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| Reviews Summary for Redsun RP2100 |
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You can
write your own review of the Redsun RP2100.
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KD7RDZI2
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 29, 2007 12:42
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STEAL THIS RADIO!!!!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is a very different receiver from others. It covers continuously the spectrum from 520 Khz to 30Mhz and FM broadcasting.
It has two connectors clearly stated to be a 50 ohm (for dipoles, verticals, active antennas etc) and 500 ohm terminals (for antennas such as longwires, semirhombic antennas, folded dipoles without impedance transformers etc). No portable I have, such as degen de1103 and Sangean 909 have it. In this respect is similar to the Drake R8 and other tabletop.
It is a dual coversion receiver with the first IF very high in frequency and the second mixer at 455 Khz. In this respect is similar to good portables such as the Degen de 1103 and the Sangean 909.
IF filters are 10 Khz and 5 Khz. They seem to have a good shape. You might think that they are too wide. However they are perfect for AM shortwave, AM mediumwave. AM demodulation is far better than any other receiver I ever heard, included the Drake R8 and the Drake 2C.
Amazingly it has a IF output at 455 Khz. No need to make any modication. Just connect this radio to your PC through a 455 Khz or 450 IF mixer from the IF output (I use a SAT-Schneider mixer based on a cheap NE602), run a software for DRM such as DREAM and you have DRM, LSB, USB, CW and FM with digital filters wide as much as you like from few hertz to 10 Khz. This radio becomes a truly SDR!!!
Audio for AM from the speaker is superb. FM is great.
The radio seems to be very sensitive as the others, yet it seems to be a quiet receiver such as the Degen and the Sangean.
Still it overloads with big external antennas. Similar problem of the Degen and the Sangean. Drake receivers and tabletop in general are better in this. There are two options: use the attenuators in the radio (it has a 20db attenuator and RF Gain of about further 30db). Otherwise, try buying or making passband filters or preselector. A preselector is the best long term investment you can probably do when you use large nonresonant antennas.
Battery: you can use AA and/or D rechargeble batteries. They are expensive but you can have up to 10 Ampere in your radio and bring it with you for a long listening.
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KC5IIE
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Rating: 5/5
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May 26, 2007 06:15
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fantastic!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I purchased the Kaito KA-2100 incarnation of the Redsun about a month ago and I've been amazed at its performance since I've aquired it. I can echo John Plimmer's comments about it, I've compared it along side of more elaborate receivers I own and it holds its own when connected to an external antenna, an inverted - L here. It handles strong signals without overloading, and copies weak signals great, namely this morning I copied signals in the tropical bands just as well as my Satellit 800. Here in the American Midwest we need all the sensitivity we can muster and the KA-2100 really delivers. I cant wait for the more advanced version of this radio to be introduced, selectable sync detection and a keypad would make this radio a real winner. Best receiver value under $400no doubt!
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ALANWONG1
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Rating: 4/5
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Apr 12, 2007 23:11
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Best Bang for the Bucks!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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As my personal budget is not great, i currently only own a Degen DE103, Icom IC-R75 and the Redsun RP2100...
Upon comparing a pocket size radio, portable and a tabletop, i would say the RP2100 performs just as well as the R75 even though it lacks of a Sync Detection feature which would not be missed if you used the RP2100 for tuning in to fairly strong AM Stations...
The only thing to remember is that if one has a budget for an antenna tuner + balun (ie. impedence transformer), the RP2100 would perform much much better when attached to a long wire antenna where fairly weak stations will come alive!!!..
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ZS00011
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 30, 2006 12:05
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more on the RP2100
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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More on the Redsun RP2100 after further use.
MW mediumwave reception on the BCB band still amazes me with it's clarity
and sensitivity. Regular reception of stations that are 5,000 miles/8,000
kilometers away with good readability is possible on a regular basis. The
local
stations that are 700 miles/1,200 kilometers away simply boom in with great
sound and clarity. Very impressive on a portable with only a ferrite
internal rod. Provision is made on the back for the connection of a longwire
antenna to a 500 Ohm post, also a ground/earth connector, but I have not
tried this as reception on the internal ferrite rod is so good.
FM band. The most powerful FM receiver I have owned is my Drake SW8, but the
RP2100 is quite a bit more sensitive on the internal whip, and the marginal
long distance signals are a lot clearer. It leaves my GE SRIII and Sangean
818 in the shade.
Connecting to AC mains. This works seamlessly and cuts off the battery and a
mains indicator appears on the LCD display. Only snag is that this
introduces a lot of RFI hash onto the MW band and makes the more distant
stations unpleasant to listen to. It doesn't seem to affect the FM or SW
bands at all though.
Connecting a powerful 50 Ohm antenna for shortwave. I have a RF Systems DX-1
Pro active antenna which produces a very strong signal to the receiver. If I
connect this to a portable it overloads it badly and even risks blowing the
front end FET's. I connected this to the 50 Ohm input of the RP2100 and
enjoyed
amazing SW reception with NO signs of overload at all. Compared with my much
more expensive tabletop receiver the RP2100's performance was impressive and
on many stations the RP2100 was preferable to listen to because of its warm
wide spectrum sound compared to the rather tinny and shallow sound of the
tabletop.
The RP2100 is no tabletop though as it does not have the extensive
facilities of my big Icom to clear up various forms of interference. All you
can do is narrow the bandwidth and offset the frequency slightly either side
to rid yourself of the interference, but often this is not sufficient.
Actually, having owned a Kenwood R1000 for awhile, I think the RP2100 would
substantially outclass it!
The 50 presets/memories have driven me Harpic, that is clean round the bend,
so I no longer use this function. You see, if your favourite station is on
preset 1 and you have been tuning around, when you want to go back to your
favourite station and press the preset button, it will go up one, so you end
up on preset 2. You then have to press the preset button another nine times
to get back to preset one. That's annoying and time consuming, so it is
faster to use the excellent "Q tune" function button to get quickly around
the dial to where you want to be. Q tune jumps one segment up the shortwave
band at each press, and the fast tuning knob will take you quickly to where
you want to be.
Altogether by far the best portable I have ever owned, including my Sony
2010. Very satisfying performance and excellent value for money at just over
$100.
Just when I thought I had bought the ultimate, on the way is a mouthwatering
Redsun RP3000. This upcoming receiver looks the same as the RP2100 but with
a few button changes on the face, but is said to offer:
# Air band for aircraft
# numeric keypad
# 1000 presets
# sideband selectable synchronous detection
John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
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