- AM/LW/FM/SW with SSB (150-30000 KHz) and VHF Aircraft band (118-137 MHz) Dual Conversion PLL Digital tuner, with digital display (LCD) showing frequency, time, sleep time and symbols for sleep timer and alarm activation
- RDS (radio data system) on FM shows frequency, call letters, artist, song title, date, messages in display when available Synchronous Detector with selectable side-band Line-in/out 700 randomly programmable memories for all frequencies
- 3.5 mm headphone input (earphones not included) Telescopic antenna for FM and SW reception Internal ferrite bar antenna for AM reception Power source: 4AA batteries (not included)
- Display Indication: Time, frequency, stereo, sleep, alarm, lock, battery, memory page, memory, time zone, week-day, wide narrow, signal strength, synchronous detector, SSB, RDS External antenna jack SW, FM, Aircraft Band
- Batteries 4 x 1.5 V (LR6, AM3, AA - batteries not included) ; 4 AA rechargeable NI-MH Dimensions: 6.614? x 4.13? x 1.1? and168 x 105 x 28 mm (W x H x D) Net weight: 345 g Accessories: owner?s manual, warranty card protective pouch, AC adapter/charger
I had high hopes for this radio, hoping that I could replace my much-used and beat up Eton E5. Sadly, this will not be the case. While the G3 adds some features such as the Aircraft band, LSB/USB switch, RDS and Sync detector (which sorta works), several important traits/features of the E5 are not carried over to the new model.
1. FM sensitivity is not as good. Several FM stations in Eugene Oregon (about 110 miles away) that are easy catches for the E5 can still be heard with the G3 but not as clearly, and with much more effort to get the antenna "just right".
2. MW (AM) sensitivity is not as good...side by side comparison on several weak AM stations that yield decent reception with the E5 are heard with more noise and hiss on the G3.
3. Ditto for LW... several aircraft beacons are heard, but with more hiss on the G3.
4. The "wide/narrow" switch does not also function as "voice/music" tone control on FM, as it does on the E5.
5. The push-buttons are NOT illuminated on the G3.
6. Tuning steps increased from 25 kHz to 50Khz on FM... not what is needed to pull in a weak DX station that is first adjacent to a strong local!
The good points:
1. The RDS functions well.
2. SSB stations are MUCH easier to tune with the G3 than the E5.
3. The Aircraft band works well, this will be great for airshows.
4. Under some conditions (stations that are not too weak) the sync detector does provide improvement. I find that I must tune 1 kHz LOW to get it to work, so there could be some alignment issues with my particular radio. The feature does not work as well as it does on my Sony ICF-SW7600GR and is not even close to the performance of my Sony ICF 2010!
5. The G3 is less likely to "overload" in strong signal areas than the E5... perhaps the sensitivity was reduced on purpose to provide better reception for city dwellers, at the expense of reducing DX capabilities.
So, I will keep my beat up old Eton E5, and use both... sad!
Update: 5/19/10 I have read several reviews/comments that seem to indicate that the sensitivity and Sync detector problems on early production units have been fixed. This model might be worth a second chance.
Buy Grundig Globe Traveler G3 Portable AM/FM/Shortwave Radio, Black - (NG3B) Now
I am a collector of radios, I have over 200 in my collection starting in the 1920's to today. Lets deal with complaint number one, the sync is bad, poor would be a better description. This discription will also apply to almost any radio under $1000.00. The SYNC on this radio performs as well as the Sony 7600GR which is not very good either. I personally have found this feature to be of dubious value.
Now to the good stuff:
The SSB feature on this radio is the best I have seen on any small portable radio. You can select either USB or LSB and it also allows fine tuning via a tuning knob. A great inprovement over the G6. The aircraft band works very well from my location ( about 10 miles from DFW airport). FM stations come in very well up and down the dial. The local AM stations come in great, even in my office building.To be fair I live and work in Dallas,Tx and there are many AM and FM stations close by.
The shortwave performance seems very good as well, on a par with My favorite portable radios the Sony 7600GR,ICF-SW100E, Grundig Yachtboy 400, DEGEN 1102 and ATS 909. The radio itself is quite small, smaller than the 7600GR. It feels like it is well made, only time will tell for sure about that. It also has RDS capability. I have not found any stations to test that feature on yet. The radio also has a line in/out connection, this is a bit unusual for a small radio.
The internal memory store is easy to use. I really like this while using the aircraft band.
All of my testing has so far been using only the built in whip antenna.
Read Best Reviews of Grundig Globe Traveler G3 Portable AM/FM/Shortwave Radio, Black - (NG3B) Here
I picked up a G3 after scouring reviews of every portable I could find in the sub-$120 price range. I wanted the radio primarily for shortwave reception as I already have plenty of ways to listen to the standard AM/FM broadcast band, although the air band was intriguing as well. For some reason reviews on all these radios tend to be highly conflicting, with many people giving 5 stars and many others griping that it's a piece of junk. Part of this I believe is varying expectations and intended uses. If you want a portable radio to listen to music your needs will be very different from somebody like myself who will spend a lot of time fiddling with the controls straining to pull in mysterious shortwave broadcasts from around the globe.
