The $15 USD XHDATA D-328, an amazingly good performing radio with AM, SW, and the complete OIRT/International (64-108 MHz) FM band. Clip a wire to the whip antenna and hear the world on Shortwave.
Recently, in late October, I did what a lot of radio aficionados do: I bought yet another radio.
This one was, like many other such purchases, an 'impulse buy'. The fact it only cost me $15 USD (about $24 total, including shipping) helped with that decision.
It's an XHDATA D-328, a small AM-FM-SW radio with an analog, old-school, slide rule dial (with moving pointer), but it has a DSP chip inside the radio, so it receives / amplifies / filters the radio signals using digital software that is inside the DSP chip -- which actually works very well, especially when considering just how small the radio is. In fact, it is small enough to be considered an "ultralight" radio -- "ultralight" radios were a big thing in MW DXing circles in the early 2010's.
Although there still seem to be "ultralight" MW radio enthusiasts, the "ultralight" fad seems to have come and gone, but the concept is quite cool: see just how much you can hear with minimal equipment.
For something like that, the XHDATA D-328 fills that bill quite nicely. It's definitely small, definitely 'light', and it definitely works quite well!
(A few weeks later I also bought an XHDATA D-219, a similar radio -- see more on that further down the article).
The DSP chip inside the XHDATA D-328 is the SiLabs Si4825, one of their chips designed to tune the bands digitally, using an analog tuning method. In this case, the chip uses a potentiometer (similar to a volume control) to tune the chip's firmware up and down each band. The Si4825 was designed in 2013, so the chip, and its technology, has been around a while. The SiLabs company is fairly well known in DX circles, as the Austin, TX company has made SDR and DSP technology accessible in small radios like the D-328, and the chips themselves are in many radios, from XHDATA's to Tecsuns to Sangeans. I remember back in the 1990's DSP technology was expensive, and usually used for audio enhancement for SW radios -- they would be these external boxes you used in place of a receiver's external speaker, hoping it would reduce noise better than a noise blanker.
Now, most SW/MW and FM radios have DSP naturally, thanks to companies like SiLabs. And if you compare a DSP SW radio to an analog SW radio (even a good one), you can hear the noise and hiss is reduced, and speech and music often is much better resolved. And analog radio may bring in a signal at the same strength as a DSP radio, but the hiss and normal atmospheric noise can cover part of the audio. With modern DSP portables, that generally is not the case
In the 1980's and 1990's, there were outboard DSP filters that SWL's would sometimes buy to try to filter out hiss and noise. Today, nearly every new SW and MW radio has better DSP, just in the main chip in the radio. And the radios are often under $70 US. These DSP rigs today are little marvels!
IT LOOKS SIMILAR TO A COUPLE 1990's SW PORTABLES, BUT WORKS MUCH BETTER
Being an analog dial radio, the XHDATA D-328 looks similar to a Radio Shack radio from the 1990's I have written about before on this blog, a radio called the Realistic DX-350. The layout is similar, with a similar looking multi-band analog dial, but the XHDATA is a bit smaller, and -- of course -- the DSP circuitry means that the XHDATA works differently.
My article on the Realistic/Radio Shack DX-350 is here:
The XHDATA D-328 also resembles another 1990's, Sangean-made, Radio Shack multibander, the DX-351, which is the Realistic badged version of a Sangean radio called the MS-102 (or a similar model # -- I have forgotten the actual Sangean model number). My DX-351 was hard to use for either SW or MW. The 'pull' -- the sensitivity -- wasn't super, and if I attached a wire to the whip antenna for Shortwave, I got a lot of overload. I never used the radio much on MW, so I do not remember its performance on that band. FM reception was OK, but not exceptional.
I am 100% certain that this XHDATA radio, which is smaller than the DX-351, works much, much better on all bands. That's how much progress there really has been in MW and SW radio receiver technology.
The XHDATA D-328 and the 1990's Realistic DX-350. One is DSP, the other is Analog chipped. Both work roughly the same, performance wise, with the XHDATA having the edge on SW readability -- although the DX-350 separates the MW channels better.
The XHDATA, when set next to the DX-351, is a bit smaller. As my DX-351 doesn't work on MW or FM anymore (broken slide switch), the only comparison between these two radios would be on SW, and because the XHDATA handles wire antennas very well, it definitely wins that contest!
Comparing this new XHDATA to my DX-350s? It's a wash. The DX-350's generally work a bit better on MW, because of the way in which Analog IF chips and ceramic filters tune the band channel by channel. The XHDATA is miles ahead in SW -- because you can attach a wire antenna to the whip, and get NO OVERLOAD.
So, once again, we have an example of DSP tech in radio chips really advancing the performance of small radios like these.
