
Bill writes:
I'm fond of my RP-2100. Mine is an early model, from before they were much known in the US. It uses a 220 volt internal power supply. The seller included a free 110v to 220 v step up transformer, so I can still use the 220v internal power, but I'm stuck with a radio that has an internal power supply that still requires a wall wart! Pity that. For a while there the Redsun or Kaito units sold in the US had proper 110 v internal power supplies.
Now I believe the only way you can get them is to buy the C Crane version. That one is inferior in my crackpot opinion because they cheaped out and removed the internal power supply altogether; you're stuck with a wall wart yet again. C Crane should be ashamed. If the RP-3100 has any differences other than SSB and a keypad I don't know them, but isn't that enough? The only way to get SSB on a 2100 is to use an outboard adapter. Strangely, Redsun did include the IF Out jack that makes it possible to plug in their outboard BFO unit, but didn't choose to put a BFO inside the radio itself. A rather bizarre decision, since it probably wouldn't have cost much or any more than adding the IF Out jack itself, and adding SSB capability would remove the one serious complaint I've read about an otherwise good radio.
Of course, the RP-2100 does have a few strange design choices. The '3100 is the radio they should have built in the first place. Why go full digital, and then not include a keyboard or BFO? Why include an RF Out jack? Why include memories when, absent a keyboard, they're hard to use? Why include a provision for two switchable sets of batteries- four D cells AND four AA cells- but not a dual-voltage switch on the internal power supply? For all that, it's a great set. It performs well. The big speaker and powerful audio make for great sound that makes up for a lot of evils.
So what about the RP-3100? It looks to me like they're dumping off their pre-production models. Why would they only make 200 and then stop? The main reasons I can imagine are that some critical part, from another manufacturer, went out of production. Or that the radio just didn't work properly and they couldn't get the bugs out, so they gave up on it. It might just be they didn't think they could make money selling this in the domestic market. I suspect they could, selling them in the US, but how many would they sell? And do they have marketing agreements with somebody else for North America? If so, if we ever do see this radio produced and sold for our market, it will likely be an inferior, stripped down version, at an elevated price.
Owl writes:
Some customers have recieved the RP3100 their ordered. There are three photos in the post from Tecsun's customer service forum:
http://bbs.tecsun.com.cn/0002.asp?open=509151
It's said the kyes are not backlited (don't know why, keys on RP2100 are backlited)
Below is a photo of the remote control of the new RP3100:
http://bbs.tecsun.com.cn/up_fls/20133312145666297.jpg
Obviouse, the remote control is not a full-function one, you have only got the following keys:
snooze, power/sleep, tune up/down, count-down, ATS, Memory scan, ATS memory scan, band, metre-band, mute and clear.
In other words, it seems that you can't control the volume from the remote (except to mute the radio).