Grundig G8 Traveler II | The SWLing Post

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor (and certified mad scientist), Emilio Ruiz, who writes:

Recently I was given a broken Grundig G8 Traveler II. This radio had an accident–the case, speaker, tuning knob, and volume controls were all broken or damaged.

I discovered that the tuning and volume controls are not potentiometers, they are a rotary encoders, so I substituted the tiny and broken original controls with rotary encoders (typically used for Arduino projects), but I needed to remove the 10 kiloohms resistor to work properly (only used the CLK, DT, and GND pins).

All materials were reused from other things, the result is like a “Frankenstein radio”.

The “telescopic” antenna is a tape measure/flexometer which was broken too. I replaced the original speaker (which I think was another impedance) with a proper 8 ohms speaker which produced low volume, so i decide add a Pam8403 amplifier module for best performance. The total current drain is 0.10 amp for a regular “loud” audio level.

So the Grundig Frankie is alive!!… It’s alive!!

Click here to view video in new window.

This is brilliant, Emilio! Although this radio is quite scary–and, let’s face it, “post-apocalyptic”–I think it’s absolutely amazing! I love the handle and the tape measure antenna. You, sir, are a mad scientist and I look forward to your next creation! (I’ll just take shelter first!) 🙂

Anyone else ever created a Frankenradio? Please comment!

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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:

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