Eton E1 S/N 1902
 

In article ,
"Pete KE9OA" wrote:

I received it yesterday. Performance is pretty good, with the
exception of the crummy low contrast display. MW performance is
similar to a good auto radio when using the whip antenna. I did try
out the radio with a Radio Shack passive loop antenna. MW performance
is pretty respectable with this configuration, although you have to
keep the loop antenna away from the display in order to not pick up
that radiated hash. I wouldn't want to pay 400 or 500 dollars for
this radio, but at 239 dollars shipped, it is a good deal. It reminds
me of a giant sized Sangean ATS-909, although performance is scaled
up a bit. If the display backlight could be changed to yellow, the
contrast would improve a bit. Somebody must have been drunk when they
implemented that part of the design.


Did you adjust the display contrast knob located behind the back tilt
door?

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

Eton E1 S/N 1902
 

Pete KE9OA wrote:
Thanks for the info..............I did indeed adjust the contrast. The
display reminds me of an image as viewed by a person who has cataracts (I
have had those). I've got a TomTom 300 GPS unit, and the display on my E1
appears the way my TomTom looks when using it in the sun. Not completely
washed out, but not as clear as the display on my Palm Pilot Zire 31.
Even so, because of the overall performance, the display performance can be
overlooked. Oh, what the heck.........even at the original 500 dollar price,
this is a good radio! Where do you generally find a "portable" radio that
uses Murata CFR 9-element ceramic filters for all three I.F. bandwidths?
The manufacturer must have made a lifetime buy of these filters, since
Murata stopped selling them in mid 2002.
Another nice thing I noticed about this receiver was the use of
polypropylene and polyester caps in the audio section. Eton must have had
very high aspirations when they first put this thing on the market. I hope
that all of you who might be looking for one of the E1s find a good sample.
This receiver is very capable. Is it a Drake, Icom, Palstar, Lowe, etc? No,
but it is close enough in performance for folks who can't afford one of
those brands.

Pete



Thanks for the update. Nice to hear someone with some technical
history give an honest opinion of this radio.

Hmmm...I'll have to look into this one.

Eton E1 S/N 1902
 

On Dec 23, 1:25*am, "Pete KE9OA" wrote:
Thanks for the info..............I did indeed adjust the contrast. The
display reminds me of an image as viewed by a person who has cataracts (I
have had those). I've got a TomTom 300 GPS unit, and the display on my E1
appears the way my TomTom looks when using it in the sun. Not completely
washed out, but not as clear as the display on my Palm Pilot Zire 31.
Even so, because of the overall performance, the display performance can be
overlooked. Oh, what the heck.........even at the original 500 dollar price,
this is a good radio! Where do you generally find a "portable" radio that
uses Murata CFR 9-element ceramic filters for all three I.F. bandwidths?
The manufacturer must have made a lifetime buy of these filters, since
Murata stopped selling them in mid 2002.
Another nice thing I noticed about this receiver was the use of
polypropylene and polyester caps in the audio section. Eton must have had
very high aspirations when they first put this thing on the market. I hope
that all of you who might be looking for one of the E1s find a good sample..
This receiver is very capable. Is it a Drake, Icom, Palstar, Lowe, etc? No,
but it is close enough in performance for folks who can't afford one of
those brands.

Pete

"Telamon" wrote in message

....



In article ,
"Pete KE9OA" wrote:

I received it yesterday. Performance is pretty good, with the
exception of the crummy low contrast display. MW performance is
similar to a good auto radio when using the whip antenna. I did try
out the radio with a Radio Shack passive loop antenna. MW performance
is pretty respectable with this configuration, although you have to
keep the loop antenna away from the display in order to not pick up
that radiated hash. I wouldn't want to pay 400 or 500 dollars for
this radio, but at 239 dollars shipped, it is a good deal. It reminds
me of a giant sized Sangean ATS-909, although performance is scaled
up a bit. If the display backlight could be changed to yellow, the
contrast would improve a bit. Somebody must have been drunk when they
implemented that part of the design.

