Has presets for am/fm channels? Has 3.5mm audio out? Can backlight be force left on during daily use with AC adapter? Is it good as a daily use alarm clock?
462623
Well, I am sad to say, no, no, no and no. This radio is very basic, no frills. The tuner is analog, the readout is digital. You have to move the tuner back and forth to "center" on the desired stations. The backlit is only on for a preset number of seconds. There is no alarm function with the clock feature. I am old school so it is all I wanted. I am not into features that others consider as necessary.
1001621
It's tough to recommend this radio for am? I've had trouble with am signals. I don't use am on this radio. I think it depends on where you place the radio. There are a lot of buttons on this radio and it takes some time to get used to. If you are operating in the dark I think that you might at times hit the wrong button. Overall I do like it.
1038574
Michael, I mostly listen to FM. I have the radio under a florescent light and the AM has a backround hum for me. I would ask someone who primarily listens to AM about it. I love the FM. Reception clear with many stations. I use it every day.
1147045
I have it in my house on the 5th floor. I don't use the AM, only FM and it's excellent. Hope I can help you.
1906563
Yes. Mine is incredibly finicky. The FM is so sensitive that it takes me a few min to tune stations. The AM is rock solid. I do think it needs to be fixed though, it shouldn't be that hard to tune in a station like the one I'm trying to get. I have a Sangean digital radio and it gets everything just fine.
704241
I do not use the shortwave radio as an alarm clock. The transformer tends to get hot . I would not leave it on all the time And besides the clocks are an additional feature . I would buy a travel alarm ..
1007163
No, the unit will only turn on the radio. I would be surprised if you can't find a station on any band. FM usually works, and would be consistent. If you chose an AM or SW station, it could fade by the time the alarm turned on the radio. FM is the best bet. If nothing else works, set it to FM and turn the volume up. Even if you don't hear a station, the background noise might be enough to wake you. Nice little radio, but I wouldn't rely on it to wake me up. I think the "alarm" is useful for turning the radio on so you don't miss a program.
630912
It has FM, but no AM. The FM won't work either unless you hook up an antenna to it. Hope this helps!
1745513
Yes on AM, not on Sideband, also make sure your watt setting is on 100 watts.
1559001
Dan is correct. No backlight on LCD clock. Seems like a no-brainer to have one, though. FYI this was mentioned in at least one review here.
912076
Sure can! I have mine turn on at "dusk" off at 11pm then on at 5am and off at "dawn". I've even adjusted my dusk and daw -/+ 15 min to give a buffer. When you program your area it'll ask you confirm the sunrise and sunset, you can easily adjust them. These really are set and forget.
1615172
I like this product a lot, and I have had previous similar ones but not as good. I have never used auxiliary input and am surprised to hear it would take anything more than simply pulling the plug and toggling between AM and FM.
2193862
Yes, you can get it to display the time constantly simply by holding in the "Menu" button (top row, far right button) from any screen.Yes, you can actually use it as a type of clock radio, by having it play music at a set time.The screen backlight is adjustable for duration, but only up to 30 seconds maximum.I don't see why you would want it to stay on constantly, though, because I'm pretty sure that you'd deplete the battery completely over a normal eight hour night's sleep, making the alarm function unusable.You can get the screen backlight to come on simply by touching and quickly releasing any button if you need to see the time, though. Yes, you can get it to display the time constantly simply by holding in the "Menu" button (top row, far right button) from any screen.Yes, you can actually use it as a type of clock radio, by having it play music at a set time.The screen backlight is adjustable for duration, but only up to 30 seconds maximum.I don't see why you would want it to stay on constantly, though, because I'm pretty sure that you'd deplete the battery completely over a normal eight hour night's sleep, making the alarm function unusable.You can get the screen backlight to come on... » Read More Yes, you can get it to display the time constantly simply by holding in the "Menu" button (top row, far right button) from any screen.Yes, you can actually use it as a type of clock radio, by having it play music at a set time.The screen backlight is adjustable for duration, but only up to 30 seconds maximum.I don't see why you would want it to stay on constantly, though, because I'm pretty sure that you'd deplete the battery completely over a normal eight hour night's sleep, making the alarm function unusable.You can get the screen backlight to come on simply by touching and quickly releasing any button if you need to see the time, though. « Show Less
1615173
That's the only thing I don't like about it. There is no switch. You put it on AM ( because there's less stations on AM) and you dial it in between stations so it's not picking up radio. Then you can't turn it up to high or else you get the static from AM. Just turn up the AU device and it's fine. If you move around a lot you might have to adjust AM again to get off an AM station if you pick one up as you move around. Buy them there really good for the money. And I'm cheap!
2282687
Not on the version I have. If they have updated it, maybe, but I really don't know. My version plays AM/FM radio (no preset buttons, just a knob to roll to your station). and a CD payer, that has a pretty good sound, for it's price.
367501
FM has less noise then either AM Or SSB. That said this is a handy talkie not a walkie talkie. You will need a license from the FCC for most uses of this radio.
345546
You are correct - the manual is useless. So neither do I know how to operate the radio. When using it on batteries it comes on by itself (runs down batteries needlessly). After losing power, either from run-down batteries or being unplugged from ac it loses all memory of station sets and time. Directions are not clear as to how to set time or preset stations. I'm ready to toss it.