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| Reviews Summary for Radio Shack DX-160 |
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Reviews: 31
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Average rating: 3.6/5
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MSRP: $$160 (ca 1975)
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Description: General coverage receiver, solid state, analog readout, single-conversion, AM - SSB, coverage 150Khz to 30 Mhz.
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More info: http://
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write your own review of the Radio Shack DX-160.
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N6KYS
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Rating: 0/5
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Aug 28, 2007 21:16
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A nightmare in the hamshack
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This receiver is only good for the most casual applications.....eg. in a cottage at the lake hooked up to a long wire strung up in a tree...that's it (meanwhile, pray that it gets stolen while you're away). It will entertain, but what a mess to use in any serious application, especially in the hamshack. Very poor dial calibration....IF alignments were worse than poor in these radios. Sensitivity was sporadic, depending on the band, and drifting was pathetic. Only buy one of these if it costs maybe $20 and you want to elmer a kid, for example. Otherwise, save yourself the grief and get something better.
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KU2US
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 17, 2007 09:40
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I LOVE IT
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I gave this little blast from the past a "5", for one reason. Its ability to pull out those weak stations. I have owned over 20 different recievers in my lifetime, but very few can match the sensitivity. Drift? let it warm up for 5 minutes, it goes away. For AM BCB Dx'ing it is super. Yes, frequency location may be a problem, but hunting for a station or being "suprised" is fun. Its built like a rock, sensitive, great and usefull antenna trim, good BFO & AVC. For the $$ these beauties are selling for on Ebay, get one. The DX-160 brings back the FUN in SWL/BCB Dxing. My antenna is a 102' G5RV Ham dipole. I also use an external tuner to help. I have had this radio for over 20 years now with no problems. It seems that the less than stellar reviews are comming from those who are radio afficiendos-OK, its not a Grundig or an Icom, but in many respects it outperforms the lot of them. I know, I have owned many of them. For a single conversion this radio's front end is HOT. I have a 50KW AM station 20 miles from me (WHAM-clear channel), No problem with the DX-160. Over-all, a great working, great looking and enjoyable radio that will let you snag some rare ones-with a little patience. Ken-KU2US
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W6PMR
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Rating: 1/5
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Jun 5, 2007 17:06
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OK $30:00 radio!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I can only suppose that the "great" and "good" reviews are based on a lack of knowledge about receivers.
I can only repeat what some of the other reviewers have to say. Numb sensitivity above 12-15mhz. Awful tuning backlash and dial calibration is just a wishful thought. For Ham use other than listining to strong stations that are somewhat far apart, (Poor selectivity rears it's single conversion head) it is useless on CW,
drifts a bunch on SSB and the audio amp is a case study in being under powered.
That being said it's an OK BC band garage radio, looks good on a display shelf and if you buy it for $30:00 or less you don't feel that bad about owning this radio. I have one up on the shelf and that, dear fellow radio people,is where it shines, as an object to look at and talk about.....certainly not to use.
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N7WIS
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Rating: 3/5
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Jun 5, 2007 14:09
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Back to the future
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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In December 1970 Ma bought Dad the DX160 for christmas. He had a Hallicrafters before that. I don't think Dad ever got to use the DX-160 as he was in the last stages of lung cancer. Ma took it back to Radio Shack after the funeral and they refunded the money.
In 2002 I found a DX-160 at our local Goodwill store for $29.95. It had been refurbished(whatever that means) It had the tecknicians label on the back.
The rig works very well. It has a quieter circuitry than the Radio Shack DX302 I have and therefore pulls in the stations in the forty meter band and lower clearer.
I tuned the pot for the highest band at WWV 15.000 to peak up that segment without much success. Considering I'm running both radios on fifteen feet of wire perhaps more antenna and outside placing would help.I am near above ground utilities(sixty feet) and the buzz except late at night makes reception a chore.
Being single conversion there always seems to be background am when I listen to the marine band(Coastguard) at 6.506 and Australian Marine at 6.509.
It is a icon and I need a way to mount it on my 1958 Sears J.C. Higgins luggage rack.
Lee M.
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NIGHTHAWK
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 1, 2005 14:20
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Great Radio!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I purchased this radio off of eBay for a total of $62.50 in May 2005. I wanted an older radio because I like all the dials and knobs on it, kinda makes me think back to the old days that my grandpa tells me about. When I got this unit, it was well packaged and not a scratch on it, it has a copy of the original owners manual (one owner).
