Amazing Value! SI4732 Pocket Radio Receiver With ESP32-S3 Control

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Here we take a look at this SI4732 Pocket Radio Receiver With ESP32-S3 Control. The screen on this is just fantastic!
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#TechMinds #SDR #HamRadio

[@GordonHudson]

My first HF receiver weighed 40 Kg. This is the stuff of science fiction.

[@JrGoonior]

I have a Collins 51J3 that was given to me in 1999. You're right, I would have thought this was science fiction at the time although I bought and still have a Radio Shack DX-398 that was considered compact at the time in 1999.

[@shayanaboutalebi4988]

Mike Lawson at airbus uses one of these in mobile alabama to test out the new jets they built in the tour

[@shayanaboutalebi4988]

the ACINT titan sub guy

[@shayanaboutalebi4988]

no problem rocker tours & co

[@LUTZRICH6487]

@@GordonHudson my first vhf work radio weighed 5 lbs or 2.25Kg, 2 channels 1 watt. Now it's less than a half lb, 200 or .ore channels. 5 watts . Amazing times

[@LUTZRICH6487]

I've had mine for like 24 hours, quite an amazing piece of equipment

[@glhx2112]

Received mine a few days ago, so far it's been pretty fun messing around with it.

[@bobkantor503]

I bought this a few months ago - such fun for $27USD!! Thanks for the video.

[@bwest6275]

whoa, how did you get it for $27?

[@radellaf]

@ Yeah, I know - sad I missed that deal.

[@jamesgjacobsadventures]

I got one about a week ago! Because of its size, I liked it enough to put it in my EDC bag. Now, I want to get a small powered speaker to go with it and make a long wire antenna to add to it as well. I believe then I will have a great compact receiver for an everyday carry kit. 73 de K4EBB

[@BrokenToe]

EDC Bag? Don't you mean your purse?

[@germanjohn5626]

Be prepared to use a tuner or band pass filters, This little gem will be overdriven with a long wire antenna since it doesn't have any filtering at the input

[@Music_Never_Stops]

@@BrokenToe I use it as an ear ring.

[@kamalakrsna]

10-31 de K2T.........

[@vik071]

@@BrokenToeIt’s a satchel. 😂

[@brianr4054]

This is small enough and inexpensive enough that my wife might notice that I bought it.😂

[@TechMindsOfficial]

lol

[@richardgroves290]

Get rid of the Wife.

[@F3PIZZA]

So she doesn’t notice large, expensive purchases?! Mine supports my hobbies and I am very lucky to have her.

[@germanjohn5626]

My wife is a ham also, there is never any strive buying any radio related equipment. Me thinks if you really want to be happy, get a different wife.

[@rectify2003]

Yep, sneak below the radar so to speak 🤣

[@2Old4Toys]

Same but with an eink screen for better outdoor visibility would be sweet.

[@johnm2051]

The radio enthusiasts fidget toy 😊 got to get me one 😂

[@caulktel]

The first one I ordered got delivered to a different state here in the US, the second one is still in China waiting for the Holiday to end, maybe I will get to play with one someday. Thanks for the video.

[@batica81]

Finally a great review of this little thing! I can't wait for mine to arrive. A poor man's Belka! No excuse not to carry it everywhere and travel with it as well. If it gets stolen/lost/destroyed/seized you just buy another one :) Also a good recommendation/gift for young hams interested in hf.

[@TheCubbyman61]

I just got mine yesterday, was able to pick up WWVB time signal from Colorado on 15.000 MHZ, using the supplied loop fiberglass antenna that came with it indoors in the basement. My location is British Columbia, Canada. Fantastic!

[@2heavyb517]

I'm thinking this would be ideal to promote interest in radio among young people. Inexpensive to give to a potential "recruit" for the hobby. Give them some direction on the different bands and required antennas. If they ask more questions and stick with it for a bit you can help them with materials for license prep.

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

@@2heavyb517 Good point. Maybe an ideal little birthday present or stocking filler for kids. Could get them interested in radio.

[@KurtMcScotsman]

This would be a perfect backpacking radio if it had weather band (162.4-162.55MHz). Weather-band is handy to catch a forecast in the backcountry, plus do a little DX-ing if you get to camp early. I use a Retekess TR110 right now, but this would have been an almost perfect replacement for a fraction of the size and weight, but the lack of weather-band is a dealbreaker.

