My Radio Shack / Realistic DX-302 Communications Receiver

[RadioHamGuy]

I purchased one of these when they first came out and I worked at RS at the time so I got a little discount. I saved a long time to be able to buy one but it was a fun radio, kind of wished I would have kept it around now. After a few years I sold it to my uncle when I got a new ham rig I guess.

[johnkc8jzo]

@RadioHamGuy This was an eBay special, and gave me the chance to revive a radio from the dead. So far, so good. Wish I had room to put up a better antenna. She does well with the modest one I have indoors. Worthwhile radio for someone to put a little effort into.

[gabusjr]

Falou merda 90% do video!

PRA QUE seu idiota????

[fordbroncodave]

i have one of those. i got mine for the cost of a cobra 148gtl radio. mine needs the potentiometers cleaned and lubed

[N0rthwestRadio]

Good job! I purchased one of these brand new when the first came out. Great memories. These days, I still have a DX-160 that is nicely vintage.

[johnkc8jzo]

@N0rthwestRadio Thanks, love this rig. It's been a great bedside radio with just a modest antenna. Kinda nice to know the Rat Shack sold quality gear back in the day. Wish they could now, oh well. Whenever I get more room, I'll have to add to the collection.

[ufisher]

Great Video, wondering if you can identify what is the final transistor? I went through all the transistors voltages and they all check properly including the IC's. I started to change the caps but seemed that they are fine as well. Thanks for your assistance.

[johnkc8jzo]

@ufisher It's been a while, so I had to do a quick search in the "Realisticdx" Yahoo group (a great source of information). So here's a quick Copy Paste:

"Its a 3SK45(B)-9 Mosfet. . . . but you can notice the lack of

sensitivity from the shorted Q201. Jim just gave me an NTE 454 as the

equivalent. All the other 3SK45s in the RF board give correct voltages so Q201

must be definitely bad."

NTE-454 is what you will probably need to get. That's what's I finally replaced to get mine working.

[ufisher]

@johnkc8jzo Thanks for the info, I actually changed Q201 first as that did give bad readings originally, and the new one is giving the right voltages, still no go though. Thanks again! I'll keep plugging away.

[ufisher]

Great Video, wondering if you can identify what is the final transistor? I went through all the transistors voltages and they all check properly including the IC's. I started to change the caps but seemed that they are fine as well. Thanks for your assistance.

[911cfrojas]

never mind. i got it working like a real beauty. Antenna was not long enough!

[johnkc8jzo]

@911cfrojas I use an amateur radio "hamstick" style antenna for the 80 meter band. It's actually located indoors, and receives quite well. Have fun experimenting with antennas!

[911cfrojas]

I am completely new at this stuff. I just purchased my dx 302. Main reason is because of your video.  I cant pick up a single thing from it. How do you hook up antenna. How did you hook yours up.

[MrSammyReed]

I'd just like to know: How low can you really tune with this thing? Just 150 KHZ, or even lower? Maybe - should I even suggest - 1 KHZ?

[johnkc8jzo]

@MrSammyReed Well,the freq counter does actually zero out. Whether the radio can receive something to 1 kHz, I'm unsure. I don't have the room (nor am I in a good spot) to hear anything in the LW bands. However, the Preselector does reference down to 10kHz, so I guess it's feasible.

[sandhgreen]

@MrSammyReed

This radio was sold from about 1981 to 1983 or so. It was Radio Shack's replacement for the DX-160.

While reasonably stable, the Wadley-Loop circuit did drift. You had to touch up tuning from time to time if listening to SSB/CW.

It costs $300.00 back then, a HUGE sum in those days. It was one of the first radios with digital readout. That, along with it's "radio look" made it a huge seller. It simply looked like a radio was expected to look, back then.

Good radio.

[smilerjeff]

@sandhgreen it was the replacment for the DX-300, which was the replacment for the DX-160. I had all 3, the 300 replaced the 160, the 302 replaced the 300. Now thinking of getting myself a394 as a bedside receiver. As since my SWL days, am now M1BCM, active on all HF bands, with a Yaesu FT-902DM.

[uploadJ]

@MrSammyReed

They will easily tune down to 30 kHz or so, but the sensitivity gets kinda bad (not too good) but you should with a reasonable antenna hear WWVB at 60 kHz ...

[dxace1]

Nice little review of the 302 -- thanks....

[johnkc8jzo]

@dxace1 Glad you like it, and thanks!

[THEBLURII]

hi, from Mexico, where do I can get some Realistic like yours, I´m a fan from short wave here in Mexico City there´s not devices like this, help me

[johnkc8jzo]

@THEBLURII I got mine from ebay. Good Luck!

[nocountry2012]

Hey John, how difficult was it to make the repairs? Does that mean complicated sauter work? I have on of these today, but it is currently listed on eBay. I am not sure if I want to sell it or keep it. I got it for $25 at the Goodwill thrift store. The khz readout is not showing.

[johnkc8jzo]

@nocountry2012 Sorry for the late reply. Probably by now it's sold on the bay. When I got mine the receive was dead. So electronically, I replaced all the capacitors and the final transistor (also replaced the lights with LED's). So that's quite a bit of soldering there. Mechanically, there's a gear train tied to the tuning knobs. Biggest thing here is the lubricant getting all gummed up. One of the main tuning gears broke, which I first glued then replaced via suggestion from the net.

[clansman320]

Whats the part number for the fianl transistor, my dx-302 is poorly! cheers

[johnrob281]

Nice radio...good job on reviving an oldie but goodie!

73

W5CYF

[johnkc8jzo]

Thanks! This is my first real radio resurrection, took me a little while to get it working. Good learning experience, and fun radio to play with.