The National Geographic online store has a few Grundig radios on sale. Most notably, the Grundig G8 for $24.95.
The G8 is a great little shortwave receiver. I’m very impressed with the performance, especially for a $25 radio (normally, these sell at retailers for $50.00 US).
Features include:
- FM/MW/SW/LW
- Auto/manual tuning
- Auto Tuning Storage (ATS) function (on FM, this will auto-populate memory slots with available stations)
- Digital tuning with digital frequency readout (LCD)
- Local timer setting + world timer settin
- Sleep timer & alarm clock (either radio or buzzer
- Snooze
- Key lock function
- 3.5 mm headphone output
- DC jack – 6V
- Comes with warranty, manual and a nice travel case
Of course, with a radio in this price class, there are some compromises:
- No single-side band.
- There is muting between frequency changes, so while tuning you will notice a slight “chug” sound.
- No manual gain control.
- Speaker is small, though audio (as with many Grundig portables) is quite impressive.
At $25 US, this is a no-brainer. Pick up a G8 today as I have no idea how long this sale will last.
If you’re reading this post after the National Geographic sale, check G8 prices at the following places:
G8 documentation:
I’ve had a G8 for several years. I mostly listen to MW in country NSW and it is mediocre at that. The ferrite rod is quite small and the coil is hard wound on the ferrite. This radio has a SI4734 DSP which requires a coil of 180-450 uH. What, I wondered, would be the outcome if I put a wire loop antenna in place of the loopstick. 26 turns of multistrand bell wire with a spacing of 10mm on a 340 x 340mm plastic milk crate gave me about 210 uH. With some delicate plastic surgery (pun intended) on the case I was able to divert the ferrite coil leads via a 3.5mm headphone jack for an external antenna. The loop antenna gives jaw dropping performance! Suddenly it receives like a communications receiver with a decent antenna. Stations that were a mere hiss in my backyard were quite readable in daytime. My jaw dropped again when I put my old analogue Sony ICF-7600 next to the milk crate. The coil antenna tunes exactly to the frequency set by the DSP. It acts like a tuning condenser. Stations hundreds of kilometres away induce in to the Sony and sound like local stations. So, for all you MW DX chaps, this is a good starting point. BTW, to prise out the ferrite rod in most Chinese radios, GENTLY heat the ferrite with the heat gun attachment of your gas soldering iron to soften the adhesive while GENTLY levering with a small screwdriver. Melt in beeswax to put it back in.
Max: Can you take a photo(s) of this set up? I would love to turn this comment into a post.
Cheers,
Thomas