I've been using the G3 for several days now and over all I'm pleased. It's plenty sensitive, easily picking up everything I can find on my classic SX-190 tabletop. AM/FM broadcast band sensitivity seems quite good as well, at least as good as the radio in my car. Additionally, with a major airport about 30 miles away the air band picks up a lot of commercial air traffic loud and clear. It's fascinating to hear a jet fly overhead, catch the radio chatter and hop online to find what the flight is and where it's going. Tuning is continuous throughout the range from broadcast all the way through the shortwave band and the combination of direct entry, rotary encoder knob and auto scan makes tuning a snap.
Pro:
Very compact unit, clean logical layout
Nice fit & finish, feels reasonably solid and includes a padded carry pouch
SSB support, a handy feature that is absent from most portables
Good audio quality, ok so it won't rattle the windows but it provides a lot of volume for such a small package
Nice long whip antenna
Includes external antenna jacks, both line out and headphone jacks, as well as line-in which is of questionable usefulness
Wide coverage, air band is a nice touch
Capable of charging NiMH batteries internally from the AC adapter
Con:
Buttons are NOT backlit, this is a definite step back from the discontinued G5 this replaced
Volume control is digital pushbuttons, I would have preferred a real knob
No way to keep backlight on indefinitely when operating from batteries. Will stay on when on external power though
Rubbery texture feels nice but really shows finger smudges and is easily worn off edges
Table stand is a bit short, I'd prefer if it stood the radio slightly more vertical
No squelch control. To be fair I've never seen a portable with squelch but it would be nice for the air and CB bands
Clock/date settings lost when batteries are removed, minor but annoying. Station presets are retained at least
Tuning knob is a bit small, has no weight to it and has a lot of grippy bumps on the surface. A single dimple would have been easier for twirling through the band. Understandable compromise for a compact portable though.
Update: I found the lack of backlit buttons to be the biggest flaw in this otherwise excellent radio. It really makes a big difference when trying to operate it in a dark room, especially if you want to use this while camping or during a power outage or other emergency. Noticing how similar the radio looks to my friends G5 which DOES have backlit buttons, I decided to open my G3 and have a look. It turns out there are pads on the keypad PCB for three SMT LEDs and they are even wired up with the necessary resistor(s). Everything is there, they just skipped out on installing the three LEDs to save a few pennies. I had some tiny SMT white LEDs on hand so I soldered them in place, reassembled and now I have backlit buttons! The light is not terribly even but is sufficient for operating in the dark. Note that this modification is not for the faint of heart. You WILL void the warranty on your radio, and risk ruining it in the process. I used 0803 sized LEDs which are a fraction the size of a grain of rice and while soldering them you must take care not to melt the surrounding membrane keypad. DO NOT attempt unless you are experienced hand soldering tiny surface mount components and can afford a new radio if you manage to wreck this one.
Want Grundig Globe Traveler G3 Portable AM/FM/Shortwave Radio, Black - (NG3B) Discount?
Purchased the G3 from Amazon and returned the next day. On the FM band the radio was unstable: it produced an internally generated rapidly knocking/ticking sound audible in the pauses of the program audio. The sensitivity in the AM/MW band was essentially nonexistent. The synchro failed to firmly lock even on rather strong signals looked totally useless. The display is crisp and well illuminated, although the largest part of it is allocated to textual information RDS info on FM, USB/LSB/synchro etc. By comparison the clock lettering is tiny. The keypad is not illuminated. On the positive side: the SW performance is fine, on par with the venerable Degen/Kaito 1103, the SSB is better due to the USB/LSB selection with stable fine tuning. The same feature allows to suppress adjacent interference on some broadcast signals by engaging SSB and zero beating the carrier. The sound is OK. The line-in feature is useful.
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I just received this radio yesterday and consider it similar to the Sangean ATS-909x except a fraction the cost. Only slightly smaller and lighter, but very similar.
INTERNAL BATTERY CHARGER
Concerning a previous review of the internal battery charger, batteries are only charged on demand for a certain time period according to the capacity of the batteries. A previous review left the impression the user must set "a time" to charge. Instead, you simply press a button and select the capacity and the radio starts charging. Granted, I think the Sangean 909x charges constantly and this is a small short coming when compared to price. So far, a 24hr charge on 2300mah has lasted 12-24 hours. Brain, the previous review I'm commenting on, posted a follow-up stating:
---snip---
On the note of battery charging, the radio is only capable of using about 1/2 of
the batteries' capacity. Initiating a charge based on the time calculation
specified in the owner's manual could result in reduced battery life, as the
device's internal Ni-MH charger doesn't shut off automatically based on the voltage
drop heuristic used by current automatic chargers. In the case of Ni-MH, especially
in a device like this that requires a more constant, higher voltage from the
batteries, "quick" charging is better than slow charging because it allows
automatic shutoff based on full-charge voltage drop. If it were the case that the
Grundig G3 completely discharged the batteries during use, then the slow charge
would in fact be the preferable option. It is surprising that the radio doesn't...
