Customer Reviews

9 BAND World Radio By Bell and & Howell

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

PROS- Does a lot of bands SW,MW(AM),FM w/TV band
CONS- The reception is awful. I can barely pull in any SW stations, and if I can it's hard to hear and I have to move the radio in the perfect place. FM and AM reception is fair to average. I noticed the tuning of FM is way off from where it says, for example I pick up 104.7 on what looks like 101.5 on the radio.

In conclusion, it does a lot of bands but it's reception is awful and it's hard to tune.

This thing does not qualify as a radio in any regard. Well .. OK, it kinda looks like one, but a the photo will work just as well as the actual item. If you're looking for your first SW radio, spend a few extra bucks and get something else. The cheapest radio you can find on Amazon from Kaito (ie the WRX911)or Eton (ie The Mini) will outperform this thing by a mile.
My recommendations for a budget SW radio .. the Kaito KA1101 or KA1102 .. both excellent performers.

I knew this was a painted plastic radio, but the picture made it look more shiny, metallic, & cool than it really is. It's a very dull paint job in reality.

AM & FM stations bleed through & over throughout every shortwave band, drowning out most of the shortwave signals that should be there.

I did pick up 1 church SW station on the higher bands in the day. I picked up Cuba, some more church, & voice of America in the evening. The hash of a dozen or more local AM & FM stations interfering across every SW band made getting anything else impossible.

It wouldn't even qualify it as a starter SW radio. A beginner would get so fed up
with the radio, they'd give up the hobby.

A 2 transistor regenerative SW radio I made when I was 12 in under an hour picks up more SW stations day & night than this radio.

AM reception is good for an under 10 dollar radio (I paid 8 bucks for it). OK for moderate AM DXing.

The AA batteries last a long time, so it's efficient.

I wasn't expecting any big sound from a small cheap radio, but I have many smaller & cheaper radios that have better sound quality.

FM reception is terrible. Worse than most bargain basement radios.

It does not pick up analog or digital TV channels.

Don't buy it for it's looks, it looks much duller than the picture.

Don't buy it for SW either, because it's almost useless at that. For starter SW, I'd recommend the Grundig mini 300.

Don't buy it for music either. FM reception & the sound quality is bad compared to others in this price range, & even smaller radios.

Recommended for AM talk radio & moderate AM DXing... nothing else.

Update a year later:

I installed a homemade AM & FM trap to the rod antenna inside. FM was over-driven anyway. Many stations where coming in many spots they shouldn't be all over the FM band... FM is very good now without the strong stations wiping out the entire dial. Fm stations interfering on SW greatly reduced. The internal ferrite antenna is used for the AM band so it was not necessary to have all the local strong AM stations leak into the rod antenna, & bleeding into all the SW bands. AM stations bleeding all over the SW bands was greatly reduced. Repaired earphone jack that was cutting out the speaker even when no headphone was plugged it. A hit would make the speaker come on before.

Aligned RF & IF sections for maximum performance.

After the repairs & mod, AM reception is better than any of my other under $20 radios. FM reception is now the best for this price range. Although I didn't notice more stations on SW, they came in clearer & stronger, without nearby AM & FM stations slashing interference on every SW band. They still bleed into the lower SW bands a little, but not as bad as before. Reception is now much better than my POS "Superadio" that I leave at work (got it on sale when they were $19.95). Although the "superadio" has better bass due to it's big speaker, it gets terrible reception. I will be replacing it with this little B&H radio because the reception is so much better after working on it.

Sound quality isn't very good for music but is OK for a small radio. Great for voice & talk radio. Can play remarkably loud for a 2xAA cell radio & the cells last a long time.

Even without the AM-FM trap mod, it wouldn't have been that bad of a radio if the RF & IF sections were properly aligned, & the earphone jack wasn't defective. So there is clearly a quality control issue with the radio. I did not buy it used, refurb, or as-is. It was purchased as a new unit from here.

Ok, sure this radio does not compair to other shortwaves that cost $60 to $200. However, unless you spend hours everyday tuned into SW bands, this thing can not be beat. For some reason, I have difficulty sepending over $20 for radio technology that has been around scence WWII.
I have owned two of these over past years and about to buy a third.
My only cons are:
The plastic case is a bit flimsy and does not tolerate many drops. Also, the tuner knob becomes hard to turn after a few years use.

I've bought two radios so far and am looking to buy another one. The batteries last a long time; I play mine all night every night and the batteries last for several months at least.

After a while, a year or two the static becomes fairly bad, that is why I'm replacing this one.

I have carried it all over on trips, cruises etc.

