That's a true review indeed. Thanks. I like this little radio a lot. It really has great sound. Funny that you don't mention my main gripe with it: the internal noise generated by the dot matrix display (especially when lit up) and control logic (buttons). It is annoying on SW. I have used it mostly outdoors away from the city, so I haven't been annoyed by FM breakthrough and connecting it to a long wire antenna did make a difference.
I love mine, I've had it for over a year. And the battery still last all day. The little black tab on the wrist strap works as a stand, when on a hard surface with the stand, it sounds great.
Thank you for coming back. A report from a current (or recent) DXpedition) says the Tivdio V-115 overloads with an external antenna. That makes it a non-starter here in New Zealand. Ambient electrical noise would overload it here in suburbia. I do look at cheap radios though. My DIGITECH AR-1733 cost about US$ 50.-. It looks like it comes out of the same factory as the Ccrane Skywave sold in the US,
Just purchased the VR Robot version of this radio on amazon for $14.If you first select 9KHz spacing on AM then you can punch in the frequency manually and achieve 1KHz steps. Great for tuning slightly off to eliminate adjacent channel interference or increasing audio quality on AM. Bandwidth seems to be 5KHz. Tuning off slightly gives near FM quality on a lot of channels. There may be some bad batches out there as mine had no issues with internal noise. Recording did not seem to induce any clicks or noise even on weaker AM channels.
This nice radio has an incredible secret, you can listen VHF and UHF, including air band. Try this: first choose a OM frequency, for example 1225 KHz, press and hold REC (you must have a memory card inserted), when it start recording press FM / AM and MODE keys. That's all, now it tunes 122.50 MHz. It works by tuning SW as well, the frequency in KHz goes to VHF or UHF. Enjoy!
I really love my TIVDIO V-115. It's always in my stuff case. Just two gripes, though. First, when I record programs on AM and set it on a rather high volume, it whistles so much it's annoying. Second, some AM stations bleed over into shortwave--but only disruptive if the station is nearby. Other than that, this is a nifty radio to have in your bag.
I have the Retekess version of this radio. I use it every day at work and the AM/FM reception is fine for local stations as you say. Not really great for weak stations or DX. I have used it on the SW bands occasionally but I have a better radio for SW monitoring. The best features are the MP3 playback and record functions and the audio quality.
I really like this radio, but the one big omission is a lack of SSB. I would love to use this to record the "geniuses" on 7.200 for Laura Smith at the FCC. Thanks for the review Gilles! Well done!
Thank you for your review of TIVDIO V 115 I think we got TIVDIO The same day I am very pleased with my TIVDIO. Gill you have a kickstand for the TIVDIO V 115 you might know if you do not know that plastic piece on the cord is a kickstand. You have a hole in the back where you put the tip on the plastic piece, then you have a kickstand take care and have a nice day.
OfficialSWLchannel Hi Gill Hi yes, a small plastic piece on the cord acts like a kickstand, but a bit too bad that there was no built-in kickstand in the TIVDIO V-115. But one can not ask for such a cheap radio yet, it still has so many nice features. But Gill that plastic piece I will lose sometime that is for sure take. It's sunny and hot here where I live and there are some hot ladies out too, that I can watch. I was out today with my TIVDIO and there was a girl and she said to me but what cute little radio you have girls you know take care and have a nice day.
Just received mine today. Great little thing. Not interested in MW and SW, but great FM reception. Great MP3-player. And use it as external speaker for your smartphone - much better sound quality. And if you charge via USB from your laptop, you can use it as external speaker at the same time. And btw - found an extra battery in an old Nokia phone I had laying around.
I finally bought one. Sadly doesn't work well in noisy environment, but with 20 feet wire antenna out of the building, works better. Nice sound but bandwith filter seems to be too wide in SW. Thanks for sharing.
Another thing is that it also RECORDS at the push of a button. How many radios in this price range do THAT? (Not too many!!!...and not with such ease.) My understanding is that the quality of the recordings is also pretty darn good...better than the Grundig G2 Reporter, for example, which costs many times more. I own the G2 and like it. I'm still waiting for this Tivdio to arrive from China.
I'm going to beg the differ on that when you do review and it's on a radio you do want to play a little bit of audio so people can get an idea of how it sounds and how loud it is that may be important for some people
You got it wrong. When I buy a camera I want to know what kind of pictures it takes. When I buy a radio I want to know what I can receive with it. If your radio is all features and no reception, I am not interested in it.
