In message
,
Mike writes
On Dec 27, 11:530
I compared an Eton E5 to my S350 last week. The Eton was far more
sensitive. The stupid tuning knob on the 350 makes me cringe when I have
to turn it. There seems to be a variable, unpredictable, response rate
to the turning action. The sloppiness reminds me of the early Grundig
800 fiasco.

The local equivalent of the Radio Shack has the Grundig/Eton G5/E5 for
149 $, but will most likely be having a sale soon.

mike

m II,

I agree 100%! The E5 is awesome regardless of how you use it. Since I
have both an E5 and a Degen DE1103 (essentially the same radio), I
think I'll put the DE1103 in the MW DX group. You're also right about
sloppiness and backlash in the S350's tuning mechanism. It's a 30-year
step backwards! But the audio and MW sensitivity is better than
average. I'm just looking for a way to make lemonade (out of a lemon)
with that receiver...

Mike

I bought an Eton E5 about 9 months ago. I paid GBP60 for it ($115 then,
$90 today). I certainly would not call it 'awesome'. It's a useful 'fun'
radio, but cannot really be considered for serious shortwave work.

On the LW (used in Europe), it picks up some MW signals (presumably lack
of front end selectivity harmonic mixing with the LO).

The MW is OK. However, when you get above 1.6MHz, there are quite a few
self-generated internal birdies. Some of these are paralysingly strong,
especially around 1800 and 1900kHz. Most of these warble, and are
probably from the LO synthesizer.

MW sensitivity is good, but it seems pretty deaf from 1.6 to 3MHz (where
the whip aerial becomes effective).

Above 3MHz, sensitivity seems pretty good up to maybe 15MHz. I'm not too
sure above this, but I've never heard much sign of any CB activity on 27
to 28MHz. There are again quite a lot of self-generated birdies.

FM reception is pretty good - particularly the sensitivity and the
immunity from multipath problems. With a pair of stereo headphones, the
quality sounds good to my old ears.

Tuning-wise, you can just about live with the 1kHz tuning steps. This
means that you can only tune to an accuracy of 0.5kHz. On the 'narrow'
selectivity position, the selectivity, although fairly good, is poor
enough to allow you to tune as best as you can, and adjust the BFO to
resolve SSB and CW signals. Unfortunately, the 1kHz steps seem to be
something like alternate steps of 850Hz and 1150Hz. Also, the tuning
range of the BFO is very small - only a total of around 1.5kHz. But it's
liveable with.

Of course, there is provision for connecting an external antenna via a
3.5mm jack plug. The problem is then overload. With a decent antenna,
you have to switch in the input attenuator. A preselector of some sort
is pretty well essential.

Finally, the battery level indicator is 'digital'. It shows "full" until
about 1 minute before the set goes dead because the battery is flat.

I've used my E5 to good effect to brush up my morse skills when sitting
on the toilet. SSB signals often sound a bit rough because of the
permanent AGC action. As I say, it's a 'fun' radio. Useful around the
house, and for taking on holiday, but I think you want something a lot
better for proper SWLing.
--
Ian