I have bought one of these before till it got lost and never could be found. The AM reception is good under good conditions. The FM band is mediocre and is only good for local FM stations. The shortwave bands were pretty good for a cheap radio for antenna experimentation such as using an outdoor antenna with a series potentiometer then the radio would be ok. It receives signals most of the time and during the daytime. You just have to be patient with this radio while using it and knowing what you are looking for. It's a great small radio for travel, spending the nights at friends house, and armchair listening. For the price it is, it's better than not having a shortwave radio. It's better than those electronic lab AM/Shortwave radio receivers I use to build and listen to when I was young. It's something to get started in what shortwave is then you can get a better and better shortwave radio. This radio is a good prime example of what shortwave radio sounds like and how it can be improved.

Contrary to other reviewers, I have found this to be an terrific radio for its size. It easily outperforms the SoNY S10MK2, which is poor, IMO, and the Sony does not even receive foreign radio channels. B&H is amazingly selective and sensitive. It is selective enough to get TV channels easily without an external antenna in the FM band. Shortwave reception needs an external antenna -- just a simple wire clipped to the telescoping ant works fine. The reception and selectivity of this radio compares favorably with the Sony ICF-SW7600GR, which is much more expensive and much more difficult/complicated to use. It seems that digital radio technology is still in the "make-it-difficult-for-nerds (that's what they like)" stage. This technology is an ergonomic failure, much less convenent than analog, and the so-called "scan" operation doesn't do what you would think it should do --namely scan for signals and keep them in memory, the way HD TV scanners work. With analog, you simply dial the frequencies directly -- much easier. Digital radios like the Sony units don't even let you punch in the the frequencies manually. They are very cumbersome, difficult, poorly ergonomically engineered and user-unfriendly. The B&H may not be perfect, but it works and is easy to use at a bargain price. Mine has never drifted.

I have bought several of these little radios over the years. The first one I bought, put batteries in, and turned on received Radio China, Radio Netherlands, and several other stations. I have taken them on trips and given away some to interested persons. It does ok for an inexpensive radio. AM and FM reception is good, I have not heard the TV band yet though.

This is the perfect inexpensive radio for around the house and for travel. I've been using mine for a few years and it's a great basic radio. The radio has AM, FM, Shortwave and VHF-TV band. The TV band will no longer be of any use for listening to television audio when the switch to digital television is complete. I have found the AM band to be very sensitive when I go for walks at night. I listen to AM around the house during the day with equally good results. FM is also very good for local stations, and a fully extended antenna will bring in the more distant stations. I have a low-power FM tranmsmitter connected to an MP3 player that transmits on 90.1mHz, and I easily listen to it anywhere in the house or right outside my home with this radio. There is a DX-LOCAL switch for lowering the sensitivity of strong stations that might overload the circuitry and cause distortion. The sound quality is very good for a radio of this size. I really enjoy listening to shortwave, and I have a few good radios for that, so I was very surprised when I tried the shortwave and starting tuning around. I picked up the BBC, The Voice of America, and many other domestic and international stations. I even picked up WWV in Colorado (I live in the northeast) on 15000kHz, and CHU in Canada on 7850kHz. You won't get the reception you get with more expensive radios, but for the price, this radio does an amazing job at picking up shortwave. The shortwave bands are divided into seven different sections, and are as follows; 5.9 to 6.9mHz, 6.9 to 8.1mHz, 9.3 to 10.3mHz, 11.6 to 13.5mHz, 13 to 15mHz, 14.8 to 16.5mHz, and 17.1 to 19.1mHz. That's a pretty good amount of shortwave coverage for casual listening. On AM, my radio only goes up to 1600kHz instead of 1710kHz, which has been part of the American AM band for quite a few years now.
I don't know if later models include the new frequencies, but that is a minor annoyance. One strange thing about this radio is that if you are listening to FM, and then you turn off the radio, it goes back to AM when you turn it on again. There are three small LEDs on the front panel. The "TUNE" LED on the left glows red and gets brighter as you tune your station in properly. It also doubles as a signal strength indicator. The middle LED glows green for MW/SW. MW stands for mediumwave, which America and Canada call "AM". SW of course is shortwave. The third LED located on the right is red, and it is for FM/TV. When MW is selected , the user chooses MW (AM) or SW by adjusting a slide switch on top of the radio. One of the nicest things about this radio is the simplicity that is missing in almost all radios today. Imagine putting in two AA batteries, turning on the radio, and choosing your station. That's it. There's no programming the frequencies into memory, no reading a 20-page manual to figure out how to turn it on, no fragile LCD display to break if bumped, no CPU to reset when it locks up, and no fancy keyboard with a hundred different buttons. It's just an easy-to-use, inexpensive, basic radio that doesn't require a degree in electronics to operate. There is also is a headphone/earphone jack for private listening, and the radio can be powered by an AC adapter that has an output power of 3 volts DC, and a negative center pin. For the price, this is a great radio of surprising quality and performance.

excellent battery life
super inexpensive.

For shortwave (on any radio) you will need a bigger antenna. Use a 100 foot long piece of wire going out side your house, connect with an alligator clip and you will get stations from all over the world.