ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 มิ.ย. 2024
- The excellent Qodosen SR-286 is my favourite radio at the moment. It does not have SSB mode, which puts many people off, and the price is high, around $125 on Ali Express. However, a new version has just been released, the name changed to the Qodosen DX-286, and the price has dropped by more than a third on Amazon.
I don't mind the lack of SSB on the Qodosen SR-286, I use other radios for my SSB listening. For broadcast SW and MW DXing I still think the Qodosen SR-286 is almost unbeatable at the moment. It is just so good, very sensitive, very selective and really pulls in distant and weak signals. It also has a very low noise floor.
It comes with very many useful features, like an antenna amplifier and the ability to use an external antenna for MW. It uses the TEF6686 automotive radio chip, which is the reason why it is so sensitive on all bands - FM, MW, SW and LW. The new version, the DX-286, is quite a bit more affordable and it seems to be exactly the same as the previous version, except for some changes to shortcut buttons.
You can see the new, much cheaper version, on Amazon: a.co/d/8weYpos (I do not earn affiliate links income from Amazon, I am just sharing this as a service to my viewers). It still comes without a battery, so you will need to buy one. But it now comes with a carry case. Some viewers have reported that they cannot see the new radio for sale on Amazon in Europe, so it might not be available everywhere as of now. I do see it on amazon.com here in South Africa, and I was able to order one.
00:00 Breaking news: New DX-286 radio
00:32 Same hardware, small changes
02:03 New, cheaper price
02:20 My favourite radio - บันเทิง
This is a very interesting review. I enjoyed it :-) 1:01
Thanks Preston, glad you enjoyed it!
Good news. The lowest price I was able to find for the original SR-286 was always around ~92 "usamoney", which still sounded like an overprice to me. As the price drops, it may become the new "people's receiver" to replace XHDATA-808. 👍🏻
It might indeed. Except for the fact that it does not have SSB, which I know is a must-have for many listeners, so that will probably put many people off.
@@swlistening True, when discussing the "TEFs" many say no SSB is a dealbreaker for them; in any case they won't be able to give up on their XHDATA or Tecsun models.
@@any_username For me, the excellent SW and MW reception on the Qodosen is more than enough, I can use other radios for SSB.
@@swlistening It's probably the best portable for regular radio listening (as there is literally no other portable with 8 khz BW and direct frequency entry with physical keys). BTW, as a someone who bought a cheapest SSB-capable receiver just to try out SSB... Tried... heard someone from NL to IT, from RU to PH and... I still have no idea why would I ever need SSB at all!
About 2 months ago, I paid ~$25 more for the SR than the updated DX. Over the past two months, I've been very happy with the radio and its' capabilities are far in excess of my abilities (but I'm learning). For a price of $80 on Amazon, this looks to be the "go-to" radio for those looking to dip their feet into the hobby - the only things you might consider are an 18650 battery (it doesn't come with one), an external antenna (I got the Tecsun AN-05 and Tecsun AN-07), and a cheapo portable hard drive case to protect the unit while you're traveling.
I agree with you. I think this is a really great radio for those who want to try out the hobby. The price is competitive now and reception is great, so even beginners will have lots of fun. The new one actually comes with a hard carry case. I ordered one, so I will show it on my channel when I get it.
@@swlistening Don't forget Andre, you can also buy a cheap hard carry case online for your present SR-286. Wait till the new DX-286 arrives and then measure the supplied case's dimensions.
As for the 18650 battery, don't bother with XHDATA or Tecsun rebadged batteries - their true capacities aren't anywhere their claimed capacities. The I did a test on the XHDATA 3000 mAH 18650 and got about 2,630 mAH using my Liitokala M4 charger's test mode. Will repeat the test with my latest XTAR VC4SL charger. 😀
One of the battery brands that I trust for my tactical flashlights is the Molicel brand and it's popular amongst the vaping and the flashlight enthusiast communities. Look for the 18650 Molicel M35A in the light blue jacket - that's good for 3500 mAh with a 15A continuous discharge output. 👍
@@StratmanII only IKEA LADDA! 🤪🤪🤪
@@StratmanII True about the carry case, but I actually just got a small travel bag, cross-body style, from Temu that is perfect for my Qodosen. The radio fits snugly inside, and there is some room for a wire antenna and a spare battery. Very convenient for the park or when travelling somewhere. And a good bag to store the radio when not in use.
