KB2GOM
Active Member
Over the decades, I have been captured by the magic of the airwaves multiple times. It all started when a kid. I was given a germanium diode radio. It had now power supply; no plug, no battery. You clipped a ground lead to something metal – in my case, a radiator. There was an antenna of sorts, an earphone, and a gizmo that you moved up and down to find a station. I tuned in the Hawthorne Den from Cleveland Ohio after midnight. This was Big Time, Big Deal adventure for a boy of nine.
In Junior High, my Dad brought home a Zenith Transoceanic Radio. Slide-rule tuning on the shortwaves, foreign tongues crackling through the air, more Big Time, Big Deal adventure. Fast forward through listening to shortwave, CB, 10-meter DX on ham, writing for Passport MT, PopComm, and QST to today, when my main radio activity has been 2-meter ham for the Commuter Assistance Net -- Commuter Assistance Net
In researching on Radio Reference, I stumbled upon a reference to “Ultralight DXing,” decided to check it out, and discovered these guys are mainly into MW DXing. Cool! Even better, there’s lots of stuff to listen to in MW DX (and the pickings on HF seem to be pretty slim these days). But I wasn’t ready to go the ultralight route . . . not yet, anyway. And I didn’t want to put up big wires outside to connect to a communications receiver. Barefooting with a state-of-the-art MW portable seemed like the way to go, and thanks to reviews from many sources, including radiojayallen I now have a C Crane 2E in my hands.
And my considered initial impression after a couple weeks of ownership is: Wow!
But my very first impression when I opened the box was: “This is bigger than I thought it would be.” The faceplate is about the size of a Sony 2010, if I recall correctly, but the 2E is significantly thicker, and it gets thicker toward the bottom. But the advantage of that is a high level of stability when the 2E is sitting on a table. It won’t easily topple over.
The 2E is bulky compared to many portables and heavy: something over 4 pounds, but not so big that you can’t slide it into a backpack or shoulder bag for a trip to some lonely outpost for a DXpedition. The “handle” consists of an indentation on the backside with a rubber gripping surface.
The layout is clean and functional, with a clearly marked knob or button for every job. I like that. After doing the initial auto-alignment procedure, I haven’t needed the manual to operate the 2E.
And the performance? Outstanding from my perspective as newbie MW DXer. About 4am recently before the Commuter Net started, I was tuning down the AM band. Around 570 I could hear a faint station. Turning the 2E to orient the internal antenna, I picked it up loud and clear. Rotating the 2E 90 degrees, I tuned in an entirely different station on 570 with almost the same clarity. Clearly CCrane’s “twin coil antenna” was doing its job.
The thing that has impressed me the most is the quality of the audio on AM. 590 WROW is a local station for me, and listening with headphones I could hear detail in the percussion section of a song that I had never heard before. Impressive.
Finally, I think that the 2E checks all the boxes for an emergency radio for a household. It will, according to CCrane, run 250 hours on four D cells (there is a non-wall-wart power cord, and when it is unplugged, the radio automatically switches to batteries), it has NOAA weather radio with alert function, AM, FM, and two meter ham.
Bear in mind, before you comment, that this is an initial impression and not intended to be an exhaustive review.
In Junior High, my Dad brought home a Zenith Transoceanic Radio. Slide-rule tuning on the shortwaves, foreign tongues crackling through the air, more Big Time, Big Deal adventure. Fast forward through listening to shortwave, CB, 10-meter DX on ham, writing for Passport MT, PopComm, and QST to today, when my main radio activity has been 2-meter ham for the Commuter Assistance Net -- Commuter Assistance Net
In researching on Radio Reference, I stumbled upon a reference to “Ultralight DXing,” decided to check it out, and discovered these guys are mainly into MW DXing. Cool! Even better, there’s lots of stuff to listen to in MW DX (and the pickings on HF seem to be pretty slim these days). But I wasn’t ready to go the ultralight route . . . not yet, anyway. And I didn’t want to put up big wires outside to connect to a communications receiver. Barefooting with a state-of-the-art MW portable seemed like the way to go, and thanks to reviews from many sources, including radiojayallen I now have a C Crane 2E in my hands.
And my considered initial impression after a couple weeks of ownership is: Wow!
But my very first impression when I opened the box was: “This is bigger than I thought it would be.” The faceplate is about the size of a Sony 2010, if I recall correctly, but the 2E is significantly thicker, and it gets thicker toward the bottom. But the advantage of that is a high level of stability when the 2E is sitting on a table. It won’t easily topple over.
The 2E is bulky compared to many portables and heavy: something over 4 pounds, but not so big that you can’t slide it into a backpack or shoulder bag for a trip to some lonely outpost for a DXpedition. The “handle” consists of an indentation on the backside with a rubber gripping surface.
The layout is clean and functional, with a clearly marked knob or button for every job. I like that. After doing the initial auto-alignment procedure, I haven’t needed the manual to operate the 2E.
And the performance? Outstanding from my perspective as newbie MW DXer. About 4am recently before the Commuter Net started, I was tuning down the AM band. Around 570 I could hear a faint station. Turning the 2E to orient the internal antenna, I picked it up loud and clear. Rotating the 2E 90 degrees, I tuned in an entirely different station on 570 with almost the same clarity. Clearly CCrane’s “twin coil antenna” was doing its job.
The thing that has impressed me the most is the quality of the audio on AM. 590 WROW is a local station for me, and listening with headphones I could hear detail in the percussion section of a song that I had never heard before. Impressive.
Finally, I think that the 2E checks all the boxes for an emergency radio for a household. It will, according to CCrane, run 250 hours on four D cells (there is a non-wall-wart power cord, and when it is unplugged, the radio automatically switches to batteries), it has NOAA weather radio with alert function, AM, FM, and two meter ham.
Bear in mind, before you comment, that this is an initial impression and not intended to be an exhaustive review.