{"id":40027,"date":"2019-10-05T05:00:40","date_gmt":"2019-10-05T09:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=40027"},"modified":"2019-10-04T07:13:15","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T11:13:15","slug":"what-is-the-cheapest-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/what-is-the-cheapest-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the cheapest radio?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

I assume people who read this blog have so many things in common, one of them is a love for gadgets, especially radios and SDRs. To others, a radio is a radio, but not to us. We invest so much money and time to obtain and play and experiment with different tools and compare them. I have had so many SDRs and some traditional radios (not as much as Thomas, though) and I really get the best that I can afford for my needs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

But one day walking in a local electronics shop in Berlin\/Germany, a small radio caught my eye, not because it was any special or different than other pocket-sized radios, but because of its price tag. It was the first time I had seen a single digit price for a radio!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I bought it without hesitation, for 9,99\u20ac and later I realized it’s even cheaper in Austria: 6\u20ac !<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I’m talking about “ok. ORF 110”, an AM\/FM radio running on two AAA batteries and using analog knobs and no display. Nothing special can be found on this little device; It has power on\/off button, AM\/FM band switch, volume knob, analog frequency knob, earphone socket and an internal telescopic antenna with a maximum 18cm length. And it does even come with 2 years of warranty.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The first thing that I did was compare it with my beloved portable radio: the Sony ICF-SW100, and I must say that I’m amazed. This little radio is on-par with Sony on FM; Unfortunately I can’t receive any AM signals from my apartment, so there wasn’t much that I could test there. But overall I’m really satisfied with the reception and audio quality. This can be a good companion for anyone who wants to have a cheap backup radio.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Here’s the link to the product: https:\/\/de.ok-online.com\/de\/radios\/radios\/orf-110.html<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I wonder if you know of anything even cheaper? I would love to see and try what would be the cheapest (I haven’t searched the Chinese websites though. I was looking for something that I can buy here in Europe without spending on shipping or customs).<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I assume people who read this blog have so many things in common, one of them is a love for gadgets, especially radios and SDRs. To others, a radio is a radio, but not to us. We invest so much money and time to obtain and play and experiment with different tools and compare them. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[836,3],"tags":[1384,4537,8051,7297],"class_list":["post-40027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-products","category-news","tag-fm-radio","tag-mehdi-asgari","tag-ok-orf-110","tag-ultralight-radio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-apB","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4015,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/advances-in-software-defined-radios-could-will-change-our-wireless-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":40027,"position":0},"title":"Advances in Software Defined Radios could (will) change our wireless world","author":"Thomas","date":"July 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Note that I'm not speaking strictly of the HF spectrum here. But mark this:\u00a0 a radio revolution is, right now, in the making. ARS Technica just last week published an article entitled, \"How software-defined radio could revolutionize wireless\" in which the authors argue that software defined radios (SDRs) might not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/radiocommunicationsnetwork-300x227.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8995,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/03\/could-software-defined-radios-empower-citizen-journalists-in-north-korea\/","url_meta":{"origin":40027,"position":1},"title":"Could software-defined radios empower citizen journalists in North Korea?","author":"Thomas","date":"March 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I was recently interviewed and quoted in an article by\u00a0Ole Jakob Sk\u00e5tun at NK News.\u00a0Sk\u00e5tun is exploring the possibility of using inexpensive SDR dongles\u00a0as a means for citizen journalists to receive and potentially send information across the North Korean border: (Source: NK News) \"While North Korea recently\u00a0ranked\u00a0second-to-last on Reporters Without\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"USB SDRs like the FunCube Dongle Pro could inspire a generation of SDRs that transmit information across the North Korean border.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/RTL-SDR-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2924,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/03\/woodboxradio-will-be-shipping-the-new-elad-fdm-s1-sdr-this-month\/","url_meta":{"origin":40027,"position":2},"title":"WoodBoxRadio will start shipping the new ELAD FDM-S1 SDR this month","author":"Thomas","date":"March 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"According to WoodBoxRadio, the ELAD FDM-S1 software-defined radio will be shipping this month (March 2012). This is an intriguing SDR and boasts some pretty impressive features--download their spec sheet here. Can't wait to see how it compares to other popular SDRs. The FDM-S1 is available at a \"special\" price of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Manufacturers"","block_context":{"text":"Manufacturers","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/manufacturers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/ELAD-fdm-s1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":56143,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/03\/survey-results-what-type-of-radio-is-your-daily-driver\/","url_meta":{"origin":40027,"position":3},"title":"Survey results: What type of radio is your daily driver?","author":"Thomas","date":"March 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, I published a post asking SWLing Post readers what type of radio their \"daily driver\" is at present. Click here to read that post. I created a survey form and left it open for about five days. In that time, we received 639 responses! 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