Herculodge

Angelo's RCA Table Radio

Just delivered, a new addition to the fleet---an RCA table radio to go along with my recently acquired Zenith table radio (reviewed here a few days ago).

All it took was the usual combination of glass cleaner for the tuning area and wood oil and wood polish for the cabinet.  It was dusty/dirty when I received it, but now it shines.

Performance is good.  The sound is actually QUITE good.  Based on the first (admittedly short) listening session, I believe the audio tone is more to my liking on the RCA than on the Zenith (mildly surprising in my opinion, as I've perceived Zeniths to be slightly better, more serious electronics).  Reception is NOT as good as the Zenith, but I believe the addition of some FM antenna wire will correct that.

I love the cabinet and in fact it's a better match for my entertainment center than the Zenith is, so eventually, I think the RCA will get that spot (now occupied by the Zenith). 

As I said in the Zenith review, while Sony and Panasonic were building extremely competent and beautiful sounding table radios that were very unimaginative in the cabinet design department, Zenith and RCA were building...for lack of a better word...FURNITURE.  The woodwork on the new RCA is especially impressive and of terrific quality.  After all these years of apparently collecting dust, five minutes of light cleaning and polishing has this radio looking really nice.

Again, I think collectors who are open to something different should go rooting around on E-Bay to find one of these.  There seem to be a lot of wood tone finishes and cabinet styles and the radios are for real----definitely not junk. 

I do believe I found a couple keepers on the cheap.

 

Angelo       

Should NPR be De-Funded?

 

While I'm a fan of NPR and give to my local NPR stations, Dan thinks the argument for de-funding is stronger. Dan has sent us this:

Excellent podcast by NPR's Planet Money. They present both sides of the issue fairly. I think the strongest argument was made by those who think NPR should be de-funded.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/03/28/134863998/the-friday-podcast-economists-on-federal-funding-for-npr

Doug Getting Crisp Reception and Robust Audio on His Tecsun PL-660

 

I just received my 660 yesterday and have no hiss at all on FM, just a clear, clean, surprisingly robust audio. Ditto the AM and SW bands. It is really a fine, fun little radio and the sensitivity is incredible, MUCH more than I expected.

An oldies AM station in Vancouver (WA) way north of where I live comes in very weakly if at all on almost all my other radios; on the 660, it is a booming, static-free 10. On SW, I actually get MORE stations with stronger signals than I do on my legendary Sony ICF-2010, something I never would have figured on. 

I had a PL-600 that I sold because I was never even satisfied with it, let alone thrilled. Mediocre FM and SW reception, though FM was fine. From aesthetics to ergonomics and performance on all bands, the 660 is significantly superior and the audio (though not up to my SR II or Panny 2200 due to its much smaller speaker size) is most pleasant. I cranked up our local classical and jazz stations with no distortion. A little thin on bass, I suppose, but I am not a big bass fan so not an issue. And, unlike the 600, the Sync on the 660 just flat out WORKS. Having separate LSB and USB bands is just one more plus. I just like handling this radio, like the overall feel of using it. And I am still stunned at how many SW stations I get and how strongly they come in, especially here in Portland, OR which is pretty far down on the World Band food chain for reception.

BTW, I got it from Kaito USA and saw no evidence that it had been opened, though it was not tape sealed.

 

$25 off $100 Orders for New Customers @ Newegg.com:

 

 

Thanks, Paul:

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Valid for 24 more hours.

Sample radios:
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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882720004

 

Got to Get the Fog Out of My Gunmetal Nixon 51-30

Only after a few months I notice fog underneath the dial of my gunmetal Nixon 51-30. I'll walk the twins to Watch City today and see what the charge is. If I had to guess, I'd say the watch arrived with the mist already under the dial and I just noticed it recently. This hunch is evidenced by old photos which show the mist in the center. I bought it on eBay and I'd have to look  up the seller and see if he's still a registered seller and see if he's still liable. Sounds easier to simply spend $30 or so getting the watch de-fogged. 

Update: The Watch City rep told me to send it to Nixon under the warranty. My out of pocket cost will be $23 plus shipping from my end, about $15. Nixon may replace it if they can't fix it. 

When Business and Art Collide: The Sad Story of AMC's Mad Men

 

Discussed today on KPCCC's Madeleine Brand Show is AMC's business decision to cut costs by cutting two minutes of programming, insert more product placement, and kill off characters to reduce payroll.

To think AMC was the darling for taking up this landmark show. Now they're fairly demonized. 

European Version of the Sangean Lunchbox

 

 

Ante has apprised us of the European version of the Sangean Lunchbox. He writes: "Here is European version of Lunchbox Radio; the only difference is that this radio can actually can charge the batteries within the radio."

I use two: one in my work office and one in the kitchen where it witthstands punishment from my twin babies. Reception is good but you have to turn radio on its side to pinpoint some FM stations owing to nonmoving telescopic rubber antenna.

From London: Sony CRF-150 for $400 Plus Shipping

 

 

Here's a nice example of a Sony CRF-150. Great styling, which is sadly ignored by today's radio companies. 

Gary's Got It Right: Sangean Does a Better Job Than Tecsun of Eliminating Ugly Background Noise

 

One of the things I don't like about the G6 is the number of spurious tones scattered across the MW AM band. In this regard, it's similar to the DSP-based Tecsun radios, like the PL-380. Although they don't have the sensitivity of the G6 or PL-380, I find the small Sangean radios (e.g., DT-400W, DT-200X) to be nearly free of these spurious tones.

Sangean appears to give more consideration to this issue in their designs. This is one reason why the ferrite bar is mounted at the bottom of the radio, as far as possible from the display, in the two Sangean models mentioned above.

Amazon Selling the Sangean DT-400 for $44.99 with Free Shipping

 

 

This is the best price I've seen for the Sangean DT-400. Mine has great AM, good but not great FM, and long battery life on the two AA batteries. If anyone has a pocket digital with better FM, let me know. 

I'm thinking of making this my new travel radio, since I only listen while "sleeping."