---snip---
He might be very well correct here, but again, $100 compared to $300 for a shortwave radio in my (US) opinion, is still a minor issue. But, if you're a European where shortwave is more common, maybe spending $300 on the Sangean 909x might very well be worth the extra money?
EDITED 2011.08.05: Rechargeable NiMH Battery life seems pretty good, somewhere between one and two day almost consistent listening. Alkaline batteries always seems to last longer for me for anything that uses batteries. I prefer to use an external battery charger, however, the internal charger might be of use if I'm traveling and forget to bring a battery charger along.
BUTTONS AND FEATURES
The buttons are a little confusing. MEMO means Memory (MEM), PAGE button is commonly an ENTER button, FUNCTION buttons (F1, F2, ...) are memory buttons. The volume keys are small for commonly used buttons and placed towards the center of the keyboard versus some place easily accessible like the tuning buttons. But after scanning the manual for half a day or so and practicing some of the buttons, all the previous mentioned button issues become minor as ones memory remembers each buttons function after an hour or so. In brief, the keys aren't so differently labeled compared to a glance at the Sangean 909x and I'm sure the manufacturer could make a pink version of the G3 with Functions keys labled "Memory #1, Memory #2, ..." etc.
EDIT 2011.08.05: I'm noticing some of the frequently used button labels ever so slightly wearing.
The biggest issue I'm noticing now, when entering labels for the Memory Locations, you cannot apparently modify/correct them, but have to enter each character again as the device clears the label on edit and there is no backspace key.
EDIT 2011.08.05: I keep accidentally erasing my memory stations by pressing and holding the function buttons by accident or just accidentally erasing them. Although a dumb dialog like "Are you sure you want to erase?" would help, it would also take more time to program the unit due to the dialog... and this is really just a discrepancy with the user's mind!
RECEPTION
As far as reception, I'm in Fairbanks, Alaska and am receiving all of my common AM/FM radio stations with little difference to other receivers as the transmitters are all within 5-10 miles of my location. Maybe a little louder/clearer and using a lot less electricity then my larger receivers. Matter of fact, I rarely need to use the whip antenna for the common FM stations, unlike other portables! For shortwave, AU broadcasts for a good 4-6 hours at night while JA only broadcasts 10-30 minutes a night. And, yes, I can still hear news faster then they're heard via the Internet by 2-6 hours!
EDIT 2011.08.05: I took a recent camping trip to Anchorage near the northern coast of the Pacific Ocean and easily had good S9 signals for Voice of Russia and other broadcasts using a very simple 10-20' long wire antenna made from 20(?) AWG stranded copper speaker wire with a soldered 1/8" mono jack. I then run one end from the top of the open truck window to a tree or under a rock on the ground. For home in Fairbanks, where we are behind the Denali (McKinley) Mountain range and receiving signals bouncing bouncing off the ionosphere causing fading rather then likely picking up ground signals in Anchorage, I get bouncing S5-S9 with the whip antenna indoors. I recently put up a simple ~80' long wire antenna on the exterior, 10-20' in height with a simple choke balun and now get solid S9 signals for Radio Australia, NHK Japan, and Voice of Russia. With this long wire antenna, I need to turn off DX and sometimes even use the narrow signal switch to prevent other signals from interfering. Many more weaker broadcasts throughout the Pacific Rim can be auto-tuned and also heard. I'm finding out I can't get Europe broadcasts (just across the northern pole) due to the aura. I've only used this receiver so far during Summer, day time with 2-4 hours of dusk at night time. I'll check back in later to document my experience with Winter, 18 hours of darkness and when I can see there's little aura activity.
CLOCK
GMT versus Local timezone, this receiver only provides one clock with no daylight time savings mode. Since almost all stations publish their schedules using GMT, and I'm on DTS, I need to convert to GMT by first calculating -8 hours, plus -1 hours for the additional DTS hour. Nor can I simply modify the timezone from Local to GMT while on DTS. This is a small issue to work around if you infrequently listen to shortwave. So I just program the receiver to use GMT time, and later I just might put two clocks on the wall.
WHY SHORTWAVE STILL?
The great thing about Shortwave stations, unlike other transmission methods, no commercials except for Government propaganda -ie. NK. I'm guessing this is partly due to the time and effort it takes to write a page in HTML. Verbally just stating something, whether live or recorded, seems still just easier for now.
UPDATE and Defects Found:
2012.04.25 After using this radio for awhile, there are one or two really irritating flaws. One, when turning on the radio with the power button, the "lock button" might be inadvertently activated, by either accidentally pressing the lock button instead, or just by pressing the power-on button. Using the alarms to automatically turn the unit on at a specific time to a specific shortwave station, does turn the unit on, but the volume setting conflicts with the default volume of the unit producing an abnormally loud setting when the alarm or default setting is used. If you plan on using the Alarm feature to automatically tune and power on to your favorite shortwave radio show, you might want to consider another unit, or this unit with a possible updated firmware fix. (Contact the manufacturer for specifics as I haven't tried this option yet.) Again, for the price, this shortwave capable portable radio still seems to be a good radio for the price!
