• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

What are you listening on?

M

musicrrrr

Guest
Hey Gang,

Thought this might be intersting...Many of us have radios that are "smarter than the average bear..." meaning our radios are a step above the $29.99 Wal-Mart Special.

I recently purchased The "Grundig S350" AM/FM/SHORTWAVE Radio from Circuit City. It cost me $99.99.

It features:

Alarm
Clock
AM/FM/SW1/SW2/SW3
Digital Signal Strength Indicator
Digital Frequency Readout
LCD Display
Fast & Slow Tuning Knob
Reset Button
AM/SW Gain Knob (For Fine Tuning)
Bass And Treble Knobs
Telescopic Antenna
Carrying Handle w/ Shoulder Strap
AC/DC
FM/AM Antenna Jacks (Separate)

I distinctly appreciate the Bandwidth Selector, as it features both and Wide and Narrow Band for tuning AM/Shortwave (MW) Stations. The Narrow Band is for "normal" AM tuning, but the WIDE band is a great feature because it makes AM stations sound close to FM. I live on the Bucks/Montgomery County Line and I am able to listen to WBUD from Trenton, and in my opinion the sound quality is awesome.

The drawback from the WIDE band is the potential for high end noise from farther away stations, but with the correct antenna or by placing the radio in the right position, that potential can be eliminated. Also, the FINE TUNING GAIN knob helps with this problem.

Another feature of this radio is the ability to listen to sideband. For example on AM, most radios would increase frequencies in increments of 10. For example, 610,620,630, etc. But this radio increases AM and FM frequencies in increments of 1. I don't fully understand why this occurs, but I know that sometimes when I listen to WNTP, if I tune it to 991 instead of 990, the station actually sounds more clear. Can anyone explain this?

I never would have bought it except for the fact that there are stations far away that I enjoy, and I have had problems receiving them on normal radios. But at night, I can now listen to 1520 WKBW from Buffalo, NY in my home and the quality is outstanding.

Anyone else have a superior radio? I think I made a good choice with this model...but maybe someone else has a different kind of radio that they recommend.

Any thoughts?
 
Your post caught my attention since I use the same Grundig model. Likewise, I enjoy the narrow and wide band selection. Bought mine at Radio Shack. I had used a cheaper model, but the shortwave section was not that great. This model does the job.

But something interesting is getting my attention at night. When in the kitchen cooking or cleaning up (that takes longer than the actual cooking!) I listen to 'KB and the Saturday night WABC oldies show using an old GE 15 transistor radio that my paents gave me for Christmas in 1965. The sound quality on AM is fantastic. Back in those days, the emphasis was on the AM section on the better portable radios. For KYW, 860 the FAN or WDEL, the Grundig works wonders. But for music on AM, I find my oldest radio is the best. It seems strange these days to be listening to music on WABC on the same radio I listened to it on 40 years ago!

