Richard Berler's Early Impressions of the C.Crane EP Radio

 

 

Early impressions on the Crane EP: Daytime- Sensitivity is very similar to the Sangean PR-D5. On the lower part of the band (below perhaps 1000 KHz), it may be a hair more sensitive. The sound on narrow (labled news) is fine; not as muddied as I feared. The twin coil tuning does have an impact. That said, only a small amount of tweaking is necessary to peak signals.

There is a big bad, however: above about 1300 KHz, even on narrow, the radio is a chaotic mish mash of mixing products from our locals on 1300,1340,1370,1410,1490, and 1550. It is impossible to find some weak signals on the EP in this mess that are listenable on the PR-D5, and cleaner yet on the SONY ICF-S5W (the SONY ICF-EX5 has some hets and mixing products during the daytime around 1460 and 1560-1600) where no hets are found (except around 1620).

Both the S5W and EX5 have an image of our 890 local on 870. Below 1300, the EP is rather well behaved, and selectivity is similar to the PR-D5 (can usually hear stations 10 KHz away from a local when nulling). Below 1300, locals are on 1090,1000,960, 890, and 790. Nighttime- With the locals at reduced power (and 1370 off air), the EP does better on the 1300+ part of dial, but still cannot discern 1500,1510,1520,1530 while the PR-D5 can (with some mixing products) The S5W and EX5 hears these frequencies sharply and cleanly (their coverage ends, HOWEVER, at about 1630-1640).

The speaker is good, the dial lighting is great at night...kind of a neat retro look!

While I may keep the set, and while I still wish to test it a bit more, I can say that it isn't the magic set that I was hoping for...The SONY ICF-S5W, and from what I read, the Panasonic RF-2200 are as sensitive, more selective, and freer from hets and mixing products in an urban jungle. Further testing supports the terrible behavior of the EP above 1300 KHz in my particular urban rf environment. Below 1300 KHz, (in my particular setting) the set is quite good. I actually like the sound on narrow (similar to GRUNDIG 350 on narrow, but much better sensitivity).

The retro night light is great. I would imagine that away from the locals, i.e, maybe 5 or 10 miles out of town, the EP would be much better across the dial. In a more rural setting, I would expect this to be a real winner. The fine tuning of the twin coil is almost always best in it's default setting...users, dxer's don't have to expect the need to fiddle around with it as one tunes, even from one end of the dial to the other end (I do like knowing that it can be fiddled with, however!). The user's guide give selectivity as 6 KHz and 4 KHz, and am sensitivity as 0.2 mV!

Comments

[Doug T.]

Thanks for your review.

Any comments about FM? You mention the speaker was "good" -- is it good enough to listen to music on FM?

How was the alignment on your unit?

Based on your comments, though, I won't be rushing to replace my PR-D5. (Also, I just received earlier this week a Sony ICF-EX5 and I'm enjoying it a great deal.)

[Ken K.]

Thanks for the review. Mainly your review reminded me that I need to dig out my Sony S5W. It's sort of my forgotten radio, buried away in a corner of the garage.

For a long time it was my "beach" radio, good for daytime DX'ing at the Jersey Shore beaches when my kids were little. Now that they've grown and we hardly ever go to the beach any more, I rarely use it.

That will change for today, at least (not the beach, it's pouring rain here, just the radio). Thanks again.

[Gary]

Thanks for your review, Richard.

How close and how powerful are your locals that cause problems with the EP?

[Richard Berler]

I haven't tried fm as of yet...I'll try it out tonight. The locals are mainly (daytime) 5K's, a 10K, and a couple of 1K's. These transmitters are 4-8 miles from me. The accuracy of the dial seemed within 40 or so KHz. Noise floor is somewhat lower than the PR-D5. In a rural setting, this radio is probably outstanding.

I'm amazed that the S5W is of the same sensitivity as these sets...it's ferrite is 6.375" long.

Doug...does your EX5 have any hets or mixing products on any part of the dial, particularly daytime due to locals (are you near locals)? It's noise floor is slightly lower than the S5W. My S5W is slightly more sensitive than the EX5 (original, not the MK2), although it's closer when the EX5 has a nice lock in sync. I have mixed results here, too due to the locals. On the local on 1000 KHz, 990 is really cleaned up by sync. Above 1340, in the locals rf jungle, the sync doesn't do the job...a few miles further from the transmitters made a difference on those frequencies. The S5W is quite free of local mixing products.

[Karl in Burbank]

Above 1340! What is up there except the airport parking channel!

just kidding

[Ken K.]

(The S5W is quite free of local mixing products.)

Actually, way back in 1979 or so when I first bought my S5W (it is now my oldest radio that I bought new) my original intent was to use it as an office radio in my office building in NY City. In that urban envoirnment it was awful, all kinds of mixing and bleeding. Much worse than the Panasonic I was using at the time. In fact I returned my first one because I thought it was defective until I realized that was just the way it was.