[@toyotacrawler2594]

What is the problem? You can also use it to listen to the radio and wait for the weather forecast.

[@PacificusSapiens]

Always someone to “find” a “problem”! Try thinking more positive and less negative.

[@markr.1984]

They need to come out with one that goes to at least 500 mHz!! Needs air band, 2m ham, 1.25m ham, military air band and 70cm ham too. I'll buy one if they up the range into UHF.

[@Njazmo]

500 millihertz is 0.5Hz What goes in that frequency? 😂

[@richardj225]

Seismic waves, infrasound ulf​@@Njazmo

[@Kw1161]

Thanks Tech Minds for highlighting this receiver the size reminds me of my Belka DX All Mode radio . 73! Have a great day!

[@KarlWitsman]

Wow! Great type of radio to stick in a pocket and listen to while waiting for someone, like when my wife goes shopping. I just got one that is 3 x 5 and that's what I use that for. I was surprised that it had a speaker in it! Of course, I imagine that headphones would be clearer?

[@kd5txo]

Actually, the headphone jack is a disappointment because it won't power a typical 32 Ohm earbud by itself. I did get good results after plugging in a headphone amplifier but it tends to overload and distort during the peaks of SSB speech. The speaker could really use a lowpass filter to knock out the hiss from atmospheric noise too. The adjustable attenuator doesn't seem to do much at all. The BFO tunes backwards from what one would expect: ie: turn clockwise and it tunes DOWN into the negative range, not up. The radio really has promise though and I hope the firmware will be fixed eventually. Addition of Bluetooth transmission would be nice ( the ESP32-S3-N16R8 controller has Bluetooth built in)

[@ShempBob]

Way cool device. But doesn't that knob protruding out so much kind of defeat the purpose of its small size it would protrude in a pocket and not be comfortable. I would have designed the knob to unscrew (or collapse on itself or something?) off and store somewhere else like the antenna.

[@Patrick-qm4xt]

I received mine yesterday. Been tinkering with it for a while and i am pleasantly surprised with the performance of this tiny piece of technology. Hopefully there will be a firmware update available soon to include airband, wifi and bluetooth...

[@Njazmo]

I just got a firmware update for my car, now it has a turbo, 4 wheel drive, and a dedicated driver! Really, you can't update things if you don't have the hardware to begin with.

[@garyhansard6228]

@@Njazmois there any room to tweak what it outputs by default?

[@sierpus]

@@Njazmonot sure what airband is but esp32 s3 should have Ble 5.0 and obviously wifi

[@nunyabidness9257]

Been a lot of fun to play with, I’m a General with a friend that is an Extra who also dabbles on the Hillbilly Internet (CB) and he’s over the moon with it.

[@wtmayhew]

The small size is cool. Most of the pocket radios based on the Si4732 have similar limitations as a result of the chip. Keep in mind there isn’t much input protection, so static discharge across the input needs to be prevented. There is no preselector stage, so intermodulation, image and overload is aggravated quite a bit with a high performance external antenna. The Si4732 has a chuffing effect when frequency stepping and that can make listening while tuning irritating. Using the BFO between steps helps, but that is obviously limited. It may just be me, but there is a harshness to the audio output from the Si4732 chip which is noticeable and can make extended listening tiring. These little receivers are really neat in that you get a lot of function for 30 bucks. Still, it is shows that there is a reason that a Sony or Grundig pocket SW radio cost a couple hundred Dollars. You get what you pay for to an extent.

[@TomMaynard--TCM--]

Thanks! I just ordered one, shipped to the US for USD 28. Can't wait. 73 de WZ9U, Tom.

[@ob1coyote]

I wasn't wearing my glasses and had to watch this video to see why this thing was $14,732...

[@MikevomMars]

Today, every smartphone can be used to Listen to radio stations since this is exactly what a mobile phone is: a radio receiver. It just requires a (free) app, if there already isn't one installed on your phone.

[@danielfernandes7862]

Which app do we use?

[@sjenth]

Thnx, i got one a week ago, nice radio to play with, hooked on long line.

[@JeffreyRacey-l5j]

Saw the video and after watching purchased mine

[@thecarbonprop]

Nice find. Just picked one up! 🎉

[@Teshub]

Is there a link for this? This is very impressive. One more radio won’t hurt!

[@Liberty4Ever]

I was hoping there would be some info on sensitivity and selectivity but this would be great with a small AWG long wire antenna for DXing while mountain top ultralight camping, or to stash in an ammo can for when the SHTF. Someone needs make a version that also includes upper VHF and UHF.

