Customer Reviews

Coby CXCB91 9 Band AM/FM ShortWave Radio

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I understand that you shouldn't expect a lot from the radio that lists under $15 but I believe that manufacturer should deliver on the basic functionality. None of the short wave bands works, all you get is a lot of static and some distorted FM transmissions (yes, on SW band). Also, I've noticed that the the frequency bands don't follow standard convention, which could make some of them pretty useless (if they were working).
I own several portable AM/FM/SW radios and, although some of them have better SW reception than others, I've never had an item that claims SW coverage but has none.
On the positive note, AM/FM seems to be OK.

This is the second non-workable COBY radio I purchased from Amazon this month. The clock and the display do not function, at all.
COBY radios are total junk and selling them is cheating consumers.
I will not return either radio (too much trouble) as a lesson to myself.
DO NOT BUY COBY>
Shame on Amazon for selling this kind of cheating Junk.

I have an extensive collection of radios, small, medium, large, analog,and digital. This radio is without a doubt the worst of the lot. The reception is so poor,it barely qualifies as a radio. I gave it away, but probably should have thrown it away to save the new owner the trouble.

What's good:
The best judge of a product is whether it is used, and mine is used every day. I've owned this little Coby for a couple of years now and it keeps me entertained every night listening to talk radio on the AM band. For night listening I tend to keep it under my pillow thanks to its low profile. I keep low volume so I don't wake up my wife. No need to deploy the antenna for AM listening. The battery seems to last all week, even if I fall asleep and it plays all night. The radio is analog-tuned using a knob on the right side, and has a simple digital readout of the station frequency. I am sure it is the lack of modern digital circuits that avoids quickly draining the batteries.

What's bad:
1) The base of the unit is too narrow and the plastic is not perfectly flat so if you try to stand it up it can tip over easily. I end up keeping it laying down on my night stand or under my pillow. 2) It is supposed to have an alarm but the wake-to-music doesn't work. 3) I have some strong FM stations nearby and this and similar radios cannot pick up any FM stations. Only expensive home or car radios work in my area. I did not have any luck picking up any short-wave stations either, though I had fun trying. I kind'a picked up Austria once on a Dx bounce but nothing reliable.

The Verdict:
Buy this radio to help you get to sleep, listening to the AM band. For a few bucks, I did end up using it regularly, and this little Coby did inspire me enough that I am now looking around to buy a high end SW radio.

My husband is a mailman. This is a perfect size radio and the reception is awesome. He has tried others but nothing can compare to this model. For the prize - you can NOT go wrong!

It is exactly what I wanted, a very lightweight radio for hiking. It weighs almost nothing and is a great addition to my hikes. It is not a world class receiver, but it is well worth the $10 I paid for it. It receives everything I want to. FM is great but AM it can only receive close stations. SW so far so good. Just know what you are buying, it is a $10 radio and it is worth every penny. The clock and alarm work fine. Build quality is acceptable considering the price. Runs forever on a pair of NiMH batteries. Happy I bought it.

Excellent value for the price. I like the digital features and the fact it can be used as a digital clock radio. Well pleased with all aspects.

When I first got, I was happy that I got it along time ago. I opened the package and put 2 AA batteries in and started tuning around with it. During the day the frequencies were quite limited and I was lucky to hear some stations on the 19 meter band, the frequency range was the 49 Meter band to the 15 meter band, it did receive alot of shortwave signals on the 49 meter band. The one thing that is lacking is the 25 meter band 11.0 to 13.0 MHz, the 60 meter band 4.0 to 6.0 MHz. It's a very good portable shortwave radio to keep around and use for bandscanning.

MW - 514 to 1726 kHz - AM Broadcast Band
SW 1 - 5.47 to 6.69 MHz - 49 meter band
SW 2 - 6.69 to 7.57 MHz - 41 meter band
SW 3 - 8.37 to 9.50 MHz - 32 meter band
SW 4 - 9.52 to 10.88 MHz - 31 meter band
SW 5 - 13.08 to 16.45 MHz - 19 meter band
SW 6 - 14.85 to 18.40 MHz - 16 meter band
SW 7 - 19.99 to 23.65 MHz - 15 meter band
FM - 87.30 to 108.8 MHz - FM Broadcast Band

I would highly recommend that you get a wire antenna for this radio to receive shortwave radio signals. The disadvantage is the AM band, someone in China did not tune the AM band properly so signals on 10 kHz is 15 kHz which means that 790 kHz is 795 kHz, 1050 kHz is 1055 kHz. The FM band works really good, but it does receive most local signals, but 100.5 FM is bleeding some parts of the band.

This shortwave radio is a great starter radio, but I would recommend you get a real shortwave radio with continous coverage. This radio only receives strong and weak shortwave signals on the assigned international broadcast bands. If you use a wire antenna you will not have a problem receiving signals from all over the world.

UPDATE : I was using the radio to tune FM stations after replacing the batteries, then the knob started coming loose and stopped tuning. I opened it up and found out that the
string came off the wheel. This happened with the second one before, this is terrible
why it came loose. It was a good radio receiver, I don't know if I will buy another one. Please come up with a different tuning configuration and then I'll think about it
it's not a dial type radio, you don't need strings attached.

This radio is obviously what you are supposed to get for the price. It works but has somewhat bad reception, it seeems like he just likes to work on some spots. Also, the case is opening in two pieces....

pros:
its cheap (I paid $12).
cons:
it doesn't have digital tuning (there's a tuning knob on the side). no battery life indicator. cannot save presets. reception is poor.