A HAPPY HALLOWEEN TREAT
When I got the XHDATA it was delivered early on Halloween, which was pretty cool. It was like a great start to what I thought would be a mediocre holiday. Actually, Halloween this year (2023) wasn't that bad. But I have another article on that.
Even so, it was cool to see a package on my porch to start off Halloween.
WHAT ALL DOES THE XHDATA D-328 DO?
The XHDATA is a very small multiband radio that actually works very well for its size. It is powered by a rechargeable BL-5C battery -- the same kind that I use in my Grundig G2. These batteries are known to be pretty good rechargeables for radios. The XHDATA's battery comes at least partially charged from the factory.
Another, similar XHDATA radio, the XHDATA D-219, looks the same and performs roughly the same on MW (not quite as good on SW & FM though), but it has the US X-band on MW, and it works off of 2 AA batteries, instead of a rechargeable BL-5C (more on the D-219, and a comparison between the two radios, at the end of this article).
The XHDATA D-328 tunes the MW band from 520 to 1620 kHz, FM from 64 MHz to 108 MHz, and the SW spectrum in 9 separate 'bands', with each band covering a bit more than a SW broadcast band -- you've got 60 meters, 49 meters, 41 meters, 31 meters, 25 meters, 21 meters, 19 meters, 16 meters, and 13 meters. There are a couple SWBC bands that aren't covered by the radio (the 120 meter, 90 meter, 75 meter, 15 meter and 11 meter bands), but they are barely used at all anymore.
Three radios from two different eras: the top radio is the Realistic DX-351, a moderate seller from the mid-1990s, and bottom two radios are the XHDATA D-328 and XHDATA D-219. The D-219 is at bottom. It works a bit better on MW than the D-328, and both XHDATAs work much better on all bands than the DX-351 did.
WORLDWIDE FM BAND CAPABILITY, OFF THE SHELF
A plus: the XHDATA receives the ENTIRE FM BAND -- from 64 MHz to 108 MHz! Pretty cool. Although there are no 64-76 MHz OIRT FM stations anywhere near North America, the fact that you can use your XHDATA anywhere in the world on FM is a great feature. The 64-87 MHz section of FM is on one FM 'band', and the more standardized, 88-108 MHz section is on a second FM 'band'.
NOTE: For those who don't know, the 64-76 MHz band is still used in parts of Eastern Europe and Russia, and the 76-88 MHz FM band is still used in Japan.
In Brazil, FM radio uses the 76-108 MHz band. They recently expanded their FM band below 88 MHz down to 76 MHz, to accommodate a relocation of some AM stations to their already full FM band.
So, this radio will cover all FM stations -- off the shelf -- in North America, Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan and the rest of Asia, Oceania, Africa, Latin America, and Brazil, no problem.
The XHDATA also has recharging capability for recharging the removable, internal BL-5C battery (the USB cable for doing this comes with the radio -- although you'll need a wall adapter or other device to provide the power for recharging the battery), and it will also play MP3's, which it is capable of accessing via an SD card you'd insert into a SD/TF mini card slot in the top of the radio. Very cool.
So it is a combination AM-FM-SW radio and MP3 player, all in one small package -- it's roughly the same size as your average smartphone, only a couple centimeter or two thicker.
Being that I am more of a MW and SW fan than an FM radio fan, I'll discuss MW and SW DXing in more detail here.
FM SEEMS VERY GOOD -- FRINGE STATIONS COME IN VERY WELL
Suffice to say, the FM sounds great, although it is in mono via the headphones (MP3's will play in full stereo). I'm not sure how great the XHDATA would be DXing the FM band, being that the whip antenna is a bit short (because of the radio's small size), but my XHDATA receives all the local FM stations very well.
It also receives weaker and 'fringe' stations really well. For example, a Regional Mexican music station located over 100 miles away -- KDDS 99.3 MHz, McCleary, WA -- comes in 'fringe-ish' and a little staticky on most of my good, analog FM stations, and the same weak signal on a couple of my DSP chipped FM'ers. The XHDATA D-328 brings it in full, clear mono.
So some FM DXing could be possible with this radio.
MW DXing? TUNING IS TRICKY, BUT DX IS WORKABLE
MW listening and MW DXing with this radio is tricky. The tuner is digital -- when you move the tuner knob, you can hear the DSP chip 'ratchet' across the frequencies, as it resolves the stations' signals, and 'looks' at each frequency and signal it 'sees'. This means that sometimes the XHDATA can miss weaker stations. If there are two stations within 20-30 kHz that are really strong, the XHDATA can sometimes completely skip the channel in between them. Even using an external loop it can be hard to pick out a weak channel in between two really strong stations. It takes patience to pull in such weak adjacents.