[@kd5txo]

I am using a plastic pill bottle for a waterproof case for this radio: 2 X 4 inches approximately. Ask your local pharmacist for one because it's a standard size stocked internationally.

[@Liberty4Ever]

@@kd5txo - I use a vitamin bottle that size for olive oil when camping. I have another pill bottle that size less than an arm's length away that I saved but it has a flip top lid so it's water resistant and not waterproof. I just swapped lids with a solid lid from vitamins currently in use and now I have another waterproof container. Thanks for the tip. There's probably enough space in the cylindrical pill bottom above and below the tiny receiver for a small AWG long wire antenna although I may be tempted to 3D print an antenna winder that integrates with the pill bottle.

[@hermanbril2682]

I wish a simple BT module on it so I could link an external speaker on it. But nice!

[@MichaelMcFerrin]

Real nifty!

[@ChandravijayAgrawal]

it is same price as rtl sdr, but including radio, both serve different purpose, appearance wise this one looks good, if i had not purchased v4 2 days ago, would have definitely liked to try it, i wish it had bluetooth connection, or a direct power usb connection if not already, also it really looks exactly same as m5stick, maybe in future i will attach a radio unit to it, not sure if that will work

[@gregmckenna3858]

So well done, I had to subscribe

[@SteveWrightNZ]

Very cool, but it doesnt really need to be so tiny as to not have seperate VFO / Volume controls..

[@Ire-b3t]

This is so cool! Too bad radio is dead where I live and you’ll get commercial 24/7 or Spanish music. Which is the second best thing but I’d rather have my own playlist on my phone.

[@post_historic]

Can't believe you didn't hear anyone talking about hemorrhoids or rheumatoid arthritis!

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

That would be on 80m 😂.

[@MINI-4X4-RADIO]

or Barometric Pressure

[@jondv5278]

@@Steve-GM0HUU 160m used to good for that as well?

[@auditthis]

Great radio. I wonder how long the battery lasts?

[@Njazmo]

If you watch the actual video, it says 10 hours.

[@auditthis]

@@Njazmo ha! Thanks. I watched most of it but a little skipping in parts. Must have missed it.

[@friedaspyder8485]

I see there is an ATS-20+Si4732, with more knobs. Something about changing to another chip too.

[@fraserthomson5766]

Good luck with this! There's some free apps that do exactly the same and more, but when civilizations fall you're phone is useless and you need all the gadgets you can get.. :D

[@germanjohn5626]

I ordered one last month but with Chinese new year celebrations it has not arrived yet.

[@barrybogart5436]

I just ordered one for $50+ Cdn from AliEx, but saw an identical one for $30 there as well. So look around.

[@radellaf]

Waiting for a shipped from USA Amazon version. $30 on AE could end up $80 with customs fees now that de minimis is gone. Amazon has one for $48 now - not sure it’s worth that much.

[@Olawalestreams]

Could I get a link for the Amazon version pleaser

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Heres a link but not sure if they are in stock: amzn.to/3CI0yak

[@radellaf]

$39 plus $10 shipping.. and looks like shipped from China. $40 and shipped from USA, I might bite.

[@okhamradio]

Seems really nice radio

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

👍Thanks for video. Very interesting.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@mrsamhmvteare9807]

Awesome. Love radio. Might, er, er, jus' have to buy one. :)

[@ZL1BQDRoly]

Nice video as always, cheers from ZL

[@fabioricci-effeerreworld]

it receives DRM? thanks

[@frankgarcia5058]

awesome little sdr

[@PlaydatePlayer]

For me, I'd just like to listen to music :) Will attached headphones work as an antenna? Thanks, such a cool gadget.

[@RGBrobot]

In these demos, I do not see a line out connected. Of course, I’m not getting a good view of the output while it’s being tuned. Does it have a built in speaker? Edit: oops. Had I waited a few more seconds I could have had my answer! 😅😅 Also, could one crack this open and add extra potentiometers to expand the controls a little?

[@ifell3]

Nice, can you do a low down or a Vs of these, best bang for the buck, etc? Looking to buy a cheap radio that won't bust the bank.

[@radiotory]

Nice tiny and affordable radio 👍

[@Gaominte]

We're living in the future. 😮

[@keitha.9788]

The future isn't what it use to be........

