hello yesterday my new friends arrived. On the 25th it was my birthday I ordered a XHDATA D-808 with microusb and white light screen and I received as a gift besides the ordered radio and an XHDATA D-220 probably they had a small promotion. I tested them as much as I could from yesterday until today I am very happy with them. Greetings from Romania!!!
Just a quick note - based largely on your recommendation I bought an XHDATA D-808. It arrived today in Edmonton from China; only took 20 days, which had to be expedited service. I paid $132 CAD for it, including shipping. My early results are extremely positive; this thing is absolutely a signal hound, sniffing out content where other receivers only find static. Thanks for the recommendation! I feel that I've got one of the best radios on the market, and I didn't have to pony up the big bucks. Thanks again! >Charlie
I just bought the XHDATA D-808 fror just over $100 after running through a ton of really good radios and with your endorsement I am now sure I made the right choice. Thanks for a great review
Hey there champ. Love your reviews. Very informative and you put the form factors in for your reviews. You are by far one of the most trusted people I can listen to when it comes to everything radio!!! Besides, why destroy a great and fascinating hobby? Good job. The 18650 battery, weird as the battery may sound, can actually be found at a local VAPE store. I am actually going to buy this radio because I love knowing all the happenings around the world. Internet is there but radio is more in-the-moment (live). I don't need to watch the news when radio or shortwave, is there. Great job man keep up the awesome work!!!
July 4. I bought mine recently and was disappointed in a few things, including that I couldnt receive many stations and at night. But tonight I went outside and the conditions had changed dramatically. Im in Malaysia where you dont expect to find many stations anyway but every 10khz step there was another station, up and down the meter bands. It was quite a shock to suddenly get China, So. America, almost to Europe. And mostly loud and clear too, full clear sound. Now I see the real capability of the set and Im really impressed.
You're right, the same happens to me here in Germany,. I can receive so many chinese stations in different languages, TWR from Saipan, Radio Thailand, The Voice of Vietnam, NHK, Radio Marti from the US for Cuban listener's and so on.
Re the great battery debate at 14:38: there is available a 3 cell cradle which will accept 3 AA cells. This cradle, when filled with 3 AA cells is the same dimensions as the lithium 18650 cell, and can be inserted in its place. An 18650 cell has a 3.7 volt nominal voltage. 3 NiMh cells at 1.2 volts each will yield 3.6 volts, which is close enough. Regular Alkaline cells are 1.5 volts each, which would provide 4.5 volts to the radio - a bit scary, considering we don't have schematics by which to evaluate the potential overvoltage. But a handful of NiMh AA cells will carry you for a long while, and can be easily recharged in a car charger. >Charlie
I bought the Sihuadon D-808, which is exactly the same as the XHDATA D-808, just with a black cabinet and amber light. Lovely unit, many features, my favourite radio. Going to pick up the new Tecsun PL-368, cause dedicated buttons. But yeah, D-808 FTW!
Thank you for the live chat today. Based on your recommendation, I went ahead and ordered a XHDATA D808 for $100.00 on eBay after your live chat. I am really looking forward to using it. I may be asking you additional questions after it arrives. It would be great to see a video showing how to use all of the features on this radio (rather than just describing what the features are) . Thank you again!
Very good review! Totally agree with you on the batteries. A radio taking regular AA and rechargeable AA is best for me. I like the XHDATA model better than the Digitek version. However the XHDATA not using regular batteries is what has kept me from getting it so far. One thing I like about my Grundig 350DL is that it uses both D batteries and AA batteries. That feature has already come in handy for us when the battery ran out and we had no Ds on hand. AAs in my Tecsun 390 and 398bt, Grundig G5, and CCrane Skywave really last a long time. And we always have lots of AAs on hand. Also very helpful in your review is your description of audio quality. If it is as good or better than the Radiwow then I may just get the XHDATA. It having SSB capability really puts the radio in another league. Truth be told an emergency radio should have SSB. I have done lots of scans on clear nights and have heard many signals that are very interesting on SSB in addition to ham operators. In an emergency situation important SSB transmissions would ramp way up. To me if someone has only one shortwave radio it should have SSB.
I was traumatized in the 1980s. I then bought a Sony icf-2001, a beautiful device at the time. It worked on three D-type cells, which were empty after 10 hours of use (duracell). The reception sensitivity also weakened noticeably as the batteries drained. A financial disaster. Ni-Cads were cumbersome, also quickly empty and had to be charged externally (16h). Portable, I almost always had to carry a spare set of three (charged) cells (charging in the device was not possible). I soon built a 5v power supply for it and have never really been able to use that device in a portable way. Now I only buy radios with Li-ion (preferably) replaceable battery(s). My Tecsun pl-990 came with an extra 18650 spare battery, which I never had to use. What an advance!