Did you adjust the display contrast knob located behind the back tilt
door?

--
Telamon
Ventura, California- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Your assessment of this fine receiver is one of only a handful that
sounds realistic and authentic to me, and not driven by the "Eton
cult" that I've never really been able to get my head around. Thanks
for this.

Why are LCDs attractive to the manufacturers of these receivers. I
know LCDs don't require a lot of power, which is a plus; but I would
gladly accept a more power hungry display so long as it wouldn't
compromise receiver performance! Are the LCDs cheaper? What's the
attraction from a manufacturer's point of view?

Steve

Eton E1 S/N 1902
 

Anytime Peter................I think you will like it.

Pete

"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
Pete KE9OA wrote:
Thanks for the info..............I did indeed adjust the contrast. The
display reminds me of an image as viewed by a person who has cataracts (I
have had those). I've got a TomTom 300 GPS unit, and the display on my E1
appears the way my TomTom looks when using it in the sun. Not completely
washed out, but not as clear as the display on my Palm Pilot Zire 31.
Even so, because of the overall performance, the display performance can
be overlooked. Oh, what the heck.........even at the original 500 dollar
price, this is a good radio! Where do you generally find a "portable"
radio that uses Murata CFR 9-element ceramic filters for all three I.F.
bandwidths? The manufacturer must have made a lifetime buy of these
filters, since Murata stopped selling them in mid 2002.
Another nice thing I noticed about this receiver was the use of
polypropylene and polyester caps in the audio section. Eton must have had
very high aspirations when they first put this thing on the market. I
hope that all of you who might be looking for one of the E1s find a good
sample. This receiver is very capable. Is it a Drake, Icom, Palstar,
Lowe, etc? No, but it is close enough in performance for folks who can't
afford one of those brands.

Pete



Thanks for the update. Nice to hear someone with some technical history
give an honest opinion of this radio.

Hmmm...I'll have to look into this one.

Eton E1 S/N 1902
 

I think that most people have a pretty good handle on the performance of
this receiver, but I do understand what you mean.
There are a couple of advantages to LCDs..........by using a dot matrix
display such as the one used in this unit, the display capabilities can be
software driven. I am not very good with software, so I tend to either go
with LEDs or the smart LCDs, such as the ones driven by the HD44870
controllers. Even then, I let my software savvy friends write the code for
driving the displays, while I concentrate on the RF/Analog design.
LCDs do draw less current than LEDs, and with the fiber optic backlighting
panels from Lumitex you can have many choices of backlight colors just by
choosing the LED color. They can be found at: http://www.lumitex.com/
I just installed one of them in my Palstar R-30 receiver last week. The
Drake SW-8 uses one of these panels for its backlight.
What this backlight consists of is a fiber optic bundle with a ferrule at
one end. The LED is inserted into this ferrule, and the fiber optic bundle
fans out into a flat panel. Most cool.
Even cooler would be if Eton would come up with a multi-color LCD on their
next iteration of this receiver. Now, if I could only get ahold of a
schematic diagram!

Pete

Your assessment of this fine receiver is one of only a handful that
sounds realistic and authentic to me, and not driven by the "Eton
cult" that I've never really been able to get my head around. Thanks
for this.

Why are LCDs attractive to the manufacturers of these receivers. I
know LCDs don't require a lot of power, which is a plus; but I would
gladly accept a more power hungry display so long as it wouldn't
compromise receiver performance! Are the LCDs cheaper? What's the
attraction from a manufacturer's point of view?

Steve

Eton E1 S/N 1902
 

In a time when computers and cell phones become completely obsolete after
three years, it is good to see a company, Eton, coming out with a shortwave
radio concept that everyone thought would never happen.

After twenty-five years, people are still raving about the Sony 2010, as a
benchmark comparison radio!

