I’ve started using the phrase, Swiss Army Knife™, to describe some radios. I thought it would be worth some time talking about the concept and applying it to some examples I have. The general term refers to a useful tool that performs many functions, as do the Swiss Army Knives made by Victorinox in Switzerland (who owns the trademark).
My working definition is: a shortwave radio that has at least two distinct non-radio functions, but is not generally considered a “weather radio,” although it might have a weather band. I’ve already presented my Thunderous Clash of the Weather Radios article for weather radios. Examples of a second function might include a flashlight or a music player (Bluetooth or MP3). I saw a radio for sale once that included a bottle opener.
Bottom Row: HanRongDa HRD-757, Raddy RF75A, LiJiANi Rd239
Evche EC-2110BTS
This is the only example that doesn’t include extra bands beyond MW/FM/SW. It’s a fairly basic radio, but it has MP3 play capability, Bluetooth and a flashlight. It charges from solar power or USB Micro and has a nice carrying handle. It also has a USB-A jack for a flash drive.
It’s performance as a radio is severely lacking. The MW tuning range is from 522 to 1620, not what is used in North America, and I presume that the MW channel spacing is 9 kHz, handicapping it. It’s speaker, however, can be turned up louder than any radio I have. So it works as a Bluetooth speaker or MP3 player.
It has flexible power, with an 18650 rechargeable battery, 2 D cells or AC power for 110/220V.
HanRongDa HRD-757
The HRD-757 is my newest radio It is an AM/FM/SW radio, plus AIR, Weather (with alerts), VHF/UHF, flashlight, SOS alarm, Bluetooth, TF card play and a record function.
It’s interesting to follow the evolution of radios from this manufacturer from the HRD-701 to the Raddy RF75A (HRD-787) to the HRD-757 (with others in the series that I don’t have). New models retain operating characteristics but add new twists. They all have MP3 with equalizer, Weather band with alerts and Bluetooth support. The 787 added app support, a flashlight and VHF. The 757 added on AIR band, UHF, lighted keys, a perpetual calendar and an equalizer for radio. The number of station memories increased with each model.
LiJiANi Rd239
The Rd239 has been a good performer that I actively use. It is an AM/FM/SW radio, plus AIR, Weather (with alerts), VHF, flashlight, reading light, SOS alarm, Bluetooth, plus TF card record and play. FM performance is particularly good.
It has a great deal in common with the HanRongDa/Raddy models, but it is distinct in other ways, one of which is firmware updates. The radio I bought came with firmware version 2.7. There have been several updates, and the current ones come with 3.3. Users can update the firmware of this radio themselves, so it just keeps getting better.
Raddy RF75A
This little fellow is a good example, perhaps the one in mind when I came up with the Swiss Army Knife concept. It is an MW/FM/SW radio, plus AIR, Weather (with alerts) and VHF. It has a flashlight, SOS alarm, Bluetooth, TF card play and a record function.
Here’s a feature comparison:
| Feature | EVCHE EC-2110BTS | HanRongDa HRD-757 | LiJiANi Rd239 | Raddy RF75A |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MW Band | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| FM Band | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| SW (MHz) | 5.9 – 18 | 3.2 – 30 | 3.2 – 29.995 | 4.75 – 21.85 |
| Weather Band / Alerts | Y | Y | Y | |
| AIR Band | Y | Y | ||
| VHF Band | Y | Y | Y | |
| UHF Band | Y | |||
| Auto Tune Memories | 1000 | 495 | 400 | |
| ATS Shortwave | 200 | 99 | 100 | |
| Flashlight | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Reading Light | Y | |||
| MP3 Play | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Max Card size | Not specified | 256 GB | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| MP3 Record | Y | Y | Requires app | |
| Solar | Y | |||
| Lighted buttons | Y | Y | ||
| Bluetooth | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Computer USB speaker | Y | Y | Y | |
| Computer TF file access | Y | See notes | Y | |
| Squelch on AIR band | Y See notes | Y See notes | ||
| Antenna length | 47 cm | 60 cm | 60 cm | 33 cm |
| Power | AC, 2 D cells, 18650 | 18650 | BL-5C, 3 AA | Internal |
| AKA | RF757 ZWS-757 | HRD-787 | ||
| Retail Price on Amazon US | n/a | $80.88 Zhiwhis with coupon | $42.90 with coupon |
While the LiJiANi attempts to provide PC access and displays a file icon in Windows, one cannot actually access the files.
Squelch can be turned on, but not the level is not adjustable
Performance
Hear are the midday MW and FM band scan results:
The LiJiANi is best of show within the group on MW and the HanRongDa inches ahead in FM.
Shortwave performance
I wouldn’t consider active using the EVCHE for shortwave. One can’t identity the frequency, and performance is poor.
Among the other three, it’s possible to hear stations that sound good. Here’s the RF75A with afternoon indoors reception; note the strong audio.
Meanwhile, back at the pond
I took the three digital radios down the pond to reduce radio interference. I wanted to see how they handled a weak station only audible with an external antenna. The first problem was finding a suitably weak signal. These radios take over 10 minutes to do a shortwave band scan, and the temperature outside today is 92F. To solve that problem, I took a 4th radio, my Tecsun PL-330 as a reference radio that scans only within the broadcast frequencies and completes much quicker.
The LiJiANi has another problem beyond a talking a long time for an ATS scan. It also has only 1oo memory slots, and in practice with an external antenna the 99 slots filled up long before the scan was complete.
The second challenge is tuning the Raddy RF75A. It has no direct frequency entry except though the app, that that’s very hard to use on the phone in direct sun. So I had to take the phone over to a tree to tune the radio.
I selected 2 stations, Radio China International on 17765 kHz and Ifrikya FM (Algeria) on 17600. Both were inaudible without the external Sangean ANT-60 reel antenna. The following video shows the comparison between the three radios and the reference radio. The RF75A was the loser and the others were somewhat similar.
Selectivity
I tried one other test and that was of a strong station with the antenna. The following video only shows the HanRongDa HRD-757, but the results were essentially the same with the LiJiANi Rd239. The radio played the station on frequencies +/- 10 kHz of the actual frequency of 17855, Radio Exterior de España.
Conclusions?
The Evche EC-2110BTS is a radio I never use. I can’t sell it because the solar panel mount is broken. It sits on the shelf. It could be used as a music player, but I don’t need it.
The Raddy RF75A is useful because of its small size. It gets strong stations. The app is nice and the radio can record.
The LiJiANi is the next up the charts. It’s really useful radio and is probably the best value in the group.
I put the HanRongDa HRD-757 on top for its excellent display and good audio; however, it costs double the LiJiANi.