The QODOSEN DX-286 on FM: A Contrarian Opinion

Over on Mastodon, one of the social media networks I'm on (basically Twitter without the assholes), Matt Blaze mentioned that he was very impressed with the FM reception of this cheap Chinese portable receiver, the QODOSEN DX-286. I've dabbled in distant FM reception for many years, and especially the past few years gotten into serious DXing there with my Elad FDM-S3, an SDR which can record the entire FM band. The DX-286 is available on Amazon for $80. Even an umemployed semi-retired layabout like me can afford that, so I bought one.

I don't hear it.

The DX-286 has some nice features for FM, like several bandwidths that will allow you to separate closely-spaced stations. I live in the shadows of New York City, so the FM band is pretty full here, but the radio with its whip antenna does not fill the band in the way my Elad with its external antenna does. Fair enough, the Elad is a $2000 radio. But it doesn't even compete with a 30 year old GE SuperRadio II that cost me $50 30 years ago (so a lot more comparable in price given inflation). I modified the SuperRadio to have a narrower bandwidth, 150 kHz, so that I could separate WXPN 88.5 Philadelphia from more local WBGO 88.3 Newark. It does that admirably. Similarly, I can get stable reception of WHYY 90.9 Philadelphia despite the presence of WFMU 91.1 East Orange (granted, not a blowtorch like WBGO), and WMMR 93.3 Philadelphia with next door 93.1 WPAT Paterson (a strong signal here), all with the attached whip antenna. None of the Philadelphia stations are audible at all with the QODOSEN DX-286 with its whip antenna. Hell, my 40 year old Sony ICF-2001 is a hotter FM receiver than the DX-286. I bought that radio when I was living in State College, PA, in the center of Pennsylvania, and I was able to basically cover the state with it using its whip antenna, hearing stations from Pittsburgh, Wilkes-Barre, Erie, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and even Washington, DC, on a regular basis.

I have to conclude that the reputation of the DX-286 as a hot performer on FM is overblown.

Posted at 2:04 PM
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