This unit for the most part outpreforms my Grundig S350 and most other radios that are two times its cost, I know this unit isn't the best but preforms a lot better than I expected. I like the antenna tuner and the operate/stand-by switch on this so that I don't have to turn the whole unit off everytime I do something else. I have heard the low power WWV and CHU time stations that operate on 2.5 and 3 kw (I'm in Iowa) usually I don't get those with other units. This radio does pretty good an AM too, I have gotten 720 WGN from Chicago a lot and a lot of other clear channel stations from out east.
I have 75 ft of longwire for an antenna strung out on my apartments porch, it seems to do pretty good with not a lot of interference comming from any of the telephone wires near-by.
Overall, this is a good radio apart from the inaccurate dial. I would reccomend it to anyone because these units are starting to get more scare and harder come by as the years go on.
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KB3LYP
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Rating: 3/5
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Aug 22, 2005 13:39
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You always remember your first rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I got my 160 as a boy back in 1977. It replaced my old Heathkit AR-2. I did a lot of great DXing with the 160 and I kept it until I was able to upgrade to a digital rig, the DX400.
I remember the 160 as a good, basic, sensitive rig. The antenna tuner was a plus that I wish all rigs had. Of course, you had to get real handy with the bandspread. A 500-khz marker would have been nice to help align the main tuner on those little stars so you could use the bandspread. Remember all those frequency graphs you drew up to use the bandspread? Those were the days, hi! But that was a nice, fat bandspread dial that was relatively easy to use.
I always wondered why Band C covered so little of the SW bands (1.8-4 mhz) while Band E covered 15-30 mhz. Talk about cramming the frequency spread! All these analogue radios did that. But having the longwave bands covered was a plus.
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K2VI
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Rating: 4/5
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Aug 6, 2005 18:21
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vintage at it's best
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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although one should not pay more than 50.00 for this radio unless it has the original manual and box.This recievers tuning accuracy is usually always off,the reciever drifts quite a bit so you would have to touch the bandspread every few minuites.The sensitivity is excellent and the selectivity is very good as long as you listen in ssb mode using the bfo to zero beat.I personally love this well constructed radio and for the vintage collector its super,if you want accuracy and stability get a sangean ats 909.
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KE0VH
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Rating: 4/5
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Apr 29, 2005 11:34
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Great Old Radio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I really enjoy my DX-160 and will probably keep it forever. I use mine to work HAM-AM with an old restored ELMAC AF-67. I listen to EWTN regularly with it and BC AM too. Great receiver, not full fidelity sound but good enough. I just love the radio. I did the non-abtrusive mod to connect to my freq counter to see the frequency digital, and it enjoys a prominent part of my shack. www.qsl.net/ke0vh/station.html Also, if you need a service manual and/or owners manual, I will be glad to email you the file. ke0vh@qsl.net
KEØVH
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VO1MDS
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 26, 2005 19:32
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I LOVE MY THE DX-160s
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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THIS IS ONE RADIO I WELL NEVER EVER GET RID OF, I JUST LOVE THE LOOK AND FEEL OF THESE OLD RADIOS, TO PROVE IT, I NOW OWN THREE DX-160S AND TWO MATCHING SP-150s, I AM NOW EVEN BUYING ANOTHER DX-160 FOR ABOUT $40.00 WITH THE SAME BOX AND SALES SLIP THAT WENT WITH HER.
THESE RECIEVERS GOT REAL EARS, THESE BABIES CAN HERE STATIONS THAT MY PREVIOUS ICOM-R71A WOULD NOT EVEN HEAR, NOW THAT IS WHAT YOU CALL EARS, OLD ANALOG RECIEVERS CAN BE VERY SENSITIVE TO LOW SIGNAL TRANSMISSIONS, ASK ANYONE THAT EVER OWNED A DX-160 OR EVEN LIKE MYSELF STILL OWN ONE AND THEY WELL TELL YOU THE SAME THING, GRAB EM WHILE YOU CAN, THERE GETTING MORE SCARCE BY THE YEAR.
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KC8YHU
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Rating: 4/5
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Oct 13, 2003 21:43
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Great for Ham listening ok for broadcast
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I received this radio from another ham for free who I thanked a lot and I still ow him a lot of thanks. Anyway this radio is great. I like the Ant Trim and the Opr Switch. However it is hard to tune into a specific station and mine is a little off due to age. But when scanning the ham bands it is great. The BFO works like a charm.
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