Scooby Compares the Eton S350 DL to the Tecsun R308

"Scooby 214" was kind enough to provide the following comparison between the Eton S350 DL and the Tecsun R308:

I've been following your radio posts for a while, and thought I'd share my thoughts on the R308 vs the S350DL. The AM on the S350 may be slightly better than the R308, but it's a close call. The R308 doesn't have X-Band AM coverage, and it's definitely easier to find AM stations using the S350DL's digital display. The tuning scale on the r308 is more accurate on FM than AM.

On the FM, however, the R308 runs circles around the s350DL! I bought it to receive a 35KW station (30 miles away from me)that is sandwiched between local stations on second adjacent channels. The S350DL can usually get this channel without trouble, but the R308 gets it in even better. The R308 is the only radio that I own that can get in a distant rimshot 105.3 (0.93KW) over the local 104.9HD signal that is only one mile away from my house! I can have found stations at 89.7, 92.1, and 105.5 that can't be heard at all on the s350DL, while they are fairly clear on the R308. Even my Sangean, my BA Recepter, and my Degen DE1102 don't perform as well on FM as the R308.

This radio really surprised me, so I purchased a second one from dpmega ($32.90 shipped).

Thanks for your frequent radio posts. Glad to hear that there are plenty of other radio addicts around!

Comments

[huesby]

Way to go Scooby !...100% agree with you.

[huesby]

Nice radio...Ebay item 350346952840

[scooby214]

I've had the R-308 for well over a year now, and have found it to hold up well. The radio is very gentle on batteries. It still has its first set! It gets used outside when I am tinkering around on my old car, as I certainly don't want to get grease on my vintage sets.

The R-308 was certainly worth the $32.50 or so I spent on it back in 2008.

Brian

[Radio Russ]

I use my R-308 a lot nowadays. I listen to audio books with it using my CCrane FM XMTR and a small MP3 player. There's something about the sound that is very "comfortable". It does FM music very well and has a perfect sound for audio books and talk radio with the versatile tone control. It is frequently left on all night if I fall asleep listening. The batteries seem like they will last forever.

It's hard to beat what you get for the price. It's not built like an old Panasonic but it's still pretty good by today's standards.

[Michigan Radio Addict]

I've got both of these radios as well, and while I didn't see that large of a difference on FM between the R-308 and the S350DL, Scooby is basically right on.

Got the R-308 as a cheap radio for work. My office is where radio signals go to die, and I'd tried several different radios in there.

I'd been using a Degen DE1103 and then a Tecsun 9700DX. They both got good reception, and the sound on the 9700DX was better than on the DE1103, but I wanted something with a fuller sound, and I didn't want to pay for another S350DL, so I gave the R-308 a try.

Had it for six months, and it's been great. Sound and reception are both very good, and battery life is excellent.

Build quality is fair-to-middling, and the FM antenna doesn't swivel or rotate, so you have to flip out the back panel and rotate the radio for FM reception.

But, as Scooby said, you can get the thing for less than $35 including shipping; at that price, it's a very good deal.