Scored mine about 6 years back on Craigslist for $50. Plugged her in and she fired right up. Listened to her for a bit tonight. She drifts just a bit until she gets good and warmed up but after that she stays put. Love the looks of her and really enjoy twisting knobs so much more than pushing buttons. Makes the hobby that much more fun for me. Just ordered an SDR earlier this evening. I think it will be fun to compare the two in an old school vs. new school sort of thing. I'm an old school kinda guy so I'll always have a soft spot for the underdogs. I still have my Dynascan Cobra 148GTL built in the Philippines in 1991. Another classic I'll never get rid of. 73's.
@sandhgreen it was the replacment for the DX-300, which was the replacment for the DX-160. I had all 3, the 300 replaced the 160, the 302 replaced the 300. Now thinking of getting myself a394 as a bedside receiver. As since my SWL days, am now M1BCM, active on all HF bands, with a Yaesu FT-902DM.
very good. i bought one of these new from rad shack when they first came out like in 81? i paid 400 for it and i had lots of fun with it. i had to replace the preselector in it and it was a real bear to change. i got the service manual and went to town with alignment. most of the tune up is straightforward but those if's are tricky. the manual tells you to adjust to a certain height and nothing else. this doesnt work. ya gotta play with them. i long since sold the 1st one. i did buy another one off ebay and i tinker with it and still to this day, i havent been able to figure out the if's perfectly. each one interacts with each other at each end of the bands. if the thing isnt tuned as per the manual, itll drift like crazy. all in all, ive enjoyed the 302. still listen to it. i prefer the boat anchor to any of the solid state units. just cuz im old myself.
+stormchsr1000 I purchased it's older brother, the '300' a year or so before from RS.Thankfully I kept my Frog 7, the 300 was a dog. However after some 35 years, I wouldn't mind making a trip down memory lane, it did pull in some nice PNG and Indo DX from time-to-time on those cold Minnesota mornings back in the 80s.
Thanks, John. My problem is a cracked gear in the KHz drivetrain; the entire tuning assembly has to come apart to get to it! Robinson looks like a good source. I'll probably try to replace as many gears as I can while it's apart.
@N0rthwestRadio Thanks, love this rig. It's been a great bedside radio with just a modest antenna. Kinda nice to know the Rat Shack sold quality gear back in the day. Wish they could now, oh well. Whenever I get more room, I'll have to add to the collection.
Nice video, I own both the 300 & 302. One thing that is seldom mentioned is that this is also a portable rig that can be powered with batteries. My 300 mhz tuning is getting stiff and I've soon got to figure out how to remove this section to lube those brass shafts which are what become tight with age. I've done the preselector side which was frozen and successfully got them apart and lubed. Radios made for the Shack by GRE of Japan using the Wadley loop design and retailed for around $400.00...
I purchased one of these when they first came out and I worked at RS at the time so I got a little discount. I saved a long time to be able to buy one but it was a fun radio, kind of wished I would have kept it around now. After a few years I sold it to my uncle when I got a new ham rig I guess.
@nocountry2012 Sorry for the late reply. Probably by now it's sold on the bay. When I got mine the receive was dead. So electronically, I replaced all the capacitors and the final transistor (also replaced the lights with LED's). So that's quite a bit of soldering there. Mechanically, there's a gear train tied to the tuning knobs. Biggest thing here is the lubricant getting all gummed up. One of the main tuning gears broke, which I first glued then replaced via suggestion from the net.
@MrSammyReed Well,the freq counter does actually zero out. Whether the radio can receive something to 1 kHz, I'm unsure. I don't have the room (nor am I in a good spot) to hear anything in the LW bands. However, the Preselector does reference down to 10kHz, so I guess it's feasible.
@RadioHamGuy This was an eBay special, and gave me the chance to revive a radio from the dead. So far, so good. Wish I had room to put up a better antenna. She does well with the modest one I have indoors. Worthwhile radio for someone to put a little effort into.
