Best SW radio for under 100 bucks

[Mid West Clubber]

In your opinoion whats the best.

 

[LibertyNT]

Eton s350DL is a pretty good portable. AM FM and Entire Shortwave Band.
$99 at Radioshack.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Thnks... I have a grundig G8 2,, I was told that it isnt a good radio in the Urban areas because it likes to pick up AM Images, but I live in a rural area, and I can pick up all kinds of stuff especially at night between 8 to midnight.

 

[pqgeorge]

Thnks... I have a grundig G8 2,, I was told that it isnt a good radio in the Urban areas because it likes to pick up AM Images, but I live in a rural area, and I can pick up all kinds of stuff especially at night between 8 to midnight.

I have a ten year old Grundig YB305. I got it for a song from a friend of mine. It goes everywhere with me and has traveled the country with me many times over (from Maine, to Florida to California and everywhere else in between). This little baby, while it lacks on FM selectivity, it does do well on both shortwave, covering 2330-21850 kHz and on the standard AM broadcast band (530-1700 kHz). It's very good on batteries (2 x 1.5V, C cells). In a pinch, you can carefully use 2 "AA"'s in the same compartment, provided you pack a few items to fill it in. Some of these radios are still available on E-bay. I'm sure you can find it for about $30-$50 somewhere. The only drawback is that there is no BFO for SSB. But for a nice little travel radio, it's pretty good. With a set of ear buds, you can enjoy FM Stereo as well. Check it out.

73,

Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
Whitman, Massachusetts

 

[Mid West Clubber]

i dont know the ends and outs of SW just yet,, I had a radio shack 40 dollar radio first, and it had different frequencies listed than im used to, So I traded it in for a grundig g8 2,, which for 50 bucks you really cant beat it,, and the FM is good for a portable radio,, it may not be like a car radio, but I can plug a tape deck into the headphones and have SW in my car, which i do at times.

 

[crainbebo]

The S350DL isn't good at all. AM has images, FM has images even covering semi-locals, and SW has images.

-crainbebo

 

[audioguy]

So far I'm pretty happy with my Tecsun PL-310. The small speaker doesn't render high fidelity audio, but it is sensitive and selective on both AM, SW, and FM.

One thing I'm going to have to investigate further is a certain "choppiness" to the AGC on AM. I wasn't expecting that. Otherwise, pretty good for about $60.

 

[ddsparxx]

Does anybody know how the PL-310 compares with the G8, perhaps having the same RF front end? The PL-310 isn't available anywhere, not even at Amazon, except maybe Ebay.

 

[BRNout]

The S350DL isn't good at all. AM has images, FM has images even covering semi-locals, and SW has images.

I totally agree. The S350DL is fun to play with, but it's not a dxing machine (despite some of the reviews you may read about it). The FM has weak selectivity and isn't particularly sensitive. Basically, I use it for general radio listening; dxing with it is akin to playing basketball with one hand tied behind your back.

Does anybody know how the PL-310 compares with the G8, perhaps having the same RF front end? The PL-310 isn't available anywhere, not even at Amazon, except maybe Ebay.

The PL-310 is a little more sensitive on FM and AM and is a lot more sensitive on LW (for what it's worth) than the G8. Excellent little radio for dxing. Available only through Ebay from China. I'd recommend the seller named anonco, who has an excellent reputation.