CHOYONG LC100 FIRST LOOK

MULTI-BAND, SMART INTERNET RADIO!  

The LC100 is the latest offering from Chinese radio designer, Choyong. According to their company profile, their aim is to become the world's best radio brand, and judging by their achievements so far, they seem to be heading in the right direction!

Having previously purchased their LC90, I have been eagerly awaiting the next generation of smart radios. The LC90 has been a joy to use, but I must admit, over time, some very  minor irritations started to annoy. 

When the whispers of a new model started circulated, I was very excited and monitored the Choyong website and social media portals on an almost daily basis! And so (at last) - the LC100 has finally arrived. I ordered mine directly from the manufacturer and paid for express delivery, which took about a week to reach the UK.

Now let's just address the issues of trust which so many people have when it comes to buying directly from China. Personally, I have never had any problems whatsoever and I've bought many items directly from Chinese manufacturers including the wonderful FX-CR4. Sure, I'd prefer to visit a local store and buy from there, but that's just not possible right now, so I buy direct and enjoy being a part of the growth of a new manufacturer who is working hard to create the products which enthusiasts like me want.

And let me tell you - Choyong usually listen to their customer base and they respond quickly to complaints, queries and wish-lists. Where possible, regular firmware updates ensure that the users get the changes they want. 

Okay, so on with the radio. First and foremost, the LC100 is an SDR multi-band, multi-mode radio with AM, FM, MW, SW, SSB (and DAB if you pay extra when ordering - it wasn't available when I ordered). 

Frequency Ranges...

• LW - 153-279KHz
• MW - 520-1,710KHz
• SW - 2300-29,999KHz
• FM - 64-108MHz

There is no AirBand coverage. I was really hoping that the LC100 would add this to their new model, but sadly not. I'm guessing many people will be disappointed with this omission, although not everyone.

There's another disappointment too - no flip-stand! Again, I was really hoping Choyong would have added that feature to their flagship radio. Looks like I'll have to add my own again. You can see the one I opted for in the image below. They come as a pair and have two different angle settings. I believe Choyong are using the excuse that fitting a flip-stand would have compromised the fidelity of the speaker, but that's just nonsense. Tecsun (and others) manage to do it very easily and effectively.

The radio itself looks lovely in silver or black, but I chose the latter. The case is perfectly sculpted and those rotary dials on either side look big and bold. All the buttons have crystal clear markings and everything is easy to read - even for an old duffer like me!

There's also a much bigger screen in the LC100, which looks to be the same size as my Icom IC705 - that's a fabulous improvement! Other benefits include WiFi 6 with the option to use either 2.4 or 5GHz connections, better internal shielding, improved AI functions and the addition of Bass and Treble adjustment.

For comparison purposes, I decided to pit the LC100 against the Tecsun PL-990X - my best performing portable radio which has similar frequency coverage and costs about the same. I realise that the LC100 is a software defined radio (SDR) and the PL990X is a triple-conversion superhet, but I imagine that many an enthusiast will find them both on their shortlist.

If there wasn’t a Tecsun PL-990X sat next to the LC100, I probably wouldn’t have noticed that the Choyong build quality wasn’t perfect. For some very weird reason, the badge isn’t straight! Exactly the same issue on my LC90. So odd!

Then there’s the aluminium, black anodised dials on either side of the radio - they don’t “feel” as nice as the Tecsun's. This is only noticeable when the two radios are side by side, and it’s a subjective complaint. But there is also a functional difference - the Tecsun dials have a thin layer of material (silicon?) on the front face which makes turning the dials so much more easy! 

The trouble with the LC100 dials is that they're deeply recessed which means that the only practical way of tuning (especially fast-tuning) is to use your thumb on the edge of the dial. To me, that is inviting future problems due to the repeated lateral force applied. Not happy with that at all.

Internally, Choyong have added the high-end TEF6686 chip to the radio to boost the overall receiver performance, in addition to the SI4735 used in the LC90, so there are real benefits to choosing the 100 over its predecessor. 

Is it worth upgrading your LC90? As with most other things in life, you have to decide for yourself whether the differences are big enough for you personally! I think most existing LC90 owners will remain happy with their radio and will probably not upgrade straight away - certainly not after reading this review! Sorry Choyong 😬.

I spent quite a few hours doing side-by-side comparisons of the two radios on various frequencies/bands using both the built-in antennas and an external Off-Center-Fed-Dipole with a Z-Match ATU. When connected an external antenna to the LC100, be sure to use a lightweight patch-lead (above) to avoid stressing the 3.5mm socket. 

Thankfully, Choyong have moved the antenna port (along with the other inputs) over to the lefthand edge of the radio, making it far easier to access them compared to the LC90.

Being the newest radio, I was hoping the LC100 would be head and shoulders above the PL-990X, but to be fair, that would have been a very big ask!

Much of the radio comparisons were carried out at a nearby location called Bodie Hill in Glasson, which overlooks Morecambe Bay. It's a fantastic take-off for radio and a beautiful place to spend time - you also get some spectacular sunsets too!

At the time of comparison, the bands weren't great, but that can be helpful, making it easier to see how well radios perform in poor conditions. When the bands are fully open, it's too easy to heap praise on virtually any radio.

