Eton Grundig Satellit 750 Ultimate AM/FM Radio

What can I say. It is as advertised. Works kinda great, looks good and sounds good. However, ......There are some disappointments with this radio. First, it isn't as sensitive as a scanner for starters. For example on the Air Band, and using the same Antenna, I can pick-up Trinidad Air Traffic Control from Barbados (there is a Repeater around somewhere) at S5 on my Uniden BC355C, the BC75XLT and the Whistler WS1025. On the 750, can hear the Air Traffic, not ATC.Prior to receiving the 750 I built an elaborate long wire antenna. It worked when I connected it, but only on certain bands, so it was back to the drawing board. Messed around a bit and came up with one that worked better. No noise and very good signal strength on the established million watt output Stations like Radio Havana, China Radio International etc. However, on the lower powered Transmitters like Ham Radio Stations (7/14 /21 MHz) and Aeronautical Stations on 5.598 6.628 8.825 13.306 17.952 the signal strength still isn't as good as hoped for. I bought the radio to listen specifically to the Aeronautical Stations.Anyway, I ended up with three Antennas connected to a Coaxial Antenna Switch, see Link below. They are cut at Quarter Wavelength.The first is 35 feet which will cover the lower end frequency of 6 MHz. This length is also resonant at 13 MHz, as 35 feet is Half Wavelength.The second is 26 feet and covers 8 MHz. This length is also resonant at 18 MHz, as 26 feet is Half Wavelength.The third is 17 feet which will cover 13 MHz. This length is also resonant at 27 MHz, as 17 feet is also Half Wavelength. So the three Antennas together would cover as low as 5 MHz, all the way through 17 MHz and 27/28 MHz is you want to listen to CB'ers and Hams. But this will only work conveniently if you have the Switcher.It should be noted that the lengths mentioned are actually doubled, as one length is connected to the Centre Core of the Coax Feeder Cable and the other to the shield (Dipole). So the Antenna for 6 MHz is actually 70' long, 52' & 34' respectively.The 750 will suffice in most situations I guess, but I think if you are looking for top quality reception you should try purchasing a Ham rig if you are allowed to, or spend a few more bucks and try the Icom R75 General Coverage Receiver. There is a Link below. If I get my 750 sold, I will get a R75. Things can't get worse, hopefully.As for the Antennas, you can use 14 - 18 gauge speaker wire which should be easy to find. If however you can find something more sturdy, like 14 AWG electrical wire, use it. The speaker wire is going to stretch under it's own weight, and without doubt the copper strands will break and you won't even know it. You'll just see the Antenna getting longer and longer. No, I'm not speaking from personal experience. Okay, so I'm a liar, shoot me!The Antennas should be fed to the Receiver/Coaxial Switcher by 50 ohm coax cable. Keep the cable as short as you can.The AM & FM Bands work fine.Happy DXing.RCA AH18100N 100 feet 18-Gauge Speaker WireRca AH14100SR 14-Gauge Speaker Wire (100 feet)1Workman CX-3 3 Position COAX Antenna SWITCH 1000 W - CB / Ham Radio w/ 3 Foot Jumper!Icom R75 HF Radio ScannerUPDATE: 7 April 2016As mentioned above, wasn't all that happy with the reception quality I was getting on the Aeronautical frequencies, so I went and bought a Dipole Antenna used by Hams, as well as a Receiver also used by Hams. The radio, Alinco DX-R8T, is just about the same as a Transceiver model that they make, only with the Transmit circuitry removed, so the Receive specifications are the same. So I went from a $284 Grundig to a $460 Alinco. Actually with Air Freight, Customs Duty and a 13.8v Power Supply, it ended up around $770.00With the two radios side by side and on the same Antenna, I am yet to hear a difference. Signal strengths are the same, readability the same. The Grundig is actually quieter when there is no signal, there is a lot less "white" noise. Guess the Grundig is better than I thought.Anyone looking to buy an Alinco? :-)

I'm an amateur radio operator, and most of my radio equipment is on the higher end. Unfortunately my "radio shack" is on the other side of my house and I was looking for a tabletop radio for my bedside. I didn't want to spend a fortune on a high end receiver since I would be mainly using it to fall asleep at night. The Grundig Satellit 750 has been around now for almost 6 years, and in that time has gotten many mixed reviews. Recently though, the reviews have been getting better mainly due to better quality control, and the street price has dropped from $300, to under $250. I decided to give the radio a shot, and ordered one. I was pleasantly surprised. Out of the box, the radio seemed very well built despite being made of mainly all plastic, but this is fine for this price range. My radio has a build date of July, 2013. The radio doesn't have any of the quality control problems such has loose knobs or broken buttons that some people report. The tuning knob has some nice weight and feel to it. I believe this is an improvement over early 750's. The included manual is terrible. It fact it's so bad and small, it's funny. Luckily the radio is simple to operate, and I didn't need it for anything other than figuring out how to store memory channels. I was up and running just using the stock telescopic whip antenna in minutes. The AM(MW) and FM bands sound good. I was able to do some MW DXing with the radio's rotating built-in AM antenna. The Aircraft band works pretty well with the built-in telescopic whip. I live by 3 major airports, so I had no problem picking up many transmissions. I did not notice any overload in the band too, which was a nice surprise. On the SW and amateur HF bands, the built-in telescopic antenna is really a poor option. It was not a surprise and expected though. I was able to pick up a few strong foreign SW broadcasts in AM, but didn't hear a thing on SSB on the amateur HF bands. I decided to try a plain old piece of 10' wire I had lying around, and hooked it up to one of the radio's external antenna connections. The radio sprung to life on the HF bands. I was picking up tons of foreign SW broadcasts, and could also pull in some SSB QSO's on 40 and 75 meters. My biggest surprise was how well SSB sounded on the Grundig Satellit 750. Using the BFO Control, I was able to tune in SSB conversations perfectly. I've seen many reports stating that the 750's narrow filter is too wide for SSB, but for the most part I don't find that to be the case. The narrow filter seems to be about 4 kHz which is wider than optimal for SSB, but it works OK unless the band is really crowded with strong signals. It does a good job on both SSB, and on the AM SW bands. The wide filter seems to be about 9 kHz and provides good fidelity when conditions permit. The 750's built-in speaker is nothing special, but by adjusting the bass and treble controls, I can make the audio sound good.The radio has a couple of other features that people mind find useful. It has dual alarm clocks. An audio input for an MP3 player, etc. And a line output to connect the radio to another device.All in all, my experience with my 2013 built Grundig Satellit 750 has been nothing but positive. No, it is not in the class of my HF transceivers that I have in my radio shack, but its performance has exceeded my expectations.Update 12/2013: I've had more time to use my 750, and I'm still happy with it. A little research confirms that the "tuning knob wobble" had indeed been improved over early versions of the 750, and all the knobs are now metal instead of plastic. Also, the antenna now has a large metal cap instead of the plastic one on the early 750's. If one thing has changed from my original review, it would be that I'm really wishing both the narrow and wide filters were a little narrower. It's not enough for me to change my opinion of the radio though.