Howse About the Grundig Field Radio S450 Deluxe?

[Steve Green NEPA]

I picked up one at the local Radio Shack here yesterday. $120.

The AM is very selective ..... the FM is okay ..... and I can't get a single station on short-wave. I'm using it 'barefoot', as they say --just the unit, on wall-current. No external antennae. The way God made portable radios to operate at home.

I have 30 days to return it ; no questions asked. I was wondering if anyone aboard here has one, what their opinion is, etc.

Primarily, I'll be trying to compare it and the trusty GE Superadio II on the AM reception, nighttime and daytime. If the AM is *right there* with the GE SRII, it's a marginal keeper.
The short-wave would be a bonus. But the wee Grundig 8 Traveler's I gave to Pooch as a gift gets quite a few short wave stations in one's palm, broad daylight, while this S-450 gets none. Is this another one of those caveat-emptor rigs where certain editions of the models are swell and others are like some Lloyd's multi-band, and I got a short wave stiff?

 

[nocomradio]

I've had mine for about 6 months now and I bought it when my local Cellphone Shack was clearing them out for around $74.

As you said, AM is pretty selective and its fairly sensitive too. Coupled with an AN-200 loop, it does a respectable job. FM is dicey at best and most reviews of it reflect that as well. I can hear a local 103.1 on several adjacents. For general FM listening its OK, but not for DXing. I also read that the wall wart power supply is the source of some noise too, but I've always run my unit on batteries, so I can't say for sure on that. Disabling the lighted keypad and audible beeps along with the LCD backlight makes the batteries go a long way. I am still on the original set I installed when I bought it.

Shortwave is OK, but you need and external antenna. I can pick up the usual WWCR and WWV and a few other powerful stations barefoot, but with out a BFO, there isn't any ability to do sideband stuff, so the SW function is just a novelty in that radio to me.

Overall its a decent radio for general use, but the Superadio is still a much more selective and useful radio in my opinion even if it has no SW.

I have a Grundig G3 that will give this larger Grundig a run for the money with all the catches I've had on it.