unfamiliar with this R&S model, but I like the compact size. The seller has 100% positive feedback and a decent history. I do find it funny, though, that he didn’t post extra images–you must request them from the seller instead. It appears that the encoder has some damage (perhaps from heat?) around the finger dimple.
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Let’s be clear: If you ever see the message above, you are viewing a fraudulent eBay listing!
