Joe Analssandrini wrote:
Dear DeWayne,

I have not seen the Eton E1, not being interested in it for the
following reasons:

1) PASSPORT claims its sound quality is okay but not great. (Of course
I cannot confirm this.) The Satellit 800's sound is, as you know, very,
very good. When you're trying to ID a weak transmission or you're
listening to a program for an hour or more, you want the best sound
quality possible. That's where my AOR AR7030 Plus REALLY shines - it
has the best sound quality of any shortwave receiver I have ever heard
and the Grundig Satellit is a close second. Think about that: the
Satellit was priced, even new, one-third to one-fourth the price of an
AR7030 yet it offers about 95% of its performance and sound quality.
AND the Satellit is portable!


I've been fairly pleased with the audio quality on the E1. Of course,
I use this radio as a portable, primarily: as in, "let's take this boy
on the road and do some shortwave listening, if time permits." And for
that purpose, it has supplanted my SW77 and '2010. Yes, the '800 is
portable in that it's a self-contained unit that can run off of
internally installed batteries; but in the real world, I'm not likely
to be carrying it along with me on the road. Heck, I had to go to Ikea
to pick up something to sit the '800 on, such is its size.

Really, the E1's peer group would logically be the other premium grade
lap-portables: SW77, '2010, Satellit 700, Satellit 500. The Satellits
may indeed have an edge in sound quality. The E1 definitely sounds
better than the SW77 and '2010. And in terms of selectivity, the E1
bests any in this grouping. Coupling the sync detector w/the passband
tuning truly gives the E1 a real performance edge over these other
portables where selectivity is concerned. Furthermore, the sync
detector on the E1 functions as flawlessly as any I've encountered.
Certainly better than the Sonys.

Some folks have observed that the Sonys might have an edge over the E1
in terms of sensitivity. Perhaps so, although not by much, and even
this is noticeable only on occasion. Moreover, the E1 is much more
capable of handling a "real" antenna than your Sonys...especially the
'2010 which overloads more horrendously than the SW77. Bottom line, I
string up an antenna of some sort with my E1 more often than not, no
matter where I take it; and I hear more with the E1 than I would with
my Sonys. Even off the whip, the E1 is a great performer, for that
matter.

2) It has only one external antenna connection, not three as on the
Satellit 800.

More antenna connections are a convenience. And the PAL connector is
an annoying inconvenience.

3) It has no Air Band (I have found this to be very useful) and I have
absolutely no interest in any "pay" radio service.

Never had much use for the Air Band. And I have no interest in XM
(Sirius has the better channel line-up). If I did have an interest in
XM, I would get a cheap plug-n-play unit which would offer a wider
range of listening options (in car applicability, remote control, etc);
I would not use the E1 for satellite radio listening.

4) A fairly large "portable" radio with no handle? This makes no sense.


Given its dimensions, I'd say the carrying strap option would be better
for the E1. But they didn't include it. That said, since I actually
use this radio for portable applications, I have a case so that I can
carry this radio about without it getting knocked about. And, of
course, the case has a handle: Pelican 1450 case...I already had it
for my SW77 (which had a carrying strap; but in carrying a $500
portable about, you want some protection for your radio, right?). I
simply ordered a new foam insert to cut for the E1's dimensions (room
for a few accessories, too).

5) No internal ferrite antenna for MW and this is, in fact, due to a
lot of digital "hash" generated within the receiver. This is poor
design, in my opinion.


A major complaint, and a valid one. I'm not much into MW DXing,
though.

Overall, PASSPORT and every other review I have read are very positive
about the E1 but the limitations mentioned above preclude me from
considering it. The Grundig Satellit 800 has NONE of the above problems
and is STILL the only radio of which I'm aware that can be used as a
tabletop (with virtually all of the advantages of same) and as a
portable (with all of the advantages portables offer except the ability
to take it on an airplane).


Well... Perhaps the inability to take the Sat 800 on an airplane isn't
the only portability disadvantage that radio have vis-a-vis mid-sized
to compact portables. The Satellit 800, like the Drake SW8, is not
very easy on batteries at all. By contrast, the E1 is quite decent on
batteries. If going on a short weekend trip, I'm far less likely to
take along the Sat 800 precisely because of its size and because I
often listen in places where there's no access to AC power. In any
case, the Drake SW8, despite its rather large size, is certainly more
portable than the Sat 800 and it more sturdy in its construction (let's
face it, the Sat 800 isn't of the kind of construction where you'd feel
comfortable with it taking even a slight knock; it's no surprise that
Universal recommends triple boxing this radio); and performance-wise
the SW8 does have an edge over the Satellit 800. So... on occasion
where I am making a trip where I fully intend to get in some serious
shortwave listening, I'd take the SW8 and a few decent antennae (along
with a couple of D-cell 12 packs). On such occasions, I'll take the E1
along, as well, for that matter, since I like to alternate between two
radios and compare when doing more "serious" listening. Given its much
smaller size, I'll chuck the E1 along frequently (as I used to with the
'SW77 or '2010) on short excursions on which its questionable as to
whether I'll get any listening time in or not. For air travel, though,
I likely would not take the E1 along, unless I were spending more than,
say, 6 weeks away from home. In any case, I suppose the need for
portability and what, exactly, is portable varies from person to
person. I do a helluva lot of listening away from home; so, naturally,
I like to take along a radio that's going to afford the most in way of
performance. For a lot of folks who do the majority of their listening
from home, I'm sure this is less of an issue.

I know that there are some who consider the E1 to be priced too highly.
That's fine. Perhaps it is by one standard or another. In any case,
I have found it worth the price because it nicely fills an important
niche for me. Sure, I could have paid 500 + x and gotten an Icom R75.
But I have no need for an R75. I have a number of tabletop sets,
including a Drake R8B. While, true, I can hook a tabletop up to a
large SLA battery and take them out on excursions (and I have on a few
occasions), it's not particularly convenient, and it's not something
you'd just chuck in the car on a whim. For me, the E1's convenient and
self-contained package (no NEED for external accessories unless you
want to use them) and excellent shortwave performance make it an
outstanding choice for the purposes toward which I employ this radio.

And at its current offered (eBay) price of $200-300 (and even
considering that you may have to send it off to Drake for perhaps
another $100) it is the best buy in shortwave radio right now.


I'll agree that the Sat 800 can be an exceptional buy on eBay...a lot
of performance for the price paid.

I realize that most of you will disagree with me (and with Mike) but
that's my opinion!

Thanks for sharing your opinions, Joe. It's always with interest that
I read your postings, as you tend to put a great deal of thought into
your assessments.

Regards,

Junius