Review of the Radiwow R 108 LW AM Shortwave Airband portable ultralight Receiver

Overall great radio for the price, but it does have a few things that I dont like

[@NathanCorleone]

for those struggling to turn on LW (longwave) here you go. first hold the number 5, then press the power button while still holding the number 5. the words on will show on the screen. LW is now on

[@jimgordon1563]

Thank you very much for this. I have had the R108 for 5 weeks now and I really like it. I have compared it with PL310/380 radios. It is much better than the hyperactive (to my ears!) 310 and a little bit better on SW that the 380. In my opinion the R108 is the best of the really small DSP portables. Its essentiallly a scaled downed/ stripped downed D808. It even looks like it. Be careful with the telescopic aerial; its upper portion bends easily and seems fragile. I have'nt experienced AM or FM breakthrough with it. There are 2 AM tx's here in Dundee. They breakthrough on the 310, DE29, V-115 and the 380 (to a lesser extent) but not on the R108. This makes it my go to radio for travelling along with the D808. Concerning the AM bug and the ticking noise; I have written to Radiwow about this and they are to take this up with their engineers. 73s

[@dnel83]

Great review. I picked up the r-108 for £40 as a travel radio and pretty pleased so far. I was sold on its very compact size and air band. Audio quality is great compared to my tinny sounding PL-660. The battery's space savings are worth it for me, I always travel with a big USB power bank so I can keep the radio topped up. The muting is more annoying than I expected, manual band sweeps are nearly impossible so I must rely on ATS to do it for me. Oddly it isn't affected by this on FM, only the lower bands. Overall though it's a great little travel radio.

[@tvradio1972]

I have just a few issues with the R-108. 1. The MW reception degrades slightly when tuning from another band. I have turn off and back on the radio on MW in order to improve reception. 2. The ATS & Scan features on SW only search within the meter bands and are not as sensitive as Tecsun's ATS & ETM. 3. When I scan using the Squelch feature, it does not bypass weak signals. It only mutes them. Overall, I am happy with the radio. I agree with you about the batteries. The BL-5C works fine, but I prefer AAs. Thank you for the great review of the R-108.

[@Radio_Activity]

Regarding the scanning. I find the opposite! My R-108 ATS is far more sensitive than both the ATS and ETM on my 310ET. It wins every time and it actually manages to find weaker stations the Tecsun passes over. Perhaps some sample variation or the conditions over here favour the R-108?

[@tvradio1972]

stellablade I don’t have the PL-310ET, but I have the PL-606 which is now broken. From my experience, the PL-606 did great on SW with it’s ETM. The ETM on AM & FM was good too. Perhaps, it’s just a matter of preference though.

[@EsaiasP]

That Nokia battery is very good and easy to find in Amazon. And cheap.

[@stevejones8665]

That's what I thought aswell Standard easy to obtain Nokia Batteries..I even have a few from old phones which still work fine..much better than stupid AA batteries and very easy to charge.

[@davidsradioroom9678]

I like my Radiwow radio. I can validate your negative comments. The biggest complaint I have is that the battery discharges even when not in use. I keep mine plugged in, because I only use it occasionally. Thanks for the review.

[@christianmarcoux3325]

I too agree on that battery matter, I'd rather feed it AA batteries than ordering another Cell battery for the just in case. I just placed an order for the Tecsun PL-380. It seems more easier/fun. It will be my very first SW capable radio, but yes unfortunately not General Coverage than the Radiwow R 108. Thanks for your video, je l'apprecie.

[@darshankumardave7485]

To avoid pressing frequency key twice, one could prefix zero (s). For eg. 09999 for 9999 KHz in SW. 0999 instead of 999 in MW.

[@eldontyrellcorp]

When you say that the audio is not good, isn't it because audio is set to "voice" by default ? If it's the case, indeed, audio is muffled. Activate the "music" mode and it's a lot better. Personally I'd chose this one over the pl380 because the audio is so much better.

[@robertbrunston5406]

Good review! Thank you. P.S. the lithium battery is available on Ebay.

[@notvalidcharacters]

But does it run on AC, or does that just put it in recharge mode and you don't have a choice? If you pop the battery out will a USB run it? Also what do you mean by "breakthrough"? Overloading the front end?