Hello Sir. The MHz is an RC racing gear that was drilled out and pressed onto the shaft. You will need to get the face of the radio off before you can get to it though. The chrome MHz knob just pulls off, no screws or anything. However, the gear it is slid onto will not come off for the life of me. You should check out the Yahoo group "Realistic DX" (see link in video description) . Good luck, and thanks for the kind words!
@911cfrojas I use an amateur radio "hamstick" style antenna for the 80 meter band. It's actually located indoors, and receives quite well. Have fun experimenting with antennas!
@MrSammyReed They will easily tune down to 30 kHz or so, but the sensitivity gets kinda bad (not too good) but you should with a reasonable antenna hear WWVB at 60 kHz ...
Great Video, wondering if you can identify what is the final transistor? I went through all the transistors voltages and they all check properly including the IC's. I started to change the caps but seemed that they are fine as well. Thanks for your assistance.
Nice video. How did you change the mhz pinion gear? Is that from the front? Or from the back? Does the knob slide off (I do not see any set screws but it does not want to come off easily). I found the audio for AM Shortwave broadcast on mine to be very nice to listen to compared to the Yaesu FRG7700. My DX302 does not seem to as sensitive as I think it should be but not totally deaf like it was when I first got it. Thank you for a nice video.
I've got a DX-300 and a DX-302. Unfortunately, both of them are showing signs of age with the tuning adjustments and they don't seem to be as sensitive to signals as they used to be. I'm close to retirement and I'd love to get both of these rigs reconditioned and tuned up but I'm not sure where to take them or what it might cost.
Fred Derf Unfortunately I don’t have a great answer for you. I utilized the help from a group on Yahoo.com. Sadly, Yahoo did away with those groups and they all scattered to the wind. Also Im not really a tech myself. Im very sure there’s techs out there, just dont know what direction to point you. There’s a RUclipsr on here that has a channel tom’s radio room show, want to say his name is Tom Stiles. He might be able to point you in a better direction. I hope you can get them tuned up, they’re great radios. Good luck!
@@CamoCrabby Thanx for the response. I've been watching youtube videos of Mr Carlson's Lab, Pretty interesting guy. I sent him an email but haven't received a reply.
That's an action figure of sorts. Her name is Pocco, and she's part of a collection of Japanese Anime inspired figures. Plug Pocco into a Google search, and you'll come up with more info.
The Degen is a good portable radio, I own a Tecsun Pl-660. But it can't replace my collection of DX series radios. Yes, as I stated, it could be any one of several components, but I'd repair it. The RS rigs weren't the best on the market, but great first radios and will do everything the more expensive brandes when it came to SW listening. A good earth ground and antenna will take a lot of noise outta the rig. But is selling it would be your option, certainly someone will snap it up...73's Sir.
@johnkc8jzo Thanks for the info, I actually changed Q201 first as that did give bad readings originally, and the new one is giving the right voltages, still no go though. Thanks again! I'll keep plugging away.
With your post being only 3 weeks old, wonder if you've had it repaired yet. At around 30 years of age, any one of the electronic components could have broken down. A service manual can be found and down loaded on line. I would seek out a good electronics tech and without a great deal of bench time, I'm sure can be repaired. I would suggest if that is the way you wish to go, buy a capacitor kit and have the rig re-capped. The capacitors break down with age, not just with use. Good Luck Sir. 73's
Hey John, how difficult was it to make the repairs? Does that mean complicated sauter work? I have on of these today, but it is currently listed on eBay. I am not sure if I want to sell it or keep it. I got it for $25 at the Goodwill thrift store. The khz readout is not showing.
Hey...what's that little figurine sitting to the right of the radio? When you showed the RF gain control the camera caught a glimpse of a partiallly nude female figurine beside the set.