Sometimes it will 'latch onto' a weaker station next to a strong station, and hold onto that signal. Although this 'latching onto a station' can be helpful when tuning the SW bands, it can sometimes make MW DXing a little challenging, because the MW band (at least here in North America) is very crowded. It can be a challenge to get the D-328 to find the weaker station when there is a very powerful signal in the next channel.
NO SOFT MUTING, Approximately 2-3 kHz BANDWIDTH
But the XHDATA will receive MW DX, especially if you use an external loop. And it has NO SOFT MUTING, either.
The RF bandwidth on the XHDATA D-328 seems to be 2-3 kHz -- you get enough highs to read the speech on the stations, and enough lows to enjoy the music. The 2-3 kHz bandwidth probably helps some with sensitivity as well as selectivity. I find the audio through headphones to be very pleasing.
And when the XHDATA 'grabs onto', i.e. resolves, a DX station, it holds onto that frequency. There is no drift in this radio whatsoever.
On the XHDATA D-328, the MW band only goes to 1620 kHz or so. But the MW performance is pretty good for such a small, non-digital readout radio. The main characteristic that a MW listener is going to deal with when using this XHDATA radio is TUNING, which has to be done slowly and carefully, and readout.
The XHDATA's speaker is fairly small, which is expected., but it sounds good for its very small size. According to at least one photo of it I've seen online, the speaker is rated at 3 watts. That said, though, with a radio this size, you'll probably want to use your headphones anyway. With headphones you'll get more of the sound that this radio can put out. I see the D-328 as a headset radio with a speaker attached.
When MW DXing you may have to max the volume on weaker stations. This is not due to 'soft muting', but due to the way the overall volume on MW is configured. But the volume is still loud enough to hear the stations OK (on SW the volume seems to be a little louder than MW DX stations).
The XHDATA D-328 and my Crate Loop. I found the D-328 works really well with a loop. There isn't much issue in peaking the MW signals using an external loop, as you may get with some other DSP chip MW radios. As you can see (right click the pic and open in a new tab), the D-328 goes from 520 to 1620, so the X-band is left out. The other XHDATA mini radio, the D-219, does have the North American MW X-band, though.
MW DX OVERVIEW: Tune Slowly!
As said, you have to tune slowly. Otherwise, you may miss stations -- even some local MW/AM band stations may get passed over by the XHDATA's tuning system, which depends on the DSP chip 'capturing' the signal and then holding onto it. It is a bit of a trick to get the hang of it. But it can be done. And once the XHDATA has 'captured' a MW station's signal, it holds onto it very well.
So, when tuning the MW band, some patience is needed, unless you're just tuning in the stronger local stations.
The XHDATA will indeed pull in some distant stations, however -- even unaided.
DXing with the XHDATA is sort of touch and go. The DSP chip captures DX stations when they are faded up, which means that sometimes you'll miss stations, and other times the same DX stations that it missed previously will come blaring in. It also has a tendency to grab onto stronger stations -- but not always.
Using an external loop helps with DXing, naturally, as I don't think the D-328 has a very big internal loopstick. I haven't seen a clear picture of one, but I think it's a flat, 80mm loopstick and it's located on the bottom of the radio, near the front. The loopstick isn't tiny, but it's not massive, either. Of course, with the radio being ultralight-size, 80mm fits it well. The loopstick seems to be sensitive enough, and it will null.
I wouldn't call this radio a terrific DXer by itself (i.e., no external loop to boost signals), but it is definitely capable of DXing the MW band, even 'barefoot' (just the radio). The first night I tried out this radio -- Halloween night -- and using my milk crate loop antenna, I heard KAJO 1270, a classic hits station out of Grants Pass, Oregon (a medium sized city in Southern Oregon about 400 miles / 700 km south from me) with S4+ / near local sounding signals early in the morning, long after the last Halloween trick or treater had probably gone to bed. I was pleasantly surprised.
It was tricky tuning into KAJO, but once the station was 'captured' by the DSP chip, the reception was steady, with little or no splash from strong adjacents. The sound through the headphones was excellent for DX. Without the loop, KAJO still came in readably, but at reduced signal levels.
The XHDATA seems to peak signals the best with the external loop maybe 3-5 inches (8-12 cm) from the radio. Any closer, it doesn't seem to add to reception much, and with the radio 3-5 inches / 8-12 cm from the radio it is much easier to catch the DX stations. Having the radio a few inches away from the loop seems to enhance selectivity while tuning the MW band.
And although the radio's MW loopstick is on the bottom of the radio, it still seems to work with an external loop quite well. My Grundig G2, which has a MW loopstick on the bottom right side of the radio, doesn't work as well with an external loop unless I set the radio right next to the external loop antenna. There is no such issue with the XHDATA.
