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Eton E5/Grundig G5

C

Chernobyl2

Member
Sep 2, 2009
18
0
11
Hi,

My budget is limited at the moment, but after trying an Eton S350GL using only its whip antenna, I was rather amazed at what I could receive considering I was stood in a less than ideal location at the time. Considering the cost of the unit, even more so.

The only downside was it didn't have SSB mode, otherwise I would have bought it.

I'm currently looking at the E5 (not only does it have SSB, but it also covers airband too).

I try not to get too hung up on cost or brand, but wondered whether anyone had any experience of this?

Generally, does portability cost in terms of receiver quality?

If I start to like this, I am tempted to spend big bucks on a full-blown base station, that not only covers HF, but amateur and other bands. I'd even go so far as to get a license.

Right now though, I just want a cheap(ish) radio, that works well.

If there is anything around this price bracket (£90) that at the least covers HF and SSB and that is portable, and that exceeds this unit, I'd be interested to know.

Thanks in advance.

Chernobyl2.
 

I have a Grundig YB400 which is a predecessor to the E5/G5. I like it a lot. It has good dynamic range for a portable, SSB works pretty well, audio is great for a little radio such as this.

The Kaito 1103 is a pretty nice little SSB capable portable that compares pretty well to the others in it's price point. The Sangean ATS909 is nice too, but I prefer the audio from the Grundig.
 
you might be intersted to have a look here...

http://www.eham.net/review

It gets some very mixed reviews, but may give you some ideas for an alternative.

Portable sets I can't really help you with, I've never used, wanted or needed one, but if you do decide to buy a home based receiver, I can reccomend the RadioShack / Realistic DX-394. I had one for a few years and it was well worth the £45 (second hand, they're about £200 new I think) I paid for it. Just get the longet piece of wire you can find and solder one end to a phono plug and plug it into the Hi Z socket on the back, then throw the rest of the wire out of the window and tie the other end up as high up as you can. It's not the best reciever in the world, but it's a good and cheap starting point. If you get more interested later on and as you say you may be going in for your licence, you might want to look at getting a 2nd hand HF tranceiver, FT840's, FT747's, FT757's are widely available in the UK for below the £250 mark, and will work a lot better than any of the cheap receivers. If you do progress onto your Foundation HAM licence you will then have something to transmit on aswell.
 
C2 said:
lightly agreed...
Click to expand...

Which part do you lightly agree with?

I am aware not to expect the best receiver in something like this, but obviously still want to make sure I'm getting something good.

What is the fine tuning like? How does it work, and can it be used in SW modes or is it for SSB only?

If/when (more likely when) I look at getting a "proper" base station, it will be no expense spared to get the best.

Chernobyl2.
 
Last edited:
Thanks!

According to that review it is slightly less sensitive than the S350DL, which is something I was wondering about (I had a look at the S350DL and was immediately impressed by its sensitivity and clarity using only its whip antenna), but given that it seems to excel with an external antenna, it's probably not such a big deal.

It doesn't appear that it will arrive today, so will have to wait until Monday/Tuesday before I can get my hands on it.

Chernobyl2.
 
I've got it!!!! Arrived this morning in the post.

First impressions is that it doesn't seem quite as sensitive as the S350DL, but I'm just about to hook an external aerial up to it so shall be interesting to see how it performs then!!

So far, liking it a lot!!

Managed to pick up Shanwick Volmet 400 miles away. One thing is that it doesn't appear to like is being near the house when using the whip antenna - the signal soon faded.

Chernobyl2.
 
Hi,

I hooked up a length of wire to a stereo 3.5mm jack, but it seems the whip antenna is still connected?

Does anyone here know how the aerial should be wired, and whether it can be a stereo jack or needs to be mono??

Heard some interesting things earlier. Excellent!

Managed to pick up the time signal on 10.000 MHz and 15.000 MHz, but after I connected the external aerial it boomed through on 5.000 MHz.

Chernobyl2.
 
Chernobyl2 said:
Hi,

I hooked up a length of wire to a stereo 3.5mm jack, but it seems the whip antenna is still connected?

Does anyone here know how the aerial should be wired, and whether it can be a stereo jack or needs to be mono??

Heard some interesting things earlier. Excellent!

Managed to pick up the time signal on 10.000 MHz and 15.000 MHz, but after I connected the external aerial it boomed through on 5.000 MHz.

Chernobyl2.
Click to expand...
According to the manual (which I found online), the radio came with an external antenna - probably not as long as the one you made. Use the same type of plug (not jack - the jack is a permanent part of the radio) as on the factory furnished antenna.

I'd bet the jack is mono, rather than stereo. If you used a stereo plug it shouldn't matter as long as you connected the antenna wire to the tip rather than to the ring or sleeve. From the sound of things, you have it right!
 
Chernobyl2 said:
The only downside was it didn't have SSB mode, otherwise I would have bought it.

Chernobyl2.
Click to expand...

If you ever get stuck with an HF non-SSB radio and want to listen to an SSB station, here's a trick I used to use when I was in my early teens in the late 60's. A lot of stations then were still running AM and SSB was fairly new on the scene.

I had an old National NC-240s (boat anchor) communications receiver that I normally used at home, but when I was away on holiday, etc. I couldn't take this with me. I also had a Fidelity Rad16 portable which had LW/MW and several SW bands, but no SSB facility. I used to take another small cheap portable radio and just fiddle with it close to the RAD16 until the oscillator of it worked as a BFO on the Rad16 and hey presto, I could listen to SSB stations! In the end I built a BFO on Veroboard and fitted it inside the Rad16, as there was tons of space inside it, but the second radio worked quite well until then.

73's

Gordon G8WWD
 

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