Nothing wrong I am totally fair in talking about it and its flaws, you also need to have price vs what you get, all of it is here this is real world test
Now if this was just an unboxing video no you don't play the radio you don't even tell anything about it but a review you do give the audio demonstration so people will understand that's what a review is
FWIW there is a few seconds of an FM channel upon power up. Sounds tinny. I bought mine fully expecting to use headphones without watching any reviews.
I would like the input from anyone. Is this unit suitable for the following environment? If not, please suggest another unit (brand and model). This is not used for SW and seldom used for AM. I primarily use this to record meetings from a low power FM transmitter less than 10 feet away. Most recording times are 2 hours. Sometimes recordings are long meetings 4 hours each AM and PM. The battery must have a charge to last recording these meetings. I had a previous FM recorder that lasted 9 years or more. I kept the unit plugged in 24 hours every day so that I could record at any time. The battery lasted more than a day recording and playing back. Towards the end of it's life the battery would last only about 2-1/2 hours. Also, this review talked about interference caused by the internal circuitry. That happened to a friend of mine. He returned the unit. The second one was good. My recordings must be "clean". Several people may listen to them. Thank you for your help.
This is the radio I REALLY wanted to love. Mine has internally generated noise, but I still use it to record FM talk radio while I sleep. The audio is really good enough for my purposes. I have found that the noise is much lower on FM. Here is a link to the latest model on eBay.. www.ebay.com/itm/Retekess-V115Portable-FM-AM-SW-Radio-World-Band-Receiver-MP3-Player-REC-Recorder/392078100087?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
Hi, I live in Brossard and I was wondering if you can pick up the 760AM Channel very well? My dad lives in a semi basement and our big table radio can pick up the station but I wanna buy a smaller radio for him....Many thanks :)
Another great review I must say! Looking for an inexpensive sw radio was wondering what your thoughts were on the "Supersonic SC-1080BT Rechargeable 9-Band AM/FM/SW1-7 Radio +Bluetooth +USB/SD" available on ebay for around $17 give or take. Would love to see that reviewed here on your channel. Keep up the great work!
Terrible internal noise on my sample a very bad internally generated computer "grinding" noise over all of the AM and SW bands. On mine you can defeat the noise by pressing most any key ,which proves to me it is capable of at least pleasant listening at night, far and wide . The whine will go away for approximately 15 secs. other than that the radio is serviceable which means not at all! I did not pick it up with glowing expectations but I am after all a radio junkie. This sample just ain't it. I will return it and try one time again...but that is it, It has possibilities providing all the parts work in "harmony". PS any comparison with even the simplest of Tecsun would still leave me "wanting" to "hear" stations
Mine did the same thing on AM/FM/SW bands. I noticed the same 15 seconds of clear reception after pushing buttons, as well. This caused me to realize that the radio was capable of receiving signals very clearly. I speculated that internal circuits were interfering because the antenna wiring was misrouted inside. I opened it up and, sure enough, the antenna wiring was improperly routed. After correct this, IT WORKED PERFECTLY! Great little radio and one hell of a bargain.
Ok the Radio is not bad, is really easy to use but the DEGEN DE 1129 is much better! The Radio Reception in FM , MW and SW.... much better. Ok I must be fair, the Degen is more expensive, I think 50 $. The handling of the TIVDIO is easier . So what to do, spend more money and get better reception or spend less money, better handling and bad reception? YOUR TRY but have a look at the DEGEN DE 1129
I just got mine and it works well, it's easy to set up and operate, but this thing is useless if operated with earbuds, it sounds like a can full of crickets, and it cannot be used with more current types of earbuds such as the ones for smartphones, I know it's only about 25 C$ but I bought it to listen to the radio as I fall asleep but the sound is rather unpleasant, no bass at all.
The V115 receiver, is very insensitive on the shortwave band. To overcome this I added an external JFET RF preamp. The story is here: www.vk6fh.com/vk6fh/V115receiver.htm
thank you for sharing info ! my degen de22 also has spot for chip to record DE22 shirt pocket / pack of smokes size. Good sound and battery lasts long time ebook think Tivdio has pretty asian girl that posted few times (facebook profile matched Tivdio )
That's a true review indeed. Thanks. I like this little radio a lot. It really has great sound. Funny that you don't mention my main gripe with it: the internal noise generated by the dot matrix display (especially when lit up) and control logic (buttons). It is annoying on SW. I have used it mostly outdoors away from the city, so I haven't been annoyed by FM breakthrough and connecting it to a long wire antenna did make a difference.
