Dear Herculodge: Can You Recommend Me a Travel Radio?

Dear Herculodge,

I travel almost half the year and I'm looking for a good small portable. What do you recommend?

Reader,

Funny you should ask me of all people. After owning or sampling all of the new  Kaito, Degen, Eton, Grundig models, I've come to dislike nearly ALL small portables. Navigating and pressing the tiny buttons give me a sense of learning Braille and ultimately afflicts me with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. The tin speaker sound is about as warm and comforting as nails scratching a chalk board. 

The only digital portable I own and enjoy, sadly, is now discontinued and that is the Grundig G4000. I notice it's even hard to find used or refurbished on the Internet. 

So for a new radio, I'd say you should look to eBay for a new Tivoli Songbook and get one for a little under $100. Otherwise, sometimes Amazon sells them for under $130. The Songbook is flat shaped, so you can lie it flat in your suitcase. Its speaker sound is warm and full. It's attractive. Its AM and FM is above average though don't expect it to deliver the same FM reception as a Redsun 2100 or its C.Crane CSW clone. 

You can spend between $100-$150 one of the aforementioned Kaito or Eton or Grundig models and as far as I'm concerned they are depressing to be around for a long period of time. I look at them as "emergency" radios, hard on the ears for more than five minutes.

Get yourself the Tivoli Songbook. 

Comments

[Paul]

You can buy refurbished Grundig YB-400 radios from Universal Radio for $80:

http://universal-radio.com/catalog/portable/0400.html

Supplies are limited.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

I've had the YB-400 and it seems to me to be the same as my G4000. Am I correct?

[Ed]

I have not used one, but this C. Crane model seems like an appealing travel radio, especially for the price:
http://www.ccrane.com/radios/shortwave-radios/ccradio-swp.aspx

[Ken K.]

Just keep in mind that the YB400 (G4000) requires 6 batteries, unlike nearly all other portables of this size which require only 4.

This not only adds to the operating cost(especially if the user will be on the road for 6 months out of the year) but makes it problematical to use rechargables because most charging units a set up for multiples of 4 batteries.

One other radio this I like in this size class is the Eton E10/Grundig G10, both of which can be found fairly often on Ebay in the $50 to 75 range. The sound is almost as good as the YB and performance is nearly as good as well, with the added bonus of 700 presets instead of 40 on the YB.

[Ken K.]

Jeff, just to clarify, the G4000 is the same as the YB400 PE (i.e. "Professional Edition").

This in turn was the same as the earlier, regular (i.e. "non professional" I guess) YB400. The only difference was the PE added the Super Duper Titanium Finish which in turn added about $40 to the price tag, as I recall.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

Ken, thanks for the clarification.

I never thought of batteries because I always use AC power cord and have a travel adapter I bring with me.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

Ed, I believe Amazon and eHam reviewers or somewhere else I read gave that CC portable the thumbs down.

[Tom Welch]

Ed, the CCRadio-SWPocket radio has recently been getting positive reviews, what kind of battery life are you getting?

[Tom Welch]

When the YB400 first came out it sold for $250, then the price dropped to $200.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

Tom, where did you read positive CC Portable reviews? On Amazon 12 reviewers give it only 3-star average. The thorough reviews are rather bleak.

[georgioskoroneos]

hi there is georgis...in my opinion sony icf 7600g is compact ,sleek,sensitive with good sound with good tuning system with s/d and includes ssb with fine tuning it has everything one needs for a trip,one gets so much radio out of it ,i loved it,only do not have signal strength and manual tuning wheel,but this is no big deal for me,because in my eyes it is very capable plus with little practice becomes easier than other radios to operate,i consider it a good idea today if you can find a good one on e bay which i did myselfand just discussing this case from facts,well you will be very happy and that is the whole point.

[georgioskoroneos]

georgis ...i really think it would be the best thing to do if you can grab one nice sony icf 7600g,it is better for people that do a lot of traveling,it is the perfect small package loaded with everything you need of quality.

[Tom Welch]

Ed, on the Yahoo ultralight radio forum they've been giving the CCrane radio positive comments. That radio is actually the Redsun RP300 radio.

[Tom Welch]

Here's the Redsun version: http://cgi.ebay.com/RP300-DIGITAL-PLL-AM-FM-SHORTWAVE-REDSUN-POCKET-RADIO_W0QQitemZ370090821133QQcmdZViewItemQQptZShortwave_Radios?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

[Ed]

Like I said, I haven't actually used a CCrane, it just appears to be a good buy for 50 bucks. Can't recommend the sony 7600gr, it is not good for extended listening and battery life is poor.