Qodosen SR-286 vs XHDATA D-808: A new standard for MW listening

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I was very anxious to do a MW comparison on my new Qodosen SR-286, but the fact that it is summertime here in Johannesburg, South Africa, now, means that conditions are not the best. I do catch MW signals all the time, but nothing like when it is wintertime. I have only two local MW stations in my area, so my catches are mostly from neigbouring countries and Cape Town, 1260 km to the south.
Two nights ago, on 20 February 2024, conditions were better than usual. Not like in winter, but good enough. So I am comparing the new Qodosen SR-286 with the XHDATA D-808 in this video. There are many signals, some local, one from more than 1600 km (1000 miles) away and various others.
This test is on the internal ferrite antennas only. The Qodosen performs spectacularly on MW when using an external antenna, as long as you are in a quiet area, which is something I will demonstrate later. But performance on the internal ferrite antenna is also right up there, in my opinion it is clearer and more sensitive than the XHDATA on the majority of signals in this test. On some of the stronger signals the D-808 sounds better.
00:00 MW comparison: SR-286 vs D-808
01:05 Radio Botswana, Maun, 840 km
01:37 Cape Talk, 1260 km
02:39 Radio Lesotho, 350 km
03:38 Radio Pulpit, local
03:49 Cape Pulpit, 1260 km
04:48 Radio Mocambique Antena Nacional, 450 km
05:30 Emisor Provincial de Gaza, 575 km
06:09 Magic 828, 1260 km
06:39 VOA from Botswana, 470 km
06:55 Emisor Provincial de Tete, 1260 km
08:01 Emisor Provincial de Maputo, 450 km
08:40 Emisor Provincial de Manica, 1220 km
09:27 Radio Botswana, Mahalapye, 370 km
10:06 Emisor Provincial do Niassa, 1620 km
10:28 Radio Islam, local

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Опубликовано:

26 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 74

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

Thank you for your comment and questions. It is not true that there is no ferrite rod inside, there is. It is also not true that reception on the ferrite antenna is not good. The test in this video was with the ferrite rod and, as you can see in the video, reception is excellent. However, when you use the whip or another external antenna, reception gets even better. Spectacularly good with external antennas. If you use a wire or the whip for MW you need to be in an area where there is no RFI, like outside. Or you can also use the Tecsun AN-200, it works very well.

@swlistening 4 месяца назад

I agree, it seems to really excel on MW.

@tedcowart3647 5 месяцев назад

I got mine a few weeks ago and it is a fantastic little radio. It picks up stations that many of my other portable radios dont even hear. Great video! Thanks!

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

Thanks Ted, same for me. I am hearing stations that none of the other radios picked up!

@ritmo1130 16 дней назад

Nice comparison. Hope some day you do this exercise outdoors in a less noisy place. I see the Qodosen deals with local noise in a better way. It must be a monster outside and with a good antenna!!

@swlistening 14 дней назад

Thank you!

@orionstar640 5 месяцев назад

Наконец-то нормальное сравнение в RU-vid. Спасибо. Finally a proper comparison on RU-vid. Thank you.

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

It is my pleasure, thank you for watching!

@AlexeyDXman 4 месяца назад

729kHz: I was impressed! Thanks!

@swlistening 4 месяца назад

@@AlexeyDXman Thank you Alexey!

@MAGNETAR-187 4 месяца назад

Hey SWL , thanks for reviewing this radio. It is because of your videos that I have bought a Qodosen SR-286 from AliExpress. Thanks for sharing this video SWL! 73's 👍

@swlistening 4 месяца назад

It's my pleasure, hope you will be happy with the radio!

@MAGNETAR-187 4 месяца назад

@@swlistening İ already am. Thanks for your reply! 👍

@swlistening 4 месяца назад

@@MAGNETAR-187 I am happy to hear that!

@canyondan 5 месяцев назад

Very Interesting for sure. Thanks for sharing

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

It's a pleasure, Dan!

@Dan40049 4 месяца назад

Thanks. That sure looks like a good one.

@swlistening 4 месяца назад

Thanks Dan. It is, on all bands, but really good on MW.