Hej Gill good review of XHDATA D-808 I've been thinking about buying this radio for a long time. But it has received nice reviews from many radio experts and now from you, So I buy XHDATA-808 one can never get too little radio devices. Take care and have a nice day later here is the early morning in Sweden.
I was looking at the Tecsun PL-660 even though I couldn't find any TH-cam reviews. I then stumbled on the D808, read a lot of positive Ham reviews on it and also watched your honest, impartial reviews and noted your recommendations for it. So I have decided to buy one. As you say SSB is a Big Plus! Thanks for a great TH-cam I'm going through your SW intro series as well. All very interesting and informative. What equipment did you use for this TH-cam vid? Thank you:)
I happen to be a owner/user of the Tecsun PL660 and find it a versatile and excellent radio. Tuning is super stable for DXing without the tune muting so common on chip radios. I now mostly use this with the MLA30 antenna. My other radio is a Tecsun S-2000 which is brilliant to tune. Both are very fine radios and a joy to use.
Superb review. Thank you. Can I also please ask why does the external antenna jack seems 'coaxial', and it does not seem to make a true fit into the socket. Thank you.
I am wondering as well because I did the chuffing mod for the DX-440. However, since the 440 is PLL and D-808 is DSP it might be more difficult but no one has tried yet.
How does the ATS work. I scan and it saves the stations to memory but I don’t know how to scan through them without having to hit the Page button and saved #. On the 108, you can scroll through the saved stations by using the tuning knob. Any help appreciated
@@ATCATL precisava mesmo de confirmação de um português para a coisa. compraste amazon ou anon-co? se poderes tb diantar se exista alguma comunidade de entusiastas por lisboa ou portugal, muito te agradeço. um abraço e obrigado pela resposta!
Hi there! I have it for a day, but there is something that I do not understand, How do I delete the saved frequencies? I tried with the reset button but it did not work.
How does this radio work with an external antenna, is there overwhelming ? I am interested to buy this radio to use with my antenna, and also thinking to replace my pl 880 in which the tuner doesn’t work and can’t fix it. Thank You.
Resolves the question, do I have to press [freq] before or after i enter the number. What they have engineered into the product is better. When you have to remember so much in terms of how to engage each feature, this is definitive, particularly if you don't play radio every day.
XHDATA D808 is almost the same product of Digitech AR1780, they both come from the same Chinese firm which located at DongGuan city, GuangDong province, P.R.China. Tecsun also located at DongGuan city. XHDATA 808 and Digitech AR1780 are their export versions, never been sold within local Chinese market. Instead, it has other brand names so called DESHIBO and SIHUADON are both selling in China, the models are DESHIBO RD1780 and SIHUADON D-808. (SIHUADON D808 is 100% the same as XHDATA D808, only names diffetent) Sadlly, their prices are almost 30-35% off than the XHDATA 808. Its a great bargen to get an AR1780 instead of D808 which can save you a lot of money. BTW: the performance are exactly the same, coz nothing change inside the body. They are all great great radios though. Thx Gilles, your reviews are always to be fair and very helpful.
hi, thx for the review, I just got my D808 and started playing with it, very nice radio for sure. First thing I need to figure out where and when to pick up stations :). My question: I just took the radio outside for a while and then back in the house and I noticed the temperature in the display did not change at all. Not a big deal, but was wondering what's your experience been with the temperature readout. Thanks
18650 batteries are a vape standard battery. Any vape store will have 18650 batteries. Personally, I have 6 of them. There are plenty of battery stores that sell them: IMR, 18650 Battery Store, Element Vape, etc. This ain't hard.
How does the analog volume stands over time? I had two Sony portable radios (both with analog tuning and volume controls) and both had developed a problem with analog controls in approximatelly 1 year. The slightest touch in volume control drastically changes volume levels. Same applies to tuning. I'm thinking about getting Retekess v115 due to its digital controls.
My D-808 has muffled bass response in my model not bad for the internal speaker but through headphones FM on my Tecsun 310et is much crisper and enjoyable.
Great review. I got one a week ago and have one question. When I switch on the unit and have turned the volume wheel to the minimum I can hear a ground level of noise which is annoing me. When I sit in a silent room and hear FM stations with good quality i can hear clearly that noise in the background. With headphones too. Is this normal? My 5 year old Sony Xperia has a FM reception with nearly no noise. Is something wrong with my unit or does anybody hear this too? As I now noticed it is also on MW, SW, Airband....