Meaning that a well designed shortwave radio is treated like a good Rolex
watch.

I don't have as much technical knowledge as Pete, but I gather that the E1
is the equivalent to what a new VW beetle is to an old model, air cooled
version, if you were to compare the E1 to the original Grundig 900 design.

One statement the designers of the E1 are saying, regarding a lack of a
ferrite core antenna, is, if you want to AM DX, than get the proper antenna.
The radio gives you this ability. Another thing, I didn't detect any
"birdies" like older radio designs (misdesigns) when going through shortwave
band.

It would be nice if reps from Eton and RL Drake join us on this discourse
regarding the E1. That way, new models of this radio can incorporate many
of the missing aspects that this radio should have.

The things I would like to see for example, that the radio has more of the
old Grundig beefed up bass, has RDS, and DRM ability in conjunction with XM.

Omer


"Pete KE9OA" wrote in message
. ..
I think that most people have a pretty good handle on the performance of
this receiver, but I do understand what you mean.
There are a couple of advantages to LCDs..........by using a dot matrix
display such as the one used in this unit, the display capabilities can be
software driven. I am not very good with software, so I tend to either go
with LEDs or the smart LCDs, such as the ones driven by the HD44870
controllers. Even then, I let my software savvy friends write the code for
driving the displays, while I concentrate on the RF/Analog design.
LCDs do draw less current than LEDs, and with the fiber optic backlighting
panels from Lumitex you can have many choices of backlight colors just by
choosing the LED color. They can be found at: http://www.lumitex.com/
I just installed one of them in my Palstar R-30 receiver last week. The
Drake SW-8 uses one of these panels for its backlight.
What this backlight consists of is a fiber optic bundle with a ferrule at
one end. The LED is inserted into this ferrule, and the fiber optic bundle
fans out into a flat panel. Most cool.
Even cooler would be if Eton would come up with a multi-color LCD on their
next iteration of this receiver. Now, if I could only get ahold of a
schematic diagram!

Pete

Your assessment of this fine receiver is one of only a handful that
sounds realistic and authentic to me, and not driven by the "Eton
cult" that I've never really been able to get my head around. Thanks
for this.

Why are LCDs attractive to the manufacturers of these receivers. I
know LCDs don't require a lot of power, which is a plus; but I would
gladly accept a more power hungry display so long as it wouldn't
compromise receiver performance! Are the LCDs cheaper? What's the
attraction from a manufacturer's point of view?

Steve

Eton E1 S/N 1902
 

In article
,
D Peter Maus wrote:

Pete KE9OA wrote:
Thanks for the info..............I did indeed adjust the contrast.
The display reminds me of an image as viewed by a person who has
cataracts (I have had those). I've got a TomTom 300 GPS unit, and
the display on my E1 appears the way my TomTom looks when using it
in the sun. Not completely washed out, but not as clear as the
display on my Palm Pilot Zire 31. Even so, because of the overall
performance, the display performance can be overlooked. Oh, what
the heck.........even at the original 500 dollar price, this is a
good radio! Where do you generally find a "portable" radio that
uses Murata CFR 9-element ceramic filters for all three I.F.
bandwidths? The manufacturer must have made a lifetime buy of these
filters, since Murata stopped selling them in mid 2002. Another
nice thing I noticed about this receiver was the use of
polypropylene and polyester caps in the audio section. Eton must
have had very high aspirations when they first put this thing on
the market. I hope that all of you who might be looking for one of
the E1s find a good sample. This receiver is very capable. Is it a
Drake, Icom, Palstar, Lowe, etc? No, but it is close enough in
performance for folks who can't afford one of those brands.


Thanks for the update. Nice to hear someone with some technical
history give an honest opinion of this radio.

Hmmm...I'll have to look into this one.

I saw this coming after a review of the specifications. The radio
looked very promising on paper. Then I had a few opportunities to play
with one in the store. That was enough to see this radio lived up to
the specifications.

