Comparision: Grundig 400 vs. Yaesu FRG-100
 

Please bear in mind guys that I am a relatively newbie at this shortwave
radio stuff (just a few years or so). I finally set side by side my Grundig
using only its whip antenna vs. a Yaesu with a longwire attached to it. I'm
sort of disappointed. The Yaesu performed only slightly better than the
Grundig, and it had a much more extensive antenna attached to it! The Yaesu
was slightly clearer but even stations that I barely got in the tabletop was
also heard on the Grundig. Are my expectations too high here?Shouldn't there
be some significant difference between the two? What's causing the Yaesu to
underperform? I've read nothing but rave reviews of this little tabletop
receiver. Yet it just slightly beats out a handicapped Grundig Yacht Boy
portable! I still haven't ground the thing and that could make some
difference. I just find it kind of strange how similar the two are. Now I
expect this if there is a strong signal but the Yaesu really can't pick up
the weak signals that would not be heard on a Grundig. Please remember, I am
fairly new to all this. I'm not willing to throw in the towel yet but my
suspicions tell me I may be just not ready for a tabletop (I'm no
electronics whiz) and should stick to portables for for the time being. I
still think the Yaesu is a nice little receiver but I don't think I'm
running it the right way.

Thanks guys. I do like the Yaesu but it is a pretty unintuitive radio. Of
all the little buttons on the thing, AGC, attenuators, etc. I find using the
CW mode the best at clearing up signals. I know its for morse code but
stations come in quieter but clearer when going from AM to CW. Also using
USB and LSB helps in clearing a signal sometimes. I may invest in a keypad
or possibly better filters from Kiwa. Does anyone have any experience with
Kiwa filters?

Hi

The Kiwa filters and audio upgrade are definitely worth the money. I
chose the
6KHZ / 3.7 KHz combination (I couldn't decide between 4 and 3.5 KHz
for the narrow, so Craig from Kiwa sent me one in between). The
modules are easy to install and really improve selectivity. I bought
my FRG-100 new in Jan 2001, so mine had the improved filters and yet
the Kiwa filters still improved things as they're tighter.

If yours is an old model, you'll hear a massive difference between the
original and Kiwa filters. If it's a newer model (post 1995, I think),
you could probably get away with swapping just the wide filter for an
LF-H4S from Kiwa.

I really do recommend the audio upgrade as it clears things up a great
deal, making speech more intelligible, even with the narrow filters
setting.

With Kiwa filters, my FRG-100 performs as well as an Icom R71E with
various upgrades, so it should beat the Grundig into the ground. For
comparison, I have a Sony ICF-SW7600GR, which is similar in
performance to the Grundig. The FRG-100 and Icom are both in a
different league to these portables, especially in terms of
selectivity and overload resistance.

Enjoy your FRoG. It's a great radio and you'd have to spend a fortune
to get anything significantly better.

Cheers

Andy

Here's a link to free downloads of the service and user manuals in English.

http://www.lentedans.com/nr29/Yeasu/yeasu_frg.htm

Cheers

Andy

"Alan J Giddings" wrote in message
om...
I too have a similar experience. I decided to sell the table top and
keep my Sony SW7600G. For what I want from a SW receiver (general
listening to over seas SW broadcasts) then a small portable will do. I
have "up-graded" to a Sony SW77 and that is all I'll ever need.
Coupled with Sony's AN-LP1 antenna I can hear most of the stations
listed in "Passport to World Radio" that come close to the UK. I
also own the ATS909/DX-398 and a brand new Degen/Kaito 1102 (a real
beaut). SSB is not of much use to me as I find little interest in
listening to a couple guys talk about co-ax cable etc (no offence
intended). I wouldn't mind having one of those huge Grundig Satelite
800 receivers to see what all the fuss is about but I'd never again
shell out nearly a £1000 on equipment that was wasted on a general
listener like myself. I own two old Russian (Soviet era) SW radios
that are better than any of my new stuff even though they are all over
30 years old. They do need re-tuning every 15 mins as they drift but
the sound quality is lovely. Keep the little Yachtboy, find the most
distant signal you can hear, sell the table top and go visit the far
off place with the money you make...
Regards,
Alan

I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet. Can anyone tell me how I KNOW when
my Yaesu FRG100 was manufactured. A few earlier posts suggested the Kiwa
filters IF I had an older model (pre 95). I'd like to find this out since I
bought it off of EBay. Thanks.

Hi

I'd suggest the Kiwa filters regardless, but especially if you have
the older version. I have the newer version, which uses filters
labelled as LF-H2S and LF-H6S. You can open up the case to check
whether these are present in yours. I believe older versions contained
Murata CFW455H and CFW455I filters, and these had inferior ultimate
rejection and shape factors. My receiver was purchased new in early
2002, and the manual still showed the Muratas on the schematic, but
the receiver came stock with the LF-H series filters, which are pretty
good. The only real problem is that AM wide is too wide for SWLing.
The stock narrow is good, however.

Passport's White Paper gives the following measurements for the
earlier (pre 11/93)and revised versions:

Early:
(shape factor, -6dB/-60dB)

Wide AM: 7.6/17.9 KHz {1:2.4}
Narrow AM: 6.9/17.2 KHz {1:2.5}
Ulta Narrow AM/SSB 2.6:3.7 KHz {1:1.4}

Revised:

Wide AM: 9.1/15.3 KHz {1:1.7}
Narrow AM: 4.5/7.7 KHz {1:1.7}
Ulta Narrow AM/SSB: 2.6/4.3KHz {1:1.4}

Passport measures the newer filters as having an ultimate rejection of
70dB+, whereas I believe Radio Netherlands review tested the older
version as having U.R. of around 50dB, which is poor.

The SB filter is the same in both, so this was probably a sample to
sample variation, but you should be able to tell if you have an
improved version or not by switching between the AM wide and narrow
positions. If the difference is marked, you probably have a newer
version. The AM wide sounds nice on a clear signal, whereas the AM
narrow sounds a bit muffled. (Hint: get the Kiwa audio mod as this
helps big time).

If you have the older version, the two bandwidths sound virtually the
same, or so I'm told. If you have the newer version, I'd definitely
recommend replacing the AM wide filter as it lets in too much splatter
and annoying hets. The Kiwa narrow is also better than the stock
narrow, but the difference is small.

Hope this helps

Andy