Is there anything that can be done about the muting and chuffing over sensitive agc? I mainly listen on ssb and find it really annoying,shame otherwise it's a good radio. Thanks, Mike
Hello, could you please help me find best buy portable radio? I have a uncle, that has vision problems. He had several short wave radios, but he was most satisfied with sony icf-sw100 that is now damadged. I was asked to help him find replacement short wave radio. I have no experience with radios. He likes small and precise radios. He uses radio in his house or back yard. Could you please sugest few radio models that can be purchased now. Very much gratefull for your help, Vedad
If you carry extra batteries, as you should, don't need to find them. As you say, a power brick could also be used. I have these for emergency power to my phone.
Having to press the frequency button first before entering the frequency makes sense on this radio as the numeric pad by design is biased towards direct memory entry. So by pressing the frequency button you disable the direct memory entry.
If you want to enter a five digit SW freq just press first the "freq" button, followed by the five digit freq numbers and the freq will change. If you'd like to enter a four digit freq, first again push the "freq" button, followed by a "0" (zero) and the 4 freq numbers. Again the freq will change automatically. Works fine that way. I have the d-808 for 3.5 years and I like to have it with me all the time. 73's from Wim, Maaseik, 🇧🇪
Maybe the newer R-108 has a better speaker mine sounds very good and is quite loud and hold the number 4 changes it from voice to music that makes a difference I might buy the 808 for the SSB though my Sony SW7600 is getting on a bit now.
Hey Giles, thanks for the detailed review of this radio. Nice to find sites like yours on these kind of radios. Makes for a nice late night hobby. I just got mine from a company on eBay for $118.00 Cdn - however when it scans, on any band, it stops at the frequency found, and locks on to it, but will not continue the scan until I press and hold the up button again, but when it finds the next station, it stops and locks there. Is this normal, or might you have a fix for it? Thanks very much. - Craig/Vancouver
Its a great travelling radio. Its size helps when taking away. I find my Tecsun S8800GM to large to take anywhere, that's why I bought this radio! The muting is due to the chip. It does overload on the front end if I connect it up to an external discone. A local/dx switch would be great as the would stop that happening Battery, just need to take out a small power bank to recharge on, i also bought another battery. Most people here will be another DX ers :>-) Bloody geeks!!
you probably dont give a damn but does any of you know a tool to log back into an instagram account? I somehow lost the password. I love any assistance you can offer me
@Tatum Orion Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site thru google and im trying it out atm. Seems to take a while so I will reply here later with my results.
I left mine in the car during the last 2 months and took it in to charge it today - it still had 2 of 3 bars left, I turned it on and l immediately got reminded why I like this little radio so much. Yes, it has quirks but it's such a cute little handful of fun and great performance.
"regular down to earth people" lol even my little sister could charge this with her power bank. And 99,9% of all households have a charger for that at home. With the exact same argument you can say you want to have AA batteries in your mobile phone. I am sorry but you argument in this video doesnt hold up. I hope you changed your opinion in the meantime ;)
@@Roddy1965 You have the original radio of which C. Crane engineered. The XHData D-808 and Digitech AR-1780 are clone variants of your Skywave intended for markets other than North America. I'm waiting on a AR-1780 to arrive from Australia. $80 shipped.
Great review. I agree with you on the battery - don’t like it. I do plan on getting one. The only thing that concerns me is quality. C.Crane. , Sangean , And Tecsun I know are good quality radios, but XHData I do not know. Seems they have made some Bargain Basement radios in the past, and these 2 ( Radiwow), are new to the market. I had a Kaito KA1103 some years ago. Fantastic radio, but it only lasted 4 years, and I didn’t use it all the time, as I also used my C.Crane CCPocket , which is 11years old and working great. So this is my concern. 📻🙂
I still have my SONY ICF 7600 GR and it's 11 years old and works fine. Who knows where they produce the XHDATA in China. I suppose somewhere in the Shenzhen area. The silicon valley in China. Tecsun is located in the same area. What do you think where the CCrane and Eton radios come from?? From China of course.i think they have a joint venture.
