I figured out why my E10 wasn't working up to expectations. I realized
that I hadn't charged the batteries for quite awhile so I did that
(inside the radio) and everything seems fine now. I remember being
pleased with the performance on MW when I got it last November. That
is after charging the supplied batteries in an external charger. They
were all .70 VDC and refused to charge inside the radio, which is a
refurb from Fry's. After doing that I've never had trouble recharging
them inside the radio.

I ordered an E100 from the Shortwave Store, which is Durham Radio's US
store. I don't need another radio but does that ever seem to stop me
from buying them? Of course not!! Does it come with rechargeable
batteries? I had to laugh when I saw that the batteries the E10 came
with were 1100 mah NiMH's. That was after being amused by the 1300 mah
NiMH's that the Kaito KA1103 came with. When they first came on the
market the first NiMH's I bought were 1600 mah.

The KA1103 must be too big to qualify as an ultralight. That's too
bad; it's a really nice radio. I'd say it's the best buy in a PLL
portable radio with SSB. I was really disappointed with the Sony
ICF-SW7600GR and more or less stopped using it (except for when the
synchronous detection, which isn't nearly as good as on the ICF-2010,
was needed) when the Kaito arrived.

73