ETON G5 AM/FM/Shortwave Portable Radio with SSB (Single Side Band)

• AM (520 KHZ-1710 KHz)/FM-stereo (87.5 MHz- 108 MHz), LW (150 KHz - 510 KHz) and Shortwave (1711-29999 KHz) Single Side Band (SSB); Digital Phase Lock Loop (PLL) dual conversion
• Digital Display world-band radio
• Station name input features allow a 4-character input of the stations call letters
• Synthesized tuning system with digital tuning methods including Auto-Scan, Manual-Scan, Direct Key-in and Manual Tuning
• 700 programmable memory presets

I have had this radio for about a week now..

the instruction booklet is a little skimpy and setup can be confusing, however this is a fine radio.

FM selectivity is good, and quality through earphones is excellent, on SW the SSB feature is necessary to listen to HAM radio..its just a shame its not synchronous sideband detection..you must fine tune to select USB or LSB...Other than that the sensitivity is good, my only conclusion is that its not as good as my Satellit 800, but its also 1/20 the size and < 1/2 price.

There is a nifty "time zone" feature that allows the traveller to easily select which time zone he is in..the glaring omission however is that while GMT can be set (=UTC or world time and the basis for SW radio) all time zones are simply linked directly to GMT..or put it another way, there is zero capability to deal with any summer time...you need to muck about faking a time zone for BST, EDT or whatever.. this is a silly error.

The feel of the slightly rubberized surface is excellent, as is the display lighting and three methods of tune .. a rotary know (thankfully), seek, and direct frequency input.

If you are looking for a decent portable radio with SW, packed with the necessary features for enjoyable listening and without unnecessary frills, i cannot think of a better buy.

Buy ETON G5 AM/FM/Shortwave Portable Radio with SSB (Single Side Band) Now

Extremely nice, easily configured potable radio. AM broadcast band and FM performance is exceptionally good. SSB (Single Side Band) although BFO tuned, is very good. Shortwave performance is on par with radios in the $300.00 price class. Display back lighting is great and the display is easily read. Although a bit more expensive than the Sony ICF-SW7600GR, and does not offer synchronous detection, it is worth the price.

Note: Some offerings includ ear buds, travel case and roll-up antenna some do not. The manual indicates these are are included although that is not always the case.

Read Best Reviews of ETON G5 AM/FM/Shortwave Portable Radio with SSB (Single Side Band) Here

The Grundig G5 is a fine performing world band radio. It just isn't worth the price IMO. I also own the Kaito KA1102, and Sony ICF-SW7600GR. The Kaito costs 1/2 the price and performs equally as well. IMO, the KA1102 is the best deal in world band receivers. It's not quite as easy to use as the G5, and the sound isn't quite as good, but it is a much better value. The Sony costs slightly less than the Grundig, but performs equally as well on AM, and beats the Grundig on SSB. Mainly due to its synchronous detection circuitry. The one thing I like about the Grundig over the Sony is the fact you can charge the batteries in the radio. You can also do this with the Kaito. You can't do that with the Sony, and it also doesn't include the AC adapter. All in all, you can go wrong with any of these 3 radios. But I can't see paying twice as much for it over the Kaito, and the Sony is a slightly better performing radio, that costs slightly less.

04/2010 Update:

Wow. Since my review from 2008, the price of this radio has dropped from $140, to under $90. At this price, it is a great bargain. It's easily a 5 star radio at it's current price.

Want ETON G5 AM/FM/Shortwave Portable Radio with SSB (Single Side Band) Discount?

This radio is good it has the continous 150 to 29999 kHz with no boundries. The AM and FM reception is superb, but LW and SW bands are medrocre. The LW band is fair to poor you would need a tunable loop antenna that covers 150 kHz to 520 kHz to pull in distant LW stations. The AM band is real good and the selectivity and sensitvity is good and well performing. The shortwave bands are fair to poor unless you use a external wire antenna with the G5. I could not pick weak signals, I hope I can get mine fixed. Please be careful not to use the radio in areas with high static electricity. When used with a Active Antenna or long wire antenna use an attenuator or preselector with this radio. There is a good line out jack on the right side so you can connect your radio to a stereo system or minidisc recorder to record your favorite shortwave radio programs. The radio requires 4 AA batteries, and sometimes it needs reset, the good thing is that the "reset" feature does not erase your preset memories even when the batteries are taken out. The SSB reception is very good if the reception was better.

This radio is a great shortwave portable when used with low gain active antennas and not so

big wire antennas. This radio is recommended for FM and AM DXing as well as shortwave radio

broadcast DXing.

This radio requires a special AC adapter that is 8 volts, and does not require more or less than that.

This is my first shortwave radio. I'm very pleased with it. Have had it about a month and use it daily for about an hour. Original set of Duracell alkaline batteries are still good. Good reception on all the local AM and FM stations. I am 20 to 40 miles away from the transmitters. I pick up many shortwave stations from inside my home using just the telescopic antenna. Routinely listen to Radio Romania, Radio Havana, China Radio Intl. Have also received broadcasts from Vietnam, Egypt and Africa. Get a lot a spanish speaking stations but I do not speak the language. I have no other shortwave experience but I would not hesitate to purchhase this radio again or to recommend it. I use it exclusively with headphones so I can't comment on the speakers. Clock and time zone were easily set. The page memory system is very easy to use once you try it a couple of times.