Thank you so much for the advice about the battery. I will look for the Molicel M35A.
@@StratmanII If you don't need absolute max battery life, the xhdata 18650s are a pretty good deal. The EVE ones, on sale for $2, if you have flashlight batteries you're also getting, can't be beat. But, yeah, I like the safety aspect of Molicel, Panasonic/Sanyo, LG, and Sony cells. They have become especially dear, lately, esp the button-top versions. I've picked up the GA button tops on decent sale, before. Those are good for anything short of Emisar or other pocket rocket lights.
Cheers 🎉🥳
Just bought one on Amazon TY Andre’ 👍
My pleasure Richard!
they are very cunning at Qodosen. I received the new DX-286 version today.
Of course the price has dropped but what we don't tell you and which is very bad news for me, when you receive the radio, there is no battery. That's why the price has dropped. If you don't have a battery in stock, you can still cry to listen to the radio
Hi Kriss, the previous (much more expensive) version was also sold without a battery. I did mention in my reviews that there is no battery, and it is mentioned in the Amazon description. Unfortunately this is one of the negatives of this radio.
@@swlistening hello swlistening, however when I received the SW-286 a battery was inside with a little plastic to avoid contact. I got it from Aliexpress
@@KrissDucky95 Hi Kriss, you are one of the lucky one! A few sellers on Ali Express do ship this one with the battery, but not all of them though.
Excellent news! Great to see that Qodosen realises the SR-286 was a success and they are going ahead with improving the radio & are becoming more confident in marketing it. Of course I still hope for an SSB-enabling firmware in the future though 😜
BTW the Sporadic-E FM DX season has really kicked off here in Europe & I haven't really put my TEF6686 radio into DX service. I had some plans for it, including figuring out how to auto-scan it, probably programmatically, as well as upgrading its firmware... and I haven't done anything 🤣 I've been way too busy the past weeks, and my Airspy HF+ Discovery is still covering me well, especially in conjunction with RDS Spy, the only thing it misses is automatic filter bandwidth selection, like what the TEF6686 offers 😂
Yes, this is very good news indeed. And great that the price has dropped, it makes this a much more competitive radio in the current market. I'm not so sure about the SSB though, I don't know why we haven't seen any TEF6686 radios with SSB yet. Is it even possible?
Have fun during your sporadic-E FM season! I will have to wait until about November here, then I will try some sporadic-E FM DXing myself. Not something I have ever done, but I am becoming quite interested.
From the data sheet, I don't see that it has patchable DSP firmware, which is how we coaxed the Silabs chip to do SSB. Maybe I missed it.
@@radellaf in the worst case, you'd need to extract an IQ output & feed it to an SDR software, or write your own software demodulators for LSB & USB. But with this, I think I have the "homemade" tuners and the FM-DX-Webserver in mind rather than the Qodosen. I wonder if Sjef PE5PVB or Noobish would be interested in exploring that option? 🤔
@@radellaf I think you are right, otherwise someone would have done it by now, for sure.
Great Little Monster : )
For sure!
It's available on Amazon for $79.99 in the US.
Thanks Kevin! I ordered another one, just couldn't resist. What about you?
@@swlistening "Jirre, Andre! Jy het alweer 'n DX-286 radio van Amazon bestel? Wat gaan jy met drie Qodosen ontvangers maak?" 😱
@@StratmanII Darem net twee, nie drie nie 🙂 The second version will be my back-up, the first one will be my daily workhorse and one that I will take around with me everywhere, knowing that I do have another one available if anything happens to my first one.
@@swlistening Sounds like a plan! 📻👍
Well at least you aren't buying an identical SR-286 therefore the new DX-286 will make a great comparison to the original model!
@@StratmanII Indeed, I think a comparison will be interesting. Apparently there were no hardware changes, just some of the shortcuts were changed. But it will still be interesting to see and compare.
thank you Andreas, I wonder if you would also acquire the new Radiodditty RF757 model to compare.