The display is fairly large and I didn't have a problem reading it but
it did look a little weak on contrast. I chalked this up to the store
lighting and I did not know about the contrast control hiding behind the
back door tilt stand at the time.

I'd buy one if I needed another radio especially in the low price
ballpark of $225 bucks. This is a tremendous deal in my opinion. I know
you can never have enough radios but the office is cluttered with
equipment and I need to create space for new projects.

Maybe Pete can figure a way to backlight the display so there is more
contrast.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

Eton E1 S/N 1902
 

On Dec 23, 12:13*pm, "Omer S" wrote:
In a time when computers and cell phones become completely obsolete after
three years, it is good to see a company, Eton, coming out with a shortwave
radio concept that everyone thought would never happen.

After twenty-five years, people are still raving about the Sony 2010, as a
benchmark comparison radio!

Meaning that a well designed shortwave radio is treated like a good Rolex
watch.

I don't have as much technical knowledge as Pete, but I gather that the E1
is the equivalent to what a new VW beetle is to an old model, air cooled
version, if you were to compare the E1 to the original Grundig 900 design.

One statement the designers of the E1 are saying, regarding a lack of a
ferrite core antenna, is, if you want to AM DX, than get the proper antenna.
The radio gives you this ability. *Another thing, I didn't detect any
"birdies" like older radio designs (misdesigns) when going through shortwave
band.

It would be nice if reps from Eton and RL Drake join us on this discourse
regarding the E1. *That way, new models of this radio can incorporate many
of the missing aspects that this radio should have.

The things I would like to see for example, *that the radio has more of the
old Grundig beefed up bass, has RDS, and DRM ability in conjunction with XM.

Omer

"Pete KE9OA" wrote in message

. ..



I think that most people have a pretty good handle on the performance of
this receiver, but I do understand what you mean.
There are a couple of advantages to LCDs..........by using a dot matrix
display such as the one used in this unit, the display capabilities can be
software driven. I am not very good with software, so I tend to either go
with LEDs or the smart LCDs, such as the ones driven by the HD44870
controllers. Even then, I let my software savvy friends write the code for
driving the displays, while I concentrate on the RF/Analog design.
LCDs do draw less current than LEDs, and with the fiber optic backlighting
panels from Lumitex you can have many choices of backlight colors just by
choosing the LED color. They can be found at:http://www.lumitex.com/
I just installed one of them in my Palstar R-30 receiver last week. The
Drake SW-8 uses one of these panels for its backlight.
What this backlight consists of is a fiber optic bundle with a ferrule at
one end. The LED is inserted into this ferrule, and the fiber optic bundle
fans out into a flat panel. Most cool.
Even cooler would be if Eton would come up with a multi-color LCD on their
next iteration of this receiver. Now, if I could only get ahold of a
schematic diagram!

Pete

Your assessment of this fine receiver is one of only a handful that
sounds realistic and authentic to me, and not driven by the "Eton
cult" that I've never really been able to get my head around. Thanks
for this.

Why are LCDs attractive to the manufacturers of these receivers. I
know LCDs don't require a lot of power, which is a plus; but I would
gladly accept a more power hungry display so long as it wouldn't
compromise receiver performance! Are the LCDs cheaper? What's the
attraction from a manufacturer's point of view?

Steve- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

FO&A,

The evolution from the Eton/Drake 'Grundig' Satellit 800-M
Radio to the Eton/???? 'Eton' E1 XM Radio was done well.

PS - I always thought that offering the XM "Satellite"
Radio feature in the Eton E1 'XM' Radio was a way of
Eton Corp. getting the Word "Satellite" associated with
this Radio; and not having to pay Grundig a Licensing Fee
for using the Grundig Brand Name "Satellit" [No 'e'] that
was related to the original Grundig Satellit 900 Radio
design; which the Eton E1 'XM' Radio evolved from . . .
-Now- I think that Eton Corp. has shifted gears again
and is going back to using the "Grundig" and "Satellit"
and may be even the "Yaght Boy" Brand Names cause they
do help in Marketing and Sale around the World much more
than the Licensing Fees cost.

