RadioShack AM/FM Shortwave Radio

Brand: Radioshack

39 ratings

| 6 answered questions

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Product information

Package Dimensions

9.9 x 7.2 x 2.5 inches

Item Weight

2 pounds

Manufacturer

Radioshack

ASIN

B00K58WL18

Item model number

4331019397

Customer Reviews

39 ratings

3.5 out of 5 stars

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer

Date First Available

May 5, 2014

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Customer reviews

5 star		37%
4 star		19%
3 star		10%
2 star		26%
1 star		9%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Citizen Amazon

Receives pretty decent for a portable

Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2015

Verified Purchase

Looking for a SW radio with SSB option? If you can find this on amazon or elsewhere it is a strong contender in the $40-50 range.
It is basically a Sangean 505 branded for RadioShack. Receives pretty decent for a portable, the rejection (to noise sources and adjacent strong stations) on all bands could be better, but consider the price point and the fact that it does receive SSB and it is a solid choice for a portable/garage radio/preparedness.
Battery seems a bit high, about 8 hours of usage with rechargeable batteries and it is time to recharge. Converters can be purchased for this model but do not come supplied in the box.
Sound quality is pretty good!
In the above mentioned price point it is great, anything more and you are wise to consider a Tecsun PL-500 or something else..
Commercial shortwave and amateur HF (SSB) reception benefits from using an external antenna such as the Sangean ANT-60 which can be either plugged in or clipped to the antenna.

One person found this helpful

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Clint Jacobs

Fun Little Step Up

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2015

Verified Purchase

My only experience with shortwave before this was with a $20 dollar Grundig Mini 300 World Band Radio so my opinion may not be useful for the seasoned veteren. From using a basic pocket size anolog device to this was quite an improvement and I've enjoyed playing around with all the features it offers. I can't say where it stands with other radios of this class but it's definately is a good step-up unit or if bought on clearance a great beginner receiver. I found good reception on shortwave, especially on the "DX" setting and picked up quite a few more stations than I've been use to. Attaching an external antenna (spool) didn't improve the reception though. It only caused more interference. I'll have to do more testing before I write that off though. For now the whip is just fine. The options for tuning, direct, auto or manual make it easy to browse the dial depending on your mood. Tired of searching 1 khz at a time, just close your eyes and switch to scan. Oh yeah! The sleep function is also pretty handy. I give this radio a big thumbs up! Is there better out there? Probably...but if you're a casual shortwave browser this would be a good bet.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Mine was used

Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2020

Verified Purchase

It was sold as new, but mine was clearly used.
Worn buttons, scratched display, no owner's manual.

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earache

4 Stars for what I paid. Otherwise 3 if you pay full retail

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2014

Verified Purchase

First I want to thank Sundays Seconds LLC for offering a brand new Radio Shack Shortwave receiver (20-629) for nearly 65% off retail at the time of my purchase. I've been eye-balling this radio for almost a year but haven't found any very detailed or in-depth reviews of it. Since I could get it so cheap I pulled the trigger, if it was crappy I could use it as a "beater" radio or one at the office. Rumor has it this is a Sangean 505P, and it obviously is with some subtle differences that make it more enjoyable to use. It's again nice to see Sangean being the OEM for a Radio Shack branded shortwave radio, half of the Grundig/Eton brands I have already failed for one reason or another. I have a 15 year old DX-398 (Sangean ATS909) that's still going strong. The best way to review a radio is to compare it to one in the same class and price range. In this review I'm comparing the Radio Shack to the Tecsun PL-600. Both radios have the same frequency coverage, have SSB capability, an external antenna jack, a tone control switch, 1kHz fine tuning and antenna attenuator switch. The PL-600 is currently $75 on Amazon and the Radio Shack $79.99 at retail stores. So let get on with it...

