DEGEN DE1103 Manuel d'utilisateur télécharger pdf

70 MONITORING TIMES October 2009

IRST LOOK

New Product Reviews

ince my review of the DE1103 in the

March 2005 MT, and Ken Reitz’s review

of the KA1103 in April 2007, there

have been several other articles in Monitoring

Times with praise for this little portable world

band radio. A few years ago, Grove Enterprises

confirmed the positive reviews of this unit by

adding it to their selection of shortwave radios.

Now that I’ve been using the radio daily

for four years, I thought I would update readers

on its performance and how well it’s worn over

that time.

❖

What I Was Looking For

I was originally looking for a replacement

for my Sony ICF SW1, which, after 15 years of

daily use (including travel), started to develop

problems. That radio was a little gem, but for

my next go-around, I wanted to make sure I got

a portable radio with full coverage, from the

bottom of longwave to the top of shortwave,

tuned via a tuning dial in 1 kHz increments,

dual-conversion for image-rejection, capable of

decoding single-sideband signals, with direct-

entry capability and a reasonable number of

memories – 20-40 or so (the SW1’s 10 memories

were pretty restricting).

I noticed a flurry of new analog radios

coming from the Tecsun factory in Hong Kong,

some of which were rebadged as Grundigs and

other brands. These looked fun; some were

dual-conversion with impressive coverage, but

most didn’t have the SSB facility – plus, I would

forego the memory function on an analog set.

The Grundig YB 400/400 PE, with its

proven track record and solid reviews, almost fit

the bill. But it didn’t quite cover all of longwave,

and it lacked a tuning knob.

❖

Enter the DE1103

Shortly thereafter, I came across the Degen

DE1103 online and did a double-take at the faux

analog dial. I was surprised, as I read up on it,

to find it fulfilled all of my requirements.

But one thing concerned me: With that

big dial face, what about a keypad and direct-

frequency entry? The specs claimed the DE1103

had direct keypad entry, but where was the key-

pad? Oh, there – underneath the dial face – tiny

keys in a single row, numbered 1 to 0.

That would be hard to operate by feel in

the darkness, I thought.

And where was longwave? The specs said

it covered longwave, but that band didn’t appear

on the dial face.

I found the Passport to Worldband Radio’s

DE1103 review online, which praised the set

except for the ergonomics of the multi-function

tuning knob/decoder and the row of tiny buttons.

I liked the dial face, but that little row of buttons

was holding me up. What sealed my decision

were the informal users’ reviews I found online

and at the KA1103 Yahoo group.

Hong Kong-based eBay sellers were of-

fering the radio for about $65 delivered. At that

price, I took the plunge.

As the tuning knob/decoder developed

problems, I had to return the first radio. The

second radio had the same fault. I returned that

one for a third, which is the unit I own today.

About four years later, the tuning knob function

is still normal. Since I had to pay for postage on

all of this shipping back and forth, I ended up

spending about $110 dollars to get my DE1103

– about the same as if I’d bought the Kaito ver-

sion, the KA1103, from a US or Canadian seller

in the first place!

The specs of this radio can be hard to come

by. They are in Table One, according to the

Degen DE1103 user’s manual, translated from

the Chinese.

TABLE ONE: SPECIFICATIONS

Derived from Degen DE1103 User’s Manual

Frequency Range:

FM 76 - 108 MHz

LW 100 - 519 kHz

MW 520 - 1710 kHz

SW 1711 - 29999 kHz

Sensitivity:

FM - 10 mV

MW - 1mv/m

SW - 20 mV

SW Selectivity:

Wide band - 40dB

Narrow band - 50dB

AM 1st IF wide band: 55.845 MHz

AM 2nd IF narrow band: 450 kHz

Wide band < 6 kHz

Narrow band < 4 kHz

Power Supply:

Battery: 4 AA cells

External power: DC 8V 300mA

Recharging time: 1-23 hours

Speaker: D 77mm

Earphones: D 3.5mm

❖

Points of Confusion

There have been some inconsistencies in

the ads for the Kaito KA1103, which, so far as

I know, is still identical to the Degen DE1103

in all but name:

• SW coverage is indeed complete, starting from

1711 kHz, and not 3000 kHz, all the way to

29999 kHz.

• Though LW doesn’t appear on the dial face, the

1103 covers LW from 100 to 519 kHz.

• There is no beeper alarm, only radio.

• The 1103 runs on four AA cells, not three.

• There are 268 memories, but some of these

are used to remember your place on each of

the bands shown on the dial.

• And, of course, though there is no keypad in the

traditional layout, you can indeed direct-enter

and tune through any frequency between 100

to 29999 kHz, and 76 to 108 MHz.

In order to listen to longwave, you must

direct-enter a LW frequency, or have LW memo-

ries stored, in order to access that band. If you

direct-enter a LW frequency, you can then tune

up and down in that band via the tuning dial.

If, while tuning, you go past 519 kHz,

you’ll then be locked in MW, and will have to

go through the procedure again to get to LW. If

you tune below 100 kHz, you will land in the

FM band, and ditto to get back to LW.

So, though shortwave coverage is com-

plete from 1711 to 29999 kHz, if you are on a

frequency within one of the bands on the dial

face, you are locked into that band (needle wraps

around to the other end of the band when you try

to go past the top or bottom limit on that band).

You must direct-enter via the keypad a

frequency or memory outside one of these bands

in order to tune out-of-band. But, the memory

function covers the full frequency spectrum, so

you can have as many “out-of-band” memories

as you like.

The actual coverage of the bands on the

faux analog dial in kHz is:

3100 - 4100

4500 - 5500

The Degen DE1103/Kaito KA1103:

A Second Look

By Eric Bryan

1 2 3

Résumé du contenu

Page 1 - A Second Look

70 MONITORING TIMES October 2009FIRST LOOKNew Product ReviewsSince my review of the DE1103 in the March 2005 MT, and Ken Reitz’s review

Page 2 - Kaito KA-1103

October 2009 MONITORING TIMES 71 5500 - 6500 6500 - 7500 9000 - 10000 11450 - 12450 13450 - 14450 14950 - 15950 17050 - 18050

Page 3 - Going has never

72 MONITORING TIMES October 2009forgot to mention it in my initial review:• The memory function remembers the mode – AM or SSB – of t

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DEGEN DE1103 Manuel d'utilisateur

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