IMHO - Except for the Sound of the Grundig Satellit 800-M
Radio the Eton E1 Radio is the better Radio in every aspect.

FWIW - The new Re-Badged 'Eton' E1 XM Radio will be sold
using the 'Grundig' Brand Name as the Grundig Satellit
1000 Radio -but- Universal-Radio says not in 2007/2008.
http://www.universal-radio.com/catal...able/2001.html

-BUT- The Inside Cover of the 2008 PTWBR has a
Two-Page Grundig Satellit 1000 Radio AD ! and
another AD for the Grundig Satellit 1000 Radio
4-Pages in; followed by a Review of the 'proposed'
Grundig Satellit 1000 Radio on Pages 68~71.


I B 1 O D Eton-Grundig 'Cult' - e1'ing you all ~ RHF
-ps- bowing down in front of your eton radio is optional :o)

Eton E1 S/N 1902
 

Is there a chance that you could scan the two-page Grundig Satellit 1000
Radio AD?

I can't find any info on the internet.

Omer


"RHF" wrote in message
...
On Dec 23, 12:13 pm, "Omer S" wrote:
In a time when computers and cell phones become completely obsolete after
three years, it is good to see a company, Eton, coming out with a
shortwave
radio concept that everyone thought would never happen.

After twenty-five years, people are still raving about the Sony 2010, as a
benchmark comparison radio!

Meaning that a well designed shortwave radio is treated like a good Rolex
watch.

I don't have as much technical knowledge as Pete, but I gather that the E1
is the equivalent to what a new VW beetle is to an old model, air cooled
version, if you were to compare the E1 to the original Grundig 900 design.

One statement the designers of the E1 are saying, regarding a lack of a
ferrite core antenna, is, if you want to AM DX, than get the proper
antenna.
The radio gives you this ability. Another thing, I didn't detect any
"birdies" like older radio designs (misdesigns) when going through
shortwave
band.

It would be nice if reps from Eton and RL Drake join us on this discourse
regarding the E1. That way, new models of this radio can incorporate many
of the missing aspects that this radio should have.

The things I would like to see for example, that the radio has more of the
old Grundig beefed up bass, has RDS, and DRM ability in conjunction with
XM.

Omer

"Pete KE9OA" wrote in message

. ..



I think that most people have a pretty good handle on the performance of
this receiver, but I do understand what you mean.
There are a couple of advantages to LCDs..........by using a dot matrix
display such as the one used in this unit, the display capabilities can
be
software driven. I am not very good with software, so I tend to either
go
with LEDs or the smart LCDs, such as the ones driven by the HD44870
controllers. Even then, I let my software savvy friends write the code
for
driving the displays, while I concentrate on the RF/Analog design.
LCDs do draw less current than LEDs, and with the fiber optic
backlighting
panels from Lumitex you can have many choices of backlight colors just
by
choosing the LED color. They can be found at:http://www.lumitex.com/
I just installed one of them in my Palstar R-30 receiver last week. The
Drake SW-8 uses one of these panels for its backlight.
What this backlight consists of is a fiber optic bundle with a ferrule
at
one end. The LED is inserted into this ferrule, and the fiber optic
bundle
fans out into a flat panel. Most cool.
Even cooler would be if Eton would come up with a multi-color LCD on
their
next iteration of this receiver. Now, if I could only get ahold of a
schematic diagram!

Pete

Your assessment of this fine receiver is one of only a handful that
sounds realistic and authentic to me, and not driven by the "Eton
cult" that I've never really been able to get my head around. Thanks
for this.

Why are LCDs attractive to the manufacturers of these receivers. I
know LCDs don't require a lot of power, which is a plus; but I would
gladly accept a more power hungry display so long as it wouldn't
compromise receiver performance! Are the LCDs cheaper? What's the
attraction from a manufacturer's point of view?