@arcticradio 5 месяцев назад

I was looking at getting an old Sony SW1 for outdoor use but now I think I’ll get one of these. Great little radio

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

And it looks just like the Sony SW1! I am itching to get out of the city to test this one on MW (and SW, for that matter) far away from RFI on a very long wire. I think it will be spectacular.

@ArnieDXer 5 месяцев назад

Wow, this radio has just removed strong line noise, like... nothing?????? 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱 I'M BLOWN AWAY 🌪️ BTW the SR-286 has an option to switch to the telescopic antenna for MW reception. I don't rember now what combination of buttons you have to press (Power + Page?), but people say... it's actually even *more* sensitive on it than using the ferrite loop! The only downside though is it'll be non-directional so you won't be able to null anything using the telescopic whip. But I'm really curious now how it will deal with that noise - will it be removed again? 🧐

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

Thanks Arnie! I know about that option to switch to an external antenna, actually been using it tonight with the AN-200 plugged in. I picked up Spanish football coverage on 540 kHz. I guess it must be from South America somewhere, but I could not find the station, checked a bunch of SDRs. I will upload the video tomorrow. Bedtime now 😴

@ArnieDXer 5 месяцев назад

@@swlistening Spanish on 540? Have you heard any other Spanish stations? To be honest... I doubt it was a real signal. Both Spain and SAm are simply too far for good reception that low on MW... although anything is possible. Have you heard Spain on 639, 684, 738, 774, 855 kHz too, for example? There is an Onda Cero station in Barcelona, rated at 50kW, but it's weaker than all of these. I guess your catch was simply a shortwave bleed-through, from Radio Exterior de Espana in this case. You'll need to keep checking this space as well as others I mentioned.

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

@@ArnieDXer Hey Arnie, thanks for your comment, upon a second listen to my recording I agree, I think it is not Spanish. My guess is that it might be Kossuth Radio, which I have caught before, here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RF0tOWL1vwE.htmlfeature=shared I have also caught Spain before, on 855 kHz, here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-t7i5f3hVHMg.html It is noisy, but there are enough clear moments where one can hear it is Spanish. There was also another strange catch last night on 1422 kHz, usually Malawi, but they stop transmitting at 22:00 and at 22:14 I got something that was definitely not African. Maybe that one was Romania, although I am really not sure. I'll upload the video anyway, maybe some viewers will be able to ID the signals.

@h.joshi_ 5 месяцев назад

Greetings André, it seems like your liking for SR-286 is picking up on a rapid pace and for all the good reasons. This model, if I'm not wrong is currently listed in Ali Express for sale which is not allowed to shop from currently in India due to our Government's Guidelines. Also, the price in three figures blows my mind. I hope this lil radio lives up to your expectations. Will wait for XHDATA and Tecsun to show up with this chip in their upcoming models for more stable reception to catch feeble distant transmissions and also offer in affordable pricing for all. Keep DXing. Cheers. 73! 🙏

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

Hi Harshit, thank you for your message. It is a pity that Ali Express cannot ship to India, I have been very impressed by their service. But, as you say, this radio is really quite expensive and it is, perhaps, better to wait for the big companies to start using the TEF6686 chip. I must add though, I am really so happy with this radio. I am not exaggerating when I say it simply beats every other radio I own, on all bands. Even tonight I picked up Radio Mali on SW, a very hard catch for me, I have only managed to catch it once before, and it was extremely weak. On the Qodosen it was a lot clearer.

@h.joshi_ 5 месяцев назад

@@swlistening Well said André. I am happy your investment done for this radio is paying off fabulously. I wish giant players show up with this chip in near future. And provide their offerings in a more competitive pricings affordable for all. It will only bring more joy to DXing in both AM and FM bands. My best wishes. Happy DXing. 73! 🙏

@radioredoctober 5 месяцев назад

This radio Qodosen is really good ! 100/100 ++++++ ! Amazing.

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

I agree, that TEF6686 chip inside is really amazing!

@radioredoctober 5 месяцев назад

@@swlistening True 100 % This is epic radio.

@maxprofit534 4 месяца назад

Qodosen is realy better.

@hammockdweller 5 месяцев назад

It's very tempting to buy one, but I already own too many radios.

