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Three Must-Hear Gadgets for Radio Lovers

Gary Krakow

For millions of people, radio is still a daily part of their lives. Whether portable, stationary or mobile, radio is still a major force in entertaining and informing listeners everywhere.

Like everything else, radio is changing. No longer relegated to the "airwaves," radios now use satellites and the Internet to "broadcast" their signals. There's also HD technology, which permits U.S. AM and FM stations to broadcast digital signals. More about this in a minute.

You need to know about three wonderful, new radio receivers: a standard AM/FM/shortwave model, an AF/FM/HD device and one of the new Wi-Fi Internet radio receivers, which isn't really a radio in the strict sense but could be the wave of the future.

C. Crane is a company that lives and breathes radio. You name it, C. Crane has it. It sells all different kinds of radio receivers and antennas and everything else you need to listen to radio broadcasts -- even in difficult reception situations.

It also sells radio under its own name, including the new CCRadio-SW. Think of it as a modern-day Zenith Trans-Oceanic -- shrunk down to about one-quarter size.

The CCRadio-SW is a portable AM/FM/Shortwave world-band receiver. It lets you listen to FM stereo broadcasts through headphones or external speakers. The large, internal 5-inch speaker has separate bass and treble controls. For the record, it sounds terrific!

The receiver has a huge, collapsible FM/SW whip antenna and C. Crane's hyper-performance Twin-Coil Ferrite AM antenna system inside for superior station pulling power. There are way too many features to describe all of them in detail, but some of my favorites include 50 memories, lots of lighted buttons, clock radio functions with snooze alarm and an IF output for connecting to computers.

	Photo: C. Crane

The radio can run on AC power or from your choice of four AA or D-cell batteries. If you use rechargeable batteries, the CCRadio-SW will recharge them while they're inside the radio -- a very nice touch.

I've been using the radio for weeks and can tell you that it's one amazing receiver. Not only does it pull in stations from all over the world, but as I said before, it sounds great too.

For $149.95, it's a worldwide radio lover's dream come true.

To compete with XM XMSR and Sirius SIRI satellite radio quality (and station quality), U.S. broadcasters are rolling out a new system: HD radio. FM broadcasters use a portion of their frequency to add digital HD channels (up to three per station) 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Stations usually use one digital channel to simulcast their analog programming and use a second (or third) for other music/information streams.

AM broadcasters utilize a single digital stream to simulcast their analog broadcasts between sunrise and sunset. The FCC is still determining whether HD signals interfere with nearby stations -- and, since AM radio signals travel long distances at night, whether they interfere with distant stations as well.

There's a constant stream of new HD radio receivers coming to market, ranging from small, table-top radios to large component tuners that plug into your home stereo system.

I've been testing a number of HD radios, and overall, I like them a lot. For holiday gifting (for yourself and for others), I can recommend Cambridge SoundWorks' 820HD. I think it's the best-sounding of the all-in-one HD radios I've heard to date. It's a sleek, stereo table receiver that can be used as a very high-tech clock radio.

	Photo: Cambridge SoundWorks

I've found that all HD radios require separate, external antennas for both decent AM and FM bands (usually supplied with your receiver). I would consider better antennas to receive HD programming outside when you're further away from the station's transmitter.

Once everything is set up properly, the 820HD is quite impressive sounding. You tune to your favorite station, and it takes the radio five seconds or so to lock into the digital HD signal. You'll know the difference immediately -- the HD broadcast sounds a little cleaner (at least in my testing).

The 820HD is available in Onyx (black) or Arctic White, and Cambridge SoundWorks is selling it online for $199.99 (even less with a special coupon -- see the Website for details).

Finally, Internet radios. Some are touting them as the wave of the future, but these are really aren't radios at all. They are small computers, shaped like standalone radios, that access streams of music from the Web and play them back through built-in amplifiers and speakers. These radios use your Wi-Fi wireless network to "receive signals" from the Internet.

In addition to the thousands of broadcast radio stations worldwide that provide radio stream to the Web, there are also thousands of private, homebrew music streams available. Quality of the stream is sometimes hit-and-miss, but the bottom line is that you have an astounding number of programming choices at your fingertips on a Wi-Fi radio.

One of the more interesting receivers on the market is made by ComOne's Phoenix receiver. It's a cute, portable radio-shaped receiver with a small digital display situated between a set of stereo speakers. Sound quality is pretty good considering the size of the drivers.

The Phoenix is the first portable Wi-Fi radio to hit the market. The receiver comes with an AC adapter to power the radio and also four rechargeable AA batteries.

	Photo: Com One

There are eight presets on the front panel for your favorite stations. You program them by navigating through the radio's menus or by logging onto the ComOne Website. You can use the provided station list or manually add the station's URL. Plus, if you have digital music files stored on that computer (or any computer on your home network) you can also listen to them.

ComOne's portable Phoenix Wi-fi radio is lots of fun to explore and to use. It sells for $249 and is available at selected retailers.