RIP Bill Dailey
1 month ago
Showing posts with label Product Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Product Reviews. Show all posts
Let me introduce you to a bit of history here. I currently work in the electronics repair field, where technology keeps going faster, better, and more complex. But once in a while, a veteran from long ago comes in for some R & R, and you just can't help but marvel at how things used to get done. Introducing just such a device, from General Electric Corp. (back when GE was the biggest kid on the block)
I have no idea who sent this in, or where it has been working, but it's a wonder of engineering for the day. Best I can tell, late 1940's to perhaps mid 1950's manufacture- bakelite and steel frame, hand wound coils, clockworks balanced and still working.
Oh, what does it do, you ask? Not much- it's a time-delayed breaker, sort of like the one in your home's distribution panel. Except this one has multiple taps to choose the current you want to trip out at- from 0.5 amps to 2 amps- and a hand-set time delay, from 0 seconds up to 7 seconds. Just enough time for the motor or light or whatever to get over inrush current and settle down before we go and set off the overcurrent alarm and shut things down.
Yeah, I got it fixed- problem was a broken bakelight terminal strip where someone had overtightened a screw. I made sure to do it right, too. This one deserved good treatment, after so much time on the job. I hope one day- a long time from now- when the old girl is finally retired, they have the decency to give her to the a museum or at least send her home with someone who cares. They don't make 'em like that any more.
Yesterday I introduced you to the big radio, the GE Super Radio. Today, it’s the other end of the spectrum in just about every way- this time we meet the tiny, complex, and feature laden Kaito KA1121. Fair warning: if you aren’t the person relatives call when they can’t figure out how to program the VCR, then this radio probably isn’t for you. It is most definitely a geek’s radio, but if you are the type of person who finds joy in reading technical manuals and figuring out how things work, the little Kaito will repay you with a wealth of features, most of which are quite useful, and a few of which are just weird. Yeah, I love this little radio, but CT girl will give them away to my geek relatives rather than go to the trouble of learning how to get one working. My personal take on how this radio got designed goes something like this: all the engineers were sitting around one day, and somebody asked how many circuits they could get into a DVD cover. Never ask an engineer a question like that, unless you really want to know the answer. In point of fact, the 1121 face is somewhat smaller than a DVD box, and the unit is about twice as thick. In that tiny housing they found room for a host of features, such as AM, FM, SW1 and SW2, full NOAA weather band coverage, a decent MP3 recorder/player, memories for 400 channels, 3 alarms that will not only turn on the radio, but automatically record shows off the air, and set the volume control for each in turn. The MP3 player even has the capability to display lyrics in time with the song being played, if you are patient enough to type them in and download them to the unit. (That’s one of the features I classify as ‘strange.’) The MP3 is detachable of course, and a supplied USB patch cord lets you upload your recordings to your PC, or download to the unit. This is also how you program functions and upgrade software in the radio. Unfortunately programming the presets and channels is a bit primitive, you use a text editor like notepad to edit a supplied sample text, download it to the MP3, and then import it to the radio itself. You need to be a bit anal on your typing, too- a misspelled frequency or syntax error will cause an error, and it will not load into the radio. Once you get it right, though, it’s a handy way of setting up a huge number of radio stations. (If you listen to much SW, this is a wonderful thing- most SW stations operate on multiple frequencies, and change to take advantage of atmospheric conditions. One I listen to frequently operates on no less than 4 transmitters, and nearly a dozen frequencies.) As I mentioned yesterday, all the bells and whistles mean nothing if they don’t work. I have heard of a few people who have had issues with quality control, but all three of my Kaito radios work perfectly. The biggest issue will be the owners manual: the translation from the Chinese must have been done by someone learning English as they worked, and it shows. Even so, with a little effort you can figure out what to do. Better yet, check out the yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KA1121_DE1121/ and look in the files- one of the members did a wonderful job of rewriting the manual for ordinary folks. (if you want to check specs on the radio, or read the original manual, it’s here: http://www.kaitousa.com/KA1121.htm ) About the only consistent complaint I’ve heard on the radio (besides learning all the features) is battery life. It comes supplied with rechargeable batteries, but