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Kaito KA1107 World Band AM/FM Shortwave Radio


  • Dual conversion analog tuning and sensitivity selectable L/M/H
  • Back-lit alarm clock with 1 minute to 120 minutes sleep timer
  • Built-in AA battery charger with hinged battery cover, external antenna and earphone jacks
  • Volume control with numerical indication
  • 1 year manufacturer’s warranty

Product Description
The newly released Kaito KA1107 is a dual conversion world band receiver that will keep you connected to a very comprehensive frequency range with analog tuning and readout. This radio has outstanding selectivity and sensitivity and transmits with a minimal amount of interference and feedback. If you plan on traveling with a radio, the KA1107 is a very good choice. You can either listen to the KA1107 via the built-in D77 mm speaker or with the included earphones. On… More >>

Kaito KA1107 World Band AM/FM Shortwave Radio

  1. #1 by P. Gephardt on June 13, 2010 - 5:31 pm

    This is a great radio. LW and SW reception were excellent, and FM is surprisingly sensitive.
    Rating: 5 / 5

  2. #2 by Hal9000 on June 13, 2010 - 5:59 pm

    For the price you can’t do better than this nice little portable radio. I was initially looking for a portable to fulfill an interest I had for a “ultralight DX” radio, but felt the current crop of highly-rated high performance ultralights wouldn’t be a very good choice since most were never intended to be exported out of China (i.e. 240V power supplies, Chinese instructions, hard-to-decipher controls, etc.). I was about to give up & wait for awhile, when I stumbled across this little gem. For the price it can’t be beat. AM mediumwave sensitivity is phenomenal, which is exactly what I was looking for. Tuning is very sharp, with no overload problems detected, and even though I occasionally hear a strong local 50kw AM station over my telephone lines it doesn’t seem to bother this radio. FM sensitivity is equally good, although the FM band is somewhat compressed since the scale covers both US and foreign FM bandplans. Shortwave seems very good as well, with amazingly good audio received from some AM amateur radio operators on both 80m and 40m with the built-in whip antenna (note though that these are the only two ham bands this radio covers, since they lie near two commercial shortwave bands). The bass response from the small speaker is exceptional when the appropriate switch is placed in the “bass” mode. And finally, a dial light that will stay on until you turn it off! (You can even turn in on while the radio is off). Battery life also seems to be very long even when using the light all the time (it imparts a very nice warm glow to the dial). Are there any shortcomings? Sure – after all, it is analog, so frequency determination will just be a guesstimate, but after all isn’t that what makes it fun? The tuning is a little “spongy”, with some dial backlash, so you tend to need to “rock the dial” back & forth to center in on the signal, but at least the dial moves very smoothly so this is quite easy. The numbers on the dial could be a little bigger, and the green numbers could be a brighter color, but some of that is probably my 50 year old eyes. And SSB reception would certainly be nice for the ham bands, but would probably add considerably to the price. Overall, it just can’t be beat for price vs. performance, and easily beats all of my vintage transistor radios for ultralight portable AM DX, and blows away my Sony ICF-SW100 in the same arena (although the Sony can do much more, it isn’t nearly the mediumwave AM DX machine that this is).
    Rating: 5 / 5

  3. #3 by Arthur Niederfringer on June 13, 2010 - 7:22 pm

    I love the Kaito KA1107 analog portable radio. This is the best paperback-size radio I have ever owned.

    This radio is most stellar on the FM band. I get stations loud and clear 65 miles away using the internal whip antenna. The reception exceeds any of my radios. Sensitivity and selectivity rival that of a good FM receiver. The antenna rotates and angles down for optimum reception of vertically, horizontally and mixed polarized FM antennas, allowing more stations to be heard clearly. This radio is rated at less than 5 MV FM sensitivity, and i do believe it.

    SW and MW sensitivity and selectivity rival that of larger radios on the market. MW stations during the day come in loud and clear. Nighttime reception is sensitive across the band, though AM suffers from selective fading and man-made interference. I cannot honestly rate reception on the individual SW bands. I rarely use SW any more, due to man-made interference, selective fading and the low sunspot count.

    The sound quality of the Kaito 1107 is a big surprise, with the two-step tone control offering room-filling audio. The two-step tone control logically selects between music and voice reception.

    The side-mounted knob provides velvet tuning which a joy to turn, unlike many of the cheap Chinese-made radios on the market today.The three-step sensitivity control is useless except on SW. The large band-switch knob on the side of the radio is a joy. The volume control is recessed, protecting the radio in case of a fall, and is a good feature.

    The clock, power, tone, and sensitivity buttons are poorly laid out and not suited for the less dexterous. The buttons are small and the labels are hard see for anybody with a visual impairment. I’ve placed masking tape with large-print writing to remedy reading some of the controls on the face of the radio.

    You may buy this radio with confidence. The price is right for the value.- Arthur.
    Rating: 5 / 5