Kaito KA1102 - Worldband radio.

Local reception not as reviewed previously. I live near major large city, yet most local stations have small amounts of static. Should have not bought.

I bought the Kaito KA1102 - Worldband radio off Amazon about a year ago for around $100 bucks. I wish I could get my money back.

For starters, for $100 bucks you'd think that it would just recharge itself when you plug it in like a cell phone, but it doesn't. I don't use it all the time, so I have to look in the manual to remember what buttons to press to get it to recharge the batteries. It will not do so automatically, which is bizarre in this day & age.

Secondly, the radio uses electricity even when turned off, so the charge on the batteries doesn't last long. Making this the least reliable radios I own. On countless occassions, I would pull this out of a drawer and it would be dead. Two things fix this - get rid of the rechargable batters and just keep some fresh AA with, but not in the radio. OR, forget portability, and just use it plugged in.

Then there's the weak attenna. I'm not referring to signal strength. The attenna on my radio fell off about a month after carrying it around. I've tried various ways of fixing it and nothing works. Very dissapointed in that wonderful feature.

Lastly, it is clear this radio was designed by someone who loves buttons and making things as complex as possible. Just setting the thing to AM takes a bit of figuring out as there is no button that just says AM. There's one for FM, but you have to read the manual to figure out the code for AM. The S/W stuff is easy to figure out, but nothing else is intuitive.

This radio is the worst purchase I've ever made on Amazon.

I have been a ham radio operator(W4KDK) for over thirty years and have been a shortwave listener even longer. After reading the reviews, I was a little skeptical, decided to order the Kaito KA1102 anyway and give it a try. At first, I was a little frustrated with the operation, but then I read the instructions. (When all else fails I read the instructions!) After reading the instructions, it became easier to do things like operate the SSB feature. If you are a ham or a SWL who likes "reading the mail" or listening to "ragchews," you will love having SSB or CW in the palm of your hand. The AM reception is excellent, SW reception is good--especially with the portable longwire antenna included. The FM stereo with the added bass sounds excellent with a good pair of stereo headphones. The speaker sounds pleasing on all bands for the size of the radio. If you want value in a small shortwave/AM/FM stereo handheld with all the bells and whistles, get this radio. My only advice is to read the instructions; you can't figure it out by intuition with this one. Also, if you really want to have good shortwave reception, get a very long wire--the longer the better (size does matter) and judge it when band conditions are good--which may not be the moment you take it out of the box. Something else that I thought was a nice touch was that it included rechargeable batteries and charger/AC adapter, earphones, and the previously mentioned portable longwire antenna.

This radio receives FM broadcast and AM fine, but shortwave and SSB on Shortwave is all but existant! I have tried to return this radio, have it repaired, and still not even a word or an "I'm sorry" DO NOT BUY THIS, IT IS MORE TROUBLE THAN YOU WANT, AND IT DOES NOT RX SHORTWAVE OR THE SSB BANDS! THAT IS A SIMPLE ENOUGH REVIEW, AND AN HONEST ONE. I HAVE BEEN A HAM FOR 11 YEARS AND NEVER HAD A NEW RADIO TO BE SUCH A PIECE OF GARBAGE! LOOKS LIKE I EVEN HAVE TO LITIGATE TO MAKE THEM BUY IT BACK, AND IT IS JUST 2 MONTHS OLD!!!

I've been a radio enthusiast, and Amateur Radio Operator for 30 years. I've had many radios come and go, but the KA1102 is one that stays. This radio is an amazing bargain, and amazing performer, all in a very small package. Whenever I want to take a portable world band radio on the go with me, this is the one that comes. Whether it be for listening to World Band Broadcasts, or Ham Radio on SSB, the KA1102 performs like a radio that costs 2-3 times as much. Highly recommended.