Qodosen SR-286 Ultralight-- New AM-DXing Sensitivity King
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- Опубликовано: 14 янв 2024
- Demonstration of the new SR-286 Ultralight in weak signal AM-DXing performance, and in inductive coupling to a 5 inch (12.7cm) FSL antenna-- awesome on both counts! The SR-286 is a fairly unique TEF6686-chip portable because of its loopstick-- which is unusual among these whip-antenna-oriented radios.
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Thanks for this demonstration! I have so much to learn.. I didn't know you can inductively-couple the FSL antenna to these radios. I like the portability of the C.Crane, and appreciate that I can plug it in to a USB power bank and use it to charge my rechargeable AA's in a bind.
Thanks DJRonnieG, all these three radios couple up easily to an FSL antenna and get a big gain boost, but the SR-286 definitely has the edge in audio quality after receiving the boost (with the same 3 kHz filter).
Great! Learning from you and paying tribute to you
@BH3RQW, thanks for your comment!
I need to build that table. I use a plastic foot stool on my patio.
You can really tell how sensitive the Qodosen is by how well it hears your phone's screen (tap tap tap tap). When opportunity exists, I need to buy one. Nice demo👍👍
Thanks KA5DWI, that "table" is really just a piece of plywood tossed over an old PVC base for a 9 foot box loop 🙂My wife hates it, but it does hold up the radios and antennas! Good luck with your future SR-286-- Gary (N7EKX)
Nice demo! Thank you!
Thanks, Fred!
I made a 4 ft inductive loop tuned low with a 365pf tuning capacitor to get a great signal on New Orleans 870 AM 170 miles away and got Dallas 820 too 300 miles away during the day. I used a box a 100w solar panel came in. I also made a great loop from a 16 inch pizza box with 17 turns and a 450pf variable capacitor I found. It`s perfectly matched to the AM band and it helps a lot with indoor signals at night.
I also use the AN-200 loop plugged into a 500 ft outdoor wire and ground to get AM signals inside my noisy camper. The situation was hopeless until I tried that but was greatly improved after I disconnected my DC circuit. The AN-200 also makes my Tecsun PL-330 a better, quieter DXing receiver indoors than my top rated receivers when plugged-in to it. Oddly I`m not allowed to mention my American brand radios on this platform or ANY American metal detectors, etc. Says a lot about their sick agenda!
I'm just getting into the DXing hobby... Any recommendations how to make a loop antenna on RUclips
Where can I find info about those American radios & metal detectors? I don't understand why you can't mention them...
Thanks
Try the AN-200 loop they sell. It`s a waste of time trying to communicate on this evil platform. They`ll auto-delete it. Try a Sangean PR-D4W for AM. @@joseg3259
Buy some 24 AWG enamel coated magnet wire and air variable tuning capacitors. Look up, "DIY AM loop antenna."@@joseg3259
Radio Jay Allen did a review of the QoDosen SR-286 on his website, and was pretty amazed at the performance. The radio is built with the chips they use in car radios.
Hi Scott, Jay's review was what made me purchase the SR-286, and he was certainly right! The radio is a real breakthrough in AM sensitivity on the stock whip antenna, probably because the chip was designed for car radio reception with a whip.
Very nice !
Thank you!
Generally the tuned loops want the loop stick coaxial with the external coil. The improvement is limited by the sensitivity of the radio though. The more sensitive the radio, the less the tuned loop does. It's not a signal-gathering function but an impedance matching function, and if the impedance is matched already, you can't improve it with a tuned loop.
impedance matching ?? no
I read a review of the Qodosen SR-286 at Radio Jay Allen several days ago. Jay liked this radio very much but wrote "Because this is a compact radio the built-in ferrite rod is necessarily small and reception off the ferrite is consistent with the best radios of this size…it would rate perhaps *** to ***1/2 in the AM Mega Shootout list. However, you can select the whip antenna instead of the ferrite rod, and there is also a switchable 20 db amplifier you can enable. If you then take the radio to a very low noise area, such as outdoors, the AM reception becomes phenomenal rivalling my best Five Star reference radios." Unfortunately the SR-286 is not currently available for purchase. Only demonstration models have been released.