[@shdhd07]

I just received a Radiwow R108 from Amazon (US $48) last week and have been messing around with it. Honestly, it's my first shortwave radio in about 10 years, so I'm just coming back into it. Some questions I have, perhaps someone can answer for me. 1) I live near York, PA, and am getting absolutely nothing on both the LW and AIR bands. I have plugged in the included antenna and draped it high across the ceiling in my office, but it doesn't seem to help. It did help immensely on picking up the SW stuff, such as Voice of Greece on 9420kHz. 2) Is there a recommended way that I can set up this antenna in terms of where and how I place it? Right now it is attached to my ceiling and drawn horizontally across the top. 3) What the heck is single side band, is it important, and should I consider something like that instead of this radio? I considered the CC Skywave and the Tecsun PL660 but they were a bit out of my current budget. Thanks for all your help!

[@notvalidcharacters]

Yanno when I built my first shortwave receiver, the old green Heathkit GR-81, I thought I had done something wrong because I could receive plenty of signals on all the bands except longwave. Turns out there's just nothing there to hear unless you're either in a submarine under the ocean, or in Europe where they still broadcast on it (a little). Except an occasional directional beacon which you can hear slow Morse code broadcasting a call sign (usually three letters) and a long dash, over and over. I'm afraid that's all there is but if you hear a beacon like that, you know it's working, for what it's worth. As for the air band you'd have to be within range of an airport. That band is used by the airport tower communicating with planes coming in, so the range isn't far beyond that, because it doesn't need to be (and because it's VHF). So to sum up, no you're not doing anything wrong :). But take that radio with you if you have occasion to go to, say, Philadelphia, and try the air band there. However you can hear transAtlantic flights on HF, I think around 4-5 mHz, 7-8 mHz and a few other places in between the international broadcast bands, where planes will be coordinating waypoints with ground controllers like Gander and Santa Maria. However I'm pretty sure those are on SSB, which you'd need a BFO to tune in (which this radio doesn't have). You do miss a lot without sideband. That adds to the cost of course so it's not going to be in a cheaper one like this.

[@eusufzai]

Thanks a lot for the review. Just ordered one from Amazon, hope to receive it at the end of April. What about the Air Band ? I actually order this unit for this air band.

[@hermannel1310]

I have, few days ago, received my Sihaudon R-108 (Radiwow ) and been testing it as intensively as I can. I have a question regarding the SW ATS scanning. I noticed that during scanning it skips quite a few frequencies every now and again. Why or what is the story here? I have seen other KZbin videos with the same question, so I can safely assume mine is working properly, the same as a replacement model. Your answer would be appreciated.

[@deathb4digital]

Working fine. Programmed to scan international broadcast bands only.

[@incursore9]

I'm interested in getting a nice little radio with good reception to use when I go traveling abroad, and camping, mainly for entertaining and emergency broadcasting (in some area or country, internet is not working). I'm undecided between this and the Tecsun PL380, what would you recommend for the use I need?

[@rustynail6819]

I know people are strapped for $$ but in this case save your money and buy a Tecsun PL-880 or the C-Crane Skywave SSB you get what you pay for and this radio defiantly proves that!. This radio radio is a bad copy of the Skywave with less features. This manufacture actually makes (made) the C-Crane radios, worked with C-Crane on testing and R&D and then turned around and ripped them off and put this radio out. It has a ton of QC issues so if you do get one get it from Amazon so you can return it easily .

[@glynnfores9240]

Does this cover the HF bands?

[@thakursekhon]

Does this radio catches channel from SCA1 -- 67kHz Band and SCA2 -- 92kHz Band?

[@OfficialSWLchannel]

no

[@cordelmar]

Question: I been looking to buy one of these radios but witch is better for a EMP event the digital or analog radios.

[@rachidtah8743]

hallo wich one woud jou by radiwow 108 or tecsun pl330 thank jou

[@rodolfopessoa1367]

Hi, I have a Radiwow model R-108 same like you, and i have a doubt. Is it possible change the temperature on the LCD (F to C degrees)... I try to find some information in Operation Manual... but don’t have anything. You can help me send some instructions, because in my country, the temperature system is Celsius degrees. Best Regards.