Thanks for that reply. I might take your advice and have a go at the re-cap idea. Somebody also suggested the first RF transistor (if I can locate it) is inclined to die. To be honest I've got lazy about it because I've bought a little made-in-China SW portable called the Degen DE1103 which is about the size of a small hard-back book and probably outperforms it. Maybe just sell the DX302 on eBay to someone with the time and enthusiasm to bring it back to life.
I've had one of these since the early 1980s, and it worked fine, if a bit noisy, which of course might be due to all the electrronic stuff in use around me in London. A few months ago it just went silent. Still lights up, very slight hum from the speaker, but no reception. What would you do? Is there anybody out there who might repair it?
Where did you get your replacement capacitors? And also where did you get the replacement gear for the megahertz knob? I just got one DX 302 that is I would like to do the capacitor swap out. Thank you
Hello, first off the capacitors. I sourced them locally through a company called "parts express" (.com). At the time I just took stock of what was in there and bought them. I think I was short a couple of them that weren't in stock. You mAy want to look on Google or eBay to see if anyone has come up with a list or a "kit" of caps for sale. Secondly, the gear. I had to look this info up in an old email. Anyway, the gear was made for an RC car. Look for "Robinson Racing Products #RRP-4336". It's an aluminum gear that will need reamed out a bit with a drill. At the time I reamed it and used a little heat shrink on the shaft. Nowadays, you may want to Google around to see if anyone has come up with a 3-d printed replacement gear. Anyway, good luck. Hope you can get your radio up and running. Mine has gone on to someone else now. Take care!
Have you already here pirate stations from the Netherlands? 3900/3910kHz - 6200/6500kHz in AM mode. frequently used 6300/6305kHz on Sundays 12:00/16:00 NL time. Success with the RX! RRob.
John, I just bought (unfortunately) one of these with a cracked gear in the KHz "driveline". Have you any experience getting inside the tuning gear mechanism to replace them?
Hello, you can find a replacement based off a gear for an R-C car (Robinson Racing Products gear #RRP-4336). This is an aluminum gear that needs to be bored out. However, it worked great. There's a link in the description of the video that refers to a Yahoo group. I recommend joining the group, for they have a great wealth of information on this and other Realistic radios. BTW, I have since passed on my radio to someone else. This gear will probably outlast the radio itself! Good luck.
I still use mine to this day, its a pity that some certain Amateur Radio users look at it as a toy and a rubbish radio. I have found that it works very well. Never had any problem with it. I wander why some people out there have such snobish attitudes to this radio?
@ufisher It's been a while, so I had to do a quick search in the "Realisticdx" Yahoo group (a great source of information). So here's a quick Copy Paste: "Its a 3SK45(B)-9 Mosfet. . . . but you can notice the lack of sensitivity from the shorted Q201. Jim just gave me an NTE 454 as the equivalent. All the other 3SK45s in the RF board give correct voltages so Q201 must be definitely bad." NTE-454 is what you will probably need to get. That's what's I finally replaced to get mine working.
Great Video, wondering if you can identify what is the final transistor? I went through all the transistors voltages and they all check properly including the IC's. I started to change the caps but seemed that they are fine as well. Thanks for your assistance.
Very nice. I still have the one I bought about 1981 and still seems to be working just fine, fortunately. Enjoy.
Scored mine about 6 years back on Craigslist for $50. Plugged her in and she fired right up. Listened to her for a bit tonight. She drifts just a bit until she gets good and warmed up but after that she stays put. Love the looks of her and really enjoy twisting knobs so much more than pushing buttons. Makes the hobby that much more fun for me. Just ordered an SDR earlier this evening. I think it will be fun to compare the two in an old school vs. new school sort of thing. I'm an old school kinda guy so I'll always have a soft spot for the underdogs. I still have my Dynascan Cobra 148GTL built in the Philippines in 1991. Another classic I'll never get rid of. 73's.
Why do you talk about the radio like its a girl? Do you have sex with it?