they don’t seem to last long. One tech checked it out, and the problem seems to be the charging: the way you charge the batteries is to select which to charge, either the MP3 or the radio, and the unit times the charge needed. Apparently a full charge only brings the batteries up to about 70% of capacity. If you want a full charge, you’ll need to take them out and use a smart charger. Another bug is the power supply is a bit noisy on AM- not noticeable on strong stations, but very weak stations it can show up on recordings. I have considered building a battery pack to power the radio while recording such things, but instead just use a signal booster to bring the signal above the noise level of the power supply. On FM or SW no problems. The big reason to want this radio is the MP3 recording. Bad news, it’s only good for 256 meg, although I’ve heard a replacement 512 meg unit is in the works. Before you start rolling your eyes and quoting how many gigs your Ipod holds, consider this- even at 256 meg, it’s good for 15 hours of voice-quality radio (think talk shows.) The unit can be set for three levels of audio quality, from voice to CD quality, with shorter recording times for the better sounding recordings. I am currently using two of these units to record various radio programs unattended, and it works great. Upload to windows, play back in media player, and skip the stuff I don’t like. Some programming I wish to keep is easily filed, the rest deleted. Although I am not fond of using an MP3 player (of any brand) while working, I have been known to use the detachable unit to listen to programs while hunting or simply waiting for a doctors’ appointment, for example. It works great. (One thing I would change if I could- the MP3 player uses an odd battery- a short, square NiMh F6. You can use the MP3 in the radio without any battery, but if the F6 dies, you are SOL on using the player alone until you order one from Kaito or a radio supply house. Forget about picking one up at Wally World.) Obviously, I like the radio, or I wouldn’t have bought more than one. But it’s not for everybody, or even most people. But if you want all these features, and enjoy a complex, quality radio in a small package, it’s a worth the money. Speaking of which, you can find them everywhere for $149, but being the tightwad that I am, I kept searching until I found a closeout deal for $79 each and ordered a pair. I have not seen them that cheap since, but some searching and patience could save you some serious money if you like bargains. There is a lot more I could say, but rather than try to cover everything here I will instead reply to any comments posted to answer any questions.
Product Review: Kaito 1121 Radio/MP3 and the GE Super Radio
1 comments Posted by Mtn Man at 10:56 AM
Every home should have a few good radios, and unless you are blessed to live in an area that never experiences floods, storms, hurricanes, power outages, or other emergencies, you really should have a few radios specifically for emergencies. You certainly don’t need as many as I seem to have collected over the years, from a vintage monster desktop bought at a thrift store for $15 and brought back to life by Freeholder’s dad, to the latest and greatest wonder from import land. But you should have a couple of radios that will keep you informed on what is going on when the power goes out and weather or other circumstances keep you housebound.
First of all, what not to buy: cheap is good when you are buying beans or gas, but not when you need a quality bit of kit to keep you safe. That said, you don’t have to break the bank and get the most expensive either, especially where radios are concerned. Since TV is the ‘big dog’ in the entertainment world today, radio has to compete by offering a lot for the money, and that gives you some real bargains. Yet a lot of people still think a radio is just a radio, and the $10 special at Big Lots is good enough. It might be, but I’d rather spend a bit more and know I can depend on my radio to get the job done when I need it. One example, the lovely CT Girl received her choice of gifts recently at her place of employment during an appreciation day. She opted for a portable size ‘emergency radio’ that included AM/FM and NOAA weather radio, built in flashlight and even an emergency button that flashed the LED light and made siren sounds thru the radio. Power was supplied by AA batteries or a hand crank generator. Sounds great, doesn’t it? It would have been, if all those features worked as advertised. In reality, the first thing she tried to do was crank the generator handle to charge the batteries. The crank handle broke off in her hand. Not a good start. It got worse: radio reception on AM, while decent, was very noisy- so noisy that except for strong local stations it was unlistenable. FM had a lot of drift, and the NOAA required much effort to tune in the local station- the tower of which is visible from our front yard. Rather than toss the radio, I spent an hour and some epoxy repairing the crank, which works well now. It sits in the corner, a reminder that all those features don’t mean squat if they don’t work.