Hey battery: I wonder if you are not thinking like a grandpa who regrets the time when he threw away his alkaline batteries. The quality 18650 has a life long enough to eliminate the use of disposable batteries which represents an amount of material to be recycled COLOSSALE for a while. 73
Few days back I bought Xhdata D-808 radio from Amazon India for $110(₹8970) I tried on AliExpress for ₹6150 but they refused to give delivery to India because of Covid 19 virus issue. So I purchased it from local Amazon website.. because I get so excited about it's cool features reviews. But now I returned it! Because in my area there's no FM coverage, only one mediumwave station playable at daytime, no longwave, no AIR band coverage! Only I can hear Shortwave clearly in this radio in my area. Honestly it's not this radio's mistake.. it's mistake of my area where local radio network coverages are not good at all.. sorry to say in my area this radio not worth single dollar.. and it's not sense to spend $110 dollar for this radio only to listen few shortwave stations.. I can buy a best smartphone on that price.. I'm not saying this radio is dumb. It's just super radio I really agree. But not in my area. So I returned the xhdata d-808 and ordered simple analog radio "Tecsun R-9012" from Amazon India.. yes I did.. I have no more hope in mediumwave and FM coverage in my area. So finally I'm buying this Tecsun R-9012 analog radio only for Shortwave reception.. I hope I made a good choice..
Really!!😬 Actually I was newbie to Shortwave signals, propagation, target areas, global time differences etc.. now I own Tecsun PL-660 & PL-606 & I'm able to listen many stations.. i have those frequency schedule which reley in my area.. i also able to catch few ssb frequencies.... Actually I stopped listening local strong medium wave frequencies controlled by local system... I just want to listen those news which has no barricades from local system & I know that's only possible in shortwave listening...❤️
I have a powerbank that takes AA batterys that can charge this radio if needed, I also have a solarpanel that can charge it directly, and I do have USB chargers just about everywhere already, heck, I can even charge it on the bus in their USB charger
hello yesterday my new friends arrived. On the 25th it was my birthday I ordered a XHDATA D-808 with microusb and white light screen and I received as a gift besides the ordered radio and an XHDATA D-220 probably they had a small promotion. I tested them as much as I could from yesterday until today I am very happy with them. Greetings from Romania!!!
Just a quick note - based largely on your recommendation I bought an XHDATA D-808. It arrived today in Edmonton from China; only took 20 days, which had to be expedited service. I paid $132 CAD for it, including shipping. My early results are extremely positive; this thing is absolutely a signal hound, sniffing out content where other receivers only find static. Thanks for the recommendation! I feel that I've got one of the best radios on the market, and I didn't have to pony up the big bucks. Thanks again! >Charlie
cool! Enjoy !
I just bought the XHDATA D-808 fror just over $100 after running through a ton of really good radios and with your endorsement I am now sure I made the right choice.
Thanks for a great review
Hey there champ. Love your reviews. Very informative and you put the form factors in for your reviews.
You are by far one of the most trusted people I can listen to when it comes to everything radio!!! Besides, why destroy a great and fascinating hobby? Good job.
The 18650 battery, weird as the battery may sound, can actually be found at a local VAPE store.
I am actually going to buy this radio because I love knowing all the happenings around the world.
Internet is there but radio is more in-the-moment (live). I don't need to watch the news when radio or shortwave, is there.
Great job man keep up the awesome work!!!
July 4. I bought mine recently and was disappointed in a few things, including that I couldnt receive many stations and at night. But tonight I went outside and the conditions had changed dramatically. Im in Malaysia where you dont expect to find many stations anyway but every 10khz step there was another station, up and down the meter bands. It was quite a shock to suddenly get China, So. America, almost to Europe. And mostly loud and clear too, full clear sound. Now I see the real capability of the set and Im really impressed.
You're right, the same happens to me here in Germany,. I can receive so many chinese stations in different languages, TWR from Saipan, Radio Thailand, The Voice of Vietnam, NHK, Radio Marti from the US for Cuban listener's and so on.
Thanks for the review. I just ordered mine from Amazon Australia for AUD $109 (CAD $98) delivered.
18650s are found in many laptop batteries and are readily available from eBay. They are also the standard battery in vaping kits.
I just bought to 2 new Lithium Ion for it recently from a Chinese dealer near Aachen in Germany.
They cost me less than 30 bucks.
No need for high discharge here. Scavenge some from a discarded laptop/tool battery!
Re the great battery debate at 14:38: there is available a 3 cell cradle which will accept 3 AA cells. This cradle, when filled with 3 AA cells is the same dimensions as the lithium 18650 cell, and can be inserted in its place. An 18650 cell has a 3.7 volt nominal voltage. 3 NiMh cells at 1.2 volts each will yield 3.6 volts, which is close enough. Regular Alkaline cells are 1.5 volts each, which would provide 4.5 volts to the radio - a bit scary, considering we don't have schematics by which to evaluate the potential overvoltage. But a handful of NiMh AA cells will carry you for a long while, and can be easily recharged in a car charger. >Charlie
I'm a bit late to the party, so I had mine delivered today!!! A great review video chap, and I just love your Canadian jumper bud!!