Thanks John, I'm about to tackle redoing the caps etc on mine. Thanks for the tips. I might buy another
if in top shape.
Good luck, hopefully all goes well!
I'll Always Love Fry Radio & TV
Transmitter?
Imagine a Combat Life Expectancy of 5
Seconds, amen.
I prefer Spy Radios.
@sandhgreen it was the replacment for the DX-300, which was the replacment for the DX-160. I had all 3, the 300 replaced the 160, the 302 replaced the 300. Now thinking of getting myself a394 as a bedside receiver. As since my SWL days, am now M1BCM, active on all HF bands, with a Yaesu FT-902DM.
very good. i bought one of these new from rad shack when they first came out like in 81? i paid 400 for it and i had lots of fun with it. i had to replace the preselector in it and it was a real bear to change. i got the service manual and went to town with alignment. most of the tune up is straightforward but those if's are tricky. the manual tells you to adjust to a certain height and nothing else. this doesnt work. ya gotta play with them. i long since sold the 1st one. i did buy another one off ebay and i tinker with it and still to this day, i havent been able to figure out the if's perfectly. each one interacts with each other at each end of the bands.
if the thing isnt tuned as per the manual, itll drift like crazy.
all in all, ive enjoyed the 302. still listen to it. i prefer the boat anchor to any of the solid state units. just cuz im old myself.
Yep, it's been a fun little rig!
+stormchsr1000
I purchased it's older brother, the '300' a year or so before from RS.Thankfully I kept my Frog 7, the 300 was a dog. However after some 35 years, I wouldn't mind making a trip down memory lane, it did pull in some nice PNG and Indo DX from time-to-time on those cold Minnesota mornings back in the 80s.
I was gifted one. Fun radio for sure
Good job! I purchased one of these brand new when the first came out. Great memories. These days, I still have a DX-160 that is nicely vintage.
Thanks, John. My problem is a cracked gear in the KHz drivetrain; the entire tuning assembly has to come apart to get to it! Robinson looks like a good source. I'll probably try to replace as many gears as I can while it's apart.
Thanks! This is my first real radio resurrection, took me a little while to get it working. Good learning experience, and fun radio to play with.
I have this. Still working on point. Excellent condition
@N0rthwestRadio Thanks, love this rig. It's been a great bedside radio with just a modest antenna. Kinda nice to know the Rat Shack sold quality gear back in the day. Wish they could now, oh well. Whenever I get more room, I'll have to add to the collection.
Nice video, I own both the 300 & 302. One thing that is seldom mentioned is that this is also a portable rig that can be powered with batteries. My 300 mhz tuning is getting stiff and I've soon got to figure out how to remove this section to lube those brass shafts which are what become tight with age. I've done the preselector side which was frozen and successfully got them apart and lubed. Radios made for the Shack by GRE of Japan using the Wadley loop design and retailed for around $400.00...
I purchased one of these when they first came out and I worked at RS at the time so I got a little discount. I saved a long time to be able to buy one but it was a fun radio, kind of wished I would have kept it around now. After a few years I sold it to my uncle when I got a new ham rig I guess.
@nocountry2012 Sorry for the late reply. Probably by now it's sold on the bay. When I got mine the receive was dead. So electronically, I replaced all the capacitors and the final transistor (also replaced the lights with LED's). So that's quite a bit of soldering there. Mechanically, there's a gear train tied to the tuning knobs. Biggest thing here is the lubricant getting all gummed up. One of the main tuning gears broke, which I first glued then replaced via suggestion from the net.
@MrSammyReed Well,the freq counter does actually zero out. Whether the radio can receive something to 1 kHz, I'm unsure. I don't have the room (nor am I in a good spot) to hear anything in the LW bands. However, the Preselector does reference down to 10kHz, so I guess it's feasible.
