{"id":11482,"date":"2014-11-24T23:22:22","date_gmt":"2014-11-25T03:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=11482"},"modified":"2014-11-24T23:22:22","modified_gmt":"2014-11-25T03:22:22","slug":"shoot-out-results-top-ultra-portable-shortwave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/11\/shoot-out-results-top-ultra-portable-shortwave\/","title":{"rendered":"Shoot-out results: Top ultra-portable shortwave"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tecsun-ShootOut\"<\/a>Thanks to all who participated in our ultra-portable shoot-out<\/a>! A little over a week ago, I posted recordings of shortwave broadcasts, weak and strong, in an attempt to evaluate which recording\u2013thus which radio\u2013our listeners prefer. I conducted this test on the three radios pictured above: the Tecsun PL-310ET<\/strong>, the CountyComm GP5\/DSP (Tecsun PL-360)<\/strong>, and the Tecsun PL-380<\/strong>\u2013among\u00a0the most popular ultra-portables currently on the market. This test was \u201cblind\u201d in the sense that\u00a0all\u00a0three radios evaluated\u00a0were\u00a0merely labeled \u201cRadio 1,\u201d \u201cRadio 2,\u201d and \u201cRadio 3,\u201d respectively.<\/p>\n

The samples<\/h2>\n

To refresh your memory, I\u2019ve embedded the audio samples below for you to hear; but if you haven’t yet heard them,\u00a0I encourage you to read our previous post<\/a>\u00a0before doing so. (If you’re already heard the recordings, simply skip this section.)<\/p>\n

\n

Global 24 – 9395 kHz (Strong)<\/h3>\n

Radio 1<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/G24Radio1\/G24-Radio1.MP3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Radio 2<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/G24Radio1\/G24-Radio2.MP3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Radio 3<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/G24Radio1\/G24-Radio3.MP3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\n

ERT Open\/ Voice of Greece (Relatively strong)<\/h3>\n

Radio 1<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/G24Radio1\/VOG-Radio1.MP3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Radio 2<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/G24Radio1\/VOG-Radio2.MP3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Radio 3<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/G24Radio1\/VOG-Radio3.MP3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\n

Radio Riyadh (Weak)<\/h3>\n

Radio 1<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/G24Radio1\/RadioRiyadh-Radio1.MP3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Radio 2<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/G24Radio1\/RadioRiyadh-Radio2.MP3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Radio 3<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/G24Radio1\/RadioRiyadh-Radio3.MP3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\n

R\u00e1dio Bandeirantes (Very weak)<\/h3>\n

Radio 1<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/G24Radio1\/RadioBandeirantes-Radio1.MP3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Radio 2<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/G24Radio1\/RadioBandeirantes-Radio2.MP3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Radio 3<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/G24Radio1\/RadioBandeirantes-Radio3.MP3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\n

And now…the results!<\/h2>\n

The following chart shows how each radio scored\u00a0out of a total\u00a0of 106 (wow!<\/em>) survey responses:<\/p>\n

\"ShootOutRadios\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Let’s start with the radio that scored lowest in this contest…<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Radio 3: the CountyComm GP5\/DSP (a.k.a., the Tecsun PL-360)\"CountyCommGP5DSP\"<\/h2>\n

Interestingly, the GP5\/DSP consistently came in last in every category. I think a few factors outside of\u00a0receiver performance led to this.<\/p>\n

For some reason, the recorded audio of\u00a0the GP5\/DSP sounds out-of-phase. \u00a0Several of you noted this. The\u00a0resulting sound almost mimics a “stereo” effect. No matter how many times I made recordings on the GP5\/DSP, this feature predominated, and I eventually\u00a0assumed it to be characteristic of this radio’s DSP.<\/p>\n

But I’m wondering now, however,\u00a0if there might be oxidation on one of the headphone jack conductors, or if the headphone jack on my unit is somehow faulty\u2013? \u00a0Because of this, before conducting the medium wave shoot-out, I’ll try to clean the conductors with a little Deoxit to see if it makes a difference.<\/p>\n

Unlike the PL-310ET and PL-380, the GP5\/DSP can’t change AM bandwidths. On the strong recordings, I widened the bandwidths of the PL-310ET and PL-380 to 6 kHz;\u00a0this improved their audio fidelity. On weak signals, I narrowed the bandwidth to 3 or 4 kHz, keeping both at the same level as I did so. While the GP5\/DSP’s fixed bandwidth is well chosen, it simply couldn’t compete with the wider filters of the other two radios on strong signals.<\/p>\n

Though the GP5\/DSP (Tecsun PL-360) came in last, the irony is that most people who made comments on the survey form\u00a0actually mentioned that the\u00a0GP5\/DSP was also a strong contender. Here are a few responder’s comments:<\/p>\n