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A Review of the Kchibo D92L Receiver

The Kchibo D92L is among the latest Ultralight receiver available in North America that incorporates Silicon Labs Si4734 DSP chip. The most popular such model is the very impressive Grundig G8 (Tecsun PL-300WT), reviewed here. The G8 is therefore extensively used here as a basis of comparison in this review. Kchibo is apparently fully embracing the Silicon Labs DSP technology, in that they are incorporating it into numerous new receivers. However, of current models only the D92L and the as-yet evaluated D96L tune in 1-KHz steps, and only the D96L (see Summary section, below) also tunes in 10 KHz steps. All other Kchibo models (D90L, D95L, etc.) apparently tune only in 9 KHz steps, and therefore are likely of limited interest to DXers, especially those in North America. I received my Kchibo D92L nine days after ordering it from eCrater seller hygt369 in Hong Kong. This seller has since listed the D92L on eBay as well. General Features The D92L is described as an entry level DSP receiver. It is fairly small and lightweight, yet has a solid feel to it. The buttons and manual are in Chinese, but a manual is available here, which can then be translated with Google, giving you access to the various functions which include a clock, alarm, scan function and generous memory presets. The two lithium-ion batteries arrived mostly charged, and snap into place easily. You can take the battery out and the clock and memories will remain, indicating there is a capacitor somewhere, but dont turn the unit back on without the battery since the capacitor will instantly discharge and your stored information will disappear. The supplied AC adapter is labeled as a 220V only. For tuning around on MW, only 9 KHz steps are available, so domestic DXing in North America is a bit cumbersome, since you will have to use the 1 KHz fine-tune thumbwheel quite a bit. This raises some concern in my mind about the life expectancy of the thumbwheels encoder. It doesn't have the variable speed FAST/SLOW tuning scheme of the Grundig G8. You can also enter the frequency via the keypad, but the buttons are quite tiny and difficult to press in my experience, and I initially found myself using the 9 KHz steps and the thumbwheel exclusively. Once I figured out how to enter and recall memories, tuning around was much easier, especially after programming frequencies at regular intervals throughout the bands in order to quickly get to the vicinity of a desired frequency. The memories do not store bandwidths, but continue to use whatever filter setting is already being used. I personally prefer the rotary thumbwheel on the G8 for volume and tuning, rather than the up/down buttons on the D92L. In the upper portion of the 40-stop volume control, there is little if any change in the volume of the D92L as you punch in a higher or lower volume setting. However, the speaker on the D92L sounds a lot better to my ears than the G8's speaker. AM Performance Selectivity using the narrower bandwidths is truly head and shoulders above all other Ultralights, including the G8 which only has the 3 KHz filter setting. The 1 KHz filter setting on the D92L is especially valuable for close-spaced stations, while on the other end of the filter spectrum the 6 KHz filter has very good fidelity on my local stations that still play music. The default filter value is 2 KHz, and is selected when you turn the D92L on, regardless of where it was set prior to turning it off. Fortunately, the 2 KHz setting is a good filter width for scanning around the band. For the three narrowest bandwidths (1, 2, and 3 KHz), optimal detuning distances are generally that same amount or one KHz more