Tuning into weak signals showed equal levels of sensitivity between the 100 and the 990 but there was a major issue when tuning in SSB mode. There was a terrible (for want of a better word) chuffing as you changed frequency using the main tuning dial (see an example of this in the video I recorded when back home)…..

SOFT MUTING ISSUE

It’s absolutely awful!  This annoying soft-muting needs sorting out quickly or it could have a dramatic impact on sales! 

I noticed another problem while I was recording the first video! This was relating to the screen interfering with the signal. I was tuned into RAF Volmet 5.450 and could hear no signal until the screen went to sleep and then the signal could be heard. This was indoors, using the telescopic whip….

SCREEN INTERFERENCE

Since I've started uploading videos here, I might as well continue and show you another couple. The first one relates to the fact that the RECORD FUNCTION doesn't seem to work correctly. Sure, it records and saves the file to the SDCARD, but when you play back the file, there is no audio. 

Just to be sure that the LC100 had created a silent wav file, I inserted the card into my laptop and it was the same there too, so it's not just a playback issue on the radio. Oh dear!

SILENT RECORDINGS

UPDATE!!! Just as I was about to post this page to my Blog, I tried to record a podcast that I had running in the background and it worked! So maybe the record function is just available for recording internet stuff. After the podcast file worked, I tried recording a BBC Radio 1 stream and that worked too! To be honest, because of copyright laws, I was half expecting it not to, but it did.

Okay so that's better than originally thought, but surely, Choyong could change the firmware so that the record function prevents its use when the operator is trying to use it outside the radio's operating paramaters? And maybe pop up a message to explain why it's not available.

And now for some good news! The telescopic antenna does actually extend from the body, despite rumours to the contrary. 

EXTENDING ANTENNA

Despite poor propagation during testing, I was able to listen to ham radio operators (using the OCFD on a 12M pole), as far away as Eastern Russia and Brazil, which was very pleasing. The LC100 didn’t overload when connected to the OCFD, which was good news considering that there isn't any sort of attenuator switch (as there is on the Tecsun). 

The audio from the large 10W internal speaker is lush and loud! I'd say the Choyong has the edge on the Tecsun here, although this is a subjective call and others may disagree. The speaker design is a 3-driver affair and is very effective - especially with FM broadcast stations, where you tend to use higher volume levels. Bass in particular seemed better controlled on the LC100 than on the PL990X (not to mention the LC90).

I’d be very happy with the performance of the receiver on all bands if Choyong can sort out the issues raised in my videos - having said that, I won’t be selling my Tecsun any time soon.

When radio conditions are very poor (due to propagation or location), the Choyong has a MASSIVE ADVANTAGE over the Tecsun, because you can easily switch to listening to the amazing SMART features of the LC100 and this is where the radio really shines! 

You have access to over 50,000 radio stations across the world! Plus you have access to countless Podcasts and News channels.

Thanks to the excellent ergonomics of the LC100, accessing stations is easy - the menu system is very intuitive. And the icing on the cake is the ability to use the built-in Ai function to access stations, podcasts, news and music via ChatGPT! In the image above, I simply asked for “BBC” and was quickly presented with a list of BBC stations across the world. Excellent!

I can (and do) spend hours and hours exploring this vast world of internet radio stations, enjoying the myriad music genres and content from across the globe. Thanks to the new WiFi-6, connection to the internet is super fast and I've experienced no buffering throughout my listening sessions (unlike my experiences using the LC90). My router is placed centrally in my home and I've had solid, reliable connections indoors and outdoors around the garden.

I also connected the radio to my iPhone's HotSpot and the internet streaming was faultless!

If I wish to listen to some of my favourite music tracks, I simply switch to the files stored on an SDCARD which can be inserted (and left) in the LC100. Access to these files from the screen is also super simple! I should point out that the Tecsun has an SDCARD slot too, but access to the files is very basic indeed. The Choyong displays the music files perfectly and makes it a pleasure to use. I’m very happy with this aspect of the radio.

So in summary, the Choyong LC100 is a great performer on FM and SW apart from that 'AGC chuffing'. I can't even begin to describe how disappointing and annoying this is. I just hope it's firmware-fixable!

The screen interference on certain frequencies is also a huge concern and sadly, that cannot be fixed with firmware updates (as far as I'm aware anyway).

The 'limited' recording problem is not a massive issue to me, but it will be for some people. I know many people love to record their SWL sessions and may buy this radio because it is advertised with a built-in recorder.

So, onto the smart aspects of the LC100. It's fantastic!! I will keep the radio just for that alone! It extends my listening hobby massively and I couldn't really be happier with it. A few minutes ago, I pressed the Ai1 button and said "Amater Radio" and it filled the screen with a long list of amateur radio podcasts. Fantastic!!

Finally, I need to comment on the fact that the radio does not come with a carry-case. That's a shame because the Tecsun did - and it was a very attractive one too. When you're paying top dollar for a flagship product, these details count.

I will come back to this page in a week or so to report any other discoveries - good or bad. Please add your thoughts/findings in the comments section for the benefit of others.

Please bear in mind, that I may have a dodgy sample and if that's the case, I'd be more than happy to rewrite my review. I only ever post truthful facts. No BS!

Thank you for visiting - it's appreciated.

Tom McQuiggan - M7MCQ

 

CHOYONG WEBSITE HERE for overview and specs

 

 

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