I love mine, I've had it for over a year. And the battery still last all day. The little black tab on the wrist strap works as a stand, when on a hard surface with the stand, it sounds great.
If you live in Australia......this radio is fantastic!! am/fm reception is perfect. It's a great buy !!!!!
Gilles your utube videos are awesome
Thank you for coming back. A report from a current (or recent) DXpedition) says the Tivdio V-115 overloads with an external antenna. That makes it a non-starter here in New Zealand. Ambient electrical noise would overload it here in suburbia. I do look at cheap radios though. My DIGITECH AR-1733 cost about US$ 50.-. It looks like it comes out of the same factory as the Ccrane Skywave sold in the US,
Just purchased the VR Robot version of this radio on amazon for $14.If you first select 9KHz spacing on AM then you can punch in the frequency manually and achieve 1KHz steps. Great for tuning slightly off to eliminate adjacent channel interference or increasing audio quality on AM. Bandwidth seems to be 5KHz. Tuning off slightly gives near FM quality on a lot of channels. There may be some bad batches out there as mine had no issues with internal noise. Recording did not seem to induce any clicks or noise even on weaker AM channels.
This nice radio has an incredible secret, you can listen VHF and UHF, including air band. Try this: first choose a OM frequency, for example 1225 KHz, press and hold REC (you must have a memory card inserted), when it start recording press FM / AM and MODE keys. That's all, now it tunes 122.50 MHz. It works by tuning SW as well, the frequency in KHz goes to VHF or UHF. Enjoy!
Confirmed.
Very well educated review. I came here before buying this radio and now I know I want it. Thanks again. Liked and subscribed.
I really love my TIVDIO V-115. It's always in my stuff case. Just two gripes, though. First, when I record programs on AM and set it on a rather high volume, it whistles so much it's annoying. Second, some AM stations bleed over into shortwave--but only disruptive if the station is nearby. Other than that, this is a nifty radio to have in your bag.
I think it a good deal for under 20 dollars. Thanks for the video, you always do a good job explaining everything.
I have the Retekess version of this radio. I use it every day at work and the AM/FM reception is fine for local stations as you say. Not really great for weak stations or DX. I have used it on the SW bands occasionally but I have a better radio for SW monitoring. The best features are the MP3 playback and record functions and the audio quality.
Tivdio/Retekes V-115 has amazing sound quality
Just bought one, thanks for the 'talk through', can never be bothered to read instructions.
I was looking into that radio a few months ago. I really like the battery and the display is cool. Thank you for the video review.
I just ordered this little radio off of Amazon! It's called Retekess V115. It was on sale, so I purchased it. It arrives on Monday.
Nice thorough review here. I decided to give this radio a try based on your recommendations.
I really like this radio, but the one big omission is a lack of SSB.
I would love to use this to record the "geniuses" on 7.200 for Laura Smith at the FCC.
Thanks for the review Gilles! Well done!
easy there keyboard warrior...
Sad hammy
Then what is diffc between v 115 Retekess an tivdi
BTW you can buy AN FM broadcast band stop filter for your external shortwave antenna cost about $15
Thank you for your review of TIVDIO V 115 I think we got TIVDIO The same day I am very pleased with my TIVDIO. Gill you have a kickstand for the TIVDIO V 115 you might know if you do not know that plastic piece on the cord is a kickstand. You have a hole in the back where you put the tip on the plastic piece, then you have a kickstand take care and have a nice day.
thanks for the info... wondered what that piece of plastic was for haha ... cool little radio
OfficialSWLchannel Hi Gill Hi yes, a small plastic piece on the cord acts like a kickstand, but a bit too bad that there was no built-in kickstand in the TIVDIO V-115. But one can not ask for such a cheap radio yet, it still has so many nice features. But Gill that plastic piece I will lose sometime that is for sure take. It's sunny and hot here where I live and there are some hot ladies out too, that I can watch. I was out today with my TIVDIO and there was a girl and she said to me but what cute little radio you have girls you know take care and have a nice day.
Just received mine today. Great little thing. Not interested in MW and SW, but great FM reception. Great MP3-player. And use it as external speaker for your smartphone - much better sound quality. And if you charge via USB from your laptop, you can use it as external speaker at the same time. And btw - found an extra battery in an old Nokia phone I had laying around.
Thank you for the great review. This seems to be a really good deal for the money.
I finally bought one. Sadly doesn't work well in noisy environment, but with 20 feet wire antenna out of the building, works better. Nice sound but bandwith filter seems to be too wide in SW. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your experience with the receiver !
Great little radio. Great VFM too.
