Etón E1

[ka3jjz]

I seem to recall reading something about this - maybe on the Passport site - that some early E1s had an issue with the power supply - and some had been recalled due to a fire hazard. I don't know where you got yours from, but my thought would be to return it, and get your radio from a known dealer, such as Universal Radio, who is, as far as I know, now selling hi serial number radios. 73s Mike

[edit] Bingo - it helps when you know where to look...

http://www.passband.com/pages/receivernews.htm

While your SN suggests you may not have a fire hazard problem, it does indeed mention that early E1s had a AC power supply problem - the later ones seem to have a different supply which seems to work much better. Some power supplies, if improperly shielded, can also act as a little antenna.
If memory serves there's a Yahoo group devoted to the radio. That's often one of the best places to get hints/kinks and tips, particularly on things not necessarily documented in the manual - which happens far too often, sadly. It's not cross referenced on RadioIntel - I'll call Ulis and get this done - but in the meantime, here's the URL...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ETON-E1-XM-Radio/

 

[Halfpint]

Just got my E1 yesterday. Really low s/n. (1867)

Only issue I found so far is that with the AC adapter I pick up a hum on some stations and sensitivity is good... but when I pull the adapter and go to batteries the sens goes all to hell. (using the int. whip)

Anyone know if this is indicative of a problem?

Hmmmmmm... I initially tried mine, SN: 07664, with the supplied `WallWart' adapter, just to make certain that it would work basically, and then carefully packed it away. (Since I use 9VDC adapters for my PRO-96/97s I already have more than enough 9VDC `WallWarts' already plugged in around the house in `strategic' locations and I figured I'd just use one of those instead.) Anyway... I've tried running mine off of both the RS# 273-1771 and 273-1772 adapters and haven't gotten either the hum problem nor the sensitively problem you seem to be having. Now... As ka3jjz has mentioned there is/`was?' a different adapter that was supplied with some of the first units. From what *I* can tell the earlier ones looked sort of like a small `brick' that had a detachtable 2-prong AC cord for the AC and a fixed cord for the DC out. The one *I* got with mine is a `standard M1?' `WallWart' with a 3-prong plug for the AC and a fixed cord for the DC out. I suspect that the `WallWart' type with the 3-prong plug is probably the better of the two because of it's most likely having grounding and a bit of shielding. (The really strange thing is that *both* of the RS adapters are `switching' *and* only have a 2-prong plug and *both* of them a *very* quiet with both my scanners and the E1. [In fact I was actually able to operate a PRO-96, a PRO-97, *and* my E1 at the same time off of either RS adapter without any problems! The only problem I can easily foresee is that it appears that RS has discontinued the smaller, the 273-1772, of the two adapters. Though... {GRIN!} It actually might not be all that much of a problem as the 273-1772 was supposedly only capable of 9VDC @ 1300ma VS the 273-1771 which supposedly is capable of 9VDC @ 1500ma. BTW, the 273-1771 is also supposedly an `international?' unit and besides being able to operate off of 100 - 240VAC 50 - 60HZ has a fold up 2-prong AC connector which would make it a lot easier to pack along with the radio when traveling. Just make certain that you've got the right `adapt-a-plugs' for your 9VDC radios, a couple `adapt-a-plug' "Y" adapters, and maybe 1 or 2 `adapt-a-plug' extension cables with you and you'll be able to listen to just about anything you may want to listen to. {VB GRIN!}])

Back to the `WallWart' VS the `brick' style original adapter... Your `apparent?' loss of sensitivity *could* be because of the DC cord of the `brick' style adapter was acting like a `counterpoise' for the radio/antenna? *If* that was the case you could fairly easily test to find out by possibly taking a proper `adapt-a-plug' and the `adapt-a-plug' extension cable and then setting the radio to switch to batteries upon AC power loss and plugging in the plug and extension cable setup to the power jack. If it is acting like a `counterpoise' you should be able to notice it. (You *may* also want to also try hooking the negative side of the cable assembly to a known good ground, too? [I don't think that trying to hook the positive side would be all that `great?' of an idea. {WAN GRIN!} Even though it probably wouldn't do anything *I* wouldn't want to take any chances no matter how `lucky' I might be feeling at the time. {CHORTLE!} $500 is *way* to much of a `bet' to me! {GRIMMACE!}]) *If* it does act as a `counterpoise' I think that *I* would be inclined to have a bit of a talk with the place I bought the radio from and see if they would either replace it with one that has a serial number above the range of serial numbers that Universal Radio is selling or refund my money so that I could get one from Universal radio. (I *do* know that the one *I* got from Universal Radio both doesn't have the hum nor the sensitivity problems. Plus, even though you may think that getting the G4000A might be somewhat `useless' or `redundant' it just may turn out to actually be good in the long run as a `beater' radio at the very least.)

Just an `Olde Fart's' 2¢ worth.

 

[W8WCA]

Might try a good external Power Supply, Many "wall-warts are not very good quality and cause AC hum.

This sure looks like it will be my next Radio !

Now If I only could find some spare loot !

 

[Halfpint]

If'n I `disremembers prezactly I think?' someone asked about battery life a while back. I've been using my E1 for for about an average of 4 hours/day, some days it doesn't get used and others it gets used for 6 - 7 hours, for the last month now and the battery condition function is now down to around ¼ scale and it seems to still be doing quite well both receiving and `sound-wise'. (I did try running it off of a couple different `wallwarts' for about ½ hour or so 1 day back when there was a question about whether or not running it off of one `desensed' it or not and didn't notice anything.) I'm still waiting for it to either just `fade' on me when I'm trying to listen to something or have the sound start getting to become distorted at which point I'll figure that I've finally run out the batteries. (Unfortunately it seems that we are having a bit of a `turn' in the weather here and I haven't been able to sit outside as much as I've been wanting so I expect that I'll probably not be doing as much `hardcore' listening for the next few days even though it is a weekend. {FROWN!} [I move outside on the weekends because the children get to stay up a bit later then and I find that it's quieter outside than inside then. {WAN GRIN!} One kid at one end of the house playing some game and the other at the other end watching a tape or DVD kinda makes for too many distractions for these old ears and while I suppose I could retreat into a pair of headphones I really rather not because that means I can't lay back and relax like I would like to.])

Just an `Olde Fart's' 2¢ worth.

 

[Reloader]

off topic, but the best battery life comes from my Zenith 7000y with over 300 hours on 10 D cells. Does really well, too.