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

@@Gaominte The future I imagined as a kid from old TV programmes and books was better than the real future. 🥺

[@Playerpool]

looking forward to getting this!

[@dianeweaver8379]

I am amazed at how small this radio is, and how much can be shown on its display. Unfortunately, a radio is only as good as the antenna connected to it. In my case, getting an antenna setup outside my home is insurmountable. I wonder if those small printed circuit BB Donut antennas connected through a LNA would pick up more (indoors) than the included telescopic antenna.

[@kd5txo]

I have tried All of the variations of the BB "donut" antennas and performance was rather disappointing: I suggest you buy a short SMA jumper cable, cut it in half and solder a length of thin insulated wire to the center of the coax...cover the splice with a bit of heat shrink tubing. Then you can clip the wire around a window...or tape it to the glass to get good reception. If you can't do the soldering yourself, just give the parts to a radio/TV/computer repair person and let them do it.

[@9V1SA]

Great review as ever - thank you. I read this has a minimum tuning step size of 1kHz but you seemed to be able to accurately tune SSb. How did you do that?

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Using the BFO :-)

[@jacekjedlinski5843]

I noticed when you used bfo on 7mhz band the annoying audio ducking was not a problem. Can you confirm ?

[@kd5txo]

Yes, the BFO acts like a fine tuner knob when tuning in SSB mode to "clarify" the voice pitch. You will have to readjust the BFO for each station. The convention is LSB for 80 M, and 40 M bands, and USB for the other ham radio bands (20, 15, 17, 10 Meter bands)

[@__WJK__]

Would like to have seen AM/FM performance. Also (tho I likely already know the answer) is there stereo mode for FM(?)

[@richardj225]

Yes it plays in stereo where available.

[@tribulationcoming]

A boat anchor it isn't. Recently gave a friend an old US Navy Receiver, weight was about seventy-five pounds. Thanks.

[@GmailNexus]

If this thing had a waterfall display it would be absolutely insane

[@cazkasjmir]

Hello. I saw when showing the frequency bands 3 MW bands. What frequencies are in those bands?

[@SteveBerwick]

dang, if this handled repeater frequencies I would have bought it immediately.

[@werewolf74]

What is BFO? Is that like Squelch?

[@robertwilliamson922]

Beat Fequency Oscillator for side band.

[@Robert08010]

Its a shame they didn't add a few buttons to make navigation simpler. I hate when the push function is also a rotary because it often rotates white you are crying to click it.

[@EvgeniX.]

nice! its opensource right? how's the weak signal performance?

[@msamiullah001]

can this be reprogrammed to be a internet radio ?

[@coondogtheman]

I want one. Even if it's to listen to FM radio.that knob sticks out a little too much and might get broken off in my pocket.

[@kd5txo]

Yes, they should have used a thumb wheel style encoder with a button switch for this radio. I saw a firmware version that allowed for different functions with short press and long press of the encoder switch...ìt looked easier than the current single and double press arrangement.

[@coondogtheman]

@kd5txo I have a hard enough time with my pocket tunes speakers which also use different numbers of clicks to do things.

[@timbacchus]

Would be nice to have blue tooth for a larger speaker.

[@marting5130]

i need more buttons. i get confused by multifunction controls

[@corpo33]

I have 1 couple weeks too I think it's actually too small the concept Is gud but I'd prefer it on a small radio size wise like the tecsun pl 330.Anyways great review..Ged from Ireland

[@MINI-4X4-RADIO]

Got one from AliExpress a few months ago... Fun little Radio It's a conversation piece... I'm waiting for the 1 Watt TX/RX version... You can hope/wish

[@nine7295]

I want 100W LF to SHF continues...

[@StephenButlerOne]

Thats some ropey 3d printed case.

[@__WJK__]

That case is built down to the least possible cost for sure :^)

[@stevecrawford3551]

I wonder how CW sounds on it?? 😆

[@Njazmo]

It sounds like "beep beep beep beeep"

[@rustledjammies8769]

96.2 MHz Greatest Hits is the old Mix 96. You're from Bucks! 😮

[@sivoltage]

Shame it cant receive airband, but quite nifty though. Thanks

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

@@sivoltage Yes, with airband, would appeal to more buyers.

[@kd5txo]

I wouldn't be surprised if some clever programmer could make the hardware capable of tuning in the Air band and weather band as well as the 2 Meter ham band. Then you could re-flash the radio firmware to add those frequencies.

