Degen DE 1105 review update – it's broken!

My Degen 1105 is more or less out of service. Why? Because the aerial fell out! The telescopic antenna is fitted into the body of the radio, so there’s no joint for it to turn around outside the set.
Two segments of the aerial have fallen out. So it’s fairly useless – you can put the segments back in, but they just fall out again, and the connection is unreliable, needless to say.

This reminded me to root out the DE 1102. All AM is dodgy on that, MF and HF. I think the ferrite rod came lose first, and then I poked around at it zapping the shortwave coverage.
I'm a bit disappointed at the build quality of the Degens now -- they feel very solid, but mine have both failed inside, mechanically.

MSF time signal changes

the UK's reference source longwave signal is changing, as reported on Media Network. They are moving transmitter site. So the fixed phrase will have to change! "MSF Rugby" is becoming MSF Anthorn.

During yesterday's test, I noticed the singal meter on my radio-controlled watch was blank – and that never happens when I'm in the UK or Ireland! It was 11:56, and the test was due to finish at 12:00, so I put the watch on the window sill and told it to "GET" – it hadn't updated in the early hours. The watch has a little signal meter, of three bars – that mean time data and date data are both being received. For a few minutes it could only get one bar. After that it reached two – which I think means time data is being received. Then by 11:58, it started to get full strength, but it kept fluctuating between level 2 and 3. After 12, I asked it to calibrate again, and it did no problem.

It's possible my wall clock missed an overnight calibration too, as I was half-woken by an odd whirring in the middle of the night. Once I figured out what it might be, I noticed that I could still hear the second hand ticking merrily along, so I imagine it might have been the minute or hour hands doing their thing.

I never opened my eyes though so who knows!


ooooh. But now I've jsut noticed: the wall clock is a minute slow! Golly.

BTW, the watch is this Casio, and it's fab!

Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro headphones

I was given a pair of these in late January. By all accounts they are very good. I’m not in any position to judge to be honest, as I haven’t much to compare them to.

I’ve been using them at home in the place of the DT-100s. So far I have this to say:
They’re very comfy. They block out a ton of outside sounds, I reckon more than the DT-100s.

So far the sound quality has only struck me in one example. I am now much more aware of the hiss in recordings made on the Edirol R-09 with its built-in mics.

I haven’t compared them directly, but for isolation alone, the DT 770’s absolutely wipe the floor with the Sennheiser HD-480 (modified by Canford) that we use as standard issue in the BBC. I’ve seen training videos of BBC Radio 1 newsbeat presenters using the DT 770s. Good!

Being very childish…

China National Radio have moved their web addresses to one: cnr.cn.

All very good, I'm sure. So I have to look for vulgar juvenile fun. Click the link for 中广演播厅。

And look at the web address that appears.

Sorry, but it must be done :-)

More in the Guardian

http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,,2021124,00.html

It opens thus:

Access denied


Frustrated by government jamming and dwindling audience figures, staff at the BBC's China service are worried about an increasingly uncertain future. John Plunkett reports on the dilemmas facing the corporation

Monday February 26, 2007………



There'll probably be an update tomorrow – after a big announcement today.

Article in the Guardian

So now I know why the press office sounded pressured today…
http://media.guardian.co.uk/radio/story/0,,2013029,00.html

Upcoming posts

I've been shamefully absent! But I promise to update the blog in the next week. I'll be adding to my reviews, of the AKG K27i headphones, the Pure PocketDAB 2000, and the Degen DE 1105.

I'll also add a review of sorts, of the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro cans.

In the meantime though: I'll be at the BBC Chinese stand in Chinatown on Sunday -- Chinese New Year -- so if you're around, come and say hello! We might even give you some freebies, if you're nice to us.
And speak Chinese.
And fill in a questionaire.

Maybe.

See you there!