New Jersey is simply closer to many more shortwave stations than Oregon. I was, however, pleasantly surprised when Radio Havana came blaring through at 6 MHz.Īt home in Portland, Oregon, I’ve found shortwave reception inside my house to be very hit and miss, and mostly miss. I wasn’t hopeful, and so I wasn’t disappointed when none emerged from the ether. On Halloween night I dived into the shortwave band a little after dusk, wondering if I might encounter some pirates. I didn’t formally log the stations because I was already tucked into bed with the lights out. Keeping the gradual technique in mind, I had no problem bringing in signals from Quebec, Michigan, Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, Upstate New York and Boston. Moving from noisy Manhattan to the relative quiet – both in terms of noise and RF interference – of upper Passaic County, I enjoyed many fun DX finds. I suspect this is an artifact of the DSP-based tuner, keeping the volume more muted with a weak signal so as not to assault the listener with loud static, then gradually increasing sensitivity as needed. Leaving the radio tuned, the signal grew in volume and strength – patience paid off. Then I started clicking through frequencies more slowly, stopping when I heard a faint signal. When I first spun the dial, I was only picking up the strongest local stations. Patience Pays for DXingĪfter dark is the time for AM band DXing, and here I found the Mini’s performance curious. I also appreciate its control lock that prevents it from turning on inside my baggage, draining batteries and annoying fellow passengers. It’s not quite as convenient as the number direct-dialing keypad on my Tivdio, but the Tivdio’s buttons are stiff and make a loud click, which can annoy others around you if you’re scanning the dial wearing headphones.įor late night listening a sleep timer is a necessity, since I’m likely to drift off, sometimes to the soothing sounds of inter-station static. I also appreciate its simple thumbwheel tuning. You’re not going to disturb your neighbors, and that’s probably a good thing. Though small, the Mini’s speaker is adequate for a travel radio, with pleasing sound that’s loud enough for hotel room listening. The same could not be said of the room’s supplied clock radio. It was no problem tuning in public radio WNYC, along with college radio from NYU, Columbia University and Fordham. Taking it along for an extended trip to New York City and northern New Jersey, I was impressed at how well it pulled in FM stations inside my Midtown Manhattan hotel. That said, shortwave is more of a “nice to have” than a necessity for my travel radio, so this limitation is fine with me. Though the Mini includes shortwave, the coverage is more limited than my Tivdio, only covering two bands, from 5 – 10 MHz and 11.65 – 18 MHz. It comes with a nice nylon case to help protect it in your bag.
The radio lives up to its name, measuring up to about the same size as an iPhone SE, including a decent speaker and retractable antenna. Grundig is a venerable name in radios, and the Mini has received decent reviews, so I bit. About a month ago the Eton Mini Grundig Edition caught my attention, and at a sale price of less than $25 delivered. I’ll refer you to my YouTube review for more details.Įven so, my ears are always wandering, urging my eyes to admire other receiver suitors. In the last couple of years the Tivdio V–115 has been my choice, given its small size, AM, FM and shortwave tuning, reasonable sensitivity and ability to record air checks to a microSD card. I prefer to travel light, so said radio must also be as tiny as practical.
GRUNDIG CITY MINIRADIO PORTABLE
This means that a small portable radio is my constant traveling companion.
I especially enjoy this while traveling, touring foreign radio dials, encountering strange and distant signals. One of life’s little pleasures is tuning around the radio dial late at night before drifting off to slumber. By Paul Riismandel on Novemin AM Radio, Electronics, FM Radio, Product Review, Radio Bands, Shortwave
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