> Hey Gang,
>
> Thought this might be intersting...Many of us have radios
> that are "smarter than the average bear..." meaning our
> radios are a step above the $29.99 Wal-Mart Special.
>
> I recently purchased The "Grundig S350" AM/FM/SHORTWAVE
> Radio from Circuit City. It cost me $99.99.
>
> It features:
>
> Alarm
> Clock
> AM/FM/SW1/SW2/SW3
> Digital Signal Strength Indicator
> Digital Frequency Readout
> LCD Display
> Fast & Slow Tuning Knob
> Reset Button
> AM/SW Gain Knob (For Fine Tuning)
> Bass And Treble Knobs
> Telescopic Antenna
> Carrying Handle w/ Shoulder Strap
> AC/DC
> FM/AM Antenna Jacks (Separate)
>
> I distinctly appreciate the Bandwidth Selector, as it
> features both and Wide and Narrow Band for tuning
> AM/Shortwave (MW) Stations. The Narrow Band is for "normal"
> AM tuning, but the WIDE band is a great feature because it
> makes AM stations sound close to FM. I live on the
> Bucks/Montgomery County Line and I am able to listen to WBUD
> from Trenton, and in my opinion the sound quality is
> awesome.
>
> The drawback from the WIDE band is the potential for high
> end noise from farther away stations, but with the correct
> antenna or by placing the radio in the right position, that
> potential can be eliminated. Also, the FINE TUNING GAIN
> knob helps with this problem.
>
> Another feature of this radio is the ability to listen to
> sideband. For example on AM, most radios would increase
> frequencies in increments of 10. For example, 610,620,630,
> etc. But this radio increases AM and FM frequencies in
> increments of 1. I don't fully understand why this occurs,
> but I know that sometimes when I listen to WNTP, if I tune
> it to 991 instead of 990, the station actually sounds more
> clear. Can anyone explain this?
>
> I never would have bought it except for the fact that there
> are stations far away that I enjoy, and I have had problems
> receiving them on normal radios. But at night, I can now
> listen to 1520 WKBW from Buffalo, NY in my home and the
> quality is outstanding.
>
> Anyone else have a superior radio? I think I made a good
> choice with this model...but maybe someone else has a
> different kind of radio that they recommend.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
 
> I don't fully understand why this occurs,
> but I know that sometimes when I listen to WNTP, if I tune
> it to 991 instead of 990, the station actually sounds more
> clear. Can anyone explain this?
>

It may be the high end boost that the NRSC pre-emphasis produces in the audio processing. Everybody sets this differently based on their station's preferences. We run a pretty hefty upper mid-range/presence band on WNTP, but at the same time we cut the audio response at 6Khz, rather than the normal 10khz. Reason for this is that there are practically no radios out there that can receive high audio frequencies, so why transmit it? The other side of the equation is that by filtering out everything over 6khz we can modulate what is below 6khz to a higher percentage.

Perhaps it is a combination of the two that is causing the effect in your radio?

Rene' Tetro
Chief Engineer
WNTP-WFIL
Philadelphia, PA
 
> Hey Gang,
>
> Thought this might be intersting...Many of us have radios
> that are "smarter than the average bear..." meaning our
> radios are a step above the $29.99 Wal-Mart Special.
>
> I recently purchased The "Grundig S350" AM/FM/SHORTWAVE
> Radio from Circuit City. It cost me $99.99.

My two personal favorites: GE Superadio 3 with AM Wideband for Saturday nights on WABC, and my Chrysler AM Stereo/FM Stereo tape deck for when I feel like KB 1520.<P ID="signature">______________

AOL IM: wnjoldies or jamminoldies105
CBS-FM lives at http://67.83.118.54:8010
Oldies Board co-moderator</P>
 
> Another feature of this radio is the ability to listen to
> sideband. For example on AM, most radios would increase
> frequencies in increments of 10. For example, 610,620,630,
> etc. But this radio increases AM and FM frequencies in
> increments of 1. I don't fully understand why this occurs,
> but I know that sometimes when I listen to WNTP, if I tune
> it to 991 instead of 990, the station actually sounds more
> clear. Can anyone explain this?

Does this work for other stations too? Your digital readout might be off by a little.

The S350 has a digital readout, but it doesn't have "digital tuning". When you spin the dial, you're not actually going up in increments of 1. You're tuning continuously across the spectrum like any analog radio does. The digital readout is an estimate, and it might be slightly off, just like the slider on your analog radio might not exactly line up with 99 when you're listening to WNTP.

> Anyone else have a superior radio? I think I made a good
> choice with this model...but maybe someone else has a
> different kind of radio that they recommend.

I've read mostly good things about the S350. Was considering getting one myself, but I think I'm too addicted to real digital tuning with presets.
 
