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Reviews For: Degen DE106

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : Degen DE106
Reviews: 1MSRP: 150.00
Description:
Degen DE106 PLL FM Stereo/MW/SW World Receiver
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.degen.com.cn/english/admin/shushow.asp?page=2&class=%CA%FD%D7%D6%B5%F7%D0%B3%CA%D5%D2%F4%BB%FA
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0015
MACFAN Rating: 2005-10-15
Great Travel Receiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Looking at the Degen website I noticed a tiny PLL FM stereo/MW/SW world receiver - Degen DE106. The DE106 is the size of a cassette tape case (2.79 X4.37X 0.9 in). The DE106 is covers a larger frequency range than the DE105/KA105. The DE106 is the size of a cassette tape case (2.79 X4.37X 0.9 in). The DE-106 covers the MW band from 522-1620 KHz in 9 KHz steps, FM from 87.5-108 MHz, and SW1 from 2.30-7.80MHz and SW2 from 9.10-26.10MHz in 5 KHz steps. I wanted a pocket-size, world receiver for travel so I contacted the ebay seller Liypn and he was able to find one for me. Eight days later it was in the USA.

I was a little skeptical when I received this radio. How would something this small and light perform? I was surprised with the robust reception. The DE106 reception on the whip is nearly as good as the DE1103, equal on the wire antenna included in the box. I have been able to receive some SW signals on the DE106 that I could not received on the DE1103. The sound quality internal speaker is more than reasonable considering the size of the DE106. Sound quality with earbuds or external speakers is very good. I've been able to receive European national stations (13-20MHz) during the afternoon on the US east coast.

The picture on the Degen website shows an aluminum-faced case similar to the DE1103. My radio has an all-plstic case. Unlike the DE105, the stand folds into the back of the radio. The DE106 comes with a 220V power supply, earbuds, a simple wire antenna, and a ditty bag case. The inside of the box was lined with a fake felt.

Considering its market (inexpensive, pocket-size, world-band receivers) the drawbacks are few. The 5KHz tuning on SW does allow interference from strong signal near the desired frequency. Unlike the DE1103 there is no internal battery charger but that keeps the size and weight. The DE106 does not feature SSB which may eliminate it from consideration from some listeners. The buttons and dials are labeled in Chinese. (English instructions can be downloaded from http://www.degen.com.cn) The DE106 only has six memories per band (24 total).

I won't quote a price because it was ordered "off of the menu" from Liypn. I don't know if he will start selling these in his eBay store. When doing my research on this radio, it seemed the going price on China was 268RMB (approx. $33.50).

In summary, the DE106 is a very capable, inexpensive, pocket-size, world-band receiver which compared favorably with other receivers in its market space. I'd rate it 5/5 even though the Sony pocket radios have SSB, but considering the Sony's list for over $300, about 10X the DE106, I am more than happy with the DE106 for casual world band listening.