It appears that Monitoring Times is not the only division of Grove Enterprises that will close shop when owners, Bob and Judy Grove, retire.
Indeed, Grove Enterprises is liquidating their entire inventory in a retirement sale. There are deals to be found in their shortwave radio selection and entire catalog of products.
Still, sad to see this reputable radio retailer close shop. I’m grateful that Universal Radio and C.Crane are still in business. I’m a strong believer in purchasing from radio retailers rather than online sources like Amazon.com. No doubt, Amazon has competitive pricing and good customer service, but frankly they could care less about the radio hobby in general. To Amazon, shortwave radios are simply a few dozen consumer electronics products out of the tens of thousands they offer.
Universal Radio and C.Crane both support radio clubs, events and hobby-related activities–Amazon does not. Plus, pricing is often very close or even lower than that of Amazon. This is why I always purchase from them if they have what I seek.
Señores buenas tardes les solicito información de su equipo GPL VIII si aun en existencias tiene uno, por favor enviar ficha técnica y valor.
Well having dealt with them (Grove) I’m not surprised and there handling of MT overseas subs.
The Times they are a changing !!
True. Funny, but the SWL crowd tends to like things in print. I prefer digital subscriptions of publications that have listening logs. Or, at least the ability to print. FWiW, MT did a long run of the electronic subscription. 10 years or so?
-Thomas
A shame that no one was interested in retaining the MT and Grove Enterprises names and trying to re-imagine a format for the publication that would work. In these days of self-publishing and print-on-demand, one would think there would be a way for a niche publication to stick around, even if there’s no opportunity for walk-up traffic at Barnes & Noble.
Like you, Thomas, we’ve always sent our Winter SWL Fest prize business to hobbyist-friendly sellers whenever feasible…because they invest in the future of the hobby…
It is a pity no family members or someone else to take over the business.
While there are still new SW radios being developed (see below for my post on the latest Tecsun Model PL880), we have fewer options on where to get them.
Two photos of Tecsun’s new model PL880 appeared yesterday. It uses an analog+DSP architecture similar to Ats909X but has made some significant improvements (4 AM bandwidth + 5 SSB bandwidth) and better audio compared to previous Tecsun portables.
http://herculodge.typepad.com/herculodge/2013/08/new-tecsun-pl-880-on-its-way.html
Thanks for your comment, Owl. I’ve included your comments in a new post about the PL-880. Just saw Jeff post on the Herculodge last night. Thanks!
My transactions with Grove were always pleasant.
Best wishes to Bob and Judy !