Hello Willowsloughdx, Yes, I've read Jay's fine review. His review was the primary reason why many Ultralight radio group DXers have purchased the model, including yours truly. He is a member of our Ultralight group, and a constant contributor.
@@DXerGary Thanks for providing some insight and quality video regarding this radio. I'll be looking forward to a fully developed HF version when available.
Thanks for the review. I have the 808 and love it. Might have to get this. Some said no ssb is a deal brelaybut havent heard anything in our area on that. Whats ypur favorite antenna thats portable? I was looking at a simple long wire setup to try for 30 ish bucks.
i imagine that antenna helps a lot :)
Yes, it does! For its size it provides a monster boost to weak signals.
Does it make a difference if you align the axis of the internal loopstick with the axis of the FSL? I would think they'd couple more effectively that way, rather than having them parallel to each other as you do in the video.
Hi Flapjack9495, the ferrite rod FSL's (like the 5" FSL in the video) can give a powerful boost to a portable radio with the antenna either lined up along the axis of the radio's ferrite, or parallel to it (like in the video). With a ferrite rod FSL these two inductive coupling boosts are roughly equal, so you can simply position the radio in the most convenient of these two orientations. But a ferrite bar FSL always must be positioned parallel to a radio's loopstick (like in the video), since it couples up very poorly in the "lined up" orientation (speaking from experience).
Great video, Gary! I look forward to your supercharging results of the SR-286. I will be investigating the same thing on mine. Do you think you'll be trying 250/46 Litz from mkmak222?
Thanks Guy, the 250/46 Litz from Mkmak222 should work great in an upgrade loopstick, but the solid wire tickler coil will also need to be routed outside the cabinet. Probably it will result in all four leads running together through the cabinet side, assuming that digital display noise isn't picked up. Of course there's no guarantee that an upgrade loopstick will outperform the SR-286 whip in weak signal AM-DX reception, but it's worth a try!
This radio has me very intrigued. I noticed there is a note on J Allen‘s website that the radios are no longer coming with the 18650 battery. Are you able to point me in the direction of a good battery for this radio? I am legally blind so that would be a tremendous help.
Thanks in advance
@baayers2, a good battery for the SR-286 would be these button-top 18650 batteries with high capacity
www.amazon.com/CBJJ-Rechargeable-Battery-Flashlight-Doorbells/dp/B0CJ2MH36J/ref=sr_1_28?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Q0kSSDF1Edn9aM0fQ2DVZZwCuYvm3Jf1GBmwmgVzt_rg7hxDi4mf_JG3fx2qNAQTgCvhpZZuT5VM-DvVG9AvhTzkw6bWy9Riz7zrw9PDx7SlUiy_zloVWszQVd5ylt_ZlQyXl7xPfaAunpohNtorpZTNOQC0jOcMunr0CECsMtt2pVGcF6p2ZrZCrBakOmgN69-jYYoiXS5CGXN8rCsNSTniwKR0PAq9u3h2AnoSGU6ALQterO_HJnMAP7VeryNvns25sDSlo5IpsAa1k5aPyo9TAPd8pbzubG7KdRC93p4.3g47t0JeLMuOCO7b9QFY_KpagSp-xsCRydUWok24o1o&dib_tag=se&keywords=18650%2Bbattery%2Bbutton%2Btop&qid=1709893498&sr=8-28&th=1
Thanks Gary, very interesting. I wonder how it would compare with my TEF6686 Mini? No internal ferrite, but it has an SMA antenna socket. In addition to using a whip antenna for MW and LW, I have connected a tecsun AN200, and also an Airspy YouLoop. Videos on my RUclips channel.
Thanks Peter, the SR-286 seems to be fairly unique among these TEF6686 portables in having an internal ferrite antenna. Of course your TEF6686 Mini would have the same great performance on MW with its whip antenna, but the SR-286 loopstick has great inductive coupling with FSL's and air core loops, which a whip antenna can't do. I plan to watch your videos when I have time!
