Eton portable radios at Radio Shack
In article ,
"SWL-2010" wrote:
"Telamon" wrote in message
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I was not able to try out the E10 and E100 but the plastic of the case
was a little unusual in the touch and feel department. Felt a little
rubbery and slightly sticky instead of smooth. This would definitely
help holding on to the unit and is a good idea. I was not able to try
them out though because neither had batteries in them. The buttons on
the E10 and E100 had good tactile feel to them.
The S350 had batteries in it and I though it worked pretty good. It was
early afternoon and I was in the back of the store where the unit was
picking up several stations in the 9 and 11 MHz bands so the
sensitivity must be good. The unit had good sound also. I played with
the controls and found it could vary the sound quality to a significant
degree so I would expect most people could get the unit to sound the
way they like it.
I found two negatives on this unit. The tuning was touchy and it was
not easy to get the display to read to the kilohertz I wanted to tune
it too. The slow tuning gear needs to be slower for me to be happy with
it. The other negative is it drifted in short amount of time.
I just played with the unit for a few minutes and basically liked it. I
understand it is single conversion and night time listening with many
strong signals on the 6 MHz band might not be great.
There is an updated version the S350 Deluxe that has "AM/SW frequency
lock" but I can't find an updated manual that describes it. The Deluxe
version costs the same and I remember reading the drifting was
decreased.
I have had my 350 for over a year, and overall, I like the radio. It has
some drawbacks, the ones you metion, but after using it awhile, I got used
to them. I like the size, the speaker size and the big handle when I take it
out doors. I like the looks to. The tone controls are great, and mine is a
sensitive receiver. It has some drift, but not much to really complain
about. The AM (MW) is pretty good too. Of course, there is no SSB operation.
But, for a hundred bucks, I dont expect anything more than a 100 dollar
radio, so, I am satisfied with it. It gets a lot of use and is not hard on
batteries.
In Feb, I was in Radio Shack, and they had a sale on the Eton E-10, so I
bought it, not really expecting too much, but I do enjoy collecting
portables. In short, I love it. Again, there is no SSB operation, but,
other than that, it's a great little piece. The finish, the feel and the
display are highpoints. The sound is good too. Lots of features, the filters
work very well, and it's sensitive and selective off the whip. The E-10 has
something I always liked, an Antenna tuner knob, and it works pretty well.
It has fast and slow tuning, timers, clocks and 550 memories if one would
use memories a lot.
I was going on vacation, so I bought Kaito 1103 to take with me to compare
the E-10 with. I had a lot of fun playing with the 2 new portables. Both,
for the price are really good portable receivers. The E-10, in my opinion
has the edge, but the 1103 does have sideband, and it's quick to clarify.
I had a chance to try some different antenna options with some reels, some
longer wires and such, and did not overload either receiver. If you are
considering a new portable and you dont want sideband, the E-10 is a very
cool little unit. It came with the batteries, the recharger, the case, and a
reel antenna.
The E10 is a good looking unit but I'm not actually in the market for
another portable. I was in the store to pick up a few parts for a
project. I didn't want to pester the clerks when I wan not actually
going to buy one.
I did like what I saw and would consider an E10 or S350 if I was in the
market for a portable unit. Good sounding audio out of that S350 and it
was sensitive or it would not have picked anything up in the back of the
store.
There is a S350 Deluxe version with AM/SW frequency lock. I could not
find a manual for the Deluxe version that describes this feature that
sounds like it would eliminate drift. I would like to know how this
feature is suppose to work.
--
Telamon
Ventura, California
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