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January 31, 2019

Comments

Gary

I just looked at the CCRadio-2E manual, and it does have the option to show the frequency continuously on the display rather than reverting to the clock after several seconds. It may have been an earlier CCRadio model that didn't have the option to do this.

It's too bad Sangean didn't put this option in the PR-D4W. At least I can't find it in the manual.

Gary

My refurbished PR-D4W arrived yesterday.

The AM reception seems to be as good as a PR-D5, but the sound on AM is much more pleasing (more extended treble and less bloated bass). I like the 4 and 3 kHz bandwidth positions. I can't hear any noticeable difference between the 2.5 and 3 kHz filters. All of the other changes are obvious. It picks up my weak TIS station on 530 kHz as well as the PR-D5.

The FM reception seems to be a little better than the PR-D5. The FM sound is a bit weak on bass, and there are no tone controls to correct this.

The weather band reception is very good, as good as my handheld PRO-106 scanner connected to a longer whip antenna.

I'm still not a fan of the display that reverts to the clock after several seconds rather than showing the frequency continuously. Also, the display has lower contrast when viewed from straight on. It looks better when viewed from above. This is even more noticeable when using the backlight.

This radio could definitely use a handle. With four D cell batteries loaded, it weighs quite a bit and is somewhat unwieldy to hold and move around. I ended up switching to 4 AA Eneloop batteries in D cell adapters. This is much lighter, and the batteries can be recharged (externally) when needed.

The description that the refurbished model "looks like new" is a bit of an exaggeration. There are lots of fine scratches and swirls on the glossy black finish, like you might see on a black car. It looks like someone cleaned it with a rough cloth. I probably should have just bought a new one instead. This radio would have been better with a pebble grain finish rather than glossy. At least the performance of the radio seems fine. I've had some refurb/orphan radios in the past that were poor performers.

Gary

Sadly, my refurbished PR-D4W only worked well for a little over one day. Now, medium strength and weaker AM stations have a greatly reduced audio level. Before, they sounded fine. It seems like the AGC is faulty. For example, KFI 640 is loud and clear on both the PR-D4W and the PR-D5. KABC 790 is loud and clear on the PR-D5, but has a very low audio level on the PR-D4W.

Also, it seems like the AM auto tracking isn't working properly anymore, except maybe on strong stations. Something in the DSP circuitry has probably gone awry, causing these two issues.

Oh well. It was worth a try. Back it goes. No more Sangean "certified refurbished" radios for me.

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