Hi there Eduardo. I might consider getting the RF757 at some point, yes, but not right now. I was actually not planning to buy a second version of the Qodosen, but did so last night, so I used my radio savings. Now I need to save again for my next purchase :-)
Interestimg! Oddly Page and BW/ST also turns the internal antenna on and off on my SR-286
That's an interesting, unlisted feature :-) I tried it on mine now, and it does the same. The new version should be much easier. I will be curious to see if the new version also has the mirroring issue that I encounter in the 120 metre to 60 metre bands. It does not happen all the time, and only with a few signals, but it's definitely one of the minor issues that I encountered on mine.
@@swlistening I can’t find the new one on Amazon anywhere but maybe it’s only available in certain countries
@@MattinLapland Interesting, that may very well be the case. I can see it on amazon.com. There is a link in the description of my video, maybe you can try that and see? I also noticed that I find nothing on Amazon when I search for Qodosen DX-286, but when I search for DX-286 only, I find it.
@@swlistening I can see it on your link now. 16.73 shipping to me
@@MattinLapland OK, good! This new one with the lower shipping fees and duties (as calculated by Amazon) actually works out at just a bit over half the original price for me. The one I bought from Ali Express was $122, and I paid about $60 here in SA for duties, so that was quite an expensive buy! The new one is about $110 in total, shipping and duties included. So I bought another one 🙂
AFAIK: this chip doesn’t have ssb capabilities.
ThbKs for the heads up. 73s
Hi Pedro, thanks! I think you are right, this chip does not seem to have SSB capabilities.
@@swlistening this is because it’s widely used by car audio manufacturers. Somehow someone got the idea of using this chip for SW. i think it was a fellow DXer from Brazil. But I might be wrong.
73s
Andre: Now you tell me, …after I paid full price…😢….oh well cannot win them all…😂😂😂!
73! Have a great day!
I wish I knew this myself! Mine really cost me a pretty penny, with all the import duties I had to pay here on the SA side. The new one works out about 45% cheaper with Amazon shipping and duties included... Oh, well, that's how it goes. I'm still very happy I got one though. So happy, in fact, that I ordered a second, cheaper one 😁
How long is the internal ferrite rod antenna ? I heard this radio is great if you're outdoors but how good is it on AM in indoor environments ?
It is quite small, just over 3 inches, but extremely sensitive. Mine works fine indoors. Indoors it pulls in more stations, and much more clearly, than my XHDATA D-808 and my Sangean PR-D4W. Outdoors it becomes a real powerhouse on MW, and outdoors away from RFI you can also use the whip antenna for MW. It works very well and is very sensitive.
Are any of these radios popping up on Amazon RSA???
No, it's on the international site. But duties and delivery are not that high. $79 for the radio, $29 for import duties and delivery to SA.
That was the magic number for me. "PayPal sent!"
I do wish it had SSB, of course, given what's on AM SW these days. I don't listen to FM much, especially music, which is what it seems is the showcase feature of this model (esp through headphones). The music I'd like is on some HD subchannels, and the fact that the TEF can work with a coprocessor to do HD does make me hopeful we'll get something other than the Sangean HDR-14 for pocket HD. For $140, I wasn't tempted. $80? It'll be fun to play with.
For someone wanting to get into SW, though, I'd still have to recommend a R-108, D-109, or (for SSB) D808 ahead of this. I've picked up the first two for under $50. WB and BT on the 109WB (now under $40 on amazon).
I agree with you, I think the price is much more realistic now and very competitive, makes this radio accessible to many more people. I understand what you are saying about radios like the R-109 and D-109, but I would argue that if beginners were willing to spend more, the Qodosen should be their first choice. It can be complicated to operate in some ways, but the basic functions are very simple and I think the excitement it will provide in terms of receiving many distant and weak signals will show beginners how much there is to our hobby. Of course, in my opinion, for experienced DXers this radio will open up whole new worlds.
@@swlisteningIs it really that much more sensitive? I find that the antenna is ~70% of the thing when it comes to weak signals. Putting up a 50ft wire in the back yard did more for SW amd MW than anything else. OTOH if you care about FM, seems this is the champ. On SW, my limit is more about noise and RFI than receiver sensitivity. Now, with some strong SW coming out of a neighboring state, selectivity and overload can become an issue.