What is a good radio, then? Not a subject to be covered in a short blog post, for certain. Entire books are written on the subject, and thousands of web pages. But I would like to introduce you to a couple of my favorites, and tell you why I think they are worth having around.
First of all, the venerable and popular GE Super Radio, pictured above.
Sadly, the liberal dolt that has been running General Electric into the ground has been forced into selling off a lot of things to keep from bankrupting the company, and the Super Radio has been one of the casualties. Search for a super radio on Amazon, and you’ll find it now labeled as the RCA Super Radio. Fear not, however- there are millions of the GE versions still out there, and who knows, RCA might even improve upon the design and make it better. Time will tell.
Why a Super Radio? Well, a radio is a personal choice, and it may or may not fit what you like in a radio, but for millions of us country folks who don’t live in a city full of radio stations, it is the best bang for the buck. Prices vary from $79 retail, down to $39 on sale for a new radio, or if you feel lucky even less for used models. For that little coin you get excellent reception on both AM and FM bands, as well as good, clear sound quality on both voice frequencies and music. But the best feature of the radio is one you seldom see mentioned: battery life. In a world of gadgets powered by boatloads of AA or AAA batteries that last a few days, the Super Radio uses 6- count ‘em, SIX- big, heavy “D” size batteries. My former employer, owner of the AM Station I worked at in the 80’s, would use nothing but the Super Radio for remotes and DX listening, and often remarked to me that the “D” batteries gave much more battery life per dollar spent than the smaller and less powerful cells. (Battery engineering has greatly improved AA batteries since that time, but still, bigger is better.) The Super Radio is also equipped with a heavy power cord- no wall warts here, just a standard size power cord self contained in the case- but the batteries last so long, it is tempting to just use the batteries and replace them when they grow weak. That can take a seriously long time, too: I have personally used mine at my work place daily on battery only for over six months, and replaced the batteries when the volume grew a bit weak.
Probably the best feature of the Super Radio is the simplicity- only basic controls, big “on/off” button, manual tuning via a large knob on the side, volume, bass, treble and a couple of switches for AM/FM and the like. The manual is well written and easy to read. If you really need to pick up extremely weak stations, screw terminals on the back allow you to connect both an FM antenna and even an AM antenna- very unusual these days. The reception is good enough that boosting the AM is rarely needed, but if you need to, something like the C. Crane Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna http://www.ccrane.com/antennas/am-antennas/twin-coil-ferrite-am-antenna.aspx is highly recommended.
Of course, nothing is perfect. Drawbacks on the Super Radio include size- it’s huge, and heavy- weighing over 6 lbs before you install the batteries. It does not have a built in weather radio, nor does it pick up short wave. But for a simple, reliable, long lasting radio with good reception and sound quality, you’d be hard pressed to find a better value for the money spent. And when the power goes out, you’ll be very happy you didn’t get the cheapest one in the box store.
