Grundig G6 Aviator AM/FM, aircraft band and Shortwave Radio, Black

Binding: Electronics
ASIN: B0014T5UM4
Manufacturer: Eton
Average Customer Review: (From 2 total reviews)
List Price: ~~$120.00~~
Amazon Price: $89.99 (5 new 1 used available)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours (Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping)

Price is accurate as of the date/time indicated. Prices and product availability are subject to change. Any price displayed on the Amazon web site at the time of purchase will govern the sale of this product.

Features

AM (520-1710 KHz), FM (87.5-108 MHz), Aircraft Band (117-137 MHz), LW (150 KHz - 510 KHz) and Shortwave (1711-30000 KHz)
Set 9/10 KHz AM tuning; set FM tuning range
Single Side Band (SSB)
Dual conversion (1st IF - 55.845KHz, 2nd IF - 450KHz)
Digital tuning with digital frequency readout (LCD)

Accessories

Editorial Reviews

Product Description:
portable AM/FM/aircraft band/shortwave radio * numeric keypad for direct station entry * stores up to 700 stations with 4-character station naming * international digital clock with 3 programmable alarms * protective carrying pouch *

Customer Reviews

Preliminary Look See by John N. Schear
Another reviewer went into some absolutely wonderful details. I have little such knowledge; however, this is one awesome little radio. As shipped, the AM and FM bands are almost Bose quality without the super base. I can pickup every station in our area and then some quite a distance from here on the AM and FM dial.

Unfortunately, I am not in a position to discuss the shortwave band. Grundig does not include an antenna for that band. It does not make sense to me why they did not. To me it would appear that for such a well made anc almost complete product an antenna would be shipped with it. It is like ordering sattelite TV service and then when all has been complete you are told “oh by the way, you need to buy and install a dish antenna.” Additionally, included in the package is a set of earbud speakers. That’s great. But, if you wanted to store them in the well made carrying case, you would have no room for such storage. A minor modification in the pouch could accomodate the buds and other small pieces. I found it strange that the instructions were larger in size than the pouch and the unit. This voids your ability to carry the instructions with you unless you have an additional pouch of a different size to carry them.

Please keep in mind that this is a preliminary look see at the unit. So far this is a unit that I would recommend your buying even with the short commings mentioned above. After I buy an antenna and can evaluate the shortwave and get used to the multitude of bells and whistles, I will finish this.

Terrific Grundig LW/AM/FM/SW/Air-band super-portable radio! by Ann E. Revelle
This is indeed an excellent new product. It seems very well made and should last a long time if treated with care. The radio is both extremely small (almost the same size as the Kaito KA11!) and readily transportable yet the reception is still excellent on all available bands. It is certainly not a Kaito KA1103 by any means, but for its size and weight it is quite exceptional, plus it has the aircraft band frequencies (see below for further details).

I like being able to change the narrow/wide or news/music bandpass filter (?) switch in order to improve signal reception (but not really also a deep bass boost switch as indicated on the side of the radio). Using the SSB (single sideband) BFO (beat frequency oscillator) tuner is also very easy and straight forward with a key press on the front of the radio and in fine increments using the tuning dial as well. Unlike some other radios, SSB tuning is also available on the G6 on the AM band as well as on SW which is a very useful feature. The separate ability to step tune in very small increments with the jog dial setting is also excellent in my opinion once a signal of interest has been located. The unit also has an attached 20 inch telescopic antenna as well as an external antenna jack which is especially nice for receiving the weaker FM/SW/Aircraft band stations as well as an earphone jack for private listening (including FM stereo). LW and MW (AM) stations are tuned using the internal and excellent ferrite antenna coil.

I rather like the digital volume controls as well. The steps between each setting are sufficiently small that quite precise control of the volume levels can be attained, especially when using earphones which is my most common mode of operating this radio given the smallness of its speaker (but still adequate).

In addition, the Grundig manual for the G6 although too brief and lacking in some important technical details is just fine to read with no English translation problems as with the Degen (Kaito) radio manuals for the KA1102/KA1103. Degen now makes the G4, G5 and G6 for Grundig (whose designs originated from the Degen engineering brainpower from some 6 years ago now). These radios are now advertised as designed in California (by the Eton Corporation) and made in China, but to be fair Grundig has capitalized on a proven Degen/Kaito design and greatly improved on the ergonomics for using these fine radios.

The availability of the complete LW spectrum (formally from 153-279 KHz), but continuous on this radio from 150 KHz all the way to the start of the AM (MW) band at 520 KHz and of the Aircraft bands (117-137 MHz) and of the complete SW spectrum (1.711 to 29.999 MHz) on this unit is also true of the G5 as well (with the exception of the aircraft band). The Eton Corporation will soon start to advertise the availability of the complete LW band features on these new Grundig branded radios since it was originally and inadvertently overlooked by the marketers. (If you still have any doubts read the back of the radio in zoom mode on this website). The Sony ICF-SW7600GR also has the full spectrum of LW/AM(MW) and SW bands too and has advertised it all along, but that radio also lacks the aircraft band that is available on the new G6 Aviator radio. Especially for international travelers, the 10 KHz AM tuning step for N. America can also be changed to the 9 KHz step that is standard in Europe and Asia too.

One negative item is that the airband can not be automatically scanned like all of the other available bands on this radio.

The G6 even has alarms and time zone capabilities and 700 memories that can be labeled along with with multiple and very useful ways I might add to tune and store information in this very versatile, dual conversion PLL (phase locked loop) synthesized, diminutive “micro-receiver style” radio. These memories are arranged for all of the 100 pages with 7 memories to a page. Each of these 100 pages can be labeled alphanumerically in groupings to boot. The presets can also be chosen on each page randomly regardless of the band. On another website there is a discussion of some occasional small microprocessor problems when loading two adjacent presets on a single page. The radio apparently can lock up, but it is easy to unlock and simply reload the page once again with no further preset storage problems.

There is even an on-screen clock as well as the day of the week and a battery level indicator, a hold switch for locking all of the buttons as well as a separate lock switch chosen through the jog dial for the tuned frequency. There is also a very nice on screen and very detailed signal strength meter and a nice orange back-light system. The radio can also charge batteries inside the radio (sounds like the KA1102/KA1103 proven technology once again- eh?) and it even comes with a one year warranty, a slip case as well as a AC/DC adapter charger. It runs on 2 AA batteries normally while in its portable state. It even has a nice carrying strap permanently attached to the radio as well which is a nice touch given its very small size. For you collectors, there is even a Buzz Aldrin special edition version of this radio advertised on Amazon, but apparently it is not yet available (as on early May 2008).

UPDATE: May 27, 2008:

I am in Alabama on travel and I too have now experienced very significant bleeding of apparently high power am stations directly on to the aircraft band at several frequencies. As a heads up, this just goes to show that to adequately test any radio it should be done at several locations. However, I have experienced none of this am frequency bleeding at my home location in the high mountains of New Mexico for example. This suggests that the dual conversion available at two IF (intermerdiate frequencies) in this radio are not adequate in some locations to adequately block unwanted noise from the aircraft bands.

June 18, 2008 UPDATE:

Yes, as I had previously indicated above, the G6 Aviator is a PLL (Phase locked loop) dual conversion receiver with a digital display and 700 presetable memories (Information recently confirmed by Walter Hess, Technical Support Manager, EtÃ³n Corporation, 1015 Corporation Way. Palo Alto, CA 94303 USA)

Finally, I look forward very much to having the fun of using this radio for the high quality sounds of music, news and just general LW/AM(MW) broadcast band, shortwave and aircraft band listening from all over the globe for a very long time.

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