"gccengineering" wrote in message
ups.com...
I want to get a grundig S 350, but I have heard bad things about this
radio from other SWL listeners , and I wanted to try it out for myself
to see what I can receive on it also to see for my self what it it
really is . Is it really true that the Grundig S350 is a bad radio
or is it a good radio. Where can I find deeper reviews about this
radio? Is it best that I should try it for 30 days? I also heard
that there were improvements with the Deluxe version. Best regards.
.

Adam E. gccengineering http://www.geocities.com/gccengineering/

I got one a couple of years ago, and like it really well. The tuning is
analog with a digital readout, so there is some drift that diminishes after
the radio has warmed up for an hour or so. I understand later models have
reduced this drifting.

The audio quality is very good, with adequate sensitivity and selectivity.
It is prone to images and overloading, but that is to be expected with a
radio in the price range (sub $100 - got mine on sale at Macy's for $65 or
so).

From what I understand, these radios have come down in price recently.
Passport gives it a modest star rating, but it also gives this receiver a
"Passport's Choice" plug, mostly on account of its very good sound. I
understand the drift problem has been fixed in the recent versions of this
receiver.

With the lower price and better performance, it might make a nice,
inexpensive addition to your shack.

Jackie

The basic S350 has been discontinued. The improved model is the
S350DL and the list price on it was reduced to $100 from the former
$150 early this year. However, the large headphones that came with this
radio
were discontinued as part of the price reduction, but this was not done
well --
the first of the reduced-price S350DLs came in boxes that bore legends
stating that the headphones WERE included, but they were simply left
out of the boxes. There was still a space in the packing material where
the
headphones used to be stowed. (I understand that there were also some
smaller boxes with no space for the headphones but the box printing
also
said that the headphones were inside.)

Some vendors also advertised the S350DLs at the $100 price and stated
in their catalog descriptions that the headphones were included. This
caused confusion and ill-will between customers and vendors and the
incidents have not been resolved as of yet.

The radio itself has its good and bad points. It does have
reasonably-good
audio quality. The S350DL has modified tuning circuitry that largely
eliminates the shortwave drift that plagued the earlier S350. However,
a
side effect of this is that the tuning of an exact 0 or 5 kHz channel
is a bit
"sticky" -- the radio will lock on a frequency a kHz or two off and
make it hard
to tweak the tuning to the correct exact frequency. Once it IS tuned
correctly, it doesn't drift off that.

Tuning using the knob is a bit clunky. The knob seems a bit rough and
the concentric coarse/fine tuning isn't very smooth. SW sensitivity is
reasonable but not as good as many other radios (which mostly
admittedly
cost more, except for the Kaito/Degen models). It still is just a
single-
conversion receiver, which means that there are images 900 kHz away
from the correct frequency.

AM MW reception is OK, but this isn't a GE SuperRadio with a digital
display. It is better than most ordinary AM radios.

FM reception was disappointing to me. It *will* receive local weak FM
signals but it is *very* dependent on the radio's position (whether it
was
sitting upright or laying on its back, and what direction it was
turned) and
whether the whip antenna was unfolded and set to come out the side of
the
radio horizontally or not, and again what direction the radio is
turned. Things
change if you are holding the radio or if it is sat down away from you.
This
means that you *can* get the stations you want, usually, but you can't
just
sit the radio on a table, tune the frequency, and leave it alone at
that. You
have to fiddle with it for each different weak station. (Strong
stations come
in OK without fiddling, but that's no big deal.)

Hope this helps!

Will Martin

S350 - same cheap junk as Tecsun/Eton BCL-2000,3000 !

"Million-Dollar Looks for $100" - Analog w/digital display receivers
do not have the stability of digital phase-locked loop (PLL)
receivers.

I opened up the back of the radio, before returning it to RadioShack -
it was mostly hollow inside, very cheap, low-grade plastic, and with
1960s-grade electronics. The front filter and band switches and
tuning knob are flimsy. When putting the radio back together, I was
very careful not to over-tighten/cross-thread the screws, but as soon
as, one of the screws started to tighten down, the plastic started to
crack. Because of the very cheap quality construction, the radio is
very light-out-of-the-box, until the 4 "D" size batteries are
inserted.

The filters do a minimal job and only muffle the very good audio. The
RF gain control can always be set on maximum, so it only acts like a
DX/LOC switch. Even the newer model drifts off the tuned frequency,
despite a kludged fix, that only causes ergonomic problems - once a
frequency locks on, it still drifts, causing one to have to retune
way past the desired frequency, to break the lock. The S350 has
significant tuning backlash, which is partly responsible for the
frequency drift. There are images all over the SW bands, being a
cheap, single-conversion superhet. The speaker grill is plastic, the
digital readout is low-resolution, the antenna doesn't lock into
place, and the carrying handle is cheap, smelly, imitation-leather.

Instead, I bought a Radio Shack AM/FM (for AM DXing) model 12-898 for
$25; it has digital PLL tuning (prevents drifting), DX/LOC switch,
hi/low tone switch, 3" speaker with metal speaker grill, internal
ferrite-bar antenna, lock switch, 20 station memory, almost as
sensitive as the S350, and much better quality - even the antenna
locks into place.

Don't be fooled by the "Grundig" name - it used to be made in
Germany, but is now made in China, by Tecsun/Eton. Check out the
Tecsun/Eton brand of this radio on Amazon (same junk), and
show, "lowest rating first", also, look at the reviews for Grundig
G2000A. Tecsun/Eton is becoming known for marketing jazzy, pretty
radios that are poor quality/performers; they bought the rights to
market products, under the "Grundig" name, hoping consumers will
think they are still made in Germany.

With all that being said, with the restructuring of the 50K watt
clear-channel AM stations, in the 1980s, AM DXing is not what it used
to be, in the 1960s and 1970s. For example, many stations out West
now have to use directional antennas, that cannot be picked up on the
East Coast. All the hype about the CCradio, Superadio III, and S350
being, "DX machines", is nonsense, and with the clear-channel
situation, certainly not worth the extra expense. With the Radio
Shack receiver, I can easily pick up WWL 870 New Orleans (1000
miles), WHO 1040 Des Moines(900 miles), WABC 770 New York, and my
favorite, WLW 700 Cincinnati - same as the S350. These stations can
easily be picked up with standard car radios.

For just, as little as $30 more, one could purchase the Sony ICF-
SW7600GR instead; it has digital PLL, SSB, and synchronous detection -
the ICF-SW7600GR is many times the radio compared to the S350 (I'de
be kicking myself, if I was stuck with the S350).

Wy do you feel the need to post this message twice in the same day?

Because the Grundig S350 is such a cheap piece of junk and Grundig
should be ashamed of themseleves
for marketing this Chinese-made junk, when people think Grundigs are
still made in Germany !

wrote:
Because the Grundig S350 is such a cheap piece of junk and Grundig
should be ashamed of themseleves
for marketing this Chinese-made junk, when people think Grundigs are
still made in Germany !




Grundig AG is not involved in these products. Eton, formerly
Lextronix, bought the rights to the name in North America. But Grundig
is neither involved, nor acknowledges these products.

The products are commissioned in California, built by Tecsun, marketed
under the Grundig name. The promotional materials distributed about
these products imply, and have in the past directly claimed, that German
artisans...in one case, the original German craftsmen...are involved in
the production of these products.

Rarely has any company gone to such lengths to obscure the true
lineage of a product line as has Lextronix, now Eton, done with those
bearing the Grundig name.

Also, please check out my new group on Google and Yahoo -
"Grundig_is_garbage"

Thanks !