Under £10 short wave retail sets

[Refugee]

I have got one of these to try. It was £8 and I will try it out over the next few days.
The audio output is nothing however the ear phone socket is a must for comparing it with another set.
The gram socket on the other set will also be a must have item.
Lets find out if any of these are worth a punt in future.

[camallison]

What brand is it? Or is it Chinese "name your brand"?

Colin

[Ed_Dinning]

Hi Folks, the earlier version from about 5 years ago worked quite well and had a frequency readout instead of a dial.]

Ed

[Refugee]

I tried it and there was nothing on FM at all what so ever.
I got a bit of hiss by increasing the supply voltage but still nothing. I could hear the oscillator kick in but way too far out for any stations to come through.
The AM is all right though.
I have kept the receipt and customer services at Tesco are going to get a bouncer.
It is a Tesco branded RAD-108.

[camallison]

Thanks, one less to lookat for me. I got a little set from Farnell as a gift some time ago. It is a Lloytron Sports Live FM/MW/LW set and has markers for sport stations ... Radio 5 Live, Talk Sport and Test Match Special. It gives acceptable quality sound through 2 inch speaker or phones and was perfect on the beach listening to the Test Match commentary.

I wonder if they produce any SW sets?

Colin

[camallison]

More than £10, but a possible:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lloytron-N7201SV...B0046020Y4

Colin

[Refugee]

I took the set and the receipt to customer services and was duly supplied with a replacement. The replacement does work very much better.
I ran through the bands and it works quite well for what it is.
Others have said that they work fine and this replacement set does. The duff set was just one of those things that happen and customer services did not make a fuss once they had seen the receipt.

The MW and LW are on a par with the TR82 all be it a little shrill with the 2 inch speaker and the FM is much the same.
The short wave bands are fine too and they for some reason pulled in stations from the US for a short time around dusk along with many from Europe and even the far east. I will spend a few hours over the winter in different rooms and in warm spells in the loft for a raised antenna location for a feed to my vintage sets this being one of the tasks it was bought for.
It looks tiny compared with the TR82
   
The Murphy I intend to compare the short wave with even makes the TR82 look small
They are not bad value really for £8 and it will be a useful tool for the odd jobs I have found for it.

[Refugee]

That one from Amazon looks like it has a larger speaker than My £8 one.
They are really for use on phones or with amplified speakers for long term listening or music stations.
I was really trying to get opinions on sub £10 sets out of pure curiosity.
It is looking they are OK but best bought locally so that problems can be sorted out in a timely manner.

[milairuk]

Ones with digital displays can often be found at Lidl and Aldi at least twice a year on their special offers days.

John