Tomorrow: The Kaito 1121
First of all, what not to buy: cheap is good when you are buying beans or gas, but not when you need a quality bit of kit to keep you safe. That said, you don’t have to break the bank and get the most expensive either, especially where radios are concerned. Since TV is the ‘big dog’ in the entertainment world today, radio has to compete by offering a lot for the money, and that gives you some real bargains. Yet a lot of people still think a radio is just a radio, and the $10 special at Big Lots is good enough. It might be, but I’d rather spend a bit more and know I can depend on my radio to get the job done when I need it. One example, the lovely CT Girl received her choice of gifts recently at her place of employment during an appreciation day. She opted for a portable size ‘emergency radio’ that included AM/FM and NOAA weather radio, built in flashlight and even an emergency button that flashed the LED light and made siren sounds thru the radio. Power was supplied by AA batteries or a hand crank generator. Sounds great, doesn’t it? It would have been, if all those features worked as advertised. In reality, the first thing she tried to do was crank the generator handle to charge the batteries. The crank handle broke off in her hand. Not a good start. It got worse: radio reception on AM, while decent, was very noisy- so noisy that except for strong local stations it was unlistenable. FM had a lot of drift, and the NOAA required much effort to tune in the local station- the tower of which is visible from our front yard. Rather than toss the radio, I spent an hour and some epoxy repairing the crank, which works well now. It sits in the corner, a reminder that all those features don’t mean squat if they don’t work.
What is a good radio, then? Not a subject to be covered in a short blog post, for certain. Entire books are written on the subject, and thousands of web pages. But I would like to introduce you to a couple of my favorites, and tell you why I think they are worth having around.
First of all, the venerable and popular GE Super Radio, pictured above.
Sadly, the liberal dolt that has been running General Electric into the ground has been forced into selling off a lot of things to keep from bankrupting the company, and the Super Radio has been one of the casualties. Search for a super radio on Amazon, and you’ll find it now labeled as the RCA Super Radio. Fear not, however- there are millions of the GE versions still out there, and who knows, RCA might even improve upon the design and make it better. Time will tell.
Why a Super Radio? Well, a radio is a personal choice, and it may or may not fit what you like in a radio, but for millions of us country folks who don’t live in a city full of radio stations, it is the best bang for the buck. Prices vary from $79 retail, down to $39 on sale for a new radio, or if you feel lucky even less for used models. For that little coin you get excellent reception on both AM and FM bands, as well as good, clear sound quality on both voice frequencies and music. But the best feature of the radio is one you seldom see mentioned: battery life. In a world of gadgets powered by boatloads of AA or AAA batteries that last a few days, the Super Radio uses 6- count ‘em, SIX- big, heavy “D” size batteries. My former employer, owner of the AM Station I worked at in the 80’s, would use nothing but the Super Radio for remotes and DX listening, and often remarked to me that the “D” batteries gave much more battery life per dollar spent than the smaller and less powerful cells. (Battery engineering has greatly improved AA batteries since that time, but still, bigger is better.) The Super Radio is also equipped with a heavy power cord- no wall warts here, just a standard size power cord self contained in the case- but the batteries last so long, it is tempting to just use the batteries and replace them when they grow weak. That can take a seriously long time, too: I have personally used mine at my work place daily on battery only for over six months, and replaced the batteries when the volume grew a bit weak.
Probably the best feature of the Super Radio is the simplicity- only basic controls, big “on/off” button, manual tuning via a large knob on the side, volume, bass, treble and a couple of switches for AM/FM and the like. The manual is well written and easy to read. If you really need to pick up extremely weak stations, screw terminals on the back allow you to connect both an FM antenna and even an AM antenna- very unusual these days. The reception is good enough that boosting the AM is rarely needed, but if you need to, something like the C. Crane Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna http://www.ccrane.com/antennas/am-antennas/twin-coil-ferrite-am-antenna.aspx is highly recommended.
Of course, nothing is perfect. Drawbacks on the Super Radio include size- it’s huge, and heavy- weighing over 6 lbs before you install the batteries. It does not have a built in weather radio, nor does it pick up short wave. But for a simple, reliable, long lasting radio with good reception and sound quality, you’d be hard pressed to find a better value for the money spent. And when the power goes out, you’ll be very happy you didn’t get the cheapest one in the box store.
Tomorrow: The Kaito 1121
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