Another Newstar DR111 Review

George Ross, Frequency Manager at KTWR on Guam contributed a review of the Newstar DR111 to the DRM Consortium website. You can read it here. In conclusion he states "I would recommend the DR-111 as a viable receiver.” My sentiments exactly! Check out the Newstar DR111 on the CDNSE website.

Newstar DR111 Tech Spec Olympics!

Longtime DRM supporter and friend Terje has posted his gorgeous bench-top tests of the DR111. Check out the charts, charts and more charts. Wow, great work! I think you will find that most specs point to the fact that the Newstar DR111 is a fine performer! As you can see by the bottom of his page, he isn't done yet!

CDNSE Newstar DR111 Review (part 4)

Here is a nice picture of Allen at the Continental NAB 2012 booth holding the Newstar DR111. More DRM NAB photos here.

On the right side is the 1/8th inch, 50 Ohm antenna connection. As you know from my previous review post, I have tried the DE31 Active antenna and a cheap reel antenna with great success

Next on my list of things to try was my Select-a-tenna. I have two models, one with an external 8th inch jack and one without. I connected the one with the jack via a short cable to the DR111 and began to play with MW. I tried 1070 KNX in Los Angeles and 810 KGO in San Francisco (I'm located in the state of Oregon).

CDNSE Newstar DR111 Review (part 2)

Saturday, I had my first opportunity to listen to Disco Palace from Montsinery on 17875 kHz.
I started out on the front porch of the house with the whip. I got the ID but no audio. I went back in the house and connected up the ham radio vertical. Immediately I got audio with only minor dropouts.



Right away I noticed minimal if any stereo effect on the Newstar. I did a comparison on the Pappradio into DReaM. There was noticeable difference between both delivered audio frequencies and stereo separation. The Newstar audio seems quite compressed, both through the speakers and headphone jack. I must say, this has been the biggest surprise and disappointment so far. That to say that although very listenable, DReaM software delivers twice the fidelity the Newstar does. Here are 2 samples, recorded the same way (via analogue cable) into Audacity. They are both 5 second, stereo WAV files. Listen to the Newstar audio sample. Listen to the DReaM audio sample.

CDNSE Newstar DR111 Review (part 1)

I am really enjoying the CDNSE Newstar DR111. The physical measurements are roughly 11" x 5" x 4". The unit is made of a fairly hard but light plastic construction. Buttons have an audible click when pressed. The LCD display 2.5 x .75 inches and back light with a bright green. The light times out after an interval and is reactivated by any button press. The whip antenna is 42 inches and pulls very smoothly. This is a table radio, operating on 5V DC from a wall wart. No battery compartment.

Anecdotaly, the unit is quite sensitive. RNZI evenings at 17675kHz and 13730kHz can be received various places within my house with only the internal whip. REE at 9630kHz using an external ham vertical antenna was similar copy on Pappradio (with a slight edge given to the Pappradio.)