Anyway, I look forward to getting my hands on it so I don’t have to speculate!
@@radellaf It really is, especially on MW, LW and FM, but also on SW. The MW performance on the Qodosen is just amazing, I have no other word for it. It is much better than anything else that I use for MW DXing. I also use the XHDATA D-808, the Tecsun ICR-110, the Sangean PR-D4W and and the Sony ICF-J40 for MW. The Qodosen beats them all, easily. On SW it is more sensitive than most of my portables, pulls in weaker signals, and it is easier to catch weak signals with the Qodosen because the noise floor is so low.
I agree with you about a good antenna, I use a 10 metre (27 feet) long wire, works very well on most of my portables and really helps to pull in signals. But, again, in general the Qodosen just performs better than most of the other portables when using the same wire. If you use a wire for MW on the Qodosen, in an area away from RFI, you will be amazed, that is a strong point on the Qodosen. But you must be in a quiet area, away from RFI.
I hope you will be as happy with yours as I am with mine! I will be very interested to hear your feedback once it arrives.
@@swlistening Sounds great, can't wait to try it. I'll try to remember to come back here after trying it. In my house there's too much RFI in most spots for using internal MW antennas. The outdoor antenna avoids most of that (it'll even work when the plasma TV is on). What's nice is I use a homemade ferrite rod (50 turns, 100mm) to couple the wire (& ground) to radios without ext MW inputs. Turns out that works better on the 909x2 than directly plugging it in.
It's a suburban neighborhood, though, so while I don't usually hear any obvious RFI on the wire antenna, I'm sure the noise floor isn't what it would be in a rural area.
@@radellaf Your homemade ferrite rod sounds amazing, I think it will make a very big difference on the Qodosen!
I just got the DX-286 2 days ago. Thanks for the tip on long press of the RDS button to switch to external antennae for AM. I'm having several other issues such as displaying world clock. I want to contact the manufacturer to see if I can fix these issues, because the radio is just too good to return. Do you have any way to contact customer support?
If I may ask, what are the issues that you are having?
@@swlistening Thank you so much for getting back with me!! I'm dealing with a bronchitis type of illness for a few weeks & am not feeling to well. I will need to make a list of issues and return in the near future. You've already dealt with one of the major ones regarding the Ext AM antennae. But one thing that annoys me is the world clock. No matter how many times I try to enter NYC as my local zone, the GMT doesn't display the correct 5 hour difference. Also, I can't get the light to toggle on/10 second off, even though I follow the printed direction. Thanks again.
@@walleyvideo8297 Do you change the light settings when the radio is off? I had the same issue as you, but I tried to change the light settings when the radio was on. Switch off the radio, and then hold the light button. The screen will show light on, or light off. Then switch on the radio, it will stay on. I suspect with the time settings you might not have followed the correct order. It is very important to first set your home time. Then you can set the world clock.
@@swlistening Once again you've come through for me. I can now toggle the light on/off as I desire. Thanks! The instructions don't help me set the World Clock. :(
@@walleyvideo8297 My pleasure: Have a look at this review, he describes the clock function very nicely, I think it will help: www.blogordie.com/2024/06/the-new-qodosen-dx-286/
Hello André, now all the people who paid the equivalent of 120, 150, up to 200$ taxes and shipment included for this radio feel a little bit bitter, aren't we? 😆
Anyway it's an excellent opportunity for more people to enjoy this excellent receiver. I think that it will never support SSB, it seems that the TEF6686 DSP chip can't handle it and there's no IF stage to inject a BFO into like in an analog radio.
From the pictures I've seen, it would appear that this new model also comes with a lot of accessories, including a neat plastic carrying case? And most likely its battery, this time (mine came with it but not yours if I remember well)
I can't wait to have your feedback on this new model when you receive it, hopefully soon. It's be interesting to see whether they did something to the "ghost" (mirror) signals the SR-286 catches or not.