Love my V-115! The sound this radio produces can not be understated. Shortwave was disappointing, but for 20 bucks, it is a great buy.
Please advise a shortwave radio under 50-100 dollars that would operate in a city with numerous FM signals. Thank you!
glenn taylor If you have a lot f local strong fm stations just dont pull out the antenna... works like the atennuator on other radios.
my updated v-115 the backlight will stay on even when radio is turn off then back on.
this radio fished me in with its bass response...
Another thing is that it also RECORDS at the push of a button. How many radios in this price range do THAT? (Not too many!!!...and not with such ease.) My understanding is that the quality of the recordings is also pretty darn good...better than the Grundig G2 Reporter, for example, which costs many times more. I own the G2 and like it. I'm still waiting for this Tivdio to arrive from China.
For the price I am still amazed at all the features !
I'm going to beg the differ on that when you do review and it's on a radio you do want to play a little bit of audio so people can get an idea of how it sounds and how loud it is that may be important for some people
I like the radio. I love the mp3 sound quality . Tuning sucks. Direct entry and scanning only .
Hi, can you say something about SW reception? Thanx
There are numerous videos here which demonstrate receptions on portable, paperback size and pocket receivers.
I bought the TIVDIO V-115 for US$ 16 including shipping n bought another stereo version.
great review !!!thanks 73's
Do you guys know how to set it to tune in 10 KHZ step instead of 9 KHZ stepin AM band? Thanks a bunch!
Very good review. Could you tell me the full battery, how long is the battery in hours? Thank you
Please can anybody explain how to preset stations to put them in memory ?
Excellent review, thanks. How can we attenuate these strong FM stations?
I do not know
@@luismaillo6894 thank you
I am kinda curious about this radio after seeing how well this works for a sub-$30 radio.
As always great Videos thanks man
Still waiting on mine but I'm pretty sure it has no clock and cannot wake you up in the morning...as you said it can.
My question is which of all these $25ish radios is the overall best.
Tecsun R9012
Thanks. I wanted a cheap radio to carry around, so if I lose it, no big loss. I'm sure as hell not walking around NYC with my PL 680!
You got it wrong. When I buy a camera I want to know what kind of pictures it takes. When I buy a radio I want to know what I can receive with it. If your radio is all features and no reception, I am not interested in it.
Nothing wrong I am totally fair in talking about it and its flaws, you also need to have price vs what you get, all of it is here this is real world test
Henry Falkner But he did test it and tells us about the reception.
Oh sure, tell the guy how to do his reviews. I enjoyed the review.
Gilles your tivdio v115 mw fm shortwave portable recvier is cool
Can you tell me exactly WHERE you get a replacement battery? The manufacturers sure as hell will not send you one.
Phone repair shops, aliexpress.
What are differences between Retekess and TIVDIO?
none, they simply are different names, radio is exactly the same
@@OfficialSWLchannel Okay. But which one do you prefer?
Now if this was just an unboxing video no you don't play the radio you don't even tell anything about it but a review you do give the audio demonstration so people will understand that's what a review is
FWIW there is a few seconds of an FM channel upon power up. Sounds tinny. I bought mine fully expecting to use headphones without watching any reviews.
End of the day,you get what you pay for👍
Very Nice . . . thanks !
I got one of these this week. But the radio defaulted to Chinese so I can't program it. Do you happen to know the pathway to get the radio to English?
ah interesting I will check it out and let your know this afternoon
Sir I have tivdio 115 recever and have a issue of screen... It has gone.... What should I do....???
have you tried to reset it
I got one but how do i get to store the stations?
What if u lose the am radio..how don u get It back
March 18, 2021 its $16.99US on Amazon.
I would like the input from anyone. Is this unit suitable for the following environment? If not, please suggest another unit (brand and model).
This is not used for SW and seldom used for AM.
I primarily use this to record meetings from a low power FM transmitter less than 10 feet away. Most recording times are 2 hours. Sometimes recordings are long meetings 4 hours each AM and PM. The battery must have a charge to last recording these meetings.
I had a previous FM recorder that lasted 9 years or more. I kept the unit plugged in 24 hours every day so that I could record at any time. The battery lasted more than a day recording and playing back. Towards the end of it's life the battery would last only about 2-1/2 hours.
Also, this review talked about interference caused by the internal circuitry. That happened to a friend of mine. He returned the unit. The second one was good. My recordings must be "clean". Several people may listen to them.
Thank you for your help.
