I have not found a sangeon/rs type that i didn't like. The 398 could have most of the same guts as the old models. I have the rs dx-380 (retired/no ssb/originally purchased in'92) and dx-390 (in '95 used - worn ac adapter jack _ i haven't fixed it yet). Both radios performed well but both had a few common issues....
Be careful with static electricity when handling the radios as I've blown a couple preamp stages (send-off repairs are not cheap). Also, I've had the battry protection diodes fail on both of mine. (These diodes prevent the ac adapter from charging the batteries-something you don't want to do with alkalines). In one of these instances, the failure caused a nasty acid leak and lots of smoke. I'd only leave the memory batteries when I have the ac adapter plugged. I've also had some components (mainly near the power plug( unsolder themselves (this is a fairly common cause of device failure-mostly occurring in TV's but I've also seen it in radar detectors and car radios - easy to fix) KC5ELF -----Original Message----- From: Adam J. Melancon [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, August 02, 2002 1:18 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [brlug-general] would like to get started in short wave radio shack dx-398 Got it on sale for $149, regular price $249. You just have to be patient and keep checking radshack. This model is just basically a clone of the Sangean ATS-909 and is an excellent radio! The FM is great on this thing too, I tend to use it more on FM than shortwave lately though. To catch more stations i use some test wires that have the alligator clips on the ends from radio shack and clip my antenna to a metal slinky to give me a really long but travel friendly antenna! What is also cool is that you can tune in side band and catch hams talking and you can also catch SSTV transmitions from hams using some free software for the computer called MMSSTV. Hamscope is also a great free program for decoding morse code that you pick up from sideband. Just keep an eye out, those things go on sale all the time. And it was a good feeling knowing that i got $100 off :) Adam J. Melancon KD5QZG _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com _______________________________________________ General mailing list [email protected] http://brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net
