T REVIEW M Thorough Testing by MT’s Top Techs The Poor Man Investigates … the World’s Worst World Receiver? By Eric Bryan

he Bell + Howell 9 Band World Receiver FM selector buttons, and a vertically oriented is an analog-tuned pocket radio with analog dial face. Mediumwave and a dial scale T MW, FM, and seven shortwave bands. are on the left, followed by the 49 to 16 meter It has the extended FM band and covers the 49, shortwave bands, with the FM band on the far 41, 31, 25, 22/21, 19, and 16 meter bands. This right of the scale. radio first appeared several years ago, and can At the base of the dial face is a red LED occasionally be found used or new for about $10. signal strength indicator, a green LED MW/SW I bought one at a garage sale for 50¢ (batteries indicator light, and a red LED FM/TV light. included!). On the top of the cabinet above the dial face When I first saw it, I remembered the hor- is a slider switch to select mediumwave or any rendous reviews the radio has received over the of the shortwave bands 1-7. Although, as will years. Many were the most vitriolic, negative be seen, the information was of limited use, the reports I’d ever seen of a pocket shortwave set. frequency range of the shortwave bands as listed There seemed to be passionate hatred for this on the dial face are shown in Table 1. receiver amongst the radio hobby crowd. the same on the Bell + Howell. I wish I could It’s been my experience that the writers of TABLE 1: FREQUENCY COVERAGE have! The frustrating thing was that 31 meters the most extremely negative reviews of low- bottomed out at 9630, despite the dial setting cost, pocket shortwave radios dismiss them 49 meters 5.90-6.90 MHz reading 9.30 MHz. REE sounded good, but I out of hand with knee-jerk reactions based on 41 meters 6.90- 8.10 MHz could not tune below that to see if this little unit comparisons with high-end equipment. It also 31 meters 9.30-10.30 MHz could pull out CBC next to it. seems apparent to me that often the writers of 25 meters 11.60 -13.50 MHz From the reception capabilities I found on 22/21 meters 13.00 -15.00 MHz these reviews simply didn’t try very hard to get 19 meters 14.80-16.50 MHz this radio, CBC 9625 should have been listen- performance out of the cheap radio in question. 16 meters 17.10-19.10 MHz able had I been able to tune the radio to this They usually describe a cursory run through the frequency. bands leading to a quick consignment to the junk Tuning was a little stiff, and some rocking drawer. ❖ Performance back and forth was necessary to settle correctly I thought that seeing what a cheap pocket When first firing up this little receiver in the on the desired frequency. For the most part, set can do required more patience than that. And middle of the day local time, I was able to tune signals were not crammed together or difficult now that I had one of these models virtually for WWV on 10000 kHz without much trouble. I to separate. free, I was curious to put it to the test and see for was happy to see the calibration here was cor- In the late afternoon I found Radio Australia myself if these rancorous reviews were justified. rect, with the needle straight across 10.00 MHz. on 17795 kHz with a decent signal using the Is this really the pocket shortwave radio from Unfortunately, the calibration further down 31 whip. Clipping on the wire made the broadcast hell? Is it truly, a piece of junk which you should meters quickly became extremely inaccurate. easily listenable and enjoyable. But here again avoid? Or, if you haven’t managed to avoid it, On my Degen DE1103 I could hear CBC frequency calibration was an issue: The dial read should you immediately throw yours away as Quebec on 9625 kHz, despite the adjacent REE somewhere around 18.40 MHz – fairly atrocious, some reviewers advised? via Costa Rica on 9630 kHz, I wanted to try but endemic with some of these small analog sets Bearing in mind that this radio made over the last decade or so. usually went for about half the price of Calibration on 19 meters was simi- the Grundig Mini 100PE or the Kaito larly poor, with WWV 15000 kHz just WRX911, I wanted to see what just what squeaking onto the band well below it could do. Here’s what I found. 14800 kHz, and the Voice of Russia on 15425 kHz appearing at 15800 kHz. ❖ Features That’s horrendous, but hearing VOR in English with room-filling sound and The radio measures roughly 5”x quality is making me feel very good 3”x 1” and runs on two AA batteries. about that 50¢ expenditure. It really The 21-inch telescopic antenna, which sounded quite nice and clear as I sat folds down onto the top of the cabinet, there listening to a program covering swivels side to side but doesn’t rotate. the Greek economy, with the red tun- On the left side there is a center-negative ing LED glowing on and off with the DC3V power jack, an earphone jack, and good signal. the volume/on/off switch. As I explored the bands and sampled A tuning knob and wrist strap are these broadcasts, the radio exhibited a on the right side of the cabinet, and a moderate frequency drift. When settled small world time zone map is on the on a frequency, such as that of the back (requires a magnifier for use). On Voice of Russia’s English broadcast, the front of the radio are AM/SW and BELL+HOWELL 9 BAND WORLD RECEIVER I found I needed to retune frequently,

