Kaito WRX911 11-Band AM/FM Shortwave Radio, Black

Radio came in good condition from JR's. Open it up, turned it on. Isn't it wonderful that you can actually just turn on a radio without having to do any pre-sets or set the clock. Radio has a cheap feel to it but for $19 bucks, I didn't expect it to be like the Grundig G6 either. Now the meat and potatoes of the radio. AM reception is good with fairly good selectivity as long as a monster signal isn't near it. FM reception I find to be poor, it picks up the strong stations, but the weak stations lag. Shortwave has pretty good sensitivity and selectivity, it's really with this. But on shortwave, the frequency dial is way, way off..... Radio Habana on 6000khz is showing up on this radio at 5.90 with the dial right over the 5. It also suffers from bad images approx 900khz down... I picked up the image of Radio Habana on 5100khz and the 60m band was loaded with 49m band images. But if you ignore the dial, this station does well picking up medium to strong shortwave radio stations. It's not a DX champ, but for 20 bucks, this radio wasn't meant to be one either.Yes, it lacks behind the Grundig G5 and G6 in every measureable way. But this is a 20 buck radio vs a 100 dollar radio.Bottom line: A good really cheap radio for the price. A good carry around radio that you don't worry about losing.Recommended if 20 bucks is all you have to spend. Otherwise, Go with the Grundig G6 or new G3.

I really like this radio, and was very surprised at how well it receives SW (and AM & FM, too). It is very small at just 4.6 x 3 inches (less than a 3x5 index card) and just 1" thick. I have a much more expensive Panasonic digital portable built in the 90s that 'hears' no more stations than this budget analogue. However, the really cool part for me is that I can find those stations about 20x faster on this Kaito - the scan just slows down the process tremendously for the digital Panny. I could even imagine someone wanting this Kaito just to find stations quickly for tuning on a digital model once located (it would narrow down the range to be scanned).Mainly, though, with the steady decline in SW transmissions worldwide over the last couple decades, this radio provides a good-quality experience for those interested in SW, but not wanting to invest much money into it as a hobby - $20, are you kidding? With its excellent AM reception for ballgames, and good FM, too, this radio also makes sense for those times when the power goes out, and I would think it's small size, use of AA batteries and low power usage should appeal to survivalists for tossing into their BOBs. If it were a crappy radio, then it just wouldn't be worth it for even $5, but it really is a good little receiver which will likely surprise you; at the price it's almost a gift. In fact, it would make a neat gift.Three-year Update !!! While I have not subsequently found this radio very useful for SW - not the radio's fault, I just don't find much of interest on the SW band - I have nevertheless found it one of the more useful of my many radios due to its MW (AM) and FM capabilities. For AM during the day, for local stations, this radio is as good as any of my others and better than most because of its excellent nulling in an RFI-packed home. The tiny speaker sounds remarkably clear for voice. FM for locals is clean, too, of course. But it is its AM noise-suppression abilities which make this little radio so very useful.Here's a good example of what I'm talking about. As I type this, I'm listening to AM with the WRX-911 sitting six inches from my laptop. All I had to do was turn the radio, lying on its back, until all the nasty noise disappeared. Not many of my radios can do this, but to make matters even worse, there is a 52" plasma TV ten feet dead ahead, and it is on! Many radios won't null the TV from this spot. The little WRX-911 is simply too stupid to understand it can't do this, apparently. It has earned respect from me that I never suspected possible when I wrote the first part of this review three years ago. I suggest you getcha one while it is still available... I don't know whether the R-911 performs as well.

I own a lot of radios so I'm giving this an honest review comparing it the similarly priced KA321. The biggest difference between the two is the WRX911 is single conversion analog while the KA321 incorporates an analog tuned DSP chip. I'm beginning to hate DSP radios and I own quite a few, the disadvantages outweigh the benefits especially if you like to band scan. Soft mute and crappy audio quality are the biggest downfall, this includes all flavors of Tecsun DSP radios and some CCrane models. The WRX911 is certainly old school analog and single conversion, it's very sensitive on all bands except FM where it's only average. I was amazed to discover the "ears" this has using just the telescopic whip. Using a longwire more than 20 feet just swamps the front end of the radio and produces images everywhere on SW. Not surprising being single conversion design. The MW (AM) band is also quite sensitive, a bit better higher in the band but not by much. This was a surprise for such a cheap and small radio. One usual quirk with the WRX911 has is the telescopic whip is somehow connected to the MW ferrite bar circuit. You can verify this yourself by clipping a longwire to the whip and hear the reception of signals increase considerably on MW, but doing this also defeats any directionality of the internal ferrite bar. Still it's something interesting and peculiar to consider when listening to MW. Because of this unusual design the telescopic whip also interferes with the internal ferrite bar antenna when it's collapsed and in its parked position atop the radio. I notice a marked increase in signals on MW if I swivel the whip antenna up vertically. So keep these two things in mind if you use the WRX911 for casual MW DXing.Selectivity is what you'd expect from single conversion, it's not great, but it's not barn door wide like some other radios I've tried. Construction is really pretty good at this price point, it certainly feels more durable than the KA321 but it shares the same thin and flimsy dial bezel. Tuning is a bit stiff but smooth, this should help keep it from any drifting and I didn't notice any drag in portions of the dial like I have in the KA321. Battery life is great, the WRX911 is very miserly with NMiH rechargables. My estimate was about 80 hours of runtime using low volume or an earphone, and audio with headphones is really quite good. This brings me to the speaker fidelity. Don't let any reviews fool you claiming "great sound". Let's be realistic, the WRX911 has what looks to be a 2 inch speaker. It's fine for news or talk but still very thin and tinny sounding. It's basically a utility feature and allows using it without headphones.For pure simplicity I'm very much enjoying the WRX911. It's not perfect but no radio is. Even with its quirks it performs very admirably on MW and SW. FM is it's Achilles heel with only average sensitivity. For $20 this is a great value for your bug out bag, camping, fishing or listening on your back porch during a hot sultry summer night.

Tiny, bad reception and the tuning dial/wheel is wobbly.Can not get many SW stations and the speakers are crackly.Updated Nov 15, the radio is done speakers crackle is horrid.

Pros -1. Very tiny and easy to handle2. FM tuning is easy and sound quality is excellent3. AM depends upon some factors like positioning and weather and sometimes has humming noise4. Looks durableCons -1. SW tuning is a pain2. The cover over battery compartment seems fragile

I am posting after using it for 5 months.The sound quality and signal reception is excellent. All the controls are smooth and build quality is great. The earphones that come with it are not that good, but honestly I didn't care much about them.If you know the basics of how shortwaves work, this product won't disappoint you. If you want low noise turn off your phones and electronic stuff.

Received from Amazon in good condition Electric Blue,. Reception mediocre on FM/MW but shines in SW with Whip ant, better with external speaker/headphones. Atttached a wire to whip, LO& behold!! Reception improves. A KEEPER.

I loved this product , very sensitive to stations, sharp sound and very handy.