- FM/MW/SW/LW Auto/manual tuning Auto Tuning Storage (ATS) function Digital tuning with digital frequency readout
- Snooze/light Key lock function Input for earphones DC jack - 6V Dimensions: 6.625? x 4.125? x 1.125? and16.8 x 10.5 x 2.8 cm (W x H x D)
- Weight: 12.2 oz. and 346 g Accessories: owner?s manual, warranty card Specifications subject to change.
I wanted a shortwave radio small enough to carry around and not too expensive--somewhere in between the $20 toys and the $100+ serious boys. Well, this is it. It's not perfect, but it's reasonably powerful, has useful features, is fun to use, looks and feels good (with a matte black soft rubber finish), and comes with a handy pouch and earphones. Just what I wanted.
The display is excellent, with an orange backlit screen that's the best I've seen on any radio of this size. One click lights it up for a few seconds and a longer one keeps it on; it switches itself on briefly with a change of frequency. The information in the display is configurable and can include the following: frequency, battery strength, signal strength (in dBmicron and dB S/N), time, alarm, temperature (!), shortwave band, memory locations, and timer.
FM, SW, and AM/LW all sound good to me and are reasonably sensitive. FM pulls in a lot of stations, including the one I wanted most: KING-FM 98.1 in Seattle, which the more expensive Grundig Aviator A6 couldn't get from where I live on Vancouver Island. Ditto KOMO 1000 on AM. SW reception is good, too. Auto search only catches the strongest ones, but manual tuning gets scores more. I've heard Australia, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, Tokyo, Beijing, Moscow, Zagreb, etc. in the short time I've had it. It all depends on time and the atmosphere. At 6.30 a.m. the 31m band is packed with stations. And there's continuous coverage from 3150-21950 kHz, not just the selections that come on many shortwave radios. If only there was a setting to filter out the religious stations that come in so loud and clear. Scanning is by thumbwheel in 1 or 5 kHz steps, or by band, or by auto scanning in 5 kHz steps. Both the tuning and volume knobs move by detents.
One particularly nice touch is that the radio remembers the last station you were listening to in each waveband when you switch off. Another nice touch is that radio is silent during auto scanning. A lot of thought has gone into the user-friendliness of this little portable. Short and long button presses for different functions can be annoying, but on this radio they are sensible and intuitive.
Hidden under a front panel are buttons for setting memory locations, time, and alarm, with a recessed button for resetting the radio. There is also a large dial to set the radio to any of the world's time zones, which apparently gives the radio its name. This looks impressive, as does the world map inside the panel, but unless you're constantly changing time zones it's really just a marketing frill. I'd have preferred a direct entry keypad here instead.
The only sour note is the feeble manual, which covers the basics but has no technical information about the radio or more advanced help (such as explaining dBmicron and dB S/N). You shouldn't have to Google things like this. Some parts of the manual are poorly explained or just plain wrong, like telling you to have the radio off or on to set up a function when it means the exact opposite. I've noticed the same thing with other Grundig/Eton manuals, even on their "serious" radios like the S350DL. They really should put more effort in here.
Despite the poor manual, this is a very competent portable that is easy to use and sounds good. A larger speaker might help and there is no tone control, though neither of these noticeably compromised sound quality on the stronger stations. With these slight reservations, this radio earns 4.5 stars from me, but since that's not possible, I'm happy to give it 5.
Buy Grundig G8 Traveler II Digital AM/FM/Shortwave Radio with Auto Tuning Storage, Black - (NG8B) Now
I saw the many fine reviews on this new Grundig G8 analog unit (another Tecsun clone) and took the chance to try it out. This is in fact a modern version of the old and very popular Grundig analog Traveller II from a decade or more ago which I also owned as well. The DSP capabilities (a Digital Signal Processing circuit contained on a very small computer chip that was recently introduced by Silicon Labs in Texas) are really fine for both sensitivity and selectivity on fm. In fact they are outstanding, especially given the low price on Amazon ($50 shipped). The sw reception was ok (fair), but without any rf (radio frequency) gain controls or dual bandwidth capabilities, it is not especially good for routine or lengthy sw listening sessions in my opinion. On am it was absolutely dismal (with some small exceptions), especially for a weak government public service station that I regularly receive on all of my other numerous radios (received readily by either quite large or even by very small units like my Tecsun PL-600, the Sangean DT-400W, the Kaito KA1102, the Grundig G6 Aviator, the Tecsun PL-450, the Sony ICF-SW12, etc.).
