A new member to the receiver collection, the AKAI APW20. The device grinned at me in my local entertainment shop and for just 75 Euros... too seductive.
I will spare you most of details that can be found on AKAI's website. Here are just some interesting bits and pieces.
On LW, MW and SW, small tuning steps are 1kHz. For SSB a fine tuning pot is present. When rolling over frequencies, no (stupid) mute function interrupts audio.
LW goes up to 519kHz, covering NAVTEX, which I could directly hear from my living room.
Although the receiver has got a connector for an external SW and/or VHF antenna, the unmodified receiver does not switch to an external aerial for neither LW nor MW.
The rotary encoder not only changes frequency, is also can be used for adjusting volume. There is a line-out jack (grabber) and also a line-in (?). The rig is provided with a mute button, which will mute the loudspeaker and phones but not line-out.
Added bonus: built-in thermometer.
The APW20 may not be the best world receiver in terms of ham-radio, I believe however the APW20, in its intended function, is the best world receiver in my collection. I may even reach out and get a second one tomorrow, one for the boat, one for the suitcase.
