Best Radio For AM Reception? - Sangean PR-D4W Portable Radio Review - Off Grid Entertainment
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ย. 2024
- My review of the Sangean PR-D4W Portable Radio. This is the best AM radio reception I've ever experienced. This is a must have for off grid entertainment, news, and weather.
REVIEW CORRECTION: This radio does have a sleep timer. You can activate it by holding the power button down for a couple of seconds. Thanks to my viewer who pointed this out. Now it's the perfect radio (for me).
Got the Sangean expecting to use it for the same purposes as my departed transistor. It exceeds my expectation regarding sensitivity, sound. Alarm, and everything. It’s a sturdy, elegant appliance of a sober design.
The guys who planned this thing were probably users like me, not just geeks with theories. Well done.
By the way I bought a renewed one. No way to know that it is not new, it’s absolutely in mint condition. With what I saved I bought a pack of Energizer rechargeable batteries.
And no, I don’t work for Sangean, I don’ work at all, too lazy.
"I don’ work at all, too lazy"
Well at least you admit it . Most don't admit they're too lazy to work so props to you .
Possibly the best review on TH-cam.
Wow that's high praise, thank you! BTW the radio is still working great.
Hold that power button in for a few seconds and I think you will find your sleep timer. As you hold it in, it will scroll through selections from 15 to 120 minutes.
Thank you for the review, I have one on order now.
Just tried it, thanks it worked great.
Thanks buddy. Really liked your video. Thinking seriously about buying one if these.
Thanks again,
Best,
Joe.
Nice review! I read about the PR-D15 with its internal 200mm ferrite bar and am interested in it. This radio is nice too, I love the weather alert mode. My current AM DXer is my CCRadio-EP. Love analog tuning. Coast to Coast...I listen to that almost every night.
Omg yes this is why I want it for coast to coast!!!!
How does the D15 compare with the D4W in terms of both sensitivity and selectivity?
@@alexlawler9515 You can`t get much better for AM than this radio except the more expensive CCranes. This and my EP PRO are equals on AM but this Sangean isn`t the best on rural FM ability. The EP PRO is, but I`d suggest both, since they`re a great team, with the Sangean having weather and frequency display. Great hurricane radios.
A great little radio I picked up for AM - FM - Weather band listening. I should have mentioned the signal strength indicator can be used to find the best location in your house for tuning in weak signals. And when I'm at my off grid property I use a piece of aluminum foil on the antenna to boost the signal a bit lol.
press the power buttom keep the button down and you see 39, 60, 120 minutes on the sleep timer, that is a bed above the knob , so you do have a great timer !
I bought one and it is really nice. The build quality is excellent.
That's great to hear, thanks for commenting.
I agree, it's a good radio. I have one. I have many radios. It's a great value and it is both sensitive and selective on both bands. I like the ability to change the bandwidth, especially on AM. Long battery life.
They have a great sale on Amazon for the Eton Executive Traveler right now. About 38 bucks. AM/FM/Shortwave/Longwave radio. Clearance deal. It`s a tiny radio that uses 4 AA batteries and they`re known for very good AM reception.
Thanks for taking the time to demo this. Sound and build quality looks nice. I don't think you have to worry about showing off a station broadcast but not sure how many seconds you get - Fair Use policy I think it is called.
Your radio does have a sleep timer. Just hold power button in for few seconds.
I did 18 mo security job made a shit ton of $$$ i had no power and i bought a am radio it vastky improved my quality of life
Am heading over to Amazon now. Great video, very informative, thanks.
I also have a CC Radio 2E but use the PR-D4W more often. Couple it with a passive loop antenna and it is an excellent performer.
Thanks, I'll have to check out that antenna.
@@TheHandsOnChannel I use the Tecsun AN-200 passive loop. Great combination.
@@kilowatt3618 Thank you, I've been using a piece of aluminum foil on the ant. It does help a little, but when I'm out in the Rockies it struggles to pick up some signals.
@@TheHandsOnChannel The Tecsun AN-200 loop is for AM. It`s a very useful device for boosting weak signals and can even null out interference if you play around with it.
If you get the Sangean PR-D4W and the Raddy RF-L3 Multifunction Radio the large 6v solar panel on a long cord that comes with the Raddy can be plugged into the Sangean and it powers it perfectly. Just tested it.
Had been considering this radio. Knew some of Sangean’s other radios were supposed to be excellent for AM. So now I know this one also does.
For finger prints, try some liquid car cleaner wax, such as Mother’s California Gold, or Maguire’s. - Just a very light coat with your finger, apply - let it dry to haze, wipe off with microfiber cloth. You can do this 2-3times [shiny plastic only- not on textured plastic].
Thanks I will try it.