Pretty good radio AND it has airband. Price is about $100 in the year 2021
I bought the Sihuadon D-808, which is exactly the same as the XHDATA D-808, just with a black cabinet and amber light. Lovely unit, many features, my favourite radio. Going to pick up the new Tecsun PL-368, cause dedicated buttons. But yeah, D-808 FTW!
Thank you for the live chat today. Based on your recommendation, I went ahead and ordered a XHDATA D808 for $100.00 on eBay after your live chat. I am really looking forward to using it. I may be asking you additional questions after it arrives. It would be great to see a video showing how to use all of the features on this radio (rather than just describing what the features are) . Thank you again!
Very good review! Totally agree with you on the batteries. A radio taking regular AA and rechargeable AA is best for me. I like the XHDATA model better than the Digitek version. However the XHDATA not using regular batteries is what has kept me from getting it so far. One thing I like about my Grundig 350DL is that it uses both D batteries and AA batteries. That feature has already come in handy for us when the battery ran out and we had no Ds on hand. AAs in my Tecsun 390 and 398bt, Grundig G5, and CCrane Skywave really last a long time. And we always have lots of AAs on hand. Also very helpful in your review is your description of audio quality. If it is as good or better than the Radiwow then I may just get the XHDATA. It having SSB capability really puts the radio in another league. Truth be told an emergency radio should have SSB. I have done lots of scans on clear nights and have heard many signals that are very interesting on SSB in addition to ham operators. In an emergency situation important SSB transmissions would ramp way up. To me if someone has only one shortwave radio it should have SSB.
I was traumatized in the 1980s.
I then bought a Sony icf-2001, a beautiful device at the time.
It worked on three D-type cells, which were empty after 10 hours of use (duracell).
The reception sensitivity also weakened noticeably as the batteries drained.
A financial disaster.
Ni-Cads were cumbersome, also quickly empty and had to be charged externally (16h).
Portable, I almost always had to carry a spare set of three (charged) cells (charging in the device was not possible).
I soon built a 5v power supply for it and have never really been able to use that device in a portable way.
Now I only buy radios with Li-ion (preferably) replaceable battery(s).
My Tecsun pl-990 came with an extra 18650 spare battery, which I never had to use.
What an advance!
Great job on the reviews!!! I'm going to take a great guess that you are a definite TECSUN can. I'm thinking of getting the Tecsun pl 330.
Vape shops sell 18650 batteries
Great review would you recommend this over the ats25 max please may I ask.
Wonderful video Sir. I am buying this and your video gives me lot of strength to go for it. Thank you so much !!
Thanks for the video.I have just bought one.thanks for the information very usefull indeed.
i just got my Sihuadon D808 today, USB-C version, will see how does it works in Monterrey, Mexico, regards
Hej Gill good review of XHDATA D-808 I've been thinking about buying this radio for a long time. But it has received nice reviews from many radio experts and now from you, So I buy XHDATA-808 one can never get too little radio devices. Take care and have a nice day later here is the early morning in Sweden.
I was looking at the Tecsun PL-660 even though I couldn't find any TH-cam reviews. I then stumbled on the D808, read a lot of positive Ham reviews on it and also watched your honest, impartial reviews and noted your recommendations for it. So I have decided to buy one. As you say SSB is a Big Plus! Thanks for a great TH-cam I'm going through your SW intro series as well. All very interesting and informative. What equipment did you use for this TH-cam vid? Thank you:)
I happen to be a owner/user of the Tecsun PL660 and find it a versatile and excellent radio. Tuning is super stable for DXing without the tune muting so common on chip radios. I now mostly use this with the MLA30 antenna. My other radio is a Tecsun S-2000 which is brilliant to tune. Both are very fine radios and a joy to use.
Superb review. Thank you. Can I also please ask why does the external antenna jack seems 'coaxial', and it does not seem to make a true fit into the socket. Thank you.
There was a 'chuffing' mod that worked quite well on the DX-440 - wonder if one can be done for this radio...
I am wondering as well because I did the chuffing mod for the DX-440. However, since the 440 is PLL and D-808 is DSP it might be more difficult but no one has tried yet.
Hello sir, between the pl-680, which one is better in shortwave & ssb?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks very much for this review! Greetings from the Netherlands!
Many thanks for the content, I have just purchased an XHDATA d808 for here in northern Ireland. Will let you know what I think.
How does the ATS work. I scan and it saves the stations to memory but I don’t know how to scan through them without having to hit the Page button and saved #. On the 108, you can scroll through the saved stations by using the tuning knob. Any help appreciated
You cant scroll them, you have to hit the page button…
Question, how do we stop the timer/ sleep mode from turning the radio off I would like to disable it TIA.
