Raddy RF760 Portable SSB Shortwave Radio Receiver with NOAA Alert, Full Band AM/FM/SW/CB/VHF/UHF/WX/AIR, Battery Operated, Rechargeable Digital Radio with Earphone Jack and 9.7ft Wire Antenna

The media could not be loaded. I've owned somewhere north of 100 shortwave radios over 60 years, so I'm an experienced listener. Based on the considerable negative commentary in Amazon reviews, I was somewhat hesitant to make a purchase, but the discounted price was about half of the price the RF760 when it was introduced in 2022, and I decided to give it a try.So let me cover the negatives first.The biggest negative is the sound quality from the speaker. It's tinny. Speech is understandable, but music of any genera is unpleasant to listen to. The headphone experience, however, is good. I didn't try the included earbuds (I have a big box of unused earbuds that come with radios) but rather some good headphones. There is no booming bass, but the midrange is good.The second negative is the complexity of operation. This unit has 8 bands, including a user-defined band. It allows step settings, bandwidth settings, attenuation settings, deemphasis settings and a squelch. It has upper and lower sideband decoding. It has a clock, alarm, sleep timer and a thermometer with display in F and C. It manages all that with a mere 11 buttons and a knob. With that said, basic reception is possible with what could be easily figured out for someone familiar with other radios.The third negative is the user manual, which is not the most helpful in places, and whose English is somewhat nonstandard. Just what is a "flying shuttle button"? There is a way to quickly tune to a specific frequency without number keys, but it's hidden in the manual in a mass of awkward English.The display is readable as far as the basic information, band, frequency, memory location and signal quality, but there are some setting items that are almost microscopic, and unless your close up vision exceeds 20-20, you will need a magnifying glass to see some of the things (that probably don't matter).In a radio this small it is inevitable that the telescopic antenna is thin and the user should take care not to bend it. One video I saw showed the antenna becoming loose, but I have not seen this so far. I would suggest a little silicone lubricant on the antenna. Others reported problems with the tuning knob that I have not seen either.I gave the radio 5 stars from the point of view of an experienced shortwave listener who wants a pocket radio that does everything, someone who has seen their share of bad translations from the Chinese. With such a small size plus weather alerts, it makes sense as a camping radio or a travel radio, and I was frankly surprised at how well it performs. It exceeded expectations.MW performance is necessarily poor because of the small size of the radio, limiting the size of the internal MW antenna, but with an external antenna, I got 10 times as many MW stations! And with an external antenna, the RF760 automatically adds longwave reception, shown in the video I included of a nondirectional beacon on 351 kHz. FM coverage is very good and I didn't see any signs of overloading. Shortwave is reasonable. Weather band reception is the best I have seen. Raddy includes a simple external wire antenna, giving a significant boost.The auto tune search (ATS) seems to work well, but there are only 100 storage locations per band (1000 total), and one might exceed that on shortwave with an antenna.I tried SSB reception on the 40 meter ham band. The biggest difficulty was the impenetrable language of the manual. If you ignore all the part about "2MIX" that apparently doesn't even exist, it makes a little more sense.My unit serial number started 2411, so I am speculating that it was manufactured in November of 2024, perhaps correcting issues with earlier runs.

I have tested the radio over the past several days since its arrival. I have not been disappointed.All testing was done with the long wire. Then with the telescopic antenna separately.-AM/FM broadcast Freqs come in clear, including fringe stations on AM.-SW clear and sensitive. Able to pick up dozens of SW stations and Hams; it even picks up morse code on 40m band.-AIR clear and loud.-WX loud!-CB AM Clear enough, lots of overlap from distant CBs but they all come in loud. Didn't get anything on FM CB-FM VHF comes in loud and clear. Able to Pick up Ham radio repeaters and mobiles clearly. PD/FIRE/EMS/MURS as well.-FM UHF a bit quiet, about half the volume of most other bands but still comes in clear. Ham bands and FRS/GMRS. GMRS repeater is clear but quiet. HTs are rough but readable depending on location within a few miles.-SSB I have been unable to pick up any SSB stations. But this is normal for my area. I have CCrane with SSB and haven't heard a thing on it either.Overall a great little rig. A little confusing with the limited UI but easy with a little practice. Battery seems solid and the casing is just ok. They put more into the internals that making it super flashy.Solid choice for an emergency radio. Just keep extra batteries or a power bank and you're set.Jake KN4JSZ

Raddy RF760I am giving this radio 5 stars based on this:_Extreme frequency range including SSB (Single Side Band) for Amateur Radio._VHF/UHF for GMRS, FRS, Amateur Radio & public service (police, fire, etc)_User Definable Band - any lower/upper in 30Mhz - 520Mhz range_External antenna jack_External earphone jack for FM stereo._Built-in battery (replaceable) and USB-C charging._Ability to continuously display signal strength and signal/noise ratio_Very readable amber backlit display._Plenty of memories - 100 per band_Ergonomics. This radio is so small that it fits in the palm of your hand and you can operate almost all the controls with your thumb.For about $60 you can get a small portable radio that can “do it all”This radio will not replace a radio dedicated to a specific radio service but at this price point it’s “good enough” in a pinch.With variable bandwidths, fine tuning and ability to do LSB/USB it can pick up amateur radio on the SW bands (search “Amateur Radio Band Plan” to find out where and “Amateur Radio HF Nets” for schedules and frequencies)Of course it does well on the traditional broadcast bands on MW and FMVHF/UHF can get you GMRS, FRS, Amateur Radio, and Public Service (police, fire, etc) with 100 memories. Check out radioreference dot com for frequencies)One additional feature is the ability to create a user defined band (for auto scan and store) in the range 30Mhz-520Mhz. So, if you just want to listen to the amateur radio 2 meter band you can custom define this band with the limits of 144Mhz-148Mhz.Bottom line, for about $60 you get the whole shebang that is “good enough” at this price point.