cobalt pet shortwave / mediumwave weblog

04 June 2006

a bcl-3000 in bcl-2000's clothing?

I was re-reading Radiointel's Tecsun BCL-3000 review and noticed some strange things. Features described as new to the BCL-3000 sounded like features that are on my red BCL-2000 purchased a few months ago (quotes are from the Radiointel BCL-3000 review):

"operating the controls turns the illumination on for a few seconds"

Yes, my radio does this.

"FM Stereo is now available at the headphone jack"

No, I don't have this feature. Maybe the only difference here with a real BCL-3000 is that a mono headphone jack was installed instead of a stereo jack.

"The Time can now be set with the radio either on or off"

My radio can do this too!

"Improved action of RF Gain control"

I don't have a basis for comparison.

"an Automatic Frequency Lock Up Function has been added"

I seem to have this too. Particularly on AM where I use this radio the most, "khz" is flashing until the tuner stops on a frequency, then "khz" stops flashing. It takes a large tuning action with the dial to get the frequency to move again. Once the frequency locks, it will drift 1-2 khz but the signal is always persistent.

The battery icon on my LCD screen also matches the photo of the BCL-3000 on Radiointel's review.

"The auto off feature now remembers the last time setting you chose"

My radio does this as well.

Another oddity is the fact that the circuit board inside my radio is labeled with BCL-3000. The front of the radio is labeled with BCL-2000 though, and it came in a BCL-2000 box.

Did I actually get a BCL-3000 that was assembled as a BCL-2000? Has this happened to anyone else?

2 comments:

ragglestein said...

I had to chuckle when I read your blog. I bought a slightly used BCL 2000 some months ago and was puzzled that it did not seem to behave like an older version I had owned and given to a friend. It does everything the BCL 3000 does..and it also has stereo fm output on the earplug! I haven't worked up the courage to open the set yet and look at the circuit board. I have other more complex and expensive radios, but I am very fond of my "BCL 2000" :D Happy dxing! Raggles.

agapitos said...

Thanks in advance.
1. I am afraid you are right about the board BCL3000.
2. I am looking for schematics for a Grundig s350 named "eton" model wich
corresponds to Tecsun 2000 model but has a BCL3000 board.
3. Anyway those radios are fantastic and have many sales around the world.
4. by the way,Do you have any idea about the schematics and/or any repairing help?

Nice blog, anyway. Congratulatios.

regards
George Stefos
Thessaloniki, Greece

mail ggstefos@yahoo.gr