The unit is very well made however (but the battery door for the 3 AA batteries needed is NOT attached to the radio) and I like the system that Eton/Grundig has put together for their ATS system (automatic tuning and storage of relatively strong stations on am and fm only). The orange controllable backlighting is nice as is the lock key and the very easy and intuitive time setting and alarm system, etc. The black rubberized surface on the outside of the unit is also very nice too. The easily controllable LCD display indicating the battery strength (when on) and the world or home time (along with time in numerous locations that can be determined with a very hard to turn analog wheel on the front of the unit under a concealed door that is not easily openable and has an included world map with many global locations indicatedphew!), the local air temperature, the relative signal strength expressed and regularly updated every few seconds in two systems of units, etc. is also very high quality as well. The system also tunes very nicely with a thumb wheel just above the analog volume control knob and easily (by either fast (large) or slow (small) frequency increments for full control when neededin 1 or 5 KHz steps om am or sw for example) and is controlable directly from the keyboard just as it is done on the Grundig G6 aviator radio. The volume control level is also indicated in digital increments on the LCD screen as well.
But the main purpose of a radio is for quality radio signal listening! If you are just really into fm, the G8 is fantastic and really indicates what the future radio listening will soon be like for new radios to be released here in N. America very soon (and already available in some places in China) such as the Tecsun PL-310 (the revised DSP version of the infamous Ultralite system, the Eton E100/Grundig G100/Tecsun PL-200), the Tecsun PL-330 (a vertically oriented DSP system for replacing the Grundig YB-550PE which was yet another Tecsun clone) and finally, the Tecsun PL-380 (another horizontally oriented DSP unit that I don't know much about yet). So unless you are an Ultralite affectionado or an fm listener save your money in my opinion in order to be able to get what is soon coming to the world of worldband radio (pun intended) in my opinion!
UPDATE: August 10, 2009-
I have since rechecked the am capabilities of this radio against a known government information broadcasting station (broadcasting 24 hrs/day at low power levels) and found to my surprise that the power levels have been reduced for a while and were not representative of its normal transmission state. Thus, to be completely fair, I have changed my rating for this radio according to its reception of this station (as compared to my other radios as listed above) to FAIR am capabilities. It did receive one other weak am station quite well too, but generally it did not do very well on am at my receiving location compared to what other reviewers have found. For fm station reception, it was just simply outstanding however as already noted above.
UPDATE: November 4, 2009:
I finally feel vindicated about my earlier poor review of the am capabilities of this radio. Tecsun has just released the PL-310 and PL-380 DSP am/fm/lw/sw radios. Having purchased the PL-310 I can readily say now that it is much much better than the Grundig Traveler II in all its aspects including the utilization of the full bandwidth control capabilities of the on-board DSP chip (available at the push of a button on the PL-310/380 for 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1 kHz bandwidths). These precise bandwidth controls are available on the PL-310/380 for all am/lw and sw frequencies. I will list more details on this fine new Tecsun radio shortly.
Read Best Reviews of Grundig G8 Traveler II Digital AM/FM/Shortwave Radio with Auto Tuning Storage, Black - (NG8B) Here
All reviewers have been unanimous in their praise of this Chinese-made model, but they may be unaware of the primary reason for this radio's breakthrough AM and FM selectivity. The Grundig G8 is a clone of the Tecsun PL-300WT Chinese-market model, and it contains a DSP (digital signal processing) IC chip which controls all of the AM and FM functions. This fact is not mentioned in any of the Grundig advertising, although it is common knowledge among the Ultralight Radio AM-DXing enthusiast group.
