QODOSEN DX-286 Portable Radio, with TEF6686 Automotive Chip,LW,AM, FM, Shortwave,Data System(RBDS/RDS),Antenna Attenuator,Antenna Switch, AMP Switch,1000 Presets,Tone Switch,Clock/UTC/Alarm/Sleep

First off the main reason I bought this receiver for the 70 dollars that I had available when it was for sale around Black Friday was its reviews. That said I got it out of the box about a month or so ago and was able to find another battery because the original battery was not shipped with the radio. Fortunately I had other batteries that I had stocked up on to replace the battery that should have been with the package. Qodosen needs to fix that problem where every radio gets shipped out with a battery in it because mine didn't. I didn't want to mess with sending back the package because a quick fix was available.Anyway, I charged up the battery in the receiver and one morning took it outside because my house has a small noise floor so I went across the street to the local park where there is no noise floor other than what naturally exists in nature. The receive sensitivity of the Qodosen DX 286 far outweighed what I expected. I've had some good radios such as the Tecsun PL-880, Tecsun PL-330, Tecsun PL-368, Tecsun PL-365. What the Qodosen DX 286 offers as far as receive sensitivity is outstanding and just obviously as good as my AM/MW radio that I can hear stations up and down the band late at night on the clear channel frequencies as well as other frequencies in the AM Band. FM band capability was quite good as well as I was easily hearing stations in a 50 to 75 mile radius with good clarity.SW totally blew my mind as Radio Cairo despite its scratchy distorted overmodulated audio was booming into my location in Indiana like a local station on afternoon around 2130 UTC or 430 PM Local time. The same for the following morning when I could easily hear Radio Thailand World Service on 9385 Khz with very little scratching or distortion from its transmitter site some 8500 miles away to the north across the polar regions. The same goes for dozens of other stations like Radio Romania, Voice of Turkey, BBC, China Radio International, Korea Broadcasting System, Radio Japan on 11735 khz from France at midnight which is beamed to Africa and Europe, etc.This radio is a keeper and pretty soon I intend on buying a handful of them because they are a good value even at the regular price of 79 USD. Good value, good reception, the ergonomics and design is decent, the antenna is small but the powerful receive makes up for the difference in antenna length.I was overall impressed with this radio and I think if you know your radios which I have over 40 years of Shortwave experience this ranks up there with the best receivers including stalwarts like the Sony 7600 and 2001D but also the newer receivers like the Tecsun various models although I have not tried out the PL 990 Tecsun and Tecsun H501 yet. I have a Sangean ATS 405 that I paid 70 dollars for a couple of years ago but its quite deaf despite being designed for shortwave radio. Its AM is good but the shortwave needs a 30 foot antenna to get decent reception.As far as the DX 286 I say go for it and try it out versus your other receivers and you will be pleasantly surprised by the receive and the ergonomics are ok as well just that everyone has their own preferences.

UPDATE 8/11/24 - I've increased my review to five stars. I have been able to compare the DX-286 to some of my best receivers over the past month, primarily against the SDR Play RSPdx, Airspy HF+ Discovery and Icom 7300 transceiver. These three are software defined radios and some of the most sensitive I own. This early evening I checked my reference TIS station on 1630khz using the RSPdx, I was barely able to copy it, the signal was essentially lost in the noise. This seemed very odd because I can typically hear this station without issue using my SDR receivers. Next I tried the Airspy HF+ Discovery and Icom 7300 and was able to hear it just slightly above the noise. I quickly switched to the DX-286 and there was the signal, easy to copy only with quick flutter like fading. This was using the same 135 foot end fed on each receiver. I'm buying another one of these truly exceptional little powerhouses. I hope Qodosen will build on the DX-286 design and add SSB and sync detection in their next offering.Original Review Below:The Qodosen DX-286 certainly lives up to the hype, especially for this class of radio. I’ve been a licensed amateur for 40 years and have owned and used literally hundreds of radios. My current collection of portables range from old analog pocket radios to the exceptional standalone Afedri LAN-IQ SDR. I was never a fan of DSP radios but I could see the manufacturers slowly maturing their designs over the past 10 years, and Qodosen hits the DX-286 out of the park with the TEF6686 chip being the heart of the radio. I figured I’d take a chance and if I didn’t like it I could return it. This one is a keeper and should be considered by anyone who may be a serious MW/FM/SW/LW Dxer or have a very tight budget for a great performing radio.The DX-286 is extremely sensitive on all bands, almost astonishing for this size. It’s like the engineers designed this purposefully for large antennas and it exhibits no overload or imaging at my location even when not using the attenuation settings. I’m an avid MW Dxer, so my ultimate test of a radio is a low power TIS station 20 miles away on 1630khz. Every higher end radio I own can easily hear this station on my full size G5RV or 135 foot end fed, including the DX-286. But the real test was taking it outdoors switched to the external whip using the built-in preamp. This little marvel of engineering could pick up my reference TIS station barefoot almost as well as being connected to my large antennas. Absolutely unreal. So why the four star review? This extreme sensitivity is like a double edged sword depending on how someone intends to use this radio. Due to this it makes it almost nearly impossible to use indoors without an external antenna away from RFI. Qodosen eludes to this in the manual but I find it almost necessary unless you just want to listen to the strongest of stations on MW. I have a fairly quiet and RFI free home, but even when using the internal ferrite rod antenna I can pick up every semi-noisy switching power supply within 15 feet of the radio, even my smart watch produces clicks and hiss 5-10 feet away. I see the DX-286 being the perfect radio for camping, hiking or a mini Dxpedition in a park when you want to carry the minimum possible or don’t want to spend the time launching a wire antenna.As everyone knows by now the button top 18650 lithium ion battery isn't included. This wasn’t a big deal for me since I have many. I’ve been using an off brand 2200mah battery and can report the runtime is about 7-8 hours at low volume and very little back light activation. So, the DX-286 isn’t a battery sipper, it’s more like a hog at the trough. I would recommend buying TWO 3000mah Samsung or LG batteries and a decent single slot 18650 charger. This way you won’t be running out of power when you may need it most.In conclusion, this is one heavy hitter of a portable multi-band radio that does everything well, and in some circumstances performs as well as some table top general coverage receivers I’ve owned. I realize there’s so much more I could cover but it’s unnecessary with the wealth of in-depth reviews on YouTube and Jay Allen’s excellent website.