[@stevenemert837]

@Rodolfo Pessola Temperature display changes from C to F along with the MW frequency steps - If in North America and you select the 10 kHz AM/MW frequency step, it will display temperature in Fahrenheit. When you select the 9 kHz AM/MW tuning step for most of the rest of the world, it displays temperature in Celsius.

[@John-nr6gg]

Additional to Steven Emert's suggestion: If you need to stay with 10 kHz AM/MW tuning steps, an alternative is to use your calculator, to subtract 32 from the degrees F display, multiply that by 5, then divide by 9, to obtain degrees C.

[@paulbainjr]

On sale 10 bucks off on Amazon Aug 2020

[@stevetaylor2233]

I cannot see how to get my into LW?? The band button does not do it

[@NathanCorleone]

same, if you figure it out please tell me

[@NathanCorleone]

ah, just figured it out, first hold the number 5, then press the power button while still holding the number 5. the words on will show on the screen

[@stevetaylor2233]

@@NathanCorleone I found out from them. You use the button with the radio OFF! and it turns on/off. I do not like this nor the fact that the screen always stays on....... I returned it.

[@jeffthompson8663]

Are talking about the teksun 380 or 380 DSP or are they the same? One $48 and the other is $260.

[@OfficialSWLchannel]

380 is DSP there is no DSP version .. the 380 is DSP

[@Meridianux]

Muting audio have also the last model: Eton Elite Execute!

[@gianluigisoldi7045]

really good video!

[@MrBSD-vq5yp]

A radio without ssb doesnt need a full band coverage from 3-30Mhz. Longwave and Airband make more sense. The Radiwow remembers me a bit to the Tecsun PL-310et, probably the OEM is Tecsun indeed. Im not a fan of Radiwow at all. I dont like that cheap gray plastic and the fact you cant use AA-batteries. To put radio all 12 hours to load on a charger is a joke. Due to masses of loading the accu will die within 2 years. Other Tecsun-radios seem to be a better choice.

[@RedLine_Renesis]

A power bank can save you if you forget to charge

[@rebelsupply]

dear sir, please write me and tell me what is the best shortwave radio you would recommend that is best on reception and also a antenna. I prefer one with am fm shortwave and ssb lower and upper and ability to monitor ham channels, thanks Daniel.

[@harrkev]

The "best" is going to cost several thousand dollars and take up an entire table. The best question is: what is best *FOR YOU*, and what is your budget? If you really need SSB, maybe look at the Eton Elite Executive, the Sangean ATS-909X, C. Crane Skywave SSB, or the Tecsun PL-660. If money is really tight, there are probably some good used radios that you can find.

[@karyonowasmin1601]

So, it could be operated only on DC? Thank you for reviewing this informative and precious information. Where did you get it? Amazone? Best warmest regards from Indonesia.

[@Richard2003]

Muting while tuning is a deal breaker for me.

[@garythornton9126]

Would you recommend this for my only sw radio to be used primarily for emergencies or would prefer another?

[@harrkev]

My opinion: for the size and money, you can't beat it. Better radios are either larger or more expensive. The only real problem is that it uses a special (but cheap and readily available) rechargeable battery. It requires a USB charger to juice it up. If you are OK with that, then this is a great unit. Otherwise, maybe look at the C. Crane Skywave. It also adds weather band, and uses AA batteries.

[@rachidtah8743]

Hallo i am watching jour videos can jou tell me please wich one is the best receiver degen 1103 dsp tecsun 330 or xhdata 808 thanks

[@kamalzoro]

longewave is not existe in this receiver

[@harrkev]

It comes turned off by default, since it really isn't very useful to most people. You can manually enable it.

[@NathanCorleone]

@@harrkev how do you enable it

[@pjr2oo8]

Hi I have a xhdata d-808. And a radiwow only came last to weeks have been listening to both ...l bought them because I wanted to ....not based upon any reviews......the only good thing I can is the radiwow is a good size to take on a walk...other wise they are both chinese cheap rubbish dont bother....

[@rachidtah8743]

or can jou recomended me one

[@davidwilliamson2115]

i notitice there is no grounding

[@alcantwell]

Recommendation for a compatible LW antenna?