Eton Mini300PE am/fm/sw handheld
The 300PE is a good choice for someone who wants an am/fm/sw handheld
radio. It is about 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 1 and has a 2" stub smoothly
moulded in the case to protect the pull-up whip. It is a single
superhet with a digital display only. It receives seven sw bands using
bandspread tuning, am, and fm. It has a clock, alarm, sleep function,
and 60 min auto turn-off. It cost $30 and came nicely packaged with a
case, ear buds, manual, and two alkaline AA cells. It is also sold
under the Grundig name as M300BL.
PERFORMANCE
On shortwave, it was quite sensitive and had a decent bandwidth.
For example, I was able to hear Radio Cairo on 9995 khz clearly
without interference from WWV at 10000 or WWCR at 9985. It picked up
all the stations I normally receive with my larger sets. There was no
drift noted.
On am, It was not quite as sensitive as my other sets, especially at
the lower end of the band, due to its small ferrite bar but was quite
acceptable. It has a very deep and sharp null. There is lots of volume
from the 2 1/2 speaker and it is clear for speech. On fm, it was just
as sensitive as my other sets, but with automatic stereo, some fringe
stations were a bit hissy.
Like any single-stage superhet it had some images: for example, WBCQ
at 7415khz came in nicely at 6505 and at night, there were some images
above 1400khz in the am band. These images were not bothersome and
were not as bad as other sets I have used.
NIT-PICKING
It does not have the 60-meter band which has some good stations.
There is no way to turn off the fm stereo to get rid of hiss on fringe
stations. The thumbwheel tuning needs a delicate touch and a close
watch on the digital readout. There is no backlight so tuning is by
ear at night.
CONCLUSION
A very good radio for $30
|