(i.e., detune 1 or 2 KHz using the 1 KHz filter) for best DX results. Audio recordings of the effectiveness of the three narrowest filters are available on the Yahoo UltralightDX group in the Files section. One negative aspect of the filtering scheme is that filter selection, as with the Drake R8, uses a carousel arrangement, so if you want to go from the 2 KHz to the 1 KHz filter setting, you need to cycle through the 3, 4 and 6 KHz settings first. Not only is this inconvenient, but it also results in more wear and tear on the bandwidth selector button. Also, the selector button is quite small and very close to the fine tuning thumbwheel, making it awkward to use. Sensitivity using just the internal ferrite antenna is, in a word, horrid. Not only is the internal ferrite quite small (it was also cracked on the only other unit that I know of that was received recently), but the internal noise apparently associated with the LCD screen "hash" easily overwhelms weak to moderate signals. As a result, tuning up and down the band, especially during daytime conditions, is a very noisy experience. Being tuned to the carrier frequency of a given station will result in the lowest noise, but detuning even 1 KHz will bring the noise up significantly unless the stations signal is quite strong. Late at night when the MW band is fully established, there are many parts of the band where the internal tuning noise is less of an issue, although the noise may be quite strong between 10-KHz channels (i.e., on the fives) and when detuning 1 or 2 KHz from weaker station. As a result, as a barefoot receiver, the D92L is almost unusable. However, the sensitivity and internal noise issues can overcome with the use of most any passive loop, even a small one like the Terk Loop or Quantum Stick. The D92L seems to work well with all types of loops, as opposed to the G8 and Eton e100 which, because of the shape of their internal ferrite bars, do not couple well with some types of passive loops. So, if you are not a barefoot DXer, the internal noise is a lesser issue, and a larger passive loop such as the Crate Loop generally makes the internal noise disappear altogether. Further, if the D92L is coupled to a broadband antenna such as a longwire, Wellbrook loop or an active whip, signal levels are above the internal noise floor on all frequencies throughout the band. As a result, the internal noise disappears, and I found it a pleasure to browse up and down the band. The external antenna can be coupled to the D92L using a few turns of wire or a ferrite coupler, while the Adding an Antenna Port article on DXer.ca shows how a permanent physical antenna connection can be installed. Initial experiments with adding a large external ferrite antenna indicate that the internal noise issue is not overcome even with the ferrite a few inches away from the receiver. Therefore, the Slider-type external ferrites that have been transplanted onto the Eton e100, C Crane SWP and Grundig G8 are apparently not a possibility here. In summary, using a passive loop or external antenna turns the D92L into a capable DX receiver. As with the G8, the front end of the D92L is remarkably immune to overloads. An advantage of the D92L is that it appears to have far fewer birdies and heterodynes than the G8, especially on the upper part of the band where the G8 has them on many channels. So, these defects appear to be largely unique to the G8's design. Audio Performance The audio section appears to have a decent AGC, in that my strong locals had approximately the same volume as weak stations. There were no obvious transients that indicated that the AGC was having trouble reacting to large signal strength changes, so the AGC time constant appears to be fairly small, and/or Kchibos claim to an advanced AGC circuit is true. I did not notice the curious anomaly associated with the G8, where depressing selected buttons apparently causes the AGC to temporarily disengage, resulting in increased volume. The D92L has the SNR and signal strength indications of the G8. I noticed that with many stations, the signal strength indicated on the D92L is a bit lower than the indication on the G8 using the same antenna, yet the SNR indicated on the D92L is higher! I could hear the improved SNR in the actual audio coming out of the speaker, so apparently there is something that Kchibo did in its design that better utilizes the Silicon Labs DSP chip in this way. As with the G8, the displayed SNR drops to zero if you detune from the base frequency of a station, even though the signal strength might be still very high, and the audio level drops off as well.

The background hiss of the audio section can be annoying with headphones when using the 1 KHz filter setting, but it gets much less noticeable as you widen the bandwidth. I noticed that many stations had more hiss on-frequency, and that it was often better when I detuned a KHz or two. As discussed above, I had to use external antennas when doing this evaluation, so I was not able to determine whether or not the D92L also has rapid volume increases when a weak station fades up. This occurs with the G8, presumably because the soft mute feature reaches the muting threshold and suddenly restores volume to its full level. FM Performance In general, the D92L is a less capable FM receiver than the G8. The D92L's whip antenna is only 17.5 long (the G8's whip is 22long), therefore sensitivity is reduced compared to that of the G8; attaching a few inches of wire to the end of the whip using an alligator clip brings the sensitivity back up, but then the whip gets quite top-heavy. When the whip is retracted and tucked into its storage clip, FM signal strength decreases dramatically, while the G8 retains decent sensitivity even in this situation; a possibility here is that whatever is disrupting AM reception may also be affecting FM reception when the whip gets too close to the top of the receiver. Selectivity is the same single bandwidth as the G8, 50 dB adjacent channel rejection, which is absolutely outstanding on any FM tuner, much less a portable. Fine tuning on the D92L is in 50 KHz steps, compared to the much finer 10 KHz steps available on the G8. One advantage with the D92L is that, when in FM mode, the bandwidth selector buttons functions to select either 50 or 75 microsecond de-emphasis to adjust the tonal balance of the audio, an option native to the DSP chip but not available on the G8. With the lithium-ion battery's unique terminal arrangement, there is not a convenient battery spring to connect a ground for an external FM antenna as there is with the G8. Using the headphone jack base for this connection, I ran a comparison between the D92L and the G8, each attached to a Moxon antenna. The G8 had noticeably better signal strength and SNR, so the D92L does not appear to be a good choice for FM DXing. Shortwave Performance Numerous images and spurs, caused by overloading from local MW stations, are just as problematic on the D92L as with the G8. This can be overcome using an external antenna clipped to the whip with an intervening pre-selector, but barefoot shortwave listening is indeed compromised, especially on the 31 meter band. The filter settings available work great on shortwave, and the narrower settings allow you to detune from the carrier in order to reduce selective fading, a decent substitute for synchronous detection. Therefore, when used in conjunction with a tuned external antenna, the D92L is a capable shortwave receiver. Summary As a MW DX receiver, the D92Ls selectivity is clearly significantly better than any other Ultralight. However, the receiver as a whole is only useable in conjunction with a passive loop or external antenna, in which case it is a capable performer. I may have received a defective unit, although the sensitivity specifications of the D92L are significantly worse than its big brother, the D96L, therefore only so much can likely be expected of the D92L if used barefoot. The Kchibo D96L is now available, and an evaluation is currently underway as to whether it meets the definition of an Ultralight receiver. Initial testing shows that it is in fact a more capable receiver. Kevin S., Bainbridge Island, WA August 2009

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