Is it true that the Qodosen SR-286 has the TEF 6686 Chip inside the radio?
Tarchonglitch9545, yes, it is true. I have personally disassembled the SR-286 and verified this. "F8605" is one of the designated markings of the TEF-6686 chip from NXP, as shown in the disassembly photo posted at
dreamcrafts.box.com/s/xsrk0d2psfgbm2pafut28a1d3qlpaqf5
Very impressive but what's that cycling drumming noise?
That's RFI from a neighbor, unfortunately. The radio is innocent!
@@DXerGary phew 😅
There's another feature where you can turn an amp on and off by pressing "0" and "page" have you tried it? another you tuber was using it on LW an AM
Yes I have tried it, Doug, but turning that amp on and off only works on the external (whip) antenna, or the plug-in antenna jack. My impression is that the amp is constantly "on" when the loopstick is selected, since you can't turn it on or off in that setting.
There is definitely a lot of excitement over this chip/radio@@DXerGary
Very true, Doug!@@dougmiller2937
Does this radio have SSB?
Sorry Joseg3259, there is no SSB capability in the Qodosen SR-286.
How can I build to get the FSL Antenna ...Thank you, Greg KG4IVZ
Hi Greg, a construction article for an early version of the 5" FSL antenna is posted at the following link. Some of the part suppliers have changed, but I can give you more details on request
dreamcrafts.box.com/s/gnbdsdipm13adt2kmx63i7rnrr41qrnx
The 5 inch FSL in this video is the "Paul Walker Variant" model which is demonstrated in the RUclips video posted at
ruclips.net/video/XMDOETx4qcI/видео.html
@@DXerGary Thank you Gary!
gary you can even try to supercharged this qodosen
Thanks FRLAZone2018, I have already investigated the SR-286 loopstick for this project, and plan to do a supercharging soon!
Hello Gary!
I noticed that Radiwow R-108 EMI reduction mod was tested:
m.ruclips.net/video/pQjJUCC6-CU/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/diDVTB0cqFw/видео.html
Here I applied 10uF capacitor on the battery terminal (since it's BL5C) while adding an aluminum/copper foil in the DSP chip. Is it working also on radios with BL5C battery terminal?
Since North America will not adopt DRM, IBOC, DAB+, or any other than the 100 year old analoge radio transmission, then this TEF6686 car audio chip can be used in ALL radio receivers..? Perhaps, Sangean can manufacture a new radio version, with this chip, use for AM/FM/SW/LW/AIR BAND..? Useful for SSB, also.Name their new radio 909X3..? Use this chip for cheap am/fm clock radios.....
Thanks Dadwire1483, This TEF6686 chip certainly does have great potential on both AM and FM, and it would be superb if one of the major manufacturers like Sangean, Tecsun, XHDATA or C.Crane would develop a classic radio with the chip. Up until now it has been only the small "cottage industry" manufacturers in China that have taken a stab at it. Qodosen has developed a great product, but I doubt that they have the production capacity to meet the demand.
I can tell you that many of the radios rated five stars by Jay Allen were designed by Qodosen designers, but this time under his own brand.@@DXerGary
The power requirements for the TEF6686 are much more aggressive since it's been designed for car stereos. Also, this chip, from what we know, is only sold in millions to car stereo makers. This all makes it difficult to expect the TEF to be mass used.
the whip does nothing for am it has ferrite inside .why do you use whip with am??? no need i could still hear the station when you pushed the whip down lol you didnt know about internal ferrite am antenna ??or were you on f.m? not sure
Patrick, the SR-286 can receive AM-DX on either the stock whip antenna or the internal loopstick, unlike almost every other portable. AM-DX reception on the whip antenna is typically more sensitive than on the internal loopstick, as long as no RFI noise is picked up by the whip. The sensitive whip antenna reception on AM is probably related to the DSP chip, which was designed for car radios using whip antennas.