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

I would say wait a while until manufacturers like XHDATA start using this chip, it might be quite a bit cheaper. Then I would recommend it highly!

@hammockdweller 5 месяцев назад

@@swlistening Yes, that would be the smart thing to do. I hope I can control myself. 😉

@michaelstutzbach8439 5 месяцев назад

In fact there is no such thing like too many radios ;-)

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

@@michaelstutzbach8439 That is true 🙂

@jamesglenn6461 5 месяцев назад

First off. After you started the Qodosen review, many other channels are now also reviewing. 😅 Second. Are there any other radios with the 6686 chip that perform well? Third. Just my opinion.That distant AM coverage may just outweigh single side band for me. The AM/Medium Wave stations generally broadcast 24 hours on the same frequency. Does the Qodosen allow medium wave step changes from 9 to 10 ?

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

Hi James, thanks for your comment! For me, the MW reception on this radio was one of the main reasons why I bought it. I am not disappointed. Like you, I can accept that there is no SSB, simply because the MW reception is so amazing. There are some other TEF6686 radios available on Ali Express but I don't know how they perform. If you do a search on Ali Express for "TEF6686 radio" you will find some options. Beware though, some are said to be fakes. You can change the steps on the Qodosen, yes. Either 9 kHz or 10 kHz.

@billpenna 5 месяцев назад

@@swlistening I have one of the "traditional" TEF6686 (Silver with colorful buttons) and it works great on all bands. However, unlike your radio there's no ferite loopstick in the silver TEF6686. I've been using the YouLoop on mine for MW and it's wonderful.

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

@@billpenna Thanks Bill, I saw those ones and might also get one, I am so excited about the performance of these radios with the TEF6686 chip. I used my Tecsun AN-200 on the Qodosen last night, plugged in to the external antenna port, worked wonderfully, great catches.

@Funk-DX 5 месяцев назад

hello and thank you for the video, full agreed. Thumbs up and best wishes !

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

Thank you Klaus! I really love this radio. Last night I got some interesting signals on MW with the Tecsun AN-200 antenna, I will add another video later today.

@Funk-DX 5 месяцев назад

@@swlistening you do a lot for our common hobby of SWL/DX ..... we all have to thank you for all your big efforts .... very appreciated. 73 ! the Klaus

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

@@Funk-DX Thank you so much Klaus!

@IberiaDX 4 месяца назад

Hi, in a few days I will release a comparison (ON MW) with Sony ICF-SW55, DEGEN DE1103, XHDATA D-808 and QODOSEN SR-286. Every time I test receivers I am more convinced that sound must be recorded from OUT or EARPHONES plugs, as this is the real audio generated, so real sensitivity and selectivity can be compared without differences between external speakers or compressed audio from external microphones. In my tests QODOSEN does not outperforms XHDATA D-808, so could be differences with manufactured units. Regards.

@swlistening 4 месяца назад

Thanks Jorge, I have actually just switched to recording the signals digitally on my Tecsun ICR-110, from the earphones plug on the radios. It makes a very big difference, I agree with you that it is the only real way to hear the signals as I receive them here properly. The latest videos I uploaded are with sound recorded digitally. It is interesting what you say about the Qodosen and the D-808, in all my tests so far (on shortwave and FM mostly), and I have really done a lot, the Qodosen is clearly superior to the D-808. I noticed this not only for videos that I uploaded to the channel, but just while DXing. On stronger signals they are almost equal, to be fair, although I think the Qodosen is just slightly ahead of the D-808, even on stronger signals. But on weaker signals the difference has been huge, where the D-808 hears nothing or receives only bits and pieces of transmissions, the Qodosen pulls in the signals well enough to be decipherable. The strong point on the Qodosen really is its ability to pull in weak signals. I haven't done many MW comparisons yet, our MW season is just opening up now, every night I can see more and more signals beginning to come through. We have had a particularly hot summer and for some reason the MW band has been extremely quiet. But also noisy, because of the thunderstorms and lightning :-) Cooler and storm-free weather is approaching now. Then I will do more MW comparisons, and they will be with audio recorded digitally, via the earphones plugs.