[@NatesRandomVideo]

7.200 in the band tuning demo. lol lol lol 😂

[@SarahC2]

It's like a mini ATS 20+

[@stevenA44]

That's pretty damn cool! I just might have to get one just to have. LOL

[@Gruuvin1]

No channel memory and no way to input a frequency. Has a new firmware added these expected features?

[@warrenookland8169]

You had me until I was told, No air band support.

[@sandybottom6623]

1) the menu on the left is difficult to read, 2) the timeout on the knob is too fast - needs to be twice as long, 3) the bands need to be designed on a full SW band basis - not on sub bands. Overflow should take the frequency to the next frequency. 4) the SSB side needs sorting out - no BFO - standard osc \ offset. it all needs serious work - definitely a V2 of the SW produced.

[@martytoo]

Add some memory saving functions and they'd sell 100 times as many as they do.

[@keathrhymer5449]

and Im sure like the other sdr ones on ali express and such there is no manual that actually shows how to use it

[@hoadie]

It’s hard to be too critical but there are misses with this product; no BT or DAB+, otherwise I would buy it in a heartbeat.

[@scopehitmyeye2019]

1:00 and 6:21 It.s mAh or Milliampere-hour. Not "minute amp hour". Tech Minds lol.

[@tech-rich]

He says Milliamp. You are mishearing.

[@qeijkak]

Is the firmware open source?

[@sirnate54]

Can you recommend a portable radio receiver that is a little better than this one?

[@kd5txo]

The Tecsun PL-368 is a small pocket radio with all the features of this radio and more. You might want to check it out. Price around $70 USD

[@robertwilliamson922]

Qodosen DX-286 is a radio you might want to look at. I liked mine so much that I bought a second one for back-up. Great for travel. No side band….but don’t need it. I have other radios if I want to listen to side band people talking about their new lawnmower. Lots of videos now on KZbin about the DX-286.

[@fosteras5292]

Hi guys, i have a question thats pretty much off topic. I want am making a custom esp32 s 3 wroom 1 board for my project. I understand that the s3 wroom 1 module has an integrated oscilator but i want to keep track of time in deep sleep, do i need an external oscilator/RTC for that? I dont need too much precision. Just wake up every minute for data update, and maybe stopping function at night. I can update the time via wifi but i dont know if i can count the time down during the minute or through the night.

[@JosephLedbetter]

I'll tell you for a dollar

[@adrinfpv]

Many FM Am radios are now 5 usd New, and LSB SSB USB is 20usd only in South East Asia full fledge. Don't understand why we think this is cheap.

[@keitha.9788]

Wow! That is really small. I need smaller hands and bigger eyes.....

[@Kikilang60]

Amazing, but a little to small.

[@NoSTs123]

damn I would get it if it had dab+

[@ModernityLeave]

Cool! Thanks.

[@dave4882]

As an esp32, im wondering if the source code is avaliable. Could add in a few features as open source to the community.

[@joshwells4280]

Yeah, I'd like to try building one as well...first one I ordered got cancelled after 2.weeks...second one finally shipped after 20 days

[@mscir]

Pretty cool, andd BT and AIR and I'd get one.

[@mimetype]

Trinket that ends up gathering dust in a drawer

[@Paddy_Roche]

awesome

[@paulstubbs7678]

Boy does that case sparkle in the video, maybe some light sanding might tame it a touch. I notice the ESP modules WiFi antenna, does that serve a purpose here?

[@spilk101]

the code does not use the wifi or bluetooth at all. the code is open though so it could be put to use... but the radio signals don't pass through the ESP32 at all. It's merely running the LCD and sending commands to the Si4372 over I2C.

[@GeorgeGraves]

You say that screen looks great - but it looks super super dim. Almost unreadable. What gives?

[@__WJK__]

Totally agree, looks like it will do ok in dim light but might be pretty difficult to see in daylight(?) :'(

[@mikemcdonald5147]

did I miss you covering the battery? what does it use and how is it powered? for how long will it run? how do you recharge it? the usb plug?

[@jerrykrautenstaben6584]

did you watch the vid. He covered all it all.

[@kd5txo]

Yes, the 800 mAH battery recharges from the USB-C port on the top of the radio. A small hole on the bottom of the radio reveals a green LED that lights up when charging and turns off when fully charged or not charging.

[@MRSZ5440]

Interesting.