I'm one of those who paid almost $200 for mine, with local import duties and shipping to SA included. A hefty price, but I am kind of pragmatic about things like this. It happens all the time with products, sometimes when you want to be one of the first to have something new, you end up paying much more than what people end up paying later when the product becomes more widely available. Or the other way round, sometimes if you buy early you get it cheaper, like the D-608WB, it was $28 when released, now it is $35 (but out of stock on the XHDATA website). You never know with these things ... Anyway, maybe our first versions will become sought-after collector's objects 🤣
I agree with you about the SSB, I don't think it's going to happen. Like you, one of the first things I thought about when I saw this new one was the mirroring of signals on the old one. I am very interested to see whether this has been fixed.
The pictures do show a nice carry case, although it looks quite big. I'll see when it arrives. But still no battery, the seller mentions on Amazon in the description and in the pictures that there is no battery. Don't know why they don't include a battery. It does seem to come with a real box now, so I can do a proper unboxing when it arrives 😁
@@swlistening I agree with you André, when I paid more than $200 for my C. Crane Skywave SSB, just month before a new model was issued and I am happy with it. After watching your videos and read others, saying that was a short production run as TEF6686 chips are in low production as be a product like an experiment and then the product did not disappoint to me, actually a wonderful accomplishment. If you love this hobby, be prepared to spent some amount of money for it.
@@isleifoterogarcia4478 I agree! Sometimes it is fun to be one of the first to try out a new radio, even if you end up paying a bit more. Because we love the hobby!
@@swlistening Definitely, André. It’s the thrill of bringing history to our lives. Is very inspiring that radio now is more relevant y effective than ever before, even with all those networks around the globe, radio for me is still king in bringing the news and information, anything, faster and economical. Keep the fire of enthusiasm bright and alive.
@@isleifoterogarcia4478 👏
Does this radio have SSB(LSB/USB) and will it cover 28-30MHz ?
Hi Ken, no it does not. It is one of the complaints that some people have about this radio. It only covers shortwave up to 27 MHz, no SSB. This radio is only for broadcast DXing, on all bands. For that purpose, it excels.
@@swlistening Thats to bad, there are several radios out in that price range that work well. TECSUN PL-330 is a good choice with SSB
@@n1kkri Hi Ken, I agree the PL-330 is a nice radio. I don't have one, but I have the PL-368, which is basically the same radio, just a different shape. The XHDATA D-808 is also nice. But the difference in terms of performance on regular broadcast SW, MW, FM and LW on the Qodosen, when compared to these radios, is quite big. The D-808, for example, is known as a good MW radio, but the Qodosen beats it by a mile on MW.
Why do we have to wait until the middle of the month to receive the radio? I am waiting for it to become available in 1 and 2 days at Amazon soon.
Hi Adam, yes, I noticed that mine will only arrive around the end of June here in South Africa, and it hasn't actually shipped yet. Not sure why, maybe Amazon is still waiting for stock to arrive in the warehouse.
@@swlisteningAmazon has no intention of shipping it to you
I went ahead and ordered one. Amazon is waiting for stock to arrive, I suspect. I've ordered other radios with 2-4 week dates and they almost always come early.
@@radellaf I hope we will get it a bit earlier! I am looking forward to seeing if there are any other changes, when compared to the first version.
Can anyone direct me to a tutorial for the new DX-286? The included manual for the receiver is overloading my front end. I am finding it confusing and less than an easy read.
Hi there and thank you for your comment. I do not have my DX-286 yet, but I will make a tutorial when I get it. Have you received your DX-286 already? I made a short tutorial for the SR-286, almost everything is the same, except a few shortcuts. Maybe it can help you a bit, for now: th-cam.com/video/YIrxvuVz1W8/w-d-xo.html
I was waiting for the official version of it.
I had returned my d-808 because i wasn't happy with the memory paging but this one has piqued my interest. Sadly thr sr-286 was never available in india. Hopefully the DX-286 will be.
I think you will be able to order it from amazon.com, I ordered the new one form there. I added a link to the Amazon page in the description of this video.
Oh wow! That’s interesting. Did you vote today?
Edit: Is the Amazon version South Africa or another one?
I'm going to vote a bit later, when the lines are shorter :-) This is available on amazon.com, not the local site. I find that the local Amazon site is very similar to Takealot, to be honest. They don't have all the overseas products.
@@swlistening Hulle sê dat daar sommige probleme met die IEC se rekenaars is. Is hulle deurmekaar? (Ons het ‘n Afrikaans eksamen in ‘n paar dae, ek moet my Afrikaans ‘n bietjie verbeter).