@VintageOils 5 месяцев назад

that is a such a remarkable little radio. their dsp seems to just filter out noise and fading like no other dsp radio did so far. fsding was usually a thing especially annoying with the Si chip dsp radios (to my ears at least) did you already try it with the mla30? or the tecsun MW loop? btw blog or die uploaded a video, where he caught an algerian LW station on 153khz in west coast USA. some LW test might be interesting for you too. maybe you can get the maroc station at 171 (iirc) or the other algerian at 252

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

I agree, the way the radio filters out noise and fading is just remarkable! Last night I used the Tecsun AN-200, spectacular results. Will upload a short video later, hopefully this evening. I haven't had success on LW though, I hear signal traces for sure (which I haven't heard on any of my other radios), but nothing clear enough yet to qualify as a catch. I saw the Blog or Die video, it was very early in the morning on his side, maybe I must try that time also.

@VintageOils 5 месяцев назад

@@swlistening LW is best late at night/very early morning for le in europe too. really opens up after midnight. also blog or die wad using a wire antenna and a ground rod. i suspect the ground rod to play a major role in that great LW reception

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

@@VintageOils Thank you for this, I will try early morning.

@jkratoville 5 месяцев назад

Too bad you didn't have both displays on signal strength. That would have been an interesting comparison as well.

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

Hey Jack, yes, I realised afterwards that I forgot to change the display on the D-808! At least the audio comparison is still there :-)

@DarrenN72 5 месяцев назад

I have heard that you need to use an external antenna for MW on this radio because it doesn't have a internal ferrite rod inside the radio. Also others say the internal ferrite rod is not good. You need to use an external whip antenna to get optimal performance for MW. Is any of this true?

@Kw1161 5 месяцев назад

Andre I agree with your assessment…the Q. makes a difference on nullifying your 50HZ electric noise that was coming over the XHdata radio.. Now if you had only have had the Q. On your 2023 European trip I wonder what you would have picked up?….😂 73!

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

I can just imagine! This will most certainly be my travel radio in the future. And probably the Tecsun PL-368 for SSB, it is small enough.

@Kw1161 5 месяцев назад

@@swlistening Andre, both radios will definitely make light DXing easy. You might also add a Belka (2022) all mode to your bag, which will also add NBFM as well as SSB…if you can buy one in your area. 73!

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

@@Kw1161 I have been eyeing the Belka for a while, it is definitely on my to-buy list. My list is getting long 😀

@Kw1161 5 месяцев назад

@@swlistening Andre Like You my money tree needs more feeding…😀! 73!

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

@@Kw1161 Most definitely!

@MAGNETAR-187 5 месяцев назад

Hey SWL , Does the Qodosen SR-286 have an external 3.5mm jack for wire antenna or other sorts of external antennas? Thanks for sharing!!!

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

It does indeed! I plugged in my Tecsun AN-200 last night and it worked wonderfully.

@MAGNETAR-187 5 месяцев назад

@@swlistening thanks for the reply SWL👍 73's.

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

@@MAGNETAR-187 Sure!

@Ankjell 5 месяцев назад

Wow, that was really surprising considering how good the D808 is.

@radioredoctober 5 месяцев назад

or Tecsun PL- 330

@swlistening 5 месяцев назад

It is quite an amazing little radio, this Qodosen SR-286.

@eyadabusharar2457 4 месяца назад

Do you think is better than sangean PR-D4W ?

@swlistening 4 месяца назад

Hi Eyad, I don't have a Sangean PR-D4W, so I can't say. What I can say, is that Jay Allen, who rated the Sangean at 4.5 stars, said in his review of the Qodosen that it performed better than some of his 5-star radios.

@eyadabusharar2457 4 месяца назад

I think He rated Qodosen! ! at 3.5 stars

@eyadabusharar2457 4 месяца назад

And He rated xhdata d109 at 3 stars, do you think xhdata d109 deserve thats rated

@swlistening 4 месяца назад

@@eyadabusharar2457 The D-109 is a very nice radio. Quite good, but not great on MW, so I think that rating is fair. But I think it is great on SW. He does not rate radios for SW.

@swlistening 4 месяца назад

@@eyadabusharar2457 Yes, when using the built-in ferrite antenna, which is very small, it is 3.5 stars. When using the whip (which you can do) he says it equals and betters his 5-star radios.