THKS for relp - I rechecked voltage on batts - stiil got letter E
I then hooked up RADIO to a 6V Lantern batt & THEN WAS OK - so I
rechecked the AA batts while UNDER LOAD & BINGO - (1) of the AA batts
would read only .75 V when under load ...
SO THAT WAS IT - (1) WEAK 'AA" batt "under load"
THKS AGAIN FOR YOUR REPLY ..........
I went back over my manual - I still can't find any mention of the
letter 'E' readout - maybe a revised manual is out with that info ?