A pic of my XHDATA D-328 with about 10 feet / 3 meters of wire, which will boost SW signals when needed. Usually I use my indoor 25+ ft. / 10 meter wire antenna, but the antenna pictured here worked also. You just clip it to the end of the whip. This little radio will pick up any SW broadcast station that my DX-390 or DX-398 radios will pick up, using the same indoor wire antenna. Sometimes the 398 or 390 bring in the station with stronger signals, but the XHDATA's DSP circuitry usually clarifies the signal better.
Q: WHAT ABOUT SHORTWAVE?
A: If you're in a region like my region, CLIP ON A WIRE
Shortwave listening on the XHDATA D-328 is an interesting experience. The whip antenna is just a little too short to pull in more than the stronger SW stations with good readability. This is at least the case in my region, the Pacific NW US, where we are thousands of miles from the closest SW broadcast transmitters. I also live in a narrow valley, which impedes some signals. Of course, your success using just the whip on SW can also depend on SW ionospheric conditions.
The tradeoff? You add 15-20 feet or so (about 5-7 meters) of wire to the whip antenna, using an alligator clip, and SW is lively, and most medium to strong SW stations are fully readable, with great sound through the headphones! And when tuning -- SLOWLY -- across the SW band you'll also catch more stations. Like with MW, you have to tune slowly to allow the DSP chip to 'capture' the signal, and then resolve it. Once it does, it holds onto the signal very well -- just as with MW.
While tuning the radio across a SW band the XHDATA D-328 will often 'latch onto' a signal, making it easier to pick it up. You don't have to do a ton of fine tuning to resolve a SW signal because of this.
It also seems that the XHDATA D-328 was designed for you to use a clip-on antenna. I tuned the 49 and 31 meter bands the first night I had my radio and it was pleasant listening -- I even heard China broadcasting to European Russia, in Russian (from Urumchi in Xinjiang, western China!) at around S3 signals or so, with full readability -- just using my 25 ft indoor wire antenna.
And there was no overload!
A couple days later, I heard MWV New Life Station broadcasting in Russian, to European Russia, from Madagascar, at S3-S4 signal levels. Madagascar is the closest SW broadcast country to the opposite point on the Earth from Seattle. Over 12000 miles (15000 km) away.
So, if you get an XHDATA D-328, clip on some wire to the whip antenna for SW. Use a loop for MW. Even a meter or two of wire clipped to the whip antenna (36 inches) will make a difference on SW! I clipped on a 3 feet hank of wire with an alligator clip and noticed a definite improvement in SW reception.
I also cut a 3 meter / 9 foot piece of wire and attached it to an alligator clip, and tried that. It really helped with SW reception. So you could definitely use a short wire with this radio if you were travelling or live in an area where an extra wire antenna is needed.
When all else fails: experiment! :-)
THE NEGATIVES? Mainly: The ANALOG READOUT
The main negative in using this $15 USD radio is that you're basically guessing the frequency of the SW or MW station you're hearing -- that is, until you ID the station otherwise. When DXing the MW or SW bands it's kind of important to know what the frequency / channel is, because it makes it easier to ID the station if you are not sure of the language, or have difficulty reading that language well.
The analog readout, though, is consistent. For example, Voz Missionaria on 9665 kHz appears at the same place every night that I tune the XHDATA D-328 across the 31 Meter Band. It's the same with Algeria's Ifrikya-FM at 9500 kHz. It's always at the same place. Like I said elsewhere in this article, the D-328 has no drift.
DXing the Shortwave bands with a radio like this can be done. If you have a good SW broadcast text list (like EiBi -- eibispace.de, which you can load on your phone or tablet), or access to a SW website like www.short-wave.info, you can reasonably find your way around the SW bands, especially if you can ID languages.
I've been able to SW DX 'in the blind', so to speak, with just the XHDATA and my EiBi text listing, and figure out most of the stations I can hear. A lot of it is just listening to the language, to ID it, and listening for clues -- did the announcer say "BBC" or "VOA"? Does the music match the type of easy pop that China Radio International plays a lot? Does the language programming match the time slot that you see listed in the EiBi frequency guide?
It's not too difficult to do. The dial is a little off, but you can still figure out the frequency and station you're hearing due to relative dial position, the language and type of programming on the station, and by using a decent listing to ID it.
In a way, it's like a return to old-school SWLing, back to pre-digital readout days, when you had to have frequency lists handy, and really listen to the programming and languages for clues. Except with DSP radios like this XHDATA you get better performance for the size of the radio.
As for the negative aspect of having an analog readout DSP chip, the fact that the DSP chip wants to capture louder signals can get in the way of DXing the MW band, but considering the cost, it's not a deal breaker. You just have to work at it a bit more. If you're a gung-ho MW DXer, you'll probably be using a different radio, anyway.