I have a Grundig YB-400PE and an Eton E100. I recently bought the E100 this summer. I listen to it as much as "normal" people listen to their iPods, since it is very small, and it gets one of the only stations worth listening to, WWPH 107.9 FM, in a 5 mile radius (it's 10 watts). I wish consumer-grade radios were better, since I got a boombox recently, and 2 strong stations overload it all over the dial. With my Eton E100, I can listen to 40 dBu stations like they are locals.<P ID="signature">______________
17-year-old radio geek
Location: Princeton Junction, NJ
AIM: KewlDude471
WWPH 107.9 FM: http://wwph1079fm.no-ip.org</P>
 
I still stick with my GE Superadio 2, and my Sony SRF M40W walkman!!!!



Your post caught my attention since I use the same Grundig
> model. Likewise, I enjoy the narrow and wide band
> selection. Bought mine at Radio Shack. I had used a cheaper
> model, but the shortwave section was not that great. This
> model does the job.
>
> But something interesting is getting my attention at night.
> When in the kitchen cooking or cleaning up (that takes
> longer than the actual cooking!) I listen to 'KB and the
> Saturday night WABC oldies show using an old GE 15
> transistor radio that my paents gave me for Christmas in
> 1965. The sound quality on AM is fantastic. Back in those
> days, the emphasis was on the AM section on the better
> portable radios. For KYW, 860 the FAN or WDEL, the Grundig
> works wonders. But for music on AM, I find my oldest radio
> is the best. It seems strange these days to be listening to
> music on WABC on the same radio I listened to it on 40 years
> ago!
>
> > Hey Gang,
> >
> > Thought this might be intersting...Many of us have radios
> > that are "smarter than the average bear..." meaning our
> > radios are a step above the $29.99 Wal-Mart Special.
> >
> > I recently purchased The "Grundig S350" AM/FM/SHORTWAVE
> > Radio from Circuit City. It cost me $99.99.
> >
> > It features:
> >
> > Alarm
> > Clock
> > AM/FM/SW1/SW2/SW3
> > Digital Signal Strength Indicator
> > Digital Frequency Readout
> > LCD Display
> > Fast & Slow Tuning Knob
> > Reset Button
> > AM/SW Gain Knob (For Fine Tuning)
> > Bass And Treble Knobs
> > Telescopic Antenna
> > Carrying Handle w/ Shoulder Strap
> > AC/DC
> > FM/AM Antenna Jacks (Separate)
> >
> > I distinctly appreciate the Bandwidth Selector, as it
> > features both and Wide and Narrow Band for tuning
> > AM/Shortwave (MW) Stations. The Narrow Band is for
> "normal"
> > AM tuning, but the WIDE band is a great feature because it
>
> > makes AM stations sound close to FM. I live on the
> > Bucks/Montgomery County Line and I am able to listen to
> WBUD
> > from Trenton, and in my opinion the sound quality is
> > awesome.
> >
> > The drawback from the WIDE band is the potential for high
> > end noise from farther away stations, but with the correct
>
> > antenna or by placing the radio in the right position,
> that
> > potential can be eliminated. Also, the FINE TUNING GAIN
> > knob helps with this problem.
> >
> > Another feature of this radio is the ability to listen to
> > sideband. For example on AM, most radios would increase
> > frequencies in increments of 10. For example,
> 610,620,630,
> > etc. But this radio increases AM and FM frequencies in
> > increments of 1. I don't fully understand why this
> occurs,
> > but I know that sometimes when I listen to WNTP, if I tune
>
> > it to 991 instead of 990, the station actually sounds more
>
> > clear. Can anyone explain this?
> >
> > I never would have bought it except for the fact that
> there
> > are stations far away that I enjoy, and I have had
> problems
> > receiving them on normal radios. But at night, I can now
> > listen to 1520 WKBW from Buffalo, NY in my home and the
> > quality is outstanding.
> >
> > Anyone else have a superior radio? I think I made a good
> > choice with this model...but maybe someone else has a
> > different kind of radio that they recommend.
> >
> > Any thoughts?
> >
>
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom