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The Grundig S350 reminds me allot of the
old Sony ICF-6500W, an analog portable radio with digital readout from the early
1980's and my first receiver with a digital readout! My memory may be failing me
but I'm pretty sure that the ICF-6500W was a single conversion IF receiver
too.
Good Features-
1.) No VCO phase noise as it's an analog
receiver.
2.) No discernable noise from digital
readout circuitry.
3.) No hash noise from included outboard
switching power supply wall wart.
4.) Excellent
audio.
5.) Has FM AGC off
position.
6.) Very Sensitive.
7.) Dual bandwidth feature, though only
moderately effective.
8.) Large internal loopstick antenna with
sharp null on AM.
9.) RF gain control.
10.) Accurate clock.
11.) Dial light that will stay on
indefinitely.
Bad Features-
1.) Made In China at near slave wages.
(personal opinion)
2.) Lousy carrying handle. (personal
opinion)
3.) Tuning
knob backlash.
4.) Poor dynamic range allows for
intermodulation on AM and SW, even with built in antennas but remedial with RF
gain control.
5.) Unstable but it is an analog receiver
and stabilizes pretty good on AM after a one hour warm up.
6.) Poor image rejection on AM and SW due
to single IF frequency. (455 kc)
7.) Whip antenna doesn't lock in place when
retracted and placed horizontal.
8.) Shafts on potentiometers are flimsy and
will probably break easily with rough handling.
9.) RF gain control potentiometer is not
linear.
Observation/Comments-
Using the whip antenna on SW the radio
is terrible. It is very unstable and much more so than on FM and AM. It is full
of images and suffers from front end overload. Geez I even had signal overload
on 31 meters at day time! As we used to say in the 1970's and 1980's a real
howling dog.
Using the whip antenna on FM the radio is
good. Mind you I haven't DXed the FM band since the 1970's (that's going to
change soon though) and I can only compare it to my only other FM radio, an old
Panasonic solid state analog from the 1970's. Sensitivity is very good and
the AGC off position allows for copy of weak adjacent signals. I was able to
copy many stations further then 75 miles from their transmitter site, many past
the fringe reception area.
Examples:
92.1 mc WFNK Perry, FL, 166 mi. 6 kw, HAAT
328 ft. Had to be intermittent tropo. and meteor/lightning ionization trail
propagation.
96.1 mc WTMP Dade City, FL, 33 mi., 2.8 kw,
HAAT 483 ft. Full quieting stereo reception.
99.9 mc WGNE Palatka, FL, 115 mi., 100 kw,
HAAT 1202 ft. Stereo
reception!
101.1 mc WJRR Cocoa Beach, FL, 75 mi., 95
kw, HAAT 1599 ft. Stereo reception!
Using the internal loopstick antenna on AM
the radio is darned good but I did hear a few weak images at
daytime. I also had a little intermodulation from nearby stations but
the RF gain control took care of it. The nearby flame throwers are 910
kc, 5 kw, 4 miles and 1010 kc, 50 kw, 6 miles.
Today I copied:
WWL 870 kc 50 kw New Orleans,
LA
WQAM 560 kc 5 kw Miami,
FL
WJCC 1700 kc 10 kw Miami Springs,
FL
WKII 1070 kc 3.1 kw (Solano) Port
Charlotte, FL
WOKV 690 kc 50 kw Jacksonville,
FL
WCNZ 1660 kc 10 kw Marco Island,
FL
All stations were at least 100 miles away
and good copy through lightning QRN.
Last night:
Some recoverable audio from Saudi
Arabia on 1521 kc but actually had to use the narrower bandwidth filter and tune
up to 1523 kc.
KOA 850 kc Denver, CO was strong like
a single hop station
KTNN 660 kc Window Rock, AZ with deep
QSB.
KSL 1160 kc, SLC, UT with deep QSB.
These day and night time catches are
comparable to my Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark V Field transceiver using my inside two
foot box loop. Note though, propagation last night was unusually
good!
BTW reception did not improve using my two
foot box loop, as far as signal strength and nulling capability. But the high Q
LC circuit that makes up the loop did removed daytime intermodulation of the two
above mentioned powerhouses and allowed me to run the RF gain control wide
open.
In my personal opinion the radio is well
worth $100 for AM and FM listening and semi serious DXing. On SW it's a dog and
should be avoided for something with modern PLL circuitry and dual IF
frequencies.
I hope that someone finds this review
useful.
KN4LF Amateur & SWL Radio History: http://www.kn4lf.com/index.htm
KN4LF MF Radio Propagation Theory Notes: http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf8.htm Florida Daily Weather Discussion Blog: http://www.kn4lf.com/flwx1.htm |
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