Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Coding Technologies Digital World Traveler

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Coding Technologies Digital World Traveler
Reviews: 1MSRP: €199
Description:
USB digital shortwave receiver,
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.codingtechnologies.com/products/digtrav.htm#
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0014
K5TED Rating: 2007-10-02
One of a kind Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
There is no real competitor to this radio. PC based, USB powered, 100khz to 30Mhz coverage plus FM 88-108. Two antenna inputs and a headphone output. The included software/drivers install easily on XP, manually on Vista. The application is pretty, and produces quite nice audio on DRM/AM, acceptable on FM.

The device appears as a USB sound device on your PC. Output is 12khz baseband IF, which can then be decoded to analog audio or DRM audio using either the included Fraunhoffer based software(worth 80 bucks by itself), or DReaM, SDRadio, Rocky, etc. DRM Disco supports the DWT, and is my preferred tuning tool.

This is essentially sort of an entry level SDR receiver which allows you to do AM/USB/LSB/CW and even Ecss. Usable panoramic display with any of the third party SDR software is 12khz wide.

DRM reception is good, and with only the included longwire or homebrew loop. I routinely listen to 80m with only a 5", 5 turn loop and have decoded 7 major DRM broadcasters using only that loop. The unit has separate inputs for longwire and loop antennas. This is not a radio you would want to connect to an outdoor longwire without seriously considering the potential for overload or static damage.

This is not an RX-320D or WinRadio, nor is it designed to compete. It requires no wall wart supply, a plus, and is designed for casual listening using a laptop or desktop PC.

At about $199, it is a bit pricey compared to a used RX-320, so if you are on a hobby budget, looking to get into a PC based receiver and don't care about small size and portability, better to go with the Ten Tec.

On the other hand, if you're a business traveler, compared to the typical wideband YaKenIcom handheld, the DWT wins hands down on selectivity, sensitivity and audio quality, again, dependent upon your PC to do the processing. Plus, it does SSB.

This is a wonderful toy.