1. UltralightDX | Main
  2. Topics

Kmart AM/FM Radio - Review - March 2021

Paul Blundell
 

Recently I was given a small $9 AM/FM radio, this is from Kmart but does not have a model number listed.
Below is some information from the Kmart website. 

“This portable AM/FM pocket radio lets you listen to your favourite stations throughout the day. With clear sound playback, you can choose to listen through the built-in speaker or headphone jack.

Product Details

·       Dimensions/Size: 5.6cm (L) x 11.5cm (H) x 2.6cm (D)

·       Colour: Black

·       Battery information: Requires 2 x AAA 1.5V batteries (not included)

Features

·       Supports both AM and FM broadcasts

·       Telescopic antenna

·       Built-in speaker and earphone jack

Additional Information

·       Warranty: 12-months”

From my testing so far it works as well as I would expect from a sub $10 radio. It runs off 2 x AAA batteries. The right hand side panel has the AM/FM switch, ear phone jack and the volume / off control. The front panel has the speaker at the bottom and the tuning knob at the top. This has two scales, the top is for the AM band and the bottom is for the FM band. The tuning knob is a little weird to use and has a small amount of play, the smallest bump will knock it off station. I spent some time last night tuning around both the AM and FM bands.

On AM, its performance was acceptable, I was able to log a mix of Tasmanian, Victorian and NSW stations after dark. The signal levels were good and even with the analogue tuning, I was able to separate the stations.

On FM, I was able to log all the normal high power broadcast stations, I did try to log the three lower power city based translators, one was a faint trace but the other two were missing. The tuning on this was again sensitive and it was hard to get it in just the right spot.

Overall for a sub $10 radio, I didn’t expect much but would this was more than suitable and it is a good addition to my radio kit.

 

https://ultralightradiodxing.blogspot.com/2021/03/kmart-amfm-radio-review-march-2021.html
Paul Blundell
 

Since moving house I have got this radio back out and have spent some more time really getting to know it. 
One thing I have noticed on FM is that it has a noticeable "drift", over the period of an hour or so it required a retune every so often. I will be checking to see if the AM band suffers the same issue.
Johnny
 

KMart is an extinct animal in my area, sadly...

Great place when I was young.



J
Paul Blundell
 

They are the main "variety" store here, sort of like Walmart for those in the USA.


On Tue, May 11, 2021 at 5:47 AM Johnny via groups.io <jlochey=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
KMart is an extinct animal in my area, sadly...

Great place when I was young.



J



--
Paul
Paul Blundell
 

January 2022 Update:
I was recently swapping over my radio kit to my new backpack when I came across this radio in my crate of "less" used radios. I put in a new set of AAA batteries and had a bit of a listen around the AM and FM bands.

I noticed that the issue with the drift I noticed on the FM band seems to be worse, with this now needing constant tuning. The AM band still works well, I wonder if this is a fault which is common to this model or if my example is faulty? For a $9 radio, I can live with it as it is not used that often.


Paul


On Thu, Mar 25, 2021 at 10:51 AM Paul Blundell via groups.io <tanger32au=gmail.com@groups.io> wrote:

Recently I was given a small $9 AM/FM radio, this is from Kmart but does not have a model number listed.
Below is some information from the Kmart website. 

“This portable AM/FM pocket radio lets you listen to your favourite stations throughout the day. With clear sound playback, you can choose to listen through the built-in speaker or headphone jack.

Product Details

·       Dimensions/Size: 5.6cm (L) x 11.5cm (H) x 2.6cm (D)

·       Colour: Black

·       Battery information: Requires 2 x AAA 1.5V batteries (not included)

Features

·       Supports both AM and FM broadcasts

·       Telescopic antenna

·       Built-in speaker and earphone jack

Additional Information

·       Warranty: 12-months”

From my testing so far it works as well as I would expect from a sub $10 radio. It runs off 2 x AAA batteries. The right hand side panel has the AM/FM switch, ear phone jack and the volume / off control. The front panel has the speaker at the bottom and the tuning knob at the top. This has two scales, the top is for the AM band and the bottom is for the FM band. The tuning knob is a little weird to use and has a small amount of play, the smallest bump will knock it off station. I spent some time last night tuning around both the AM and FM bands.

On AM, its performance was acceptable, I was able to log a mix of Tasmanian, Victorian and NSW stations after dark. The signal levels were good and even with the analogue tuning, I was able to separate the stations.

On FM, I was able to log all the normal high power broadcast stations, I did try to log the three lower power city based translators, one was a faint trace but the other two were missing. The tuning on this was again sensitive and it was hard to get it in just the right spot.

Overall for a sub $10 radio, I didn’t expect much but would this was more than suitable and it is a good addition to my radio kit.

 

https://ultralightradiodxing.blogspot.com/2021/03/kmart-amfm-radio-review-march-2021.html



--
Paul

1 - 5 of 5