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Reviews For: Kenwood R-11 Receiver

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : Kenwood R-11 Receiver
Reviews: 3MSRP: 200
Description:
Portable Shortwave/MW/FM receiver. Covers th 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 31, 41, 49 meters bands on shortwave. AM mode only on shortwave. S-meter and tone control Uses 4 "AA" batteries. Made in early 1980's. Analog frequency readout. Approximately 7.4" X 4.5" X 1.3" in size.
Product is not in production
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# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0034
WB4NAF Rating: 2008-01-25
A pleasure to use! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought one of these in the mid ‘80s and still use it. Although I have several digital PLL portables, I still enjoy this analog radio. The following features make this radio a pleasure to use:

• Volume control is a slider on the left side and is under the left thumb when holding the radio. A three position slide tone control is located just below the volume control. So when holding the radio the right thumb and index finger are on the tuning knob and the left thumb is on the volume slide.

• Band select buttons are lined up across the bottom and there is a red LED above each vertical band segment on the analog dial. This provides for quick band selection and is very handy for quickly scanning the bands.

• Tuning meter is a real analog meter movement.

• Sensitivity is as good or better than my digital portables, due in part to a cleaner “floor” absent the PLL hiss, birdies, etc. of my digital portables.

• Audio is pleasant.



When I am just casually monitoring the SW bands or listening to an AM or FM broadcast station this is the radio I prefer. But when I am searching for specific stations, etc. I pick up one of my digital portables with direct key entry and frequency readout. For serious listening I fire up the Drake R7.
WD8AQS Rating: 2007-06-13
Nice small portable for its time Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought mine new when they first came out. I figured with a Kenwood name you can't go wrong (even though it was made by Toshiba). Anyway, it was way before the made in china flood so there weren't too many "pocket" portable shortwaves out there in the 80's. It was well built, great reception and came with a cloth case with clear plastic face cover. Got lots of use out of it, lent it out to soon to be SWL's and even used it at work for years. It has become quite the collectors item now.
N6PEQ Rating: 2004-10-02
Fun! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
The R-11 was manufactured in the early 1980's by Toshiba for Trio-Kenwood. The radio was a bit of a flop since it was analog, and the more modern digital portable shortwave receivers debuted right after the release of the R-11. I didn't purchase an R-11 when they were in production, although I wished that I had. I ran across one used, and decided to purchase it since I had been looking for one for quite a while.

It is a very fun receiver. Although it is analog, and doesn't cover all of the shortwave radio spectrum, it only has the AM mode for shortwave work. So there really isn't any benefit if it has the frequncies in between the major shortwave radio bands. The receiver is quite sensitive, and much more so than I would had guessed. The tuning is, of course, touchy since it is analog, but tuning in a station is quite simple after getting used to the feel of the radio. The audio quality is quite good thanks to a large speaker on the front of the receiver. The receiver also sports a small stand which snaps out of the back of the radio. This allows you to sit the radio on a slight angle.

All in all. I am very happy that I was able to locate an R-11. It is very outdated, but very fun to use. Long live the R-11 !!!!