The G8's AM selectivity is in a class by itself among pocket radios, as is its FM selectivity. FM sensitivity is also outstanding, providing reception of fringe stations typically only heard on communication receivers. Although my G8 model from Amazon arrived with very good AM sensitivity, there have been variations in the AM sensitivity levels of the identical PL-300WT Chinese-market models, due to the Tecsun company's manufacturing process (specifically, their neglect in matching the inductance of the loopstick coil to the value required by a varactor in the DSP chip). Since Tecsun also manufactures all of the G8's for Grundig, this may also be an issue with these G8 models, although it's too early to tell.
Despite this, the Grundig G8 is a superlative value for both AM and FM DXers, especially with Amazon's free shipping option. This model's DSP-enhanced performance is sure to please those who enjoy fringe-station chasing on either band.
73, Gary DeBock (N7EKX)
Want Grundig G8 Traveler II Digital AM/FM/Shortwave Radio with Auto Tuning Storage, Black - (NG8B) Discount?
The previous reviewer provided a very comprehensive evaluation, which I completely agree with. This radio exudes quality.
FM band performance is amazing you can hear less powerful stations loud and clear with no interference from strong stations. AM/SW sensitivity and selectivity are very good, no interference from strong stations on AM.
I didn't have to consult the manual to set up the clock and to figure out the main functionality. Interestingly, this radio also displays room temperature in one of the display modes.
UPDATE (after 2 weeks): Still love this radio, even more so. I live in the clear view of FM transmitter tower, which results in powerful stations jamming the whole band. Previously, I had a good experience with Sangean DT-400W in getting some of the weaker stations but Grundig G8 pulls the FM stations from as far as KKIQ in Pleasanton (40 miles away) and KWMR in Point Reyes (also 40 miles) with no interference whatsoever.
Now, to the AM. I considered my Sangean DT-200 the best among my radios as does have impressive AM capabilities but Grundig G8 is no slacker either I get exactly the same performance on AM.
I didn't spend much time listening to SW yet but my spot check indicates a very solid performance.
I find myself choosing this radio more often, although, it's not the smallest among the bunch of others. The user-friendliness of its controls, quality and performance make it almost a "grail" radio. I said "almost" as my grail radio would be G8 in the form factor of Sangean DT-400W . :)
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After a few reviews I got temptation to buy Grundig 8.Finally, on my table three radio receiver: Sony ICF-EX5(my favorite)price about $230 and up, Sony ICF-SW7600GR $130-150 and Grundig G8 $67CA.
After first minute I took away EX5.It is hard to beat this Radio Monster. Between two radios GrundicG8 and SonyICF-SW7600GP was god battle. Both radios are absolutely different in their construction and have different result with AM Dxing. 610 from Seattle on Sony had more noise than G8. The G8 had been trying to illuminate noise. As result that some station like 620 KG** from Tacoma got really weak almost unreadable signal.
The Sony received still readable and loud broadcast. Some strong signal station had clear signal with little noise. Sony had plenty noise on this frequency. Like DXing machine Sony got better result than G8 in my area, but quality of reception was better on G8.
SW Band very similar on both radios. Sony has better sound quality than G8.SW on G8 is easy to operate to stitch meters.G8 and Sony have same steps that made both radios in some way very adequate each to other. FM reception on G8 is very surprising. With small whip antenna it receives good quality signal on weak stations. For example, some stations in my area are unreadable on my Super Radio. Only Sony can get this station clear and strong. G8 is good FM competition for Sony. By small tuning steps, I was able to receive weak signal from Nanaimo. My conclusion is G8 is very interesting radio receiver. It is not HI-END dxing machine but considering price, size, and quality it is good competitor for same and higher price receivers. It is interesting toy to play and discover .I would recommend this radio for people, who like comfort of tuning and quality. Without big expectations, it is great radio with reasonable result.
