Owl writes about a radio that I'll probably get eventually:
Redsun is taking pre-order for RP3100 now. The radio will be available from April.
Below are links to the radio and the order inform (in Chinese):
http://a113685.sn69.gzonet.com/list.asp?sid=35&rcid=27
http://a113685.sn69.gzonet.com/rs/bbs_do.asp?action=huif&bbsid=13904&bigid=0&jibie=1
It's said there will be 200 available. The price is YMB650 (about USD100) each. "registered customer" gets YMB100 off.
Compared to RP2100, it has SSB and a direct-input keyboard.
Here is a photo of the radio:
http://a113685.sn69.gzonet.com/images/upfile/201332716581137010.jpg
I tried emailing them (both in English and a Chinese translation, though it doesn't look like my email knows how to handle Chinese characters) to see if they're willing to export to the US, I'll let you know if I hear anything back.
Posted by: brandon | March 29, 2013 at 07:06 AM
Wow! It's been three years since I emailed them about this radio. Jeff, you posted the reply I got from them that it was coming "soon". Still looks interesting. Maybe we'll see a CCrane version, or Grundig.
Posted by: Neil Goldstein | March 29, 2013 at 08:23 AM
Or another vaporware teaser?
Posted by: herculodge | March 29, 2013 at 09:48 AM
People have been waiting for this to come out for years. I thought it was cancelled long ago.
Posted by: Ulysses | March 29, 2013 at 11:06 AM
I doubt oversea customers will be able to buy it directly from Redsun (at least for the time being). You will have to send the payment via Chinese post office or bank and Redsun does not mention anything about shipping abroad.
I am a bit surprised by the sudden launch of the model too. Redsun claims there will be only 200 samples for sale. If that's true, could they be the result of a previous trial production run and Redsun simply wants to get rid of the old stock?
If there are indeed more than the 200 samples available, I guess oversea customers should be able to buy them soon from places like ebay or amazon USA.
Personally a friend of mine who lives in mainland China offered to order one for me but eventually I decided not to go for it (I have had two RP2100s and one S450DLX already). However, I won't heasite if it's RP3000 on offer!
Posted by: owl | March 29, 2013 at 12:42 PM
"Kindly please note that RP-3100 first lot of goods only sell for china domestic market in limited Qty of 200pcs which will release at first of next month, and for any further production for this model if open for USA market will let you know. But at present we already have the agents in this market. "
Posted by: brandon | March 30, 2013 at 05:53 AM
Besides the added keypad and SSB, what is new in the RP-3100 vs the RP-2100?
Posted by: Paul | March 30, 2013 at 08:36 AM
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.
Posted by: Bill | March 30, 2013 at 11:03 AM
Paul:
There is a remote control as well. I guess the dark spot between the W/L key and the LCD is the sensor.
Posted by: owl | March 31, 2013 at 06:16 AM
Probably worth the wait if it really ever comes out. Original version had a remote control but when shown at CES it was not shown with radio. I have a beautiful working prototype of the RP-3100 that was at the show. 1000 mems is a little overboard these days with all the SW stations leaving the air. Hope it comes out as not much new these days. Wonder what my prototype is worth these days??
Gary
Posted by: Gary Saltz | March 31, 2013 at 03:02 PM
I ain't holding my breath on this. Vaporware 'till I hold one in my hands.
You can bet if there's only 200 they will go stratspheric on greedbay. And maybe the reason for only 200 is that the main chip went unobtainium or something.
Posted by: dorpmuller | April 09, 2013 at 11:16 AM