I believe the model PR-D14 is the same radio (without weather alert) in white.
Got this radio and the CCrane EP Pro. The EP Pro has only a very slight edge due to the AM fine tuning control. Often though the Sangean has better clarity on weaker signals. If you love AM get both. Great radios!
Hi is your your EP Pro the latest 2020 version and does it tune correctly. I have heard that the latest edition may have tuning calibration issues. For example is 1010 Wins on 1010 exactly or further up the dial. Thanks.
@@alexlawler9515 CCrane has corrected all the past issues with the latest release of the EP PRO. On mine, 1410 is centered on 1400 and 1000 is centered perfectly. That`s close enough. There aren`t many numbers on the AM dial display to begin with and it`s only meant to be a very crude guide to your frequency location. Generally, it`s certainly close enough, but on the upper half of the AM dial there are only three numbers as a guide. If this bothers people so much they should stick with a digital display or do like I do and use a radio with digital display to locate exact frequencies then tune to the same on the CCrane because with an analog dial with few numbers there`s simply no way to know for certain which frequency you`re on. There are only eight numbers on the CCrane`s analog AM dial to begin with, but I`ve tested the radio and it does cover the entire AM range.
@@baneverything5580 Thanks for the info. I think I'm going to order it. How do you find its selectivity? Can you separate two stations for example 1130 kHz and 1140 kHz on the narrow setting?
@@alexlawler9515 It seems to have good selectivity but I`m in a very rural location with no strong local AM stations competing. The fine tuning knob might help with this if needed. It often helps at night to clean up a signal and make it easier to hear. It`s much easier to tune than other DSP analog dial radios I`ve used because there`s plenty of space between steps. It takes a lot of turns of the dial to cover the AM band and stations aren`t compressed and difficult to tune on either end of the dial. Has a great feel when tuning. FM reception is incredible...the best I`ve ever seen in a portable radio. I`m in the middle of nowhere and picked up nearly 70 FM stations.
@@alexlawler9515 There`s no soft muting of weak, fading nighttime signals either, a real blessing for DXing. Outdoors during the day you`ll hear AM stations you`ve never heard before on other radios and the same is true for FM.
Yeah, I know these radios have a great reputation, plus now that you know about the sleep timer. Even makes it a multi-purpose radio. Great review.
The best thing to do if you plan to use this radio a lot for AM DX is to get a battery charger for D batteries. Saves a ton of money in the long run and you don`t have to worry about leaving it on or battery leakage from dead batteries. Plugging these in usually causes AC hum and lightning or power surges can ruin the radio. Rechargeables are the way to go for AM listening.
Excellent, thank you. I'm on my way to order some rechargeable d cells.
@@TheHandsOnChannel I use rechargeables in my radios and keep regular batteries handy in case we have a lengthy power failure. AM radio took the place of TV for me. I listen to AM every night and have since the 1990s. I bought two chargers and two sets of batteries...one for each of my radios. LOL!
@@tomjones239 I also prefer AM radio to TV. I like Ground Zero and Coast to Coast. Some political stuff like Rush/Hannity. Even a static channel is better than TV these days.
Cool review man and nice radio.
You make a leather case for it, maybe black and put a handle there and some shock protection material to protect it from breaking if it ever dropped. and some transparent durable plastic to protect it from rain...etc. :)
Great idea.
Hello
What about Sangean PR-D18BK do you think is better on AM
Your advice please
I put a piece of foil tape over the display at night so the light doesn't show. It doesn't leave residue like duct tape does. You can peel it back and press it down easily.
I`ve compared this to the CCrane EP PRO. Both radios have their own advantages but when it comes to reception they`re equal with clarity on very weak AM signals going to the Sangean. This Sangean also has AM auto tracking like the very expensive CC Radio 2E and those who have both say their performance is basically identical on AM. So this is arguably the best AM radio as far as price is concerned. The CCrane has antenna inputs and stellar FM reception though...unbelievable FM reception...and would certainly be the best choice for very rural reception. Neither of these radios has the dreaded soft muting of weak, fading nighttime signals so common in 99% of the modern DSP radios which renders them useless for nighttime DXing and aggravating to listen to.
Two other amazing radios for AM reception are the very inexpensive Sony ICF-19 and the Panasonic 562DD2. During the day these are nearly equal to the other radios in long range AM reception but at night soft muting knocks them down a notch. The Sony has the best battery life in any radio I`ve ever seen at over 400 hours. Apparently the Panasonic has incredible battery life too because I`ve used it now for a very long time and the batteries are still strong.
Which Crane model radio has great Am and FM reception? The 2E (2 Enhanced) ?
How big is the internal AM ferrite antenna on this unit? How long is the dipole antenna?
