Herculodge

Val's Sony ICF-J1 Radio

When I traveled in Europe I have been looking for two particular receivers: one is Sony ICF-J1 and second one is Sony ICF-J40. This radios sale only in Middle East, - India, Pakistan, and Kuwait. I had hoped to find these radios In Europe. Fortunately I found some small store where I got lucky. I bought Sony ICF-J1 for $68 and it was only one place where I can find this radio from many super loaded electronics stores. I had travel with this receiver and everywhere it surprises me by performance. Just on one SW band: 16, 19,25,31,41, 49, 60 meters I able to get a lots of different stations around the world.

Two big knobs really help to get signals on short scale of receiver. AM (MW) is very similar to hi sensitivity receivers what I have. I was able to get many stations from miles away. FM is not DSP selective but it is very respectful for analog radio. Sony ICF-J1 has 3 Bands equally good! 220 hours from buttery (only) Good sound for this size, lather case, strap, tuning leg, classic Sony design. Unfortunately I can’t find any sellers for North America; otherwise it would be excellent radio for hobbyist.

Val

Roberts Record R Radio

 

Ante writes: This might be the radio I've been looking for to record my radio shows. True, the digital option is useless for me, as there is no DAB in Bosnia, nor will there be any time soon, but FM and recording functions are attractive enough. Roberts is well known brand from Britain. 

ROBERTS' Record R gives ‘listening on demand' a whole new meaning! This clever radio actually lets you record DAB and uniquely FM radio onto an SD card, so you can record whatever you want and play it back whenever you like. It also features ‘pause plus' and ‘rewind' features, which allow you to pause / rewind for up to 60 minutes, ideal if your listening is interrupted. Complete with alarm that you can set to wake you to

music from the radio or from your SD card, it's also a great radio for the bedroom.

 

 

DAB/FM RDS wavebands

PausePlus and rewind functions*

Record DAB and FM to SD card*

MP3/WMA/AAC playback from SD card*

One touch record*

4 record timers (mains only)

Clock with multi-function alarms (mains only)

Sleep, snooze and nap functions

FM RDS station name display

10 station presets

 

Line in socket for iPod/MP3 playback

Headphone socket

Battery or mains operation via AC adaptor (included)

Batteries 4 x LR20 (D size) not included

Size (mm) 242(w) x 147(h) x 85(d)

Weight 1.02kg

* SD card required (not included)

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I Ran Away from the Mazda Dealership So I Wouldn't Buy the Reflex Blue Mazda 6

I went to South Bay Mazda in Torrance to look at the CX-5 (my wife wants a larger vehicle than her Honda Fit). In spite of being impressed with online images, I was underwhelmed by the crossover CX-5 in person but felt a huge passion for the Reflex Blue Mazda 6 both inside and out. I swear had I not got my butt out of there soon, I was going to buy it. If my wife wants an upgrade, I hope she'll consider the Mazda 6. 

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Brandon's Review of the Panasonic Cougar RF-1010

The Panasonic RF-1010 (AKA Cougar 101) is a rare Japanese portable radio.  It covers the following bands:
FM 76 to 90
AM,530 to 1620
SW1 3.9 to 5.2
SW2 5.9 to 7.4
SW3 7.9 to 10.0
SW4 10.0 to 12.2
SW5 12.3 to 15.6
SW6 17.0 to 30.0

First thing I did was take the radio apart and locate the two tuning coils which control the FM band range.  I was able to adjust it to cover 88.0 to 103.9 by simply adjusting those 2 coils.  Surprisingly, despite that taking it far beyond its designed alignment, reception is still respectable - sensitivity being average and selectivity being above average.  The SW tuning coils were mostly marked so I made some minor adjustments to get it closer to true calibration with the markings on the tuning dial, though perfection was nearly impossible.

Everything works including the tuning meter and the dial light.  The tuning meter is very useful with a full range of movement.  The switches and knobs could use a touch of de-oxit, though I haven't done that yet since they're all pretty decent.

Sound quality is good and this thing can really put out some sound.  The tone control is a bit unusual in that max treble is in the middle.  On the left is "soft" and on the right is "news" - as best my ears can tell taking it to the left reduces treble but maintains bass while tuning it towards news reduces both treble and bass but increases the midrange.  Talk radio sounds great on this thing.

As far as AM reception, AM is where this radio really shines - its super sensitive (and calibration to the tuning dial is spot-on across the entire spectrum).  Selectivity is excellent and its bandwidth is perfectly set - just wide enough to sound good but just narrow enough to greatly reduce the 10khz whine heard at night on most AM radios.