70 MONITORING TIMES October 2011 but not constantly. • The atrocious calibration in most In experimenting to find the areas of the shortwave bands. Both the best shortwave reception, I alternated Kaito and Grundig radios suffered from calibration inaccuracy in portions of the between using the whip and clipping shortwave bands, but the Bell + Howell on a short indoor wire. In some cases stretches this to extremes. reception quality was excellent with • The deadening of 49 meters when the wire detached, and sometimes the radio is held in the hand. This is a the set would overload with the wire major drawback for a pocket radio, which obviously would see much handheld clipped on. A more efficient method for dealing use in normal operation. with over-strong signals was to simply leave the ❖ FM Broadcast Band wire antenna attached and flip the DX-Local Reception of FM stations was very good on The FM performance of this radio was switch to Local. this little set. Using a quality pair of earphones, I among the best of all the pocket receivers I’ve If a signal was suffering from interference, found the audio to be in mono, but clear and rich tried. I found the FM reception results of the Bell reception quality could often be improved by on strong signals. Even the lower-powered college + Howell comparable to that of the Kaito KA105, switching between the antenna stations which carry NPR and lo- a digital PLL-tuned pocket MW/SW/FM radio. and DX-Local selection. How- cal, commercial-free programming I don’t think, based on some of my monitor- ever, when switching the selector came in with listenable signals. The ing of shortwave broadcast signals, that this radio to Local, I found the set did need FM band was packed with stations is actually junk or should not qualify as a “radio” a substantial volume increase and, other than a lack of a stereo as some other reviewers have said. If it were all to compensate for loss of signal option for earphones, I can find no I had, I would feel fortunate to be able to listen strength. fault with reception on this band. regularly to the English programming from Rus- One oddity with this radio The dial calibration of the FM band sia and New Zealand and (I’m sure) Croatia and is that when tuning through 49 was quite good. many other places. For the usual price it went for, meters in particular, the band ap- it’s not that bad. peared more or less dead if I was ❖ Verdict As slight as a $10 analog pocket shortwave holding the radio while tuning. Of all these inexpensive set may seem to some, it is still a powerful tool When I set the radio on the table pocket analog shortwave sets I’ve to mentally step outside of your culture and get and kept just enough fingertip tried, the one that was initially in touch with sounds, voices, ideas, and music pressure to prevent it from falling the most surprising and the most from other lands. This modest 50¢ garage sale over while I tuned, the band came fun was the Grundig Mini World Bell + Howell still provides a means to escape to life. While writing this review, 100PE. To be able to hear Radio the high-pressure babbling of commercial radio, Arnie Coro’s DXers Unlimited Bulgaria and many others off the and to experience virtual travel to far away points was coming in well over RHC whip out of such a tiny device around the world. We shortwave enthusiasts on 6010 kHz with the radio sit- seemed amazing. know that is no small thing. ting on the table. But, if I picked On the Grundig 100PE, I the receiver up the signal all but logged most of the Central and disappeared. Eastern European international In local mornings, when broadcasters, Channel Africa, all PRESS looking for Voice of Korea in of the usual heavy-hitters, and even English on 25 meters, several MTX hams in AM mode from Maine and extremely strong signals made elsewhere. The only real drawback The Real Deal separating some of the channels of the 100PE was an IF issue on 49 difficult. North Korea was easily meters, making the use of a clip-on heard on my DE1103, so the Bell wire antenna problematic on that If you orderNOW , you + Howell’s limited selectivity and band. dynamic range when confronted will get 14 ISSUES for I had overall reception with a band crowded with strong the price of 12! That’s results with the Kaito WRX911 broadcasts was made apparent in equivalent to those of the 100PE, right, for only $19.95 this case. though without quite as much Images were certainly pres- you’ll get an EXTRA 2 fun. But this Kaito radio had more ent, as you’d expect on a budget, MONTHS! Just mention shortwave spectrum coverage than single-conversion radio and typi- the Grundig, and it was free of the code MTJAN10 when cally appeared in the band below IF troubles on 49 meters. It was the the actual band of broadcast. The you place your order. combination of extreme compact- Voice of Russia from 19 meters And this great offer ness and surprising performance showed up at the top of 22 meters, and WHRI which made the 100PE so much fun and enjoyable INCLUDES our all-new from 41 meters presented itself somewhere to use. above 49 meters. Sometimes the image of- MTX TRA foreign- Though taking into account the somewhat fered better reception, providing an “optional language shortwave poor reception conditions present while I tried out frequency” if the real channel suffered from the Bell + Howell radio, I think it’s a bit behind guide! Don’t miss this interference. the Grundig and Kaito in performance on short- fantastic offer, place wave. Sensitivity is not bad. Keeping in mind it your order TODAY! ❖ Mediumwave was selling for around $10, there’s not that much Scanning the mediumwave band after wrong with it for that price. sundown and working off the internal ferrite bar antenna, I found KGO San Francisco was The three obvious disadvantages of this radio easily heard with a strong signal. I also received are: stations from Vancouver, Nevada, and other PRESS neighboring states. Calibration was a bit off on • The band limitations, with 31 and 49 meters bottoming out way too high and so leaving MTX this band, but usable. large portions of the bands uncovered. www.grove-ent.com

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