Nice I heard some BB “I will not bow” playing.
Would you believe I once had a radio that had reception that was "Too Good" I was picking up stations far away along side the station near by that I was trying to listen to. I could hardly find a station that was on its own, almost all of them had some other station overtop of it. I forget what brand that is. Every other radio I have had has had very poor recption. I just cant win. Maybe I will try a Sangean.
That's the sign of a radio that isn't good. I think it's called over bleed or something like that.
Was that Hannity? Extra "thumbs up" for that !
Yeah I think so or it could have been El Rushbo I like to listen to them both.
How about the Sangean pr d5 or d15? they both have 200 mm antenna.
I've never tried them since my pr-d4w has been so great for my specific needs. But thanks I'll check them out.
@@TheHandsOnChannel yes and the d16 (it is HD) I hope you can check them and provide us a review very soon as I want one, and don't which one to pick. :)
I unarvedtently connected this radio to a 9V trafo and it burned the main circuit (technician confirmed)
I am very dissapointed with Sangean that there were no protection at all for this.
It should have rechargeable batteries in a micro USB port for charging.
I just bought the SANGEAN DPR-45. I thought it would be an upgrade from my $79 Panasonic but the fact is it's garbage. Reception is so poor I can't even get my two favourite stations unless I take it outside and hold it up high. The little cheap Panasonic has no such problem returning the worthless SANGEAN tomorrow morning.
9 kHz tuning steps for use in Guam
When someone is looking to buy a radio it's first and foremost about the sound. You've talked for over 10 minutes and never even played a sample of the tone of the radio
If you had started the video with sound samples a person could decide whether they want to know more ,but we have to take your word for it now.
I appreciate the feedback, but the way TH-cam is now, I'm not allowed to put any music/talk radio in my videos because of copyright infringement. I did put a couple of short clips in for sound. Not only that it would only sound as good as the device you are listening through. For it's small size it sounds great in a living room/bedroom/garage setting. Thanks for commenting.
😊
it should have a sleep timer, of course I don't know how to set it, try talking to Sangean or google it. Thanks
Yes it does have a sleep timer. To set it you hold the power button down for a couple seconds and it will give you several options for the sleep timer. Thanks for commenting.
HAS Sleep timer hold down power button to cycle through times.
external antenna jack ?
NOPE!
does it have weather radio
Yes it does and it works great.
Still working for ya?
Yes it works great. Used it last night off grid.
@@TheHandsOnChannel actually just ordered the Sangean PR D5BK. With the tuning knob
@@kd6844 Nice, let me know how you like it.
No demonstration? Very bad.
"it's a radio... plays radio..." end of radio.
Hey Sean hanity
You've been Hanitized, lol.
@@TheHandsOnChannel question do you listen to the radio
@@mindsway7036 Yes it's a great radio.
@@TheHandsOnChannel do you listen to coast to coast am.
@@mindsway7036 Yes, it's one of my favorites!
hi i could recommend two radios with better reception fm of less than 35 dollars? Thank you
Eton Executive Traveler is selling for 35 dollars right now. It has AM/FM/Shortwave and longwave and is supposed to be a good receiver. Sony also sells some small radios between 20 and 35 dollars that have excellent reception.
This is a digital radio, meaning it sucks. ALL digital radios are real shitty. I wish we could go back to analog radios but,
Analog radios cost more to make and everything made these days is made as cheap as can be. In a capitalistic society
its all about profit. Fuck quality. I am 67 years old and ready to die. This so called modern world can go to hell. Oh, I am
sorry, this world has all ready gone to hell...
Damn Larry, sometimes I also wish we could go back to the old days, but some things are better now. For instance: you have a platform to vent your frustration and do your research, while in the protection of your home. We can make long distance calls now without taking out a second mortgage. That's all I can think of. LOL
I too have been tricked into buying crap products over the years and I understand that it can leave a bad taste in the mouth. But I don't blame capitalism, I blame greed and cronyism. With that said, this is a great radio. Yes it's digital, but it tunes better than any of my previous analogs and it has many features that our old analogs never dreamed of. I'm 41 so I've had a few classics over the years. Old Panasonic's, Ge's, and I even remember a great Emerson I had when I was a kid.
I want you to buy this radio Larry, More than anyone else. When you buy it and I restore your faith in humanity, come back and give me an update. I read and try to respond to all comments.
As far as the world going or gone to hell, I agree. But I'm reminded of Winston Churchill's famous quotes "When you're going through hell keep on going" and “Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small,
large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good
sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming
might of the enemy.”
Have a great day Larry, don't let em get you down.
Grab a beer Larry and watch this
th-cam.com/video/qtr5egUBPu0/w-d-xo.html