But the XHDATA will bring in some distant MW stations, especially if you use a loop. And you can indeed DX with it -- it's just a bit tricky. I've been able, so far, to hear nearly every DX station with my XHDATA that my Sangean PR-D4W will pick up -- except for really weak signals in between two strong ones, like KGB-AM 760, which is a San Diego station that is in between a local and a very strong regional.
But XESURF 540, in Baja California? It comes in the same (although just a hair weaker). CBK 540 Saskatchewan? The same. KMAX and KSWB 840 (Eastern WA and the Oregon Coast)? It comes in the same. For a $15 US radio, the XHDATA D-328 does very well.
So, is any of this really a deal breaker? It isn't for me. Often you can ID stations because you've heard them before. I have tuned into China's national broadcaster CNR-1 so many times I can ID it fairly easily even though I don't know more than a couple words of Chinese. I was able to ID CRI in Russian because I know just enough Russian words to ID CRI's Russian broadcasts (they ID as "Radio Kitai"). It's the same with the American religious broadcaster KNLS, that also broadcasts in Russian. I can pick out just enough words to know I'm hearing them, whether it's from their Alaska transmitter or their transmitter in Madagascar.
At $15 US, and with it being a very small, inexpensive, analog-dial radio, I'm not going to knock the D-328 for lack of dial accuracy. I grew up in an analog dial world, where you were always guessing, and some of my radios way back when were much worse than this one when it came to the analog dial, SW guessing game. It didn't make listening to SW any less fun, or interesting. I have maybe 12-13 digital readout radios. I just grab one and use them to ID the station's frequency if it's that big a deal. But that's just me.
There's a guy on the Shortwave subreddit who built his own SW radio using a SiLabs Si4825 chip (the analog dial, DSP chip -- probably a similar chip to the one in the XHDATA D-328) and often he is guessing at what he is hearing, but his radio sounds great and with most of his catches he still can ID the stations OK. It can be done.
He will mark down the relative dial position in his log, i.e. '94XX', note the type of programming, and then look at a SW frequency listing to ID the station.
My own experiences SW DXing 'in the blind' with analog dial radios like this one have been varied. Sometimes I use my Tecsun or other digital-readout SW radio to verify what I'm hearing.
Other times, I haven't had to do that. On the morning of November 10th, there were only 4-5 stations on the 31 Meter band, 2-3 on the 25 Meter band, Radio Marti on the 21 Meter band, and 3-4 stations on the 19 Meter band. During times like this, if you can ID the programming (the language, the type of SW signal, etc.) just using a good listing like EiBi can help you ID a station without resorting to a digital readout radio.
On the morning of November 10th, I could verify MWV New Life Station in Russian on 9845, from Madagascar, because it was the only Russian station listed in that time slot. I could also ID the VOA in English to Africa on 15580 (because there was a VOA ID), which was beamed to Africa from Botswana. It matched the EiBi listing, and the point on the XHDATA's dial was close enough to 15580 to ID the station.
So although having an analog dial seems like a big negative, it really isn't all that difficult to deal with, especially if the radio is pulling in enough stations to make for some good listening.
If anything, the fact that the SW broadcast bands aren't as crowded as they were during the Cold War makes using these little analog dial DSP marvels a lot easier to use on SW.
The XHDATA D-328 in the box. Small, light, capable, doubles as and MP3 player. Some day I'll find my 2012 pop hit sound files, put them on an SD card, and load this baby up with them.
WHY ANALOG TUNING WITH A DSP RADIO?
As for why these radio manufacturers make some radios with analog readout? There are a couple valid reasons.
One reason is to give older radio aficionados that 'old school, analog dial' feel and operation, something they either miss, or feel more comfortable with. Analog tuned radios are simpler to operate. Most radio aficionados are over 35. And if they're over 40-45, they probably remember how an analog dial works. And analog dials can also look cool, so there's that.
It's possible that some, more visually oriented younger people might even find an analog dial radio easier to use for something like SW or MW DXing, because they are used to touchscreens, which aren't arcane and scientific looking like a digital radio readout, but are more like an analog dial in operation.
Another reason is expense -- there are less parts in these analog dial, DSP radios.
You have one less chip to install (you do not need a microprocessor chip that runs digital readout radios). You also don't have the cost of an LCD readout to go with the microprocessor chip. You have less need for shielding to keep the RFI from the microprocessor interfering with the radio chip, because there is no microprocessor to speak of. That gives you a lower noise floor. These analog-style DSP radios are relatively inexpensive to design and make. All you need is a PCB board with a DSP chip; and an AF chip to run the speaker or headphones; along with a couple potentiometers (inexpensive compared to a microprocessor) to run the tuner and the volume control -- a headphone jack, speaker, and a loopstick and whip antenna. Add the resistors and capacitors to make the chips work... That's basically it.