The biggest and most notable improvement on the 20-629 compared to the 505P is the elimination of any muting or "chuffing" when using the tuning dial or up/down slew buttons. This makes tuning feel and sound more analog and enjoyable. They've also removed any notch or detent in the tuning knob which makes tuning very smooth and enhances the analog feel. The Tecsun PL-600 has functioned this way since its inception and both are a joy to operate. To enable 1kHz fine tuning on the 20-629 you must press the tuning knob. On the PL-600 there's a dedicated button, which I prefer. One annoying thing about the 20-629 is once you change SW bands it reverts back to coarse or 5kHz steps (or 10kHz steps on MW) having to continually press the tuning knob. Sensitivity of the 20-629 is about equal to the PL-600 on AM and SW but in my opinion it's just a hair behind. However, the PL-600 wins hands down for FM DXing. I really feel the difference in sensitivity especially on AM and SW is due to receiver cleanliness. After performing the well known PL-600 audio mod, the 20-629 sounds noisy and harsh in comparison but not terrible. Selectivity on both is very good but with some differences. On the PL-600 you can switch between wide and narrow bandwidths. the narrow bandwidth on the PL-600 is superb and doesn't modify or muffle the audio as on some other portables. Switching to wide (which sounds to be 6 kHz) gives full and rich fidelity. The fixed filter on the 20-629 sounds like and is more than likely 4kHz which has been standard on Sangean radios, but the surprising discovery is this one actually sounds good for both music and voice. Unfortunately it's a little wide for SSB operation. Also, there's been some misinformation about the tone switch on the 20-629 functioning as a wide/narrow bandwidth selection. This isn't true, it's strictly a tone control, nothing else. Both the PL-600 and 20-629 use a BFO or center notched "clarifier" knob to fine tune SSB signals. The AGC on the 20-629 seems to be hyperactive when in SSB mode on strong signals, there's a split second of clipping before the AGC recovers. The PL-600 doesn't exhibit this behavior especially after the audio mod. Spurious signals, internally generated noise and birdies are a necessary evil we have to live with in a world of affordable multiband receivers. Fortunately they're at a minimum on both the PL-600 and 20-629. I have noticed more on the 20-629, especially a gigantic one on 9820 kHz that obliterates any SW broadcaster that decides to use that frequency. Ultimately, both are relatively anomaly free for being under $100.

Front end overload and imaging is always an issue with radios like these when using a long external antenna and the supplied antenna jack. The attenuation switch on both the PL-600 and 20-629 are almost useless. In the "DX" setting they overload, in the "local" setting the signal is attenuated too much. To remedy this a pre-selector or shorter antenna is needed. This is the nature of the beast and has been for years, so no black eye for either radio in this respect. Tonal quality from the speaker is dramatically different comparing the PL-600 and 20-629. The PL-600 has a very warm analog sound, almost like a tube receiver and the high/low tone switch doesn't make much difference. Some may find the PL-600 "too" warm or muffled but I find it excellent for AM and SW broadcast listening. The 20-629 is fine tuned towards the mid-range frequencies. This makes it good for talk radio and digging out weak signals when not using headphones at the expense of slightly thin audio on music and FM. As with the PL-600, the high/low tone switch on the 20-629 makes little difference.

When boys become men. AKA: Why the Tecsun PL-600 is the better value winner.

