Hello All,

I am looking for a portable FM receiver that well perform well. My
ideal radio:

1. Portable. Does not have to be pocket-able, but that would be great.
I've seen the Grundig g5 and that size would be fine. Smaller is
better of course, but performance more important. I use a Tivoli PAL
at the moment, and would like something is not smaller, in a better
form factor for portability.

2. Able to pull a signal in a concrete building, basement, manage
interference. I currently lug a Tivoli PAL around work. I love the
PAL's sound. It pulls signals in our building better than any other
radio (junk) I have access to here. But at times, it does have a hard
time. In the basement and in the lab, it can have a lot of noise in
the signal as well as a weak signal. If I touch the radio, clear and
loud sound. As I move around a lot at work, I can't bother with a
better antenna than a whip. Electronics in the lab and my computer can
cause problems for the PAL.

3. Pull a weak signal near a strong one. I listen to many college,
classical, NPR stations on the left side of the dial. Increasingly,
our market is becoming more dense on the FM band. The PAL normally
does a great job (see above).

4. AM / MW is not important; neither is SW. In the future I am looking
to try to find a radio to tune in some international programs I miss
from Europe, but FM is the only band I am interested in in this post.

Thank you for all of your help,

Jason

onealjn schrieb:

Hello All,

I am looking for a portable FM receiver that well perform well. My
ideal radio:

1. Portable. Does not have to be pocket-able, but that would be great.
I've seen the Grundig g5 and that size would be fine. Smaller is
better of course, but performance more important. I use a Tivoli PAL
at the moment, and would like something is not smaller, in a better
form factor for portability.

What one should keep in mind is that smaller size almost invariably
means that speaker sound quality will suffer in one way or another. IIRC
the PAL is not renowned to be the very best sounding Tivoli model ever,
but going to a pocketbook-sized portable with fairly little volume to
speak of isn't likely to be an upgrade.

2. Able to pull a signal in a concrete building, basement, manage
interference. I currently lug a Tivoli PAL around work. I love the
PAL's sound. It pulls signals in our building better than any other
radio (junk) I have access to here. But at times, it does have a hard
time. In the basement and in the lab, it can have a lot of noise in
the signal as well as a weak signal. If I touch the radio, clear and
loud sound. As I move around a lot at work, I can't bother with a
better antenna than a whip. Electronics in the lab and my computer can
cause problems for the PAL.

If RFI overlays the station you want to receive, about the only thing
one can do is remove the set and its antenna from interference
generators as far as possible. Basements usually are tricky places for
radio reception in general, with low signal levels - a sensitive
receiver would help here. A good capture ratio may help suppress RFI,
but in portables this is even more rarely specified than measured.

3. Pull a weak signal near a strong one. I listen to many college,
classical, NPR stations on the left side of the dial. Increasingly,
our market is becoming more dense on the FM band. The PAL normally
does a great job (see above).

This will require good selectivity. For this out of the box, I would
suggest either the classic Grundig YB400PE (the G4000A looks the same,
hopefully it also performs just as well) or the Eton E5 / Grundig G5
(these two only differ in looks). Wait, I forgot the Kaito KA1103, which
has the same receiving circuitry as the E5/G5, but less user-friendly
operation at a lower price. Reconditioned YB400PEs would be another
option for the penny pincher (Universal has some in stock), so getting
away below the $100 mark is entirely possible. Regardless of which you
choose, you're getting pretty much the best FM reception in this kind of
set.

Stephan
--
Home: http://stephan.win31.de/
So if it receives like a handbag, does it sound good at least?

On Jun 15, 10:22 am, onealjn wrote:
Hello All,

I am looking for a portable FM receiver that well perform well. My
ideal radio:

1. Portable. Does not have to be pocket-able, but that would be great.
I've seen the Grundig g5 and that size would be fine. Smaller is
better of course, but performance more important. I use a Tivoli PAL
at the moment, and would like something is not smaller, in a better
form factor for portability.

2. Able to pull a signal in a concrete building, basement, manage
interference. I currently lug a Tivoli PAL around work. I love the
PAL's sound. It pulls signals in our building better than any other
radio (junk) I have access to here. But at times, it does have a hard
time. In the basement and in the lab, it can have a lot of noise in
the signal as well as a weak signal. If I touch the radio, clear and
loud sound. As I move around a lot at work, I can't bother with a
better antenna than a whip. Electronics in the lab and my computer can
cause problems for the PAL.

3. Pull a weak signal near a strong one. I listen to many college,
classical, NPR stations on the left side of the dial. Increasingly,
our market is becoming more dense on the FM band. The PAL normally
does a great job (see above).

4. AM / MW is not important; neither is SW. In the future I am looking
to try to find a radio to tune in some international programs I miss
from Europe, but FM is the only band I am interested in in this post.

Thank you for all of your help,

Jason

Jason,

Do you Listen to the Radio via the Radio's Speaker
-or- use Headphones ?