So, overall, it's a mixed bag using one of these analog dial DSP radios. Are you guessing where you are when tuning around? Yeah, mostly -- until you hit a station that you already know because you've heard it a hundred times before. At night, for example, I know generally what I will hear on MW, and some SW bands, like the 49 Meter Band, have their regulars, like WRMI and Radio Nikkei1 and Radio Nikkei2.
So you can still find your way around, even though it's like driving half blind. All else fails, keep a digital readout radio handy to double check where you are on the band. Most SWLs and MW DXers have at least a couple radios around that have digital readout.
And face it -- even if you have a digital readout radio, it doesn't necessarily mean you know what station you are listening to! That's why MW DXers and SWLs consult listings.
So the analog dial accuracy is a negative perhaps, but shouldn't be a deal breaker to many.
BATTERY LIFE -- PROBABLY EXCELLENT
Although when I started this article I hadn't had the XHDATA long enough to determine battery life (and there is no battery meter, to speak of), battery life on this radio is probably very good. A BL-5C lasts about 2-3 months in my Grundig G2 (that's with up to one hour of listening a night or morning), and the G2, like most digital portables, has a microprocessor that has a clock function, and even has a menu, and several functions related to the LCD readout -- all of which eat battery power, even when you are not using the radio.
This XHDATA radio has no clock, no display function, no menu -- none of that. The microprocessor is more like a clock radio's: it just 'looks at' the buttons, controls the switches when the radio's on, tells the Si4825 tuner / DSP chip what to do, tells the MP3 player to run -- and that's about it. If you use headphones with your D-328, the battery should last a long time between charges.
EDIT: After having the XHDATA D-328 for 8 months, I've found that with daily use, on headphones, the BL-5C battery lasts about a month. It also recharges -- using a cell phone charger and the radio's charging function -- within 2.5 hours or so.
No Battery Meter -- But When Battery Weakens, Volume Will Drop
Although there is no battery meter, you should be able to tell that the BL-5C is losing charge when you see that you have to boost volume levels higher to hear MW and SW stations, and also when reception seems to weaken more than usual. So -- if reception is weaker than it should be, and the tuning is a little dicey on weak signals (where it seems to have issues locking onto a weak SW or MW signal), and you have to crank the volume more than usual, your BL-5C battery probably is in need of a recharge.
Then, when the battery dies, the radio dies. This happened to me 8 days after I got the XHDATA D-328. I think they didn't fully charge the BL-5C battery when they shipped the radio.
Battery life seems to be decent. I got almost six months out of one charge (early-to-mid November, 2023 to the end of April, 2024). Granted, all my DXing and listening has been on headphones. Charging the battery in the radio is easy. You can, of course use an external charger, or you can use a cell phone charger with the appropriate USB plug. I used an old cellphone charger and the BL-5C battery recharged within 3-5 hours.
Technically, the little green LED on the bottom front of the radio would indicate battery strength, but I don't think it's that sensitive to the battery charge condition.
The D-219 has a slightly brighter LED on front. I haven't used it enough to deaden the batteries, though. :-)
So, there ya have it. The XHDATA D-328 -- an old-school looking, inexpensive radio that works well on SW if you add some wire with a clip, or use an external loop if you want to MW DX. It takes a bit of work to DX the MW with it, but it will still bring a lot of stations in. It will play MP3s and bring in FM reception no matter where you are in the world. And battery life is undoubtedly good. If you had just two charged BL-5C's, and you used headphones, you could probably use this radio for 2-3 months or more, depending on how many hours a day or night you used it.
The fact that the battery life is probably very good, and that the XHDATA D-328 does fairly well on MW would make it a decent emergency radio. A good emergency radio should pull in FM well, pull in MW well, and be easy on batteries. This radio is great on batteries and pulls in regional MW stations fairly well, even just off the internal loop antenna. So it would be a good radio to throw into your emergency kit, perhaps with a spare, charged BL-5C battery.
Considering the performance, size, and price, I think this radio has its place for SWLs, DXers, and emergency uses.
Not bad for $15 US, though -- hey?
The XHDATA D-219 at bottom. The D-219 brings in the US and Canadian X-Band on MW, tuning from 520 to 1710. The scale length is around 45mm (the D-328's scale length is around 42-43mm), so it's a bit easier to separate the stations on the MW band when using the D-219. The D-219 also has a lot more volume available through the speaker, and also through headphones. Otherwise, on MW the performance on the two radios is similar.
THE XHDATA's SLICK, OLDER BROTHER -- THE D-219!
Not many days after Halloween I decided to order the XHDATA D-219, an analog dial radio that looks similar to the D-328. It was listed for just aroung $10 USD online. I'd read about this radio online and decided that at $10 USD it was worth checking out.