I decided to dedicate the glaring differences of these two radios to it's own section because they are major. Build quality of both radios is good. The PL-600 is physically smaller than the 20-629. The Radio Shack is nearly 1 inch wider, ½ in taller and ¼ inch thicker. Yet the 20-629 is lighter than the PL-600 even with batteries installed. The PL-600 feels solid, the buttons have a nice tactile feel and the plastic is better quality. The 20-629 feels cheap to the touch and the buttons feel “plasticy” and sometimes need a second press before it registers. The LCD on the 20-629 is slightly larger but that's where it ends. Sangean (Radio Shack) still uses dull green LED's for back lighting and is adequate for viewing in the dark. My DX-398 has these same LED's. However, the 20-629 screen has a very limited and narrow viewing angle with washed out contrast. The PL-600 uses brighter orange LED's, the contrast is perfect and it can be viewed at practically any angle. Its light is activated by pressing any button or using the tuning knob, whereas a dedicated light button press is needed every time on the 20-629. The PL-600 LCD displays more information while in use such as clock, meter band, frequency, wide/narrow bandwidth, battery level and has a 5 segment signal strength meter. The 20-629 primarily displays frequency in large digits with a row on the bottom for memory channels. To view any other status such as the clock you must press a button, and the meter band is only displayed for a few seconds when changing bands. Battery status is shown right after powering off the radio by the memory indicator numbers, 1 being completely depleted and 9 being full. This is only displayed for a few seconds. The 20-629 uses a pointless LED as a signal indicator. It's illuminated green when the signal is strong enough and off when it's not. More annoyingly some engineer thought it beneficial to have it change color in SSB mode. It's red when idle and flickers green when there's a signal. Not useful in any respect and why bother?

Both radios use 4 AA batteries and run time is adequate. It's slightly longer on the 20-629 but that's due to the LED's being more active on the PL-600. You can get 5 to 6 hours from 2000mAh NiMH batteries before they start showing drain. However, this is where the 20-629 fails. The PL-600 has a built in smart charging circuit designed exclusively for NiMH batteries, and Tecsun supplies you with rechargeable batteries with the radio. The 20-629 has no internal charging circuit and doesn't include batteries of any kind. The PL-600 includes an external “wall wart” power adapter. You must separately purchase a power adapter for the 20-629. Tecsun includes a cushioned slip case with Velcro for the PL-600. The 20-629 comes with no case or protection and I'm not aware of any one being available. The PL-600 comes with an external wire antenna for shortwave and ear buds. Being that the ear buds are poor and the antenna is essentially a 20 foot piece of wire with a jack on the end, it's still a nice touch whereas the Radio Shack 20-629 supplies you neither.

Ultimately I'm not disappointed with the Radio Shack 20-629 especially for the price I paid. I would never pay full retail for it and I suggest you don't either if it's what you want over other options like the Tecsun PL-600.

16 people found this helpful

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Arnaud milner

Reception weak

Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2019

Verified Purchase

Radio works but has issues with reception I think the antenna could be a bit longer to help with reception by another 2’ more at least

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REB

Great Full Feature AM FM SW Radio.

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2014

Verified Purchase

This radio is a keeper. It passed my tests for AM FM and SW reception. It has PLL and excellent sensitivity, even in urban areas with nearby transmitters that tend to overpower (no FM capture) less sophisticated radios. I know a radio is great when it can recieve weak stations right next to strong local ones without interference. I love the direct key frequency entry and station presets. It has features for SW you would normally find on a much more expensive radio. Runs on four AA type batteries that are available most everywhere.

You have a SSB switch which is a nice touch. Press the tuning knob and you can change the step at which the frequency advances (1khz vs 10 khz).Lighted display. There is a provision for an AC adapter, but it is so good on batteries you probably will never need one. I like the hold or control freeze function designed to prevent accidental operation. It even has the LW band (153 to 279 khz). SW coverage ranges from 2300 khx to 26.1 mhz. That's quite a lot! Non continuous SW coverage meaning you have to press the SW band select button to move up to the next meter band. You can always use presets too.

Dual time zones. It has a stand on the back that pops out which I recommend using if you press the radios buttons frequently. Alarm and sleep functions. I can see myself sitting on the porch this weekend having fun for hours listening to this radio. Get this one, you will not be disappointed!

9 people found this helpful

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SANTINO55

The paint on the buttons are partially worn off, ...

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2015

Verified Purchase

The paint on the buttons are partially worn off,the on and off button works sometimes.THE RADIO WAS SOLD AS NEW,FAR FROM IT.ITS REFURBISHED OR USED,NOT NEW !!!!

One person found this helpful

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