Shortwave is above average but not as good as my higher-end shortwave portables.  That said, broadcast shortwave stations sound great.  It also has SSB.  Without a separate knob for fine-tuning the SSB, it is SUPER TOUCHY and quite challenging to tune in a SSB broadcast.  However, once you get it set, its surprisingly stable, probably the most stable SSB reception I've seen on an analog portable.  One disappointment is that it seems to be only a single conversion unit as I get images on the middle and upper bounds of the shortwave spectrum.

I give it an overall rating of a B+

--------------------------------------------

-Brandon

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Diver Watch on a Budget: Casio MDV106-1A

 

 

Gary writes:

Here is this product listing on Amazon:

 http://www.amazon.com/Casio-MDV106-1A-Black-Analog-Reverse/dp/B009KYJAJY/

 Unlike most cheap (say, under $50 street price) Casio watches, this one has a stainless steel case rather than a resin case, and a glass crystal rather than a plastic crystal. The styling is reminiscent of the Rolex Submariner and the Seiko Sumo (as well as some cheaper Seiko diver watches).

 

Here is a review of the Casio MDV106-1A:

 http://forums.watchuseek.com/f220/interesting-new-casio-diver-mdv106-577923.html

 

Here is the info from Casio's web site:

 http://www.casio.com/products/Watches/Sports/MDV106-1A/

 

Like some of the other readers of your blog, while I can admire the $300-$800 watches that you and Jonny have been buying lately, I can't afford them. At only $39, the Casio MDV106-1A seems like a pretty good, stylish diver watch for readers like me.

 

-Gary

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White Is Usually Not My First Color Choice, But for Honda Accord Sport It Sure Is

 

White is the only color I'd consider for the 2013 Honda Accord Sport. I usually don't prefer white, but certain cars benefit from that color. Another is the BMW 3 series coupe.

Back to my budget, the Accord: The only problem I can see is the Accord's turning radius or turning circle, which is about 40 feet. In contrast, the Mazda CX-5 has a turning circle of about 36 feet. 

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Has the Sangean QC Problem Spread to the Sangean WR-11?

Jaranath writes:

I'm afraid Sangean's problem may have spread to the WR-11. I've been shopping for a decent tabletop with aux input for a while now. Based on the comments and articles here, and Amazon reviews, I went with a WR-11 rather than the 12, appealing as the 12 seemed. Unfortunately the WR-11 that I received appears to have the same sound issues so many have described in the WR-12. AM, FM, Aux, all are bass-heavy and muffled.

I haven't spent much time listening on FM to test the drift issue many have mentioned, but the sound is definitely poor. Given Derrick's comments here and the Amazon review update, I'm taking a chance and ordering a WR-12 from Amazon (note: Specifically FROM Amazon, not a slightly cheaper Amazon partner, since the Sangean rep vouched for "all the units sold by Amazon").

I'm hanging on to the WR-11 for now for comparison purposes...let's hope that I'll only be returning the WR-11. I'll let you know what I find and write some Amazon reviews accordingly.

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Google Chrome Is Faster Than Firefox, But . . .

for the last month I cannot drag images on my blog posts using Google Chrome on my iMac. I can with Firefox. What's up with that?

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Good Reason to Offer Free Shipping on eBay

David P writes:

Paypal takes a percentage of each transaction that they process. No transaction, no percentage. So, if the buyer hasn't paid, there is no transaction. eBay on the other hand is a bit more complicated. As soon as an auction/sale concludes, you are charged a final value fee.

If the buyer fails to pay, you can then file a non-paying bidder form to recoup the final value fees from eBay. I believe the minimum time period is 3 days. And you'd be surprised, sometimes all you need to do to induce payment is to file the npb form. More times than not, payment soon follows.

Another tidbit of advice. eBay has recently started charging final fees on the shipping charges, as well as the final value. So, my advice is to offer free shipping, and just factor the postage costs into your minimum bid amount/sale price. Hope this helps.

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Do eBay and PayPal Charge eBay Sellers Fees for Goods Never Paid For?

I've sold 3 or 4 watches recently that were never paid for. Do eBay and PayPal charge me unless I notify them? The process of cancelling an order is not easy. Also contacting eBay to cancel an order is very time consuming. I posted this because Jonny warned me that eBay/PayPal may charge me fees for sales I made in which I was never paid.

Update:

I talked to both paypal and eBay and here are the facts:

Paypal doesn't charge until you receive payment.

However, eBay DOES CHARGE EVEN WHEN YOU'RE NOT PAID SO IT'S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO GET YOUR REFUND BACK.

eBay Phone Number:

1-866-540-3229