When you turn it on..do quick presses on the power button until you see ON displayed. This will be the default after rather than open with a timer
Its doing me proud great radio 👍😊
I appreciate your videos, thank you.
Many thanks for the review.
How do you find the D808 (in comparison with the other portable SWL receivers) in terms of ease of overloading?
It is very good at handling strong signals
@@OfficialSWLchannel Thanks for the info!
Compraste algum? Recomendas?
@@DXPedro comprei este e estou mais do que satisfeito, para o preço é fantastico...
@@ATCATL precisava mesmo de confirmação de um português para a coisa. compraste amazon ou anon-co?
se poderes tb diantar se exista alguma comunidade de entusiastas por lisboa ou portugal, muito te agradeço.
um abraço e obrigado pela resposta!
Hi there! I have it for a day, but there is something that I do not understand, How do I delete the saved frequencies? I tried with the reset button but it did not work.
Nice review
Will this radio work with the USB charger alone
" no battery installed?
so i paid £60 for mine brand new. what do you suggest for the same price. ?
How does this radio work with an external antenna, is there overwhelming ? I am interested to buy this radio to use with my antenna, and also thinking to replace my pl 880 in which the tuner doesn’t work and can’t fix it.
Thank You.
D-808 is now $100 on their website. For that money is this better than other $100 radio's comparable in the market.
no problem with broken antenna foot, due to low material quality?
As you mentioned, the muting when tuning by hand with a dsp chip, the pll tuned radio is smoother in that regard.
Which one radio is the best for short wave station
I agree with all of your criticisms especially the battery and having to press the button twice to enter a frequency frequency. 73s. 😎👍📻
Resolves the question, do I have to press [freq] before or after i enter the number. What they have engineered into the product is better. When you have to remember so much in terms of how to engage each feature, this is definitive, particularly if you don't play radio every day.
Is there a battery charger with the radio?
radio can charge the battery internally
Hi. Do you think this radio is better than a malachite SDR?
You cant really compare they are not the same thing
@@OfficialSWLchannel Yep I guess so, but I just wondered which I should throw my money at. Cheers
XHDATA D808 is almost the same product of Digitech AR1780, they both come from the same Chinese firm which located at DongGuan city, GuangDong province, P.R.China. Tecsun also located at DongGuan city.
XHDATA 808 and Digitech AR1780 are their export versions, never been sold within local Chinese market.
Instead, it has other brand names so called DESHIBO and SIHUADON are both selling in China, the models are DESHIBO RD1780 and SIHUADON D-808. (SIHUADON D808 is 100% the same as XHDATA D808, only names diffetent)
Sadlly, their prices are almost 30-35% off than the XHDATA 808.
Its a great bargen to get an AR1780 instead of D808 which can save you a lot of money.
BTW: the performance are exactly the same, coz nothing change inside the body.
They are all great great radios though.
Thx Gilles, your reviews are always to be fair and very helpful.
5 years later - I can find 18650s in every corner store, AA batteries are quite hard to find. Blame the vaporisers lol
Gilles your xH Data D 808 mw lw fmstreo SW air ssb 6 bands receiver is cool
hi, thx for the review, I just got my D808 and started playing with it, very nice radio for sure. First thing I need to figure out where and when to pick up stations :). My question: I just took the radio outside for a while and then back in the house and I noticed the temperature in the display did not change at all. Not a big deal, but was wondering what's your experience been with the temperature readout. Thanks
18650 batteries are a vape standard battery. Any vape store will have 18650 batteries. Personally, I have 6 of them. There are plenty of battery stores that sell them: IMR, 18650 Battery Store, Element Vape, etc. This ain't hard.
How does the analog volume stands over time? I had two Sony portable radios (both with analog tuning and volume controls) and both had
developed a problem with analog controls in approximatelly 1 year. The slightest touch in volume control drastically changes volume levels.
Same applies to tuning. I'm thinking about getting Retekess v115 due to its digital controls.
Just spray the pot (knob) down with some contact cleaner and give it a few turns, should clear up any corrosion.
My D-808 has muffled bass response in my model not bad for the internal speaker but through headphones FM on my Tecsun 310et is much crisper and enjoyable.
I just charge up a few of these 18650's and take them with me in a zip-lock bag but I do understand the point you are making.
The extra key press is there in my SONY ICF7600GR (DIRECT, number, EXE) and ATS-909 (FREQ, numbers, ENTER). That's my experience.
My xhdata d-808 jams some fm frequencies, do you know why?
