This means you can hear time signals, submarine communications, beacons and all sorts of other interesting utility stations. This is nicely demonstrated on this nicely demonstrated You Tube video The DX-394 also has another really cool feature: it will tune below 150khz all the way down to VLF and ELF. As you can see, I can't recommend the combination of DX-394 and Radio Shack speaker highly enough. And the higher, treble tones are much more soothing on the ear. It has nice bass tones, but not too much so. Gone is that muffled, almost processed characteristic. When there is QSB on the signal, the signal deterioration is far less marked on the Radio Shack speaker, and I find I can listen for hours through this speaker, when on the DX-394 alone I would long ago have switched off. I prefer it to my Yaesu FRG100 and Icom 703 both of which I would rate highly for audio in their own right. But through the Radio Shack speaker, the audio is beautiful. And during fading there is quite a lot of hiss evident. It lack clarity and sharpness and isn't all that pleasant to listen to for any length of time. I hadn't realized before connecting the speaker, but afterwards it was evident that what I didn't like about the DX-394 audio was the fact it was somewhat muffled. In my opinion it is simply made for the DX-394. Well last month I was lucky enough to come across one at my local radio club equipment sale. Years ago I had read that the Radio Shack speakers were very good and to consider them in preference to the costly Yaesu and Icom optional speakers. Fine for utility listening, but only adequate for broadcast listening. Even with a high quality RF Systems DX-10 amplified vertical antenna outside, it hears nothing at all. Do not buy the DX-394 if you are an NDB beacon DXer. However, the NDB beacon band is not so good. If you are interested in medium wave broadcast or maritime MW utility listening, the DX-394 would be an excellent choice. I have made a small, passive, medium wave loop covering 540khz to 2500khz and feed it directly into the 50ohm input of the DX-394. It hears weak MW signals far better than my Yaesu FRG-100 or my portables. Just think of the number of late-night DX your could try to identify on the hour!Īnother thing I love about this radio and that sets it apart from others I have tried is the excellent medium wave performance. For example: at 0217, 0317, 04 for 2 minutes each time. Many times have I set up a few minutes of recording on WWV Fort Collins at 18 minutes past each hour for the propagation report. I do not know of ANY short wave radio receiver with so many timers! There are 5, yes FIVE, separate timers on the DX-394. Just thought I'd mention this before I start telling you more about the radio as it is important. I wouldn't want to go back to an "A" version. It seems to my ears (forgive me as I am not aware of the technical differences between the various models) that the "B" version uses better quality filters. On both sideband but especially on AM, the audio quality was far superior. The second difference was in the sound quality. 8867 KHz is spot on 8867 KHz and I have never once had to de-tune a single frequency to correctly resolve a signal. Very annoying! This does not happen with the "B" version. I missed some great stuff because of this short-coming, and I often woke up to a tape recording of aircraft over the South Pacific region calling Nadi or Auckland or Pascua Island only to discover I had forgotten to de-tune, and had 45 minutes of garbled rubbish. This was fine when the frequency was active with plenty of traffic to enable the fine-tuning required, but seriously problematic for sitting on silent frequencies for hours waiting for that elusive call from far away. I also noted some frequencies needed more or less of an offset than others. Let me explain: On the "A" model, if you wanted to tune to 8867 KHz, you would enter 8867 and then have to de-tune to approx 8866.8 KHz to be spot on. The first, and as a utility listener this was HUGELY important to me, was that the upgraded model didn't need to be offset by de-tuning the "fine tune" control. The first DX394 I owned was an "A" model and years later when I purchased the "B" model I now own, there were a number of big differences immediately apparent.
#VLF RECEIVER REVIEW SERIAL NUMBER#
I have serial number C006779 and on the back panel there is a small sticker with the letter "B" on it, identifying it as a "B" version model. The first thing I should explain is that, as far as I am aware, there are one or two, perhaps three, slightly different versions of this radio.
#VLF RECEIVER REVIEW PORTABLE#
It is, in my humble opinion, a very much under-valued radio and I want to tell you why, having tried AOR 7030's, The Yaesu FRG100, The Lowe HF150, and numerous portable radios, my all-time number one favourite is the DX394! This is a review of the Realistic DX394 Receiver by RadioShack.