For the start of this tale, see FM Radio Shootout: Part 1.
Junior League
Update:
I received a strongly-worded challenge from the International Little Radio League (ILRL) over my selection of contestants. They contended that the Mesqool CR1015 was oversized, and took me to task for omitting another very qualified candidate, the Raddy RF75A. Mea culpa.
It’s a really interesting radio with Bluetooth, MP3, App control, weather alerts and VHF. I’ll update the material below to include some of the points of this radio.
The main story
As temperatures climb outside, I’ve gotten interested in the junior league, prompted in part by the receipt of my latest radio, a Tecsun Q3 Pocket Radio Recorder/Digital Audio Player. It’s upper left in the Junior League contestants photo:
Bottom: Mesqool CR-1015, Degen DE15, Degen DE28, HanRongDa HRD-701
Comparison table:
| Feature | CR1015 | DE15 | DE28 | HRD-701 | PL-118 | Q3 | RF75A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MW | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||
| SW | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||
| Weather | Y | Y | Y | ||||
| VHF | Y | ||||||
| MP3 | Y | Y | Y | Y | |||
| Record | Y | Y | Y | ||||
| ATS | 235 | 1500 | 297 | Y | Y | 396 | |
| AUX in | Y | Y | |||||
| Tuning | Button | Button | Knob | Knob | Button | Direct | Button |
| Clock | Y | Y | Y | Y | |||
| Bluetooth | Y | Y | |||||
| App | Y |
The Q3 is unusual in that it does not have a conventional telescopic antenna, but rather uses a woven metallic wrist strap in a plastic sleeve.
Blog or Die! articles on these radios:
- Mesqool CR1015 — a radio you perhaps have not seen
- Degen DE15 Vs. Grundig M400
- Battle of the under $50 shortwave radios
- HanRongDa HRD-701 — Many Features, tiny package
- Tecsun PL-118 Stereo FM radio review
- Raddy RF75A MW/FM/SW/WB/VHF Receiver Review
Performance
Expectations are defined by my daytime band scan results:
From the chart, one would expect the Degen DE15 to be the best of the Junior League with the Raddy RF75A running neck and neck. In my quick test, this was confirmed. I didn’t do a comparison video because frankly tuning the radios was a pain, and how well they worked depended on precisely how they were held.
I did one test to demonstrate the Tecsun Q3 when used as a sound recorder, the results of an an ATS scan on the DE15 recorded on the Tecsun Q3 using the aux cable that came with the Q3. The earphone jack was the output for the DE15. The nice thing about this setup is that one can hear the program on the Q3 speaker while it’s being recorded. I bought the Q3 just for this purpose.
At this point I should add that the HRD-701 has the best speaker of the group. I featured it on my National Yellow Radio Day video.