@@FamtechVideos Ek dink nie daar is oral probleme nie, net hier en daar 😀 Sterkte met die eksamen!
@@swlistening Baie dankie.
@@swlistening Daar is minder as 1 uur tot die stemsluiting. Een van my buurmanne het 8.5 uure by een van daardie “Stemstasies”.
Should I wait for the DX-386 or the DX-286 Mark II with SSB? 📻☺❤
Perhaps, but I think this might be as good as it gets. I don't think there will be a version with SSB soon. There are so many homemade radios using the TEF6686 chip, and none of those have SSB. I just have a feeling that it might be quite a challenge to add SSB mode to radios with the TEF6686 chip, for whatever reason. Otherwise someone would have done it by now.
@@swlistening Definitely, TEF6686 is not suitable for SSB, not even TEF6687... What they could do, like in case of those HRD receivers (+TR110) who carry 3 different (!) chips on board - each dedicated to a particular band group - they could add SI4732*, for instance, just for SSB. So, who knows...
I think you want a radio with the 6688 chip (iirc). So better wait for the 386, which might have SSB😅
Something is coming for sure
@@KekmanForTheRestOfTheWorld That will be very interesting to see!
@@swlistening i hope for it. i have not been buying the 286 because i am waiting for 6688 radio.
It is hard to not buy the 286 especially now with better price :D
I wonder how it will perform on mw/lw using external active antenna i have tecsun pl-330 and it overloads with mla-30plus antenna
It will perform very well on LW and MW with an external antenna. That is one of the strong points of this radio, it is really excellent with an external antenna. Mine does not overload with a long wire, nor with my MLA30+.
Small form factor radios are not designed to take the amplified input signal from active antennas like the MLA-30+. I have the PL-330 and 320; they are designed for a 23-foot random wire antenna like the retractable Tecsun AN-05.
@@StratmanII I use sangean ats-909x2 with mla-30+ antenna it performs good on shortwave but on MW/LW it’s unusable specially longwave and the rf gain doesn’t help with the shortwave stations imaging on MW/LW.
@@StratmanII There's always in-line attenuators. Might lose some gain, but you get the directionality and lower noise (vs indoors). I use a 50 ft wire in the back yard, with a buried 20' under it for "ground", with portables. Only the D109 (not WB with dx/local sw) had a problem with it. (it's why I bought the 6 and 10dB attenuators and cables/adapters) What's odd is that, for radios without a jack, I wound 50 turns on a 100mm ferrite rod to make a coupler. Some radios, like the 909x2, work much better with that than the 1/8" jack. The PL-360 does great plugged in direct.
@@radellaf I have an XHDATA D-109 too but I don't really take stock of this radio as a serious DX'ing receiver. Same goes for my Tecsun PL-398MP - its AGC isn't configured properly by the factory and causes the audio to swell when receiving strong blowtorch-like signals.
How did you choose the 6dB and 10dB in-line attenuators? Were they estimates or did you do a calculation for the values? Which one gets more use, the 6 or 10dB one? 🙂
Has anyone had the 'DX' version shipped from Amazon US yet? I ordered one six days ago and it still hasn't shipped. I'm in the UK.
I think Amazon hasn't started shipping these yet.
@@swlistening Strange. I wonder why? If Amazon don't have stock they usually state 'awaiting stock' and you can't place an order.
@@electro-soma It is all a bit strange indeed. Maybe the radio has not been released officially yet and Amazon is taking pre-orders.
@@swlistening Mine has finally shipped. 12 days after ordering.
@@electro-soma Ah, that's good news!
Still has SOFT MUTE?
Compared to some of my other radios, the soft mute on my Qodosen is not very noticeable at all. It mutes much, much less than, for example, the D-808.
That "feature" is such anathema to anyone not listening to strong locals. I hate that it ever came to be. Just give me good AGC that can prevent clipping, and do a good job squashing nighttime atmospheric "flutter".
No SSB implies a cheap and primitive detector, so, no thanks.
Thank you for your comment Clive, but for me, the reception quality is excellent. I don't think they use cheap and primitive parts. The TEF6686 DSP chip it uses is top of the line.
Edit: Name correction