I Was in a Fair Mood Until I Pulled Out My Grundig G8 from the Closet

 

 

I initially didn't like my Grundig G8 when I got it two years ago. It's been hidden in a closet somewhere. Two days ago I had a whim to take it out and give it another try. Bad idea. My fair mood descend into grouchiness. I really hate this radio with its small buttons, poorly written manual, weird beeps every time you press a button, hideous speaker sound, especially on AM. FM is good. That's about all I can say about it. I don't want to travel anywhere with this thing. 

This G8 has made me hate radios. I need to take out the fresh AA batteries and hide this back in the closet it where it belongs. 

Paul just wrote that I can get 100 hours with a Tecsun 606 and Mark Roberts writes in a review that the 606 gets good FM and AM. Maybe I'll check that one out. But I'll wait until my churlish mood subsides. 

Update:

I just pulled out my Eton E5 (based on the Kaito 1103) and I'm feeling a lot better. My question is this: How much battery life will I get with the 4 double A (nonrechargeable) batteries?

Comments

[Dan]

I bought a Grundig Yacht Boy 400 from an eBay seller, and I think it's probably the best all-around travel radio out there. The YB 400 is the only radio I ever owned that could receive longwave broadcasts from across the Atlantic (Radio Mediterranee on 171 KHz) deep in upstate New York. Excellent sensitivity and selectivity on all bands, great sound quality, and good SSB quality.

If you're going to own only one shortwave radio, the YB 400 is hard to beat.

Regarding the G8: meh. It's not so much the performance, but the rubberized case.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

I love my Grundig G4000 even though my girls threw it on the ground and put a chip out of the corner. Still works.

I believe it's the same as the YB400.

[Bob C.]

Ummmm, you can set the G8 to not beep every time you do something. Furthermore, the use of 'tiny' buttons is very limited. My main complaint is the lack of direct entry - but that's not unexpected at this price point. For that, you get a radio that outperforms all but new Tecsun DSP radio on FM and which does reasonably well on AM. SW is just ok, lacking SSB - but what do you expect for the money? Got mine for $40 and it was a bargain!

[Mark Roberts]

Jeff, you're likely not going to like the speaker sound on the 606 either. The Tecsun speakers are small, there are no EQ tricks (which actually is a good thing for headphone and line-output use) and so they just aren't going to have a beefy sound. Considering those limitations, I still have a very good opinion of the 606, as I've written on other occasions in 2011.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

Mark, I'm visiting my brother in Berkeley area in a couple of weeks and I think I'll bring the Sangean DT400. It should grab KQED and KGO, the only stations I know up there.

As far as the 606 goes, I'd be using that through earbuds mostly so I'd get better battery life and not have to worry about the speaker.

[Ante]

Jeff, how about giving a try to Tecsun PL 390? I only hear great things about it. And it also has two speakers. With excellent FM and AM, you cannot go wrong.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

Ante, Ed let me try his 390 a while back. I liked it. For travel, I was looking for something smaller, a hand-held radio that runs a long time on batteries. I may stick with my Sangean DT400.

[Mark Roberts]

Jeff,
The DT400 should be fine for KQED and KGO, though you may be disappointed in what's happened to KGO over the last couple of months. Most of its longtime talk-show hosts were fired. All-news from 6-9 am, Ronn Owens is still there until noon, another talk show until 2 pm, all-news from 2 pm until midnight, then syndicated stuff overnight. Weekends are part-time hosts.

You may or may not be able to get KALW on the 400. It's sometimes a great alternative to KQED, but is lower power. A good quality radio should be able to get it in Berkeley, but, as you know, I think the 400's FM performance is not as good as it should be.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

I"m bummed about KGO. I'll have to find Ray Tiaferro. I know he's moved. I used to listen to him late nights on KGO back in the early 1980s.

[Mark Roberts]

Ray Taliaferro's gone and hasn't landed anywhere else. He has since been a guest on a Santa Cruz station, but its signal barely makes it past San Jose.

Cumulus (KGO's new owner) is making Clear Channel look good by comparison. Clear Channel has tried to capitalize on the KGO changes by launching a new format at 910, now called KKSF, but local hosts are on only in AM and PM drive.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

KGO sounds like a sinking ship. I'll probably stick to 88.5. Man, I miss Ray T. I googled his name and found out he made it into the radio broadcaster Hall of Fame. I miss him.

[Scooby214]

I have two G8 radios. They were on specdial for $20 shipped at one point at the National Geographic website. When purchased at such a low price, it is easy for me to overlook its shortcomings. If I recall correctly, you hold the light button while the radio is off to turn off the annoying beeps.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

Thank you for the beep info. Must do ASAP.

[Lowell White]

Please forgive how brief this is but I have no internet and post from the library

I have a love/hate relationship with the G8. AM is OK. FM has world class flat frequency response good enough for my stereo system and I hear stations as far away as 75 miles. Shortwave is awful. And it can be quite good. The front end is hot but way prone to overload. To fix this I took a plastic radio stand and taped aluminum foil to the inside being sure it cannot touch the radio. Attach antenna lead to the aluminum foil. Sometimes lift and otherwise move antenna. Or move the radio off the stand. Experiment as needed. I've heard Tajikistan and All India Radio with this set up. I hear most broadcasts directed to North America. I'm in central Illinois.

There are no bad radios it's just that some are better than others :)