LW - bad! All the rest of the radio bands are good!
is this an upgrade over my 2014 year Degen 1103?
Very well, informative, thanks.
Great review. I got one a week ago and have one question.
When I switch on the unit and have turned the volume wheel to the
minimum I can hear a ground level of noise which is annoing me. When I
sit in a silent room and hear FM stations with good quality i can hear
clearly that noise in the background. With headphones too. Is this
normal? My 5 year old Sony Xperia has a FM reception with nearly no
noise. Is something wrong with my unit or does anybody hear this too? As
I now noticed it is also on MW, SW, Airband....
Im struggling to get anything at all even with a long aerial for indoor
Is there anything that can be done about the muting and chuffing over sensitive agc? I mainly listen on ssb and find it really annoying,shame otherwise it's a good radio. Thanks, Mike
Buy a radio that has PLL tuning. The muting and chuffing is on DSP radios such as this one and the Tecsun PL-330, being another example.
You are so smart. We do not have access to such these batteries.
You can buy this type of batteries on Ebay for an affordable price.
I don't know where do you live.
Those batteries are at any vape shop, great batteries.
Hello, could you please help me find best buy portable radio?
I have a uncle, that has vision problems.
He had several short wave radios, but he was most satisfied with sony icf-sw100 that is now damadged. I was asked to help him find replacement short wave radio. I have no experience with radios. He likes small and precise radios. He uses radio in his house or back yard. Could you please sugest few radio models that can be purchased now.
Very much gratefull for your help,
Vedad
If you carry extra batteries, as you should, don't need to find them. As you say, a power brick could also be used. I have these for emergency power to my phone.
Having to press the frequency button first before entering the frequency makes sense on this radio as the numeric pad by design is biased towards direct memory entry. So by pressing the frequency button you disable the direct memory entry.
If you want to enter a five digit SW freq just press first the "freq" button, followed by the five digit freq numbers and the freq will change.
If you'd like to enter a four digit freq, first again push the "freq" button, followed by a "0" (zero) and the 4 freq numbers. Again the freq will change automatically.
Works fine that way.
I have the d-808 for 3.5 years and I like to have it with me all the time.
73's from Wim, Maaseik, 🇧🇪
Maybe the newer R-108 has a better speaker mine sounds very good and is quite loud and hold the number 4 changes it from voice to music that makes a difference I might buy the 808 for the SSB though my Sony SW7600 is getting on a bit now.
Hey Giles, thanks for the detailed review of this radio. Nice to find sites like yours on these kind of radios. Makes for a nice late night hobby. I just got mine from a company on eBay for $118.00 Cdn - however when it scans, on any band, it stops at the frequency found, and locks on to it, but will not continue the scan until I press and hold the up button again, but when it finds the next station, it stops and locks there. Is this normal, or might you have a fix for it? Thanks very much. - Craig/Vancouver
That's what DSP radio does buddy
Hi Giles, what are you using for a camera? The video is fantastic!
18650 cells are the most common LiOn cell world wide. Just update yours by buying one with better capacity than the supplied cheapy one.
Its a great travelling radio. Its size helps when taking away. I find my Tecsun S8800GM to large to take anywhere, that's why I bought this radio! The muting is due to the chip. It does overload on the front end if I connect it up to an external discone. A local/dx switch would be great as the would stop that happening Battery, just need to take out a small power bank to recharge on, i also bought another battery. Most people here will be another DX ers :>-) Bloody geeks!!
you probably dont give a damn but does any of you know a tool to log back into an instagram account?
I somehow lost the password. I love any assistance you can offer me
@Kendall Lewis instablaster =)
@Tatum Orion Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site thru google and im trying it out atm.
Seems to take a while so I will reply here later with my results.
@Tatum Orion it worked and I now got access to my account again. I'm so happy!
Thank you so much, you really help me out :D
@Kendall Lewis No problem :)
Thanks! But now we need new review ~ there is new version :-)
I can't quite put my finger on it but I'm getting a feeling that you don't like 18650s. :)
I left mine in the car during the last 2 months and took it in to charge it today - it still had 2 of 3 bars left, I turned it on and l immediately got reminded why I like this little radio so much. Yes, it has quirks but it's such a cute little handful of fun and great performance.
I have the same battery in a torch i have so battery is not a problem.
How do you change the temperature to fahrenheit?
With number 3 button
I think it has to be in standby and press and hold number 3
"regular down to earth people" lol even my little sister could charge this with her power bank. And 99,9% of all households have a charger for that at home. With the exact same argument you can say you want to have AA batteries in your mobile phone. I am sorry but you argument in this video doesnt hold up. I hope you changed your opinion in the meantime ;)
agreed i avoid AA like the plauge
I was about to buy this, and I'm not a backwoods, or prepper person, but the battery thing is a bit of a deal breaker.