@RadioHamGuy This was an eBay special, and gave me the chance to revive a radio from the dead. So far, so good. Wish I had room to put up a better antenna. She does well with the modest one I have indoors. Worthwhile radio for someone to put a little effort into.
Hello Sir. The MHz is an RC racing gear that was drilled out and pressed onto the shaft. You will need to get the face of the radio off before you can get to it though. The chrome MHz knob just pulls off, no screws or anything. However, the gear it is slid onto will not come off for the life of me. You should check out the Yahoo group "Realistic DX" (see link in video description) . Good luck, and thanks for the kind words!
@911cfrojas I use an amateur radio "hamstick" style antenna for the 80 meter band. It's actually located indoors, and receives quite well. Have fun experimenting with antennas!
@MrSammyReed
They will easily tune down to 30 kHz or so, but the sensitivity gets kinda bad (not too good) but you should with a reasonable antenna hear WWVB at 60 kHz ...
Great Video, wondering if you can identify what is the final transistor? I went through all the transistors voltages and they all check properly including the IC's. I started to change the caps but seemed that they are fine as well. Thanks for your assistance.
Nice video. How did you change the mhz pinion gear? Is that from the front? Or from the back? Does the knob slide off (I do not see any set screws but it does not want to come off easily). I found the audio for AM Shortwave broadcast on mine to be very nice to listen to compared to the Yaesu FRG7700. My DX302 does not seem to as sensitive as I think it should be but not totally deaf like it was when I first got it. Thank you for a nice video.
Nice radio...good job on reviving an oldie but goodie!
73
W5CYF
I've got a DX-300 and a DX-302. Unfortunately, both of them are showing signs of age with the tuning adjustments and they don't seem to be as sensitive to signals as they used to be. I'm close to retirement and I'd love to get both of these rigs reconditioned and tuned up but I'm not sure where to take them or what it might cost.
Fred Derf Unfortunately I don’t have a great answer for you. I utilized the help from a group on Yahoo.com. Sadly, Yahoo did away with those groups and they all scattered to the wind. Also Im not really a tech myself. Im very sure there’s techs out there, just dont know what direction to point you. There’s a RUclipsr on here that has a channel tom’s radio room show, want to say his name is Tom Stiles. He might be able to point you in a better direction. I hope you can get them tuned up, they’re great radios. Good luck!
@@CamoCrabby Thanx for the response. I've been watching youtube videos of Mr Carlson's Lab, Pretty interesting guy. I sent him an email but haven't received a reply.
That's an action figure of sorts. Her name is Pocco, and she's part of a collection of Japanese Anime inspired figures. Plug Pocco into a Google search, and you'll come up with more info.
Nice little review of the 302 -- thanks....
The Degen is a good portable radio, I own a Tecsun Pl-660. But it can't replace my collection of DX series radios. Yes, as I stated, it could be any one of several components, but I'd repair it. The RS rigs weren't the best on the market, but great first radios and will do everything the more expensive brandes when it came to SW listening. A good earth ground and antenna will take a lot of noise outta the rig. But is selling it would be your option, certainly someone will snap it up...73's Sir.
@johnkc8jzo Thanks for the info, I actually changed Q201 first as that did give bad readings originally, and the new one is giving the right voltages, still no go though. Thanks again! I'll keep plugging away.
@dxace1 Glad you like it, and thanks!
With your post being only 3 weeks old, wonder if you've had it repaired yet. At around 30 years of age, any one of the electronic components could have broken down. A service manual can be found and down loaded on line. I would seek out a good electronics tech and without a great deal of bench time, I'm sure can be repaired. I would suggest if that is the way you wish to go, buy a capacitor kit and have the rig re-capped. The capacitors break down with age, not just with use. Good Luck Sir. 73's
Hey John, how difficult was it to make the repairs? Does that mean complicated sauter work? I have on of these today, but it is currently listed on eBay. I am not sure if I want to sell it or keep it. I got it for $25 at the Goodwill thrift store. The khz readout is not showing.
hi, from Mexico, where do I can get some Realistic like yours, I´m a fan from short wave here in Mexico City there´s not devices like this, help me
Hey...what's that little figurine sitting to the right of the radio? When you showed the RF gain control the camera caught a glimpse of a partiallly nude female figurine beside the set.
