Review on Sangean PR-D4W Portable Weather Alert Radio with AM/FM Bandwidth Narrowing and Auto Tracking for Improved Searchability by Andrew Walton

Main application - AM radio. News, Traffic, Weather, Talk, Ballgames.+ AM Reception - Better than my other portable radios in AM. Good sensitivity and selectivity. + AM Bandwidth - 1.0, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 4.0, 6.0+ FM Bandwidth - 40, 60, 85, 110+ Quality - Looks and feels good on. Significant weight for its size with 4 D cell batteries.+ Display - easy to see/read.+ Batteries - 4 cell D cells should suffice, no odd like 3 cell. Hinged battery compartment.+ Audio - Clear voice. Low noise level. + The volume control is smooth, feels comfortable and works well. + Buttons on the front have a pleasant feel. No hard click. Conveniently positioned and sized for easy fingertip or thumb control. + Scan button - the location is easy to find and manage by touch (without looking). Just a light press of your right thumb and it skips to the next station with backlit display, pauses for about 5-6 seconds, then resumes scanning to the next station. Press Scan again to stop and hold the station. The scan seems to pick up most weak/edge stations while my other radios skip those stations for a stronger signal. Without looking, the thumb of the right hand makes it easy to find the adjustment rocker up/down, and the scan button is recessed on the left - easy. Love its location and how well it works. //Auto-tracking in AM mode - I don't know how it works or what it does, but when I bump into a station in AM, the station tunes in and then disappears with a signal level lower. then jumps back briefly with increasing signal strength. So it looks like it's doing something, I don't know what, but it seems to be effective. - It would be nice to have a carrying handle, but I don't mind. My larger CCrane, the inexpensive Sony ICF-38 and the Sangean PR-D15 have handles for easy portability. - No built in charger but I'm fine with that as I prefer to use separate NiMh chargers. - No external AM antenna connection. .I found that I use this radio a lot. I use earplugs/headphones 90% of the time. Clean, clear sound with no hiss/noise. Good sound when using the built-in speaker. Used the sleep timer and low volume on the bedside table. Used today in a garage with a built in speaker for an oil change. Good volume and clear sound in the garage. I don't use FM or the weather function, I have other options for that, but when testing FM with headphones the sound was clear and I can easily pick up a few WX stations. I have other portable devices. Radios: CCRadio-EP (new purchase from Revain) CCRadio-2E (display no longer works) 2 - CCRadio-SW (volume control shorted on one, display off on the other) CCrane CC-SkywaveSangean PR-D7Sangean PR-D15 (new purchase - good low-level near-field FM) Sony ICF-38 (recent purchase of an inexpensive analogue of the AA cell - a new fishing radio). Various other Sony, Grundig, Tecsun, Kaito and various pocket radios. I don't know why my CCRadio works. So I bought their analog CCRadio EP and added some modern Sangean label radios lately and I really like these PR series radios. like TV or more, I'll be wasting my time on AM radio if I'm not enchanting a ham radio and this PR-D4W is quickly becoming my favorite. Contains more AM stations that can be heard than my CCrane CCRadio EP just compared, which impressed me with a smaller radio. Also outperforms my recently purchased Sangean PR-D15 at AM but I think the D15 is better than FM for quiet close listening - the dual speaker shows some stereo so the wife could take the D15. I also liked the user interface of the PR-D4W best. Addendum (9.3.18) - Still working like the day I got it. Pair it with an AM loop antenna and a little patience and you'll have a good DX. Makes great packaging. Nice to have when I was laying there with the flu and couldn't do anything.