The Digitech AR-1780 is the same radio, but uses 4 AA batteries. Many people say it has a better sound too.
@@flyboy6258 I just got the C.Crane Skywave SSB and I'm very happy with it. I am a Ham, and for this little package, it is very good in my view.
@@Roddy1965 You have the original radio of which C. Crane engineered. The XHData D-808 and Digitech AR-1780 are clone variants of your Skywave intended for markets other than North America. I'm waiting on a AR-1780 to arrive from Australia. $80 shipped.
Why?
I don’t understand why. It’s rechargeable and you can get these batteries everywhere online. They are just vape batteries.
Purchased..just a matter of time..😊
New subscriber here. Tecsun pl- 680 vs Xhdata d808?
th-cam.com/video/rinl5k-Gf_A/w-d-xo.html
My SHTF radios use AA and AAA batteries.
i prefer usb charging for SHTF easy with battery banks and solar panels no need to find batteries
its better than a SDR ....
Great review.
I agree with you on the battery - don’t like it.
I do plan on getting one.
The only thing that concerns me is quality.
C.Crane. , Sangean , And Tecsun I know are good quality radios, but XHData I do not know. Seems they have made some Bargain Basement radios in the past, and these 2 ( Radiwow), are new to the market.
I had a Kaito KA1103 some years ago. Fantastic radio, but it only lasted 4 years, and I didn’t use it all the time, as I also used my C.Crane CCPocket , which is 11years old and working great.
So this is my concern.
📻🙂
you get what you pay for
I still have my SONY ICF 7600 GR and it's 11 years old and works fine. Who knows where they produce the XHDATA in China. I suppose somewhere in the Shenzhen area. The silicon valley in China. Tecsun is located in the same area. What do you think where the CCrane and Eton radios come from?? From China of course.i think they have a joint venture.
Hey battery: I wonder if you are not thinking like a grandpa who regrets the time when he threw away his alkaline batteries. The quality 18650 has a life long enough to eliminate the use of disposable batteries which represents an amount of material to be recycled COLOSSALE for a while. 73
agreed 110% I cant stand those kinds of battery's. they need to use a universal battery. AA, AAA, 9volt etc
Butter Bean -- They are super cheap though, well they are in the UK. I agree AA are good for buying them in a rush.
I 100% agree with you on the lithium battery, I really really hate it, why can’t they just put AA batteries instead? Stupid close minded companies 😓
Few days back I bought Xhdata D-808 radio from Amazon India for $110(₹8970) I tried on AliExpress for ₹6150 but they refused to give delivery to India because of Covid 19 virus issue. So I purchased it from local Amazon website.. because I get so excited about it's cool features reviews. But now I returned it! Because in my area there's no FM coverage, only one mediumwave station playable at daytime, no longwave, no AIR band coverage! Only I can hear Shortwave clearly in this radio in my area. Honestly it's not this radio's mistake.. it's mistake of my area where local radio network coverages are not good at all.. sorry to say in my area this radio not worth single dollar.. and it's not sense to spend $110 dollar for this radio only to listen few shortwave stations.. I can buy a best smartphone on that price.. I'm not saying this radio is dumb. It's just super radio I really agree. But not in my area. So I returned the xhdata d-808 and ordered simple analog radio "Tecsun R-9012" from Amazon India.. yes I did.. I have no more hope in mediumwave and FM coverage in my area. So finally I'm buying this Tecsun R-9012 analog radio only for Shortwave reception.. I hope I made a good choice..
Didn't you know this before you ordered your radio ?
Best way to solve problem is to move location or stick with television
Really!!😬 Actually I was newbie to Shortwave signals, propagation, target areas, global time differences etc.. now I own Tecsun PL-660 & PL-606 & I'm able to listen many stations.. i have those frequency schedule which reley in my area.. i also able to catch few ssb frequencies.... Actually I stopped listening local strong medium wave frequencies controlled by local system... I just want to listen those news which has no barricades from local system & I know that's only possible in shortwave listening...❤️
I have a powerbank that takes AA batterys that can charge this radio if needed, I also have a solarpanel that can charge it directly, and I do have USB chargers just about everywhere already, heck, I can even charge it on the bus in their USB charger
my unite consum battery on mode off ,if left it 6 days the battery decharged ,,this is normal or a probleme ,can any one answear my
Hi i have a question where do i find AM ? PS you can tell i am not very good,