The D-219 is a tiny big larger than the D-328, with different but similar overall styling. It also operates on two AA batteries instead of a rechargeable BL-5C. The AM-FM-SW coverage is similar, with full FM coverage from 64-108 MHz, although the AM band / MW band goes up to 1710 kHz -- covering the X-band used in the US, Canada and Mexico.
The MW loopstick is very sensitive for its size (80mm) as it's located on the bottom of the radio, beneath the battery compartment. But even with the loopstick located there, it interacts with an external loop very well and very effectively.
The first thing I noticed when I switched on the XHDATA D-219 is that when I tuned across the MW band it was loaded with stations, including DX stations and regionals. The D-219 is definitely capable on MW!
The overall performance of the D-219 on both MW and SW is slightly different from the D-328. The D-219 seems to have 2.5 or 3 kHz bandwidth, which gives you some more highs on MW and SW, but the 'pull' that the radio has on signals is reduced slightly on SW (on MW, the sensitivity seems about the same). Also, the D-219 works better off the whip than the D-328, but it seems to need you to clip on a wire to the whip antenna to get good SW reception. Using the whip antenna alone on SW isn't enough -- at least in my area -- to get a lot of SW stations.
I found that clipping about a one meter (3-5 foot) piece of wire to the whip antenna gave me improved SW reception. Clipping my 25 ft. indoor antenna pulls in a lot of stations, but not quite as much as my D-328 does with the same indoor wire antenna. One night I tried using the D-219 with my indoor wire using the proximity effect -- I just wrapped the end of the indoor antenna around the radio a bit. That also worked well. Basically, if you are adding wire to the whip antenna to bring in more SW -- experiment!
So, if you get a XHDATA D-219 and you're not getting the SW reception you want, try adding wire to the antenna by clipping it to the whip -- or just set the radio inside a loop of feedline, or next to the end of the wire antenna. The radio will pick up signals off the antenna that way, using the aforementioned 'proximity effect'.
On MW, the D-219 works very well, and FM of course, is good, although it's in mono.
As for pitting the two radios against each other, I prefer the XHDATA D-328 on SW, because it's better on the SW band (you just add wire to the whip, and you get no overload doing that). I also prefer the 2 kHz bandwidth on the D-328 because it's got more bass response, and it just sounds a little more pleasing to my ear. The D-328 seems to have better sensitivity on SW as well. On MW, with a loop, it's a toss up performance wise, but I prefer the D-219 for MW listening and DXing, as it's easier to use for DXing.
The two radios have almost identical MW performance, but I think the D-328 is trickier to tun on MW than the D-219, and the D-219 has more volume on MW as well, so the edge goes to the D-219 for MW.
The XHDATA D-219 still is especially good with a MW loop. It has more volume on MW, which helps in DXing the band. It also seems easier to tune the MW band with the D-219 for some reason. Maybe the slightly wider bandwidth helps in that way. There also may be slightly wider dial width, which helps when tuning across the band. When measuring the dial lengths on both radios, the D-219 has more scale length, about 45mm. The D-328 has maybe 42mm.
Some channels can still get bypassed if there is a really strong local nearby, and it takes a bit of creative operation of the external loop to overcome that tendency. But I've been able to get many regionals that were next to each other. If KBOI 670 is strong, I can still receive CFFR 660, KNBR 680, and CBU/XEWW 690, although I may have to tune the channels very carefully. If I have a weak DX station right next to a strong local, however, it's tough sledding. :-)
The D-219 seems to work best with a loop if the loop is 5 inches or so from the radio (10-13 cm or so). In this respect, it's about the same on MW as the D-328. As mentioned before, the fact that the MW loopstick is on the bottom of the radio instead of the top does not limit any interaction with an external loop antenna.
I did notice that when I have the D-219 away from the crate loop, it's easier to catch a DX signal that's close to a stronger regional or local station, and then -- once the signal is captured -- moving the D-219 closer to the loop antenna boosts the signal a bit more. So I would peak the loop when it was 5 inches or so from the radio, and then move the radio closer when the station's signal was captured to add to the signal a bit.
IT'S FUN TO HEAR LAS VEGAS!
It was in this way that I was able to listen to a Las Vegas radio station on 670 kHz, KMZQ (very rare to hear with readable signals here in the Seattle area) with clear and consistent reception, even though KNBR San Francisco, on 680 kHz, was much stronger. I had to adjust the loop antenna a few times (to null out 670 KBOI Boise, which is always very loud at my location) and KMZQ popped right in.
So, you just have to be patient and work with it. The software in the DSP chip is apparently designed to 'latch' onto strong signals, but if a nearby DX signal fades up enough -- even though it's near a stronger adjacent signal -- the DSP chip will often latch onto that weaker signal, and you can then re-peak your external loop and listen to the weaker station.
