Grundig s350 Delux

[wizardb]

Picked up a new s350DL today for $51.00 on ebay. Will take about a week to arrive. I've heard and read both good and bad about this radio and for that price decided to take a chance. I will be using a 50' long wire about ten feet off the ground. I'm located near Memphis, TN. which is not exactly a shortwave mecca. Currently use a G5 with the long wire which greatly improved reception. I would be interested in your comments.

 

[ka3jjz]

Hmmm...it's listed as discontinued on the Universal website, it's single conversion, which means that strong broadcasters will likely repeat in places where they aren't supposed to show up. The radio isn't defective; it's an unfortunate part of the design.

I think I would give this one a pass, frankly. Although for 51 bucks you probably got a decent radio to start FM DXing with. We have another forum for that...best regards..Mike

 

[k8krh]

I have one for a number of years, you got a good deal. Reception in the AM band and SWL band isn't to bad at all, although it lacks ssb for some stations in the short wave band<my only drawback>., it is a good starter radio ..

DOCTOR

 

[nanZor]

For that price, not bad. Fine-tuning was a bit fiddly, especially as you get higher in frequency. The mechanics of the tuning knob(s) underneath are still driven by a string. Works. Underneath the rotary switches are actually slide-switches, and sometimes require a light touch. Loose knobs were a bummer.

That being said, it was fun for me knowing what to expect in a receiver of that price range.

Battery life is great with the D-cells, and optionally you can use the built-in AA compartment. Throw some high-quality / high capacity AA's in there and it takes a lot of weight out of the rig. Due to the great battery life, I ran without using the ac adapter, which can sometimes bring in a lot of junk from the ac lines.

It was a fun radio while I had it, and for SSB I even purchased the "universal BFO" kit from Ten-Tec. Never got around to trying the universal bfo before selling the radio, but that inexpensive kit might be something fun to play with on the 350dl.

 

[fredburgess]

Grundig Sl350

I have one of those radios, and I'm very happy with it. If I want SSB then I use my G3, but here in Calgary Alberta, I get very little HF action on the SSB with my G3. I really like the big LCD readout on the 350, and though as far as I know it is single conversion, but I have not been having any problems with images.
Fred Burgess

 

[wizardb]

As a follow-up, I have the radio for a couple of weeks or so and I'm very happy with it. It will not replace my G5 but it's a nice addition to my radios. I like the RF control. Tuning is a little touchy but after I got used to it, not too bad. I hook it to my long wire and get great reception. All-in-all it was $51.00 well spent. Thanks to all of you for your comments.

 

[gpsblake]

The only area I had a little problem with images was around 5000khz when stuff from 5900khz was coming through.. Made 5110 (WBCQ) and 5070(when WWCR was using it) hard to pick up on the unit. No biggie really. And you learn quickly that if you are picking up a broadcast say on 8600khz or 14300khz, it's an image of a signal 910khz higher. And yea, when I had mine, tuning on the higher end of the bands (especially 7200-7500khz) took a fine touch.. the 350 would have been better served had it had 6 shortwave bands instead of 3... And... sigh... if you had to tune from 3200khz to 7400khz, it took a lot of the turns of the knob. But it has great sound, great AM, and the gain control was good. For 50 bucks, a good bargain.