Eton E5 .......... Good for Ham Listening / Decoding?

Status
Not open for further replies.

bfeeny

Member
Joined
May 7, 2007
Messages
24
Location
Royal Palm Beach, Fl
I am interested in getting a SW Radio that I can use to listen to the HAM bands as well as other shortwave stations. I am wondering, does this radio perform well at this, and also can I use this radio with a TNC/decoder in "monitor only" mode to watch packet/rtty/etc on HF?
 

ka3jjz

Wiki Admin Emeritus
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Messages
25,361
Location
Bowie, Md.
The E5 is a nice little portable, but that's what it is - a portable. It won't cut it when things get crowded on 20m, nor really do a good job on digital (perhaps - just perhaps - the stronger stations, but when there are many stations on the band, the limits of selectivity - the ability to seperate one station from another - become apparent).

You're better off looking for a nice desktop - and with hamfest season right around the corner now, it's likely you can find a good desktop rx for a decent price. The Icom R75 is the general workhorse of the day, and perhaps watching the various used lists something might come up. Many of these used lists are documented on the RadioIntel website, among other places.

We have a whole section in our wiki devoted to receiver reviews. Make yourself familiar with it, and you will have a good idea of what's good and what's not.

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Category:Receiver_Reviews

Getting a copy of Passport to World Band Radio is also highly recommended. Numerous bookstores carry it, and it can be ordered directly or thru places like Universal Radio in Ohio, among many others.

73 Mike
 
Last edited:

Zaratsu

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 5, 2008
Messages
359
Location
Eastern Connecticut
Its a good and easy to use reciever, but like ka3jjz said that if you want to decode, then a modern tabletop like the R75 is the best value and are fairly affordable new and used.

I'm just chiming in because there is the new G6 aviator coming out this month which is supposed to have SSB and sell for $99.
 

JHVH-1

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2005
Messages
34
Location
Highland Park, NJ
I have been looking at shortwave receivers cause I was tired of my RS DX-396. I gave up and ended up just ordering the Kaito KA1103 the other night, even with new radios coming out this season. Both the Grundig Satellit 750 and G6 looks like nice radios, but I didn't want to wait.

The KA11003 along with 2008 passport book ended up being around $105 from amazon.
 

Zaratsu

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 5, 2008
Messages
359
Location
Eastern Connecticut
JHVH-1 said:
I have been looking at shortwave receivers cause I was tired of my RS DX-396. I gave up and ended up just ordering the Kaito KA1103 the other night, even with new radios coming out this season. Both the Grundig Satellit 750 and G6 looks like nice radios, but I didn't want to wait.

The KA11003 along with 2008 passport book ended up being around $105 from amazon.


Good deal.

For some reason, I get the feeling that the Sat 750 release is going to get pushed back more than once. I also hope that it ultimatly has features that are not usually avaliable on portables. I dont want a desktop-sized portable just so I can get big twirly knobs.

The G4 and G6 release are clearly closer if not already here. Gonna look for reviews when I get a minute.
 

N1SQB

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 25, 2003
Messages
2,733
Location
Somewhere On Earth
Nobody has mentioned the G5! Any reason NOT to get it if you are just looking for a good portable perhaps?

Manny
 

Zaratsu

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 5, 2008
Messages
359
Location
Eastern Connecticut
scanernutt said:
Nobody has mentioned the G5! Any reason NOT to get it if you are just looking for a good portable perhaps?

Manny


The G5 and the E5 are the same thing. Eaton is branding more units as Grundigs in the US now.

It is a good reciever with everything most people are looking for in terms of quality, usability, size, and value. It is intuitive and feels nice. Lets just do a quick rundown of the usual suspects. I just did this when I bought my portable SW a month ago.

KA1103/DE1103: Same "guts" as the G5, but lacking the intuitive control of the G5. Controls on the 1103 are counter-intuitive. Cheaper than the G5/E5 by $50-60. Lacks the really nice rubberized finish of the G5/E5. Cannot be bought retail like G5/E5, so factor in s&h. Comes with rechargabe batteries (no-name quality rechargeables) and an RF-noisy AC adaptor.


ICF-7600GR: Has synch detector circuit, seperate USB/LSB (really nice if you want to listen to ham/cw). More intuitive than 1103, slightly less intuitive than E5/G5. (no tune dial, but you get used to it fast). Does not light up screen and keys like the E5/G5. Proven record of quality and high degree of engineering. still built in japan. $20-30 more than the G5/E5. No batteries included (who cares, it runs forever on good brand AA cells or rechargeables) No AC adaptor in the box (who cares, they all make tons of RF noise and again it runs forever on batts) Not likely to find one retail, but you may. ( They are in retail channels unlike the 1103.)



I say go for the G5/E5. It is a great radio. You would have had to pay $300 for those features 10 years ago. I got the 7600gr because I'm a picky bastard. But if you could jam a 7600GR into a e5/G5 case with the accessories of the 1103, i'd pay $300+ for it.
 

JHVH-1

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2005
Messages
34
Location
Highland Park, NJ
I got my KA1103 from amazon today. Its sold by kaito, but amazon ships it, so free shipping. I haven't gotten much chance to listen to it as I had to head to work.
The radio itself seems nicely built, its tiny but still heavy. The controls are a bit odd (like having to hit a button before you can turn the volume down). It comes with everything though: stereo earbuds, AC adapter, AA rechargeables, a long wire antenna that plugs into the antenna jack, and even a nice little pouch to keep the radio in. Not bad for $90 shipped.

If I could have waited I would have held out to check out reviews of the G6. I also might have bought the KA2100 off amazon if it was shipped directly from amazon, but its not. Plus it lacks SSB, one of the reasons I upgraded from my old DX-396 in the first place.
 

928GTS

Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2007
Messages
41
The Eton E5 is a really sharp radio with a hot front end and pretty good rejection and selectivity. It can tackle the 41M broadcasters just fine and it has great audio from both its speaker and its headphone jack(FM stereo through this sounds magic). I've really tried pushing this thing as hard as I can decoding HF FAX,CW,RTTY,etc etc and it'll do this just fine however with the fine SSB adjust you're never going to get a perfectly accurate frequency readout(for reporting to friends)unless you can memorize what sideband the particular service you're listening to and memorize the tone of the signal so you can tune the sideband adjust and the frequency right. However for sheer sensitivity it works well,sure my Icom IC-703 has a much lower noise floor but for $100 what can you ask for? Considering the memory system for the E5 is great I use the E5 to "spot" frequencies for my IC-703 to tune in on.

Its a solid radio,just don't expect it to be a hardcore tabletop rig. Its superbly sensitive for its size and WELL worth the money.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top