Location: KY, near Cincinnati
Goozeezoo TEF6866 from Amazon
Yesterday. I got this radio. My initial impression was that the radio is a super selective performer. Leaning on the counter in the kitchen with the antenna up I noticed that I was able to get a weak ground wave signal of WIBC 93.1 from Indianapolis, In.
At some 90 miles, Indy is no big deal here. But getting a weak WIBC 93.1 right next to Cincinnati local WAKW 93.3 with no splatter at all is a big deal.
Testing further, I tried for something on 92.3 right next to Cincinnati local WOFX 92.5. There was something weak and fady on 92.3, I managed to pick up a very weak 92.3 WTTS Trafalgar, IN (Indianapolis market). I picked up WTTS with no splatter at all. Woah! (On the IC-705 no WTTS).
In the meantime, I found my SMA to PL-259 adapter with wire. (I bought it awhile ago so I could connect my HT's with the sma threads to my 144/440 Hamfest PVC Vertical outside.) So I connected the radio to my ham antenna outside.
There was a little tropo enhancement this morning, you know...stuff out to 75 miles or so. No biggie. Tuning around with the TF6866 connected to that antenna I was able to get WXKU 92.7 Seymour, Indiana right next to 92.5 WOFX with no splatter.
On 98.7 I was able to get WKDO (Liberty, KY) right next to Cincinnati local 98.5 WRRM with no splatter. Tuning around some more, 99.7 WDJX Louisville was actually coming in with no splatter at all. (On the IC-705 I could also get WDJX but with some splatter.)
But not only wasn't I getting any splatter, the RDS for WDJX was lighting up too. I tuned to 93.1 WIBC Indy next to Cincinnati local WAKW 93.3 and the RDS for 93.1 WIBC was also lighting up.
Tuning around some more I was able to get 104.1 Muncie, Indiana and 104.5 Lexington KY both right next to local Cincinnati local 104.3 WNLT with no splatter at all...even when Muncie and Lexington dipped in signal strength.
Summary
This radio will open doors for you but there could be still some stubborn persistent locals that will forever remain "basket cases". For instance, I still haven't got anything on 94.7 or 95.1 next to Cincinnati local WREW 94.9 - even with this radio.
Another one that is an impossibility is 102.9 Dayton Ohio because of Cincinnati local WEBN 102.7. Even with this radio, 102.9 is still a no go.
Now I don't have a decent FM antenna. I think if I did, I could be able to pull stuff past the local basket cases and get stuff on those adjacent frequencies .
I'm very impressed with the auto bandwidth, and the ability to set it manually to what you like. The lowest setting is 56 khz. In my testing, it seems that 114 khz seems to be the sweet spot except with dealing with local basket cases.
Maybe it's me, but is there a battery indicator on this? I see it turns green when it is charging but how do I know it's fully charged?
Shortcomings
I think the radio is quite sensitive. But it lacks an ALC as you can hear a station fade into nothing whereas if you had the IC-705 you would hear the background hiss. I don't know if a firmware update would help enable the ALC, even if it were possible.
The radio has shortcomings in the Shortwave department and AM. Come on, a $120 something SDR radio with no SSB? Really ? In 2023? And what's the deal with 9 khz steps in the AM Broadcast mode? Can it be changed (permanently) to 10 khz?
To be fair, I bought the radio just for the FM selectivity and nothing else. And I am not disappointed at all. It's just that to have the other stuff working like we expect to would have been an added bonus.
Goozeezoo TEF6866 from Amazon
Yesterday. I got this radio. My initial impression was that the radio is a super selective performer. Leaning on the counter in the kitchen with the antenna up I noticed that I was able to get a weak ground wave signal of WIBC 93.1 from Indianapolis, In.
At some 90 miles, Indy is no big deal here. But getting a weak WIBC 93.1 right next to Cincinnati local WAKW 93.3 with no splatter at all is a big deal.
Testing further, I tried for something on 92.3 right next to Cincinnati local WOFX 92.5. There was something weak and fady on 92.3, I managed to pick up a very weak 92.3 WTTS Trafalgar, IN (Indianapolis market). I picked up WTTS with no splatter at all. Woah! (On the IC-705 no WTTS).
In the meantime, I found my SMA to PL-259 adapter with wire. (I bought it awhile ago so I could connect my HT's with the sma threads to my 144/440 Hamfest PVC Vertical outside.) So I connected the radio to my ham antenna outside.
There was a little tropo enhancement this morning, you know...stuff out to 75 miles or so. No biggie. Tuning around with the TF6866 connected to that antenna I was able to get WXKU 92.7 Seymour, Indiana right next to 92.5 WOFX with no splatter.
On 98.7 I was able to get WKDO (Liberty, KY) right next to Cincinnati local 98.5 WRRM with no splatter. Tuning around some more, 99.7 WDJX Louisville was actually coming in with no splatter at all. (On the IC-705 I could also get WDJX but with some splatter.)
But not only wasn't I getting any splatter, the RDS for WDJX was lighting up too. I tuned to 93.1 WIBC Indy next to Cincinnati local WAKW 93.3 and the RDS for 93.1 WIBC was also lighting up.
Tuning around some more I was able to get 104.1 Muncie, Indiana and 104.5 Lexington KY both right next to local Cincinnati local 104.3 WNLT with no splatter at all...even when Muncie and Lexington dipped in signal strength.
Summary
This radio will open doors for you but there could be still some stubborn persistent locals that will forever remain "basket cases". For instance, I still haven't got anything on 94.7 or 95.1 next to Cincinnati local WREW 94.9 - even with this radio.
Another one that is an impossibility is 102.9 Dayton Ohio because of Cincinnati local WEBN 102.7. Even with this radio, 102.9 is still a no go.
Now I don't have a decent FM antenna. I think if I did, I could be able to pull stuff past the local basket cases and get stuff on those adjacent frequencies .
I'm very impressed with the auto bandwidth, and the ability to set it manually to what you like. The lowest setting is 56 khz. In my testing, it seems that 114 khz seems to be the sweet spot except with dealing with local basket cases.
Maybe it's me, but is there a battery indicator on this? I see it turns green when it is charging but how do I know it's fully charged?
Shortcomings
I think the radio is quite sensitive. But it lacks an ALC as you can hear a station fade into nothing whereas if you had the IC-705 you would hear the background hiss. I don't know if a firmware update would help enable the ALC, even if it were possible.
The radio has shortcomings in the Shortwave department and AM. Come on, a $120 something SDR radio with no SSB? Really ? In 2023? And what's the deal with 9 khz steps in the AM Broadcast mode? Can it be changed (permanently) to 10 khz?
To be fair, I bought the radio just for the FM selectivity and nothing else. And I am not disappointed at all. It's just that to have the other stuff working like we expect to would have been an added bonus.
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