The XHDATA is not a Drake R-8 obviously, nor is it a Sangean PR-D4W or Superadio on MW, but the little XHDATA will DX, and its small size makes it handy for carrying around, or using in emergency situations.
For the $10 USD price, though? It's a no-brainer.
Also, AA's are available in most stores. BL-5Cs (used in the XHDATA D-328) are mainly available online, although they are reasonably priced, and they are a useful rechargeable battery. You can often get a pack or two or three of them for a reasonable price, and sometimes you can get them with a charger.
If you are really into using your BL-5C radio, you'll want to eventually get a couple spares and an external charger. Not everyone may be into that sort of thing -- in that case, the XHDATA D-219 is a great deal for a MW-FM-SW listener, because AA's are everywhere, and it's easy to throw in some spares into an emergency kit.
I'll close this by mentioning that it's really cool to use such simple, easy to tune radios like the XHDATA D-328 and D-219. You get a lot for your money, and sometimes simpler is better. For younger DXers, you can get a feel for what it was like in analog radio days, but you'll still be hearing more than many of us veteran DXers heard on the multibanders that were common in the 70's and 80's before digital readouts became standard.
If you're on a tight budget, and want to try SW and MW DXing, these radios would be the way to go. Just clip on some wire for SW, and maybe add a loop for MW (although MW DX can come in just off the radio's internal antennas).
Both of these radios pack a decent punch for such a small, inexpensive device.
As for which radio is best, I would think the D-328 is better if you're into SW, and the D-219 is probably better for MW DXers, because it seems easier to tune it on MW, especially with an external loop antenna. On FM, the D-328 seems to have an edge over the D-219.
The sound on the speakers for both of these radios is also pretty good for such a small device. For example, I listened to a couple football games on my XHDATA D-219 the Sunday before Thanksgiving and it was no issue in following the action (the Denver Broncos beat the Kansas City Chiefs unexpectedly).
As many of my readers probably know, I am a fan of emergency preparedness, especially as I live in earthquake country. As a man of moderate means, I also have to look ahead because I really don't have a lot to fall back on if hard times hit. So I am generally aware of the need for a radio in emergencies, being that Wi-fi can go off the air if there is a power outage, and cellphone data plans can cost a bit if you're on a budget.
BOTH RADIOS WOULD WORK WELL IN EMERGENCY CONDITIONS
I would suggest either of these radios for Emergency preparedness. Between the XHDATA D219 and D-328, the XHDATA D-219 is probably the better of the two, being that AA batteries are still relatively cheap and plentiful, and available in stores. If you want to use the D-328 for emergency preparedness, get a spare couple of BL-5C's and a charger (I bought a charger that came with two BL-5C rechargeable batteries and it was reasonably priced). Either radio will pull in regionals on MW if your locals are down due to some disaster or catastrophe. Although I haven't been able to accurately determine battery life in either radio, I would think that either radio will last a while on one battery / set of batteries -- longer if you are using headphones.
In all my life, I have never seen 5 degree F temperatures. Minus 15 degrees Centigrade. It's cold even in the house, too. In the unheated rooms, it's around 40F / 4C. I guess I should be counting my blessings. I heard on CJYM 1330, a Classic Hits station located in Saskatchewan, that their high tomorrow will be minus 50 C. I have no idea what that is in Fahrenheit -- and, honestly, I don't want to know, either.
5 DEGREES F
As I finish this post, it's one in the morning here, and it is 5 degrees F out, which is the coldest I've ever seen temperatures here, in this neighborhood, in my entire life. For those of you in Centigrade territories, that's -15C. When I was a kid, if it hit the 'teens' (below 20F), that made the news. And being that we're 47 degrees North, yes, sometimes it can get cold.
In the late 2000's it got down to 12F a couple times, and it hit 18F a few nights in 2009 or so. But this is much colder, obviously. I would think it's close to record cold for this region.
Global warming, my ass.
Talk to all of you soon,
Peace.
C.C. November 15th and December 10th, 2023. More added January 12th & 13th, 2024.
ADDENDUM, May 2nd, 2024:
I added a paragraph about charging the XHDATA D-328's BL-5C battery and battery life (about 5-6 months per charge). I also added a short paragraph about how the XHDATA's 'latching onto' a nearby strong signal does help in tuning stations in on Shortwave (no fine tuning needed, really).
May 5th, 2024:
I added a small paragraph on FM performance, being that I actually tuned the XHDATA D-328 across the FM band. Performance is very good -- better than some of my other DSP FM radios.
June 5th, 2024:
I added a bit of info on the BL-5C battery -- it seems to last one month after daily use. Also, when the battery is very weak, SW and MW signals will be much weaker than usual, the tuning may act a little odd (hard to latch onto a weak signal), and you'll have to crank the volume higher than normal. The radio's built in charger charges the BL-5C within 2.5-3 hours. :-)