This is the radio I REALLY wanted to love. Mine has internally generated noise, but I still use it to record FM talk radio while I sleep. The audio is really good enough for my purposes. I have found that the noise is much lower on FM. Here is a link to the latest model on eBay.. www.ebay.com/itm/Retekess-V115Portable-FM-AM-SW-Radio-World-Band-Receiver-MP3-Player-REC-Recorder/392078100087?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
Hi, I live in Brossard and I was wondering if you can pick up the 760AM Channel very well? My dad lives in a semi basement and our big table radio can pick up the station but I wanna buy a smaller radio for him....Many thanks :)
yes it does come in well
Many thanks for the review!
Another great review I must say! Looking for an inexpensive sw radio was wondering what your thoughts were on the "Supersonic SC-1080BT Rechargeable 9-Band AM/FM/SW1-7 Radio +Bluetooth +USB/SD" available on ebay for around $17 give or take. Would love to see that reviewed here on your channel. Keep up the great work!
I will check it out and order one, will review it when it arrives !
Terrible internal noise on my sample a very bad internally generated computer "grinding" noise over all of the AM and SW bands. On mine you can defeat the noise by pressing most any key ,which proves to me it is capable of at least pleasant listening at night, far and wide . The whine will go away for approximately 15 secs. other than that the radio is serviceable which means not at all! I did not pick it up with glowing expectations but I am after all a radio junkie. This sample just ain't it. I will return it and try one time again...but that is it, It has possibilities providing all the parts work in "harmony".
PS any comparison with even the simplest of Tecsun would still leave me "wanting" to "hear" stations
paul kowalski I agree with you I got mine yesterday and the same type of problems. Very weak AM ,FM and SW.
ditto. I have the exact issue with local stations.
paul kowalski tttttttyyyyytrrtthow to set Tim.e.?Rhodes
Mine did the same thing on AM/FM/SW bands. I noticed the same 15 seconds of clear reception after pushing buttons, as well. This caused me to realize that the radio was capable of receiving signals very clearly. I speculated that internal circuits were interfering because the antenna wiring was misrouted inside. I opened it up and, sure enough, the antenna wiring was improperly routed. After correct this, IT WORKED PERFECTLY! Great little radio and one hell of a bargain.
@@jjohnston7837 how can i fix that? İ couldnt get you clearly. How can i fix misrouted wkre? If you answer, i would be happy for that. Thanks
Gilles see you on live chat Saturday
Can i listen to The sooky radio station UVB-76 at 4625 KHZ?
Good question
Can I store radio stations so I don't have to be tunning the same stations all the time ?
yes
How to do please?
I wonder If they borrow they're technology from Kaito? It reminds me of the ka29.
possible many receivers are from other manufacturers
Hey short wave where do I buy that SW ICOM You own?
I bought it off Radio World in Toronto Canada
Great.
Maybe they tried to put too much into such a low priced radio? ... I wonder how much of the cost went into shipping it.
I think the chinese govt pays part of the shipping to boost the economy or something. You can get 1 dollar earphones with free shipping, it's crazy.
Ok the Radio is not bad, is really easy to use but the DEGEN DE 1129 is much better! The Radio Reception in FM , MW and SW.... much better. Ok I must be fair, the Degen is more expensive, I think 50 $. The handling of the TIVDIO is easier . So what to do, spend more money and get better reception or spend less money, better handling and bad reception? YOUR TRY but have a look at the DEGEN DE 1129
where exactly did you get this for $20 ??
Ebay
Thanks!
Screen is not dot matrix it is called an LCD also used on digital multimeters pocket calculators etc.
Rob C Its dot matrix lcd.
It is a dot matrix Sherlock
I just got mine and it works well, it's easy to set up and operate, but this thing is useless if operated with earbuds, it sounds like a can full of crickets, and it cannot be used with more current types of earbuds such as the ones for smartphones, I know it's only about 25 C$ but I bought it to listen to the radio as I fall asleep but the sound is rather unpleasant, no bass at all.
WOW NO EXCUSE FOR THE PREPPERS OUT THERE TO PUT ONE OF THESE IN THERE GO BAGS and store 2 3 4 of these wow..
The V115 receiver, is very insensitive on the shortwave band.
To overcome this I added an external JFET RF preamp.
The story is here: www.vk6fh.com/vk6fh/V115receiver.htm
thank you for sharing info ! my degen de22 also has spot for chip to record DE22 shirt pocket / pack of smokes size. Good sound and battery lasts long time
ebook
think Tivdio has pretty asian girl that posted few times (facebook profile matched Tivdio )
Base, not bas...spelled bass...
V-115 = big shit!