Steve- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

FO&A,

The evolution from the Eton/Drake 'Grundig' Satellit 800-M
Radio to the Eton/???? 'Eton' E1 XM Radio was done well.

PS - I always thought that offering the XM "Satellite"
Radio feature in the Eton E1 'XM' Radio was a way of
Eton Corp. getting the Word "Satellite" associated with
this Radio; and not having to pay Grundig a Licensing Fee
for using the Grundig Brand Name "Satellit" [No 'e'] that
was related to the original Grundig Satellit 900 Radio
design; which the Eton E1 'XM' Radio evolved from . . .
-Now- I think that Eton Corp. has shifted gears again
and is going back to using the "Grundig" and "Satellit"
and may be even the "Yaght Boy" Brand Names cause they
do help in Marketing and Sale around the World much more
than the Licensing Fees cost.

IMHO - Except for the Sound of the Grundig Satellit 800-M
Radio the Eton E1 Radio is the better Radio in every aspect.

FWIW - The new Re-Badged 'Eton' E1 XM Radio will be sold
using the 'Grundig' Brand Name as the Grundig Satellit
1000 Radio -but- Universal-Radio says not in 2007/2008.
http://www.universal-radio.com/catal...able/2001.html

-BUT- The Inside Cover of the 2008 PTWBR has a
Two-Page Grundig Satellit 1000 Radio AD ! and
another AD for the Grundig Satellit 1000 Radio
4-Pages in; followed by a Review of the 'proposed'
Grundig Satellit 1000 Radio on Pages 68~71.


I B 1 O D Eton-Grundig 'Cult' - e1'ing you all ~ RHF
-ps- bowing down in front of your eton radio is optional :o)

Eton E1 S/N 1902
 

I am going to give Drake a call if they aren't closed for Christmas vacation
this week and see how involved it would be to change the display
backlighting. Those Lumitex fiber optic backlights would be great in this
application.

Pete

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article
,
D Peter Maus wrote:

Pete KE9OA wrote:
Thanks for the info..............I did indeed adjust the contrast.
The display reminds me of an image as viewed by a person who has
cataracts (I have had those). I've got a TomTom 300 GPS unit, and
the display on my E1 appears the way my TomTom looks when using it
in the sun. Not completely washed out, but not as clear as the
display on my Palm Pilot Zire 31. Even so, because of the overall
performance, the display performance can be overlooked. Oh, what
the heck.........even at the original 500 dollar price, this is a
good radio! Where do you generally find a "portable" radio that
uses Murata CFR 9-element ceramic filters for all three I.F.
bandwidths? The manufacturer must have made a lifetime buy of these
filters, since Murata stopped selling them in mid 2002. Another
nice thing I noticed about this receiver was the use of
polypropylene and polyester caps in the audio section. Eton must
have had very high aspirations when they first put this thing on
the market. I hope that all of you who might be looking for one of
the E1s find a good sample. This receiver is very capable. Is it a
Drake, Icom, Palstar, Lowe, etc? No, but it is close enough in
performance for folks who can't afford one of those brands.


Thanks for the update. Nice to hear someone with some technical
history give an honest opinion of this radio.

Hmmm...I'll have to look into this one.

I saw this coming after a review of the specifications. The radio
looked very promising on paper. Then I had a few opportunities to play
with one in the store. That was enough to see this radio lived up to
the specifications.

The display is fairly large and I didn't have a problem reading it but
it did look a little weak on contrast. I chalked this up to the store
lighting and I did not know about the contrast control hiding behind the
back door tilt stand at the time.

I'd buy one if I needed another radio especially in the low price
ballpark of $225 bucks. This is a tremendous deal in my opinion. I know
you can never have enough radios but the office is cluttered with
equipment and I need to create space for new projects.

Maybe Pete can figure a way to backlight the display so there is more
contrast.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California