« Reply #16 on: October 03, 2020, 05:37:38 PM »
I had looked at Tecsun PL-880 for exactly this purposes. It has a built-in telescopic antenna, so I'd look to put an SMA or BNC port on it. But that looked nice for drive-in FM pulls.
I used this model for a recent drive-in. Great reception with the stock antenna without modification. Unit has both headphone out and line out (obviously I used the latter). I wasn't thrilled with the captured sound though--mono and compressed. Don't know how much of that was due to the broadcast signal vs the radio itself.
How's it sound with regular FM audio? I could see the transmission being mono and compressed, but hard to say.
Listening now to the line out with regular FM. Sounds the same, mono and compressed. Seems what DSatz noted earlier was correct.
It's been gone for decades so I can't test but I remember my old stereo boombox sounding sparkling clear through headphones. Or maybe it was just the glow of youth.
Certainly this Tecsun is only built to output one channel. Still glad to have it around though. A decent portable radio is a good thing to have.
DSatz said:
<<Actually I disagree. Portable radios don't generally have very wide dynamic range or flat frequency response. They generally have just one signal path, with its response tailored to their built-in amplifier and speaker or speakers. Low-noise, low-distortion circuitry would raise the cost of manufacture significantly, when the market segment that cares about such things is so tiny, it's almost non-existent.>>
Logged
Mics: Schoeps MK4, DPA 4061, AT953, Shure MV88
Preamps/BB: Nbox, tinybox, ST-9100, CA-UGLY, SP-SPSB-10
Recorders: In use--Teenage Engineering TX6, Tascam DR-2d, Sony PCM-A10, Zoom L-20R; collecting dust--Sony M10, Ediirol R-09, Zoom H4n, Zoom H6, Cymatic LR16
Video: In use--Panasonic VX981, Panasonic ZS100, GoPro Hero 12; collecting dust--Sony HDR-CX520V, Sony HX9V, Panasonic ZS3/ZS7