So I brought it home, and in the relatively surburban location in Brooklyn where I was living at the time, near the water, it was terrific!

[Doug T.]

Richard --

Were there any electronic differences between the original EX5 and EX5MK2? I found this entry which only mentioned cosmetic differences:

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/sony_nsb1_nsb2fmmw_receiver_ic.html

"This is an updated version (ICF-EX5MK2) launched in early 2009 in Japan. Main differences compared to the former ICF-EX5 version : - 'Radio Nikkei' (no more 'NSB') denomination on the front panel- Updated Japanese MW stations scale- drop of TV channel denomination on FM (no more channel 1,2,3), since Japan will move on with digital TV by 2011"

I'm still evaluating my EX5MK2 -- hope to post my notes soon.

[Val]

http://www.ccrane.com//radios/am-fm-radios/ccradio-ep.aspx EP in stock

[Angelo]

Mine arrived yesterday. Haven't had a chance to even plug it in yet, but hope to play around with it on the weekend. I'm just glad to finally have it----and no L.E.D. panel to go bad!

[vimal oberoi]

I would rather wait for reviews of professionals and wait for a while so that initial bugs are taken care of.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

Regardless of their status, professional engineer, teacher, financial officer, etc., the readers of this blog never have any problems finding bugs in their radios and other electronics.

[Wayne King]

Well Jeffrey, while that may be true, i will tell you that the performance of the CRANE EP is very poor considering the hype of its performance. With dismal selectivity above 1200 KHz and severe overloading issues of locals, this is a piece of junk in my opinion. The FM is equally disappointing with only average sensitivity and selectivity and poor image rejection. I am ashamed I bought it. The best ever "bang for the buck" sets were the GE Super Radios, whcih although not perfect, blow the CRANE EP away in temrs of both sound and performance.

[Wayne King]

It just grieves me to my core that I bought the C Crane EP and that I must chime in with my disapproval.

Firstly, I’m 51 years old and have enjoyed Dxing most of my life with various radios. My favorite budget-priced radios are the GE Super Radios, which are no longer being produced. While not perfect, they provided serious “bang for the buck” in terms of both audio and RF performance. While some may dismiss the SR III as junk, (certainly that model had serious quality control issues), if you got a good one, you really got a very hot radio!

To say I am disappointed with the new C Crane EP would be an understatement! Like Richard Berler who started this thread, I live in a difficult RF environment with numerous local AM (MW) stations within a couple miles of my home. The C Crane EP’s ability to separate stations above 1200 KHz is dismal to say the very least! In fact, one local station overloads the EP so badly that it sounded like perpetual farts! I had to null the signal to reduce the signal strength to make the station listenable! The locals splatter all over the high end of the AM band. Even with precise tuning of the “Twin Coil” adjustment, the performance of this radio was positively awful in my opinion.

The EP’S FM band reception faired no better with poor sensitivity, selectivity, and lousy image rejection.

Who is C Crane trying to market this device to? One thing is for sure. The folks at C Crane are geniuses when it comes to marketing and hype. I am ashamed and embarrassed that that I bought into it. This is the LAST C. Crane product I will every purchase!

As an aside, the most satisfying budget priced radio in terms of selectivity and overall performance is my SONY ICF SW7600GR. When used with my TERK AM ADVANTAGE passive loop AM (MW) antenna, it is an extremely sensitive, and just as importantly, selective receiver. Its ability to reject images is uncanny in the urban RF jungle in which I reside. The secret is in its RF gain control. I only wish SONY would put the SONY ICF SW7600GR’s circuitry in a larger housing and attach it to a hefty 8” ferrite core antenna for AM (MW) along with a nice amplifier and speaker. That would be a stunning product!

I truly believe the days of the quality AM (MW) radio are behind us. It’s sad I know. Hold on to your old tried and true gear y’all!

Wayne

[Robin]

Wayne,

I'm sorry to read of your disappointment. Really was hoping this time we would get something that lived up to the hype.

Jackson, where are you now?
Sounds like C. Crane has fooled us again.

I wholeheartedly agree with your last paragraph above. Don't get rid of your Sonys, Panasonics, GE Superadios, Realistic TRF's, et al.

Problem is "radio lovers can't be cured" and we always hope we will find the--or another--'holy grail' out there.

[Rob]

Hello,
I read good things about the Sony ICF-38 for non-stereo listening and DX. It's far less expensive, than the EP or other products, and most people seem to be happy with it. If you want typically better quality control, it seems that the only things that are decent are the older radios, the over $130 dollar Sonys, or the very expensive Icom R-75 or Palstar R30A.