TEF 6866 - Can't Wait to Try This

[Mike-CT]

It just came from Amazon. Ordered it Friday night. Everyone says it's a really hot radio. We will see.

[Mike-CT]

I think this is the most sensitive and selective radio I've ever owned. My Eton Traveller III cannot compete. PI codes are almost instantaneous. Adjustable adjacent selectivity is crazy . The speaker sounds really good. It came fully charged. It feels like a brick (heavy). I just have to get more familiar with the three buttons and the dials. I need to figure out if the PTY info can be changed from European to North American (RDS to RBDS). It comes set for European.

[antennanut]

Interesting!! I may have to bite the bullet and try one as well.

[Guest]

Great tuners I got a bare bones Tef6866 . With a arduino nano and Tef-gtk software.

[antennanut]

I now am the proud owner of a TEF 6686. As Mike said, this radio is incredible.

As for nits to pick, oddly this Amazon seller doesn't include an instruction manual as a standard accessory. I was able to operate it pretty easily anyway, and also found a crudely written manual on the internet. I contacted the seller and asked for a manual, and received essentially the same crudely written instructions that I found on the internet. One oddity I've noticed is the whip antenna works on BCB AM, but that's actually good since the whip antenna connects to the radio's antenna jack. Therefore an external AM antenna hooks up like any other antenna does to the radio. I think an SMA jack is an unusual choice for the antenna jack, but a lot of the radio's features are more for an international buyer, so maybe SMA is more popular outside the U.S.

Still, the radio is a great performer, and I'd buy it again in a second.

[Mike-CT]

What I got for a 'manual' is a sheet of paper printed on both sides with typed instructions. It's most likely a 100th generation copy because the front side is hard to read.
Also every SDR I have here...all 3 of them, Airspy, SDRPlay and Elad...all need an SMA to F adapter. Seems that SMAs are all the SDR manufacturers use today.

[antennanut]

Ah, thanks for mentioning that about the antenna jacks for your SDRs, Mike. I don't have an SDR, so I'm ignorant in that regard. I've ordered an adapter that's coming Monday, which I'm looking forward to. My FM antenna in the attic is in a fixed position, which isn't ideal, but I would like to see what it can do with an antenna other than the whip.

After hearing about the instructions you received, I may have the Cadillac of what is available. I'll try to link it: tef_manual _eng.pdf

[KY-Near-Cincinnati]

How well can you get FM stations adjacent to your locals? Is like the selectivity of a MR-78 or something in the range of a Carver TX-10?

[antennanut]

It is about like the MR-78. Unless the station is 10 miles away, 100kw with IBOC sidebands, it gets a weak adjacent station next to a local just fine. If that same 100kw IBOC station is 20-25 miles away, you then have a really good shot with adjacent stations. One of my main issues is staying away from computers, routers, mesh network pods, etc. since right now I'm using the whip antenna. I'm really curious to see how it does once I get the F to SMA adapter and am using the APS9 in the attic.

Tommy

[Mike-CT]

Selectivity is crazy, especially since the radio has variable selectivity that adapts to changes according to the station being tuned. I only have one strong local that does not use HD and that's WCCC 106.9. It's about 15 miles SSW of me and I can aim my APS-13 right into it and the adjacents are clear. Yes, it does remind me of the MR-78. I never owned one but I have played with one at a DXers house in the NYC metro area some years back and I know how good it was.

[KY-Near-Cincinnati]

Selectivity is crazy, especially since the radio has variable selectivity that adapts to changes according to the station being tuned. I only have one strong local that does not use HD and that's WCCC 106.9. It's about 15 miles SSW of me and I can aim my APS-13 right into it and the adjacents are clear. Yes, it does remind me of the MR-78. I never owned one but I have played with one at a DXers house in the NYC metro area some years back and I know how good it was.

Thanks. I never owned a MR-78 either, but I read that was the industry standard at one time...or maybe still is.

[KY-Near-Cincinnati]

I just want to make sure that is the correct one, same brand, same firmware and specs etc...

Is this the price y'all paid for it?

Also does it have a BFO to get SSB and CW ?

[Mike-CT]

Yes, that's the one I have. Mine is not Guddla (if that makes any difference at all...they all the same anyway radio anyway). Mine is Goozonzoo or something. It was $129.95 from Amazon with three day delivery. No BFO/SSB/CW on it. Also the radio can be flashed from a computer to upgrade the firmware with the USB cable you use to charge it. I haven't tried to. Don't know if I even need to.

[antennanut]

There are multiple sellers on Amazon that all have essentially the same radio with somewhat different accessories. Mine came with three test chips, but I confess I don't know what these test chips are for nor what they are supposed to test. There was no explanation included with the radio. But this doesn't detract from the performance of the radio, which is stellar.

[KY-Near-Cincinnati]

I went ahead and ordered it, should be here in a few days.