In a moment of weakness, I ordered a HanRongDa HRD-757 (aka Raddy RF757) from AliExpress for around $72 including tax and shipping. Note: my Incoming Radio posts often change until the radio is received.
I expect a good bit of similarity between this and my shirt pocket Raddy RF75A (aka HanRongDa HRD-787) with its record capability and app control (same app).
What does it add that I don’t already have? It has UHF. From the product description:
Frequency Range:
FM1: 64.0-108MHz
FM2: 76.0-108MHz
FM3: 87.5-108MHz
MW: 520-1710KHz
SW: 3.20-30.00MHz
Air: 118.00-138.00MHz
VHF UHF: 25-999MHz
WB: 162.400-162.550MHz
Technical documentation is here: https://device.report/manual/12539761. The only user manual I found was under the Raddy RF757 name.
The manual is simply awful; for example, one of the buttons is labeled “SNOOZE / STEP.” So what does the step function do?”
1: In the state of receiving, lightly press the “+/-” to adjust the bits of the shuttle. After the bits flash, rotate the shuttle knob to choose a target frequency.
Also, one cannot search for some text in the PDF manual; it’s using some weird character set; other parts can be searched.
It appears to be powered by an 18650 battery (included) and has backlit buttons (yea!). It has MP3 play, record and a flashlight. It adds a thermometer and a calendar. USB-C charging cable is included.
So start the delivery wait timer on July 5, 2024. Scheduled arrival, July 19.
Rambling
Once the order is placed, there is the occasional doubt, additional research, and things learned. One observation is that this radio, along with the Raddy RF75A and the LiJiANi Rd239 have a “clock state.” The radio is turned on with two presses of the power button. After the first, the clock is displayed for a period of time, during which a second press of the power button turns the radio on. The Rd239 and the HRD-757 both have backlighted buttons. The RF75A really doesn’t have much in the way of buttons (just 6 on the front) plus two on one side and one on the other).
There are some nice pictures and specifications on the Raddy sales page.
So how big is this thing? I’ve learned that you really can’t tell a radio’s size from the photos, often supplied with artificial background images. The size is 5.4 x 3.4 x 1.2in / 138 x 86 x 30mm. I think the closest radio I have to that size is the Tecsun PL-330 at 139 x 85 x 26mm. It’s naturally thicker because of the larger battery.
Probably the first things I’ll do with the radio when it arrives is to run the customary daytime band scan for MW and FM. Then I think comparisons with with some other radios is in order. One obvious comparison is with the LiJiANi Rd239 since they have similar features: AIR, VHF, MP3, Flashlight, Weather alert, and record. Because the HRD-757 uses an 18650 battery and the Rd239 uses a BL-5C (with 3 AAA option), I’m interested in what the battery drain will be in Weather alert mode and whether my small solar panel will be enough to keep either running indefinitely in alert mode.
My personal interest in AIR/VHF/UHF is minimal and I won’t do much testing there, so comparison testing makes sense with the Tecsun PL-330 and Qodosen DX-286.
And I am left with the burning question: will I rewrite the User Manual for the HRD-757? First I want to see what they send me — if it’s the same as the horrendous RF757 manual. I would like to work out a methodology for radio manuals, both content and construction. My rewrite of the XHDATA D-808 manual was done in Microsoft Publisher and it worked out fairly well, but it appears that Microsoft Word is more an “industry standard.”
A couple of concerns have come up, one being a whole week with no update in tracking information; it could be lost (wouldn’t be the first time an AliExpress order never arrived). The other is the lack of a bandwidth setting for shortwave. It seems to me that most radios intended for shortwave listening include a bandwidth control. Just looking at the radio shelf, I see most with a bandwidth control: Tecsun PL-330, PL-660, PL-990, Qodosen SR-286, DX-286, Sihuadon R-108, XHDATA D-109, D-808, Eton Elite Executive, and Sangean ATS-405. The LiJiANi Rd239 doesn’t have one.
Tracking:
As of July 15 at 07:54 PM EST
- Left from transit country/region
Jul 8, 21:00 EST - Arrived in transit country/region
Jul 8, 20:33 EST - Leaving from departure country/region
Jul 8, 04:00 EST - Handed over to line-haul
Jul 7, 12:58 EST - Left from departure country/region sorting center
Jul 7, 12:21 EST - Processing at departure country/region sorting center
Jul 6, 12:47 EST - Received by logistics company
Jul 6, 12:17 EST - Left from warehouse
Jul 6, 11:31 EST - Shipment info received by warehouse
Jul 5, 22:11 EST
Hi Kevin,
I picked one of these up as a HanRongDa HRD-757 as soon as they were available. It seems to have a similar feature set to the HRD747/Raddy RF760 (but I can read the display on this one without a magnifier). I was pleased with the audio quality and performance, as it’s similar to most of the HRD/Raddy radios I have (too many!). The biggest complaint I have is the lack of squelch on VHF/UHF with these radios. It does seem to have an auto-muting feature in these bands, which acts as a partial squelch. I see that HRD/Raddy added squelch on the RF-919, which is nice, but at a substantial increase in price, of course. With each of these radios, there are usually a bunch of amazing features and great performance, but there are always one or two annoying little things that they forget. I’m glad I found your blog, by the way. We seem to have similar addictions to these radios 🙂
W2NDG
In these days, it was probably not a good idea to name a radio after a Boeing jet model.