Thanks for that reply. I might take your advice and have a go at the re-cap idea. Somebody also suggested the first RF transistor (if I can locate it) is inclined to die. To be honest I've got lazy about it because I've bought a little made-in-China SW portable called the Degen DE1103 which is about the size of a small hard-back book and probably outperforms it. Maybe just sell the DX302 on eBay to someone with the time and enthusiasm to bring it back to life.
You are right I have replaced the front end transistor several times. I still have the radio but use a different receiver.
i have one of those. i got mine for the cost of a cobra 148gtl radio. mine needs the potentiometers cleaned and lubed
I've had one of these since the early 1980s, and it worked fine, if a bit noisy, which of course might be due to all the electrronic stuff in use around me in London. A few months ago it just went silent. Still lights up, very slight hum from the speaker, but no reception. What would you do? Is there anybody out there who might repair it?
Where did you get your replacement capacitors? And also where did you get the replacement gear for the megahertz knob? I just got one DX 302 that is I would like to do the capacitor swap out.
Thank you
Hello, first off the capacitors. I sourced them locally through a company called "parts express" (.com). At the time I just took stock of what was in there and bought them. I think I was short a couple of them that weren't in stock. You mAy want to look on Google or eBay to see if anyone has come up with a list or a "kit" of caps for sale.
Secondly, the gear. I had to look this info up in an old email. Anyway, the gear was made for an RC car. Look for "Robinson Racing Products #RRP-4336". It's an aluminum gear that will need reamed out a bit with a drill. At the time I reamed it and used a little heat shrink on the shaft. Nowadays, you may want to Google around to see if anyone has come up with a 3-d printed replacement gear. Anyway, good luck. Hope you can get your radio up and running. Mine has gone on to someone else now. Take care!
Have you already here pirate stations from the Netherlands?
3900/3910kHz - 6200/6500kHz in AM mode.
frequently used 6300/6305kHz on Sundays 12:00/16:00 NL time.
Success with the RX!
RRob.
@THEBLURII I got mine from ebay. Good Luck!
John, I just bought (unfortunately) one of these with a cracked gear in the KHz "driveline". Have you any experience getting inside the tuning gear mechanism to replace them?
Hello, you can find a replacement based off a gear for an R-C car (Robinson Racing Products gear #RRP-4336). This is an aluminum gear that needs to be bored out. However, it worked great. There's a link in the description of the video that refers to a Yahoo group. I recommend joining the group, for they have a great wealth of information on this and other Realistic radios. BTW, I have since passed on my radio to someone else. This gear will probably outlast the radio itself! Good luck.
I still use mine to this day, its a pity that some certain Amateur Radio users look at it as a toy and a rubbish radio. I have found that it works very well. Never had any problem with it. I wander why some people out there have such snobish attitudes to this radio?
what racing gear ,model # , manufacturer
Robinson Racing Products gear #RRP-4336. It will need to be drilled out a bit though. Hope this helps.
@ufisher It's been a while, so I had to do a quick search in the "Realisticdx" Yahoo group (a great source of information). So here's a quick Copy Paste:
"Its a 3SK45(B)-9 Mosfet. . . . but you can notice the lack of
sensitivity from the shorted Q201. Jim just gave me an NTE 454 as the
equivalent. All the other 3SK45s in the RF board give correct voltages so Q201
must be definitely bad."
NTE-454 is what you will probably need to get. That's what's I finally replaced to get mine working.
Great Video, wondering if you can identify what is the final transistor? I went through all the transistors voltages and they all check properly including the IC's. I started to change the caps but seemed that they are fine as well. Thanks for your assistance.