First - The FM Radio :
Bigger than the Tivoli PAL are the Eton/Grundig 350DL
Radios and the Redsun RP2100 Radio. Smaller is
the Sony ICF-SW7600GR Radio.

Second - The FM Antenna :
For you more difficult Radio reception areas use
a pair of TV Rabit Ears {basic FM Dipole Antenna}
or a simple 300 Ohm TV Twin Lead "Folded Dipole"
Antenna.

TIPS - Try a short wire connected to the Whip Antenna
of the Radio to :
* Metal Window Frame
* Metal Desk or File Cabinet
* The Center Metal Cover Screw on an Electrical Outlet
-Or- Wrap a few turns of Telephone Line
around the Radio's Whip Antenna

hope this helps - iane ~ RHF

On Jun 16, 7:41 pm, Stephan Grossklass
wrote:

What one should keep in mind is that smaller size almost invariably
means that speaker sound quality will suffer in one way or another. IIRC
the PAL is not renowned to be the very best sounding Tivoli model ever,
but going to a pocketbook-sized portable with fairly little volume to
speak of isn't likely to be an upgrade.

Quality and volume of audio are O.K. to sacrifice for reception. I
usually listen to talk and classical at work at very low volumes.
Regarding the Tivoli's PAL's sound, I am thrilled with its performance
for its size. Everyone (non-audiophiles) who hears the little thing
can't believe how it sounds. Is this testament to the quality of the
PAL or more to the lack of quality of most portable receivers? I
dunno.

This will require good selectivity. For this out of the box, I would
suggest either the classic Grundig YB400PE (the G4000A looks the same,
hopefully it also performs just as well) or the Eton E5 / Grundig G5
(these two only differ in looks). Wait, I forgot the Kaito KA1103, which
has the same receiving circuitry as the E5/G5, but less user-friendly
operation at a lower price. Reconditioned YB400PEs would be another
option for the penny pincher (Universal has some in stock), so getting
away below the $100 mark is entirely possible. Regardless of which you
choose, you're getting pretty much the best FM reception in this kind of
set.

Thanks for the suggestions. Googling these models, I came across a
review in the _Monitoring Times_:

http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/2007_reviews.html

The review compared all the models mentioned! Although the author was
primarily interested in SW, he did note that FM on the G5 was superior
to the other excellent models. Since I do want to try to receive some
shortwave programs from Europe (possible?), I am looking forward to
having an FM receiver that tunes SW as well.

Thank you very much,

Jason

RHF wrote:

Second - The FM Antenna :
For you more difficult Radio reception areas use
a pair of TV Rabit Ears {basic FM Dipole Antenna}
or a simple 300 Ohm TV Twin Lead "Folded Dipole"
Antenna.

TIPS - Try a short wire connected to the Whip Antenna
of the Radio to :
* Metal Window Frame
* Metal Desk or File Cabinet
* The Center Metal Cover Screw on an Electrical Outlet
-Or- Wrap a few turns of Telephone Line
around the Radio's Whip Antenna

Iane,

Thank you for the tips on how to improve my reception. I appreciate
the detailed info and hope it will add to my listening enjoyment not
matter what radio I decide to buy.

Jason

On Jun 15, 1:22 pm, onealjn wrote:
Hello All,

I am looking for a portable FM receiver that well perform well. My
ideal radio:

1. Portable. Does not have to be pocket-able, but that would be great.
I've seen the Grundig g5 and that size would be fine. Smaller is
better of course, but performance more important. I use a Tivoli PAL
at the moment, and would like something is not smaller, in a better
form factor for portability.


Not sure how this radio compares to the Pal for size, but the Degen
DE1103 delivers surprisingly good audio out the speaker and sound from
decent headphones is also quite enjoyable. It is able to separate and
deliver a lot of stations on FM and AM.

I'm not sure what you are looking for in terms of "form factor" since
most portables seem to be rectangularly shaped and around an inch
thick.



2. Able to pull a signal in a concrete building, basement, manage
interference. I currently lug a Tivoli PAL around work. I love the
PAL's sound. It pulls signals in our building better than any other
radio (junk) I have access to here. But at times, it does have a hard
time. In the basement and in the lab, it can have a lot of noise in
the signal as well as a weak signal.

If you are entombed in a steel reinforced concrete basement while
trying to listen to local FM stations almost any portable is going to
have difficulty pulling out a usable signal, especially if there is a
lot of electronic equipment in ther lab. The best way to improve
reception is to move close to a window.

I touch the radio, clear and
loud sound. As I move around a lot at work, I can't bother with a
better antenna than a whip. Electronics in the lab and my computer can
cause problems for the PAL.

3. Pull a weak signal near a strong one. I listen to many college,
classical, NPR stations on the left side of the dial. Increasingly,
our market is becoming more dense on the FM band. The PAL normally
does a great job (see above).

4. AM / MW is not important; neither is SW. In the future I am looking
to try to find a radio to tune in some international programs I miss
from Europe, but FM is the only band I am interested in in this post.

Thank you for all of your help,

Jason