Eton S350DL AM/FM Shortwave Deluxe Radio Receiver (Black)
By: Eton Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 18
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 On: 2008-05-15
Nice short wave radio easy to use and for the portably i take it with me when i go camping.
 On: 2008-04-29
I was given this radio as a gift by a close friend who is actually a ham operator. I knew absolutely nothing about SW, but this friend gave me some pointers, discussed radio choices, recommended the magazine "Monitoring Times" (which I now purchase faithfully each month), and a couple of weeks later the gift arrived at the door step. Its been a great way to learn about, and listen to SW.
OK, so here are my pros and cons. On the pro side, the operation manual is well written, and very helpful to beginners. In fact, portions of the manual are clearly written for absolute SW beginners like me. I benefited greatly from a couple of serious turns to this manual and I still resort to it today. I actually used the band charts displayed in this manual to make another radio purchasing decision tonight. The only con to the manual is that a little more information on troubleshooting problems would be a help too. Still, the manual is very valuable.
I find the radio easy to use, but like other reviewers, I find that adjusting the knob is often tricky. It can be frustrating, especially on a night when the reception for a favorite station is just not as good as usual. Thats my biggest con, but one I have generally learned to deal with as Ive gotten used to working with the radio.
Going back to the manual. A little more info. about exactly what one does to fashion such a thing as a grounding wire would be helpful too. I asked someone in the know, fashioned one that leads to a rod planted in the ground outside of my sun room window, and the results were fine.
I recommend this radio to anyone interested in SW/AM/FM. I now know of a couple of other people who own this unit and like it very much. As I continue to listen to SW, this radio will probably serve me very well for years to come.
On: 2008-01-25
I got it home, it was ready to go out of the box. We live in a rural area which has a hand full of local stations and plenty of sharp hilly terrain and sand dunes means rough radio reception. I got this unit home (stick built, wood siding), plugged it in and turned it on. Went from having two strong FM stations and one strong AM station to picking up stations 1200 miles away (AM, at night). We have now dozens of available AM stations at night, increased AM reception during the day and we are getting FM stations whose repeaters are 60+ miles away. OUTSTANDING! Shortwave is something I am just now getting into to.
On: 2007-10-22
This is a good radio. I purchased this thinking that it would also be able to receive NOAA weather alerts. No so. You have to buy another Eton radio receiver for that purpose. I called the manufacturer before buying this to ask why the different names. Apparently Eton bought Grundig and is now manufacturing exactly the same radio under separate labels. If you are looking for a radio that will perform well in AM, FM1/FM2, and limited Shortwave, this can do the job. I am impressed with the sound quality and construction to a point. Keep in mind that this radio is made of plastic and you want to be careful or you can crack the casing. The knobs and dials are impressive, but the main tuning section is not a vernier-type tuner. It imitates one. It has a military style look to it, but not the feel. If this were a military field radio, all of the tuning knobs would be made of stainless steel and it would have an excellent vernier-type tuning knob. I like the sound quality and the fact that it has three power sources: (1) 4 D-Cell batteries; (2) 4 A-Cell batteries; (3) and, plug-in power cord to conserve on the batteries when you are at home. I take this on camping trips with my wife because you can turn on the radio and hear it very clearly inside the tent, but when you are outside the tent you can barely detect it. It also has a headset plug in that allows you to listen to it without disturbing others (my wife likes this feature as I tend to stay awake several hours after her bedtime at home or while camping). It is a good radio. Not a great radio. If it received all of the NOAA channels, UHF and VHF, then this would be a 5-star radio. But Ill only give this 4 stars.
On: 2007-10-03
When I was young, I grew up with this huge floor model of a shortwave radio, you know, with the large tubes. Well thats when I fell in love with shortwaves. I have searched, but was never sure which one to get. I made the plunge and Now own a great shortwave radio with more than the listening power I had as a youngster. I could not believe I actually could get a Good sounding radio at this price and with more channels than I have known before. It is easy to use and handy to carry along on trips.I highly recomend this shortwave for those who are not sure which one to get.You will not be disappointed! Thanks Eton!
On: 2007-05-16
The radio does what it says and its fun to play with. Its a pretty solid radio with an antenna thats almost 2 and a half long. The speaker is amazing and the option to connect to an external is great. Its not very heavy and overall, its pretty sweet for a SW under $100.
All that being said there are some things that should be known (these dont necessarily bug me, but might bug others)
1) The shortwave range is fairly limited without some sort of external antenna.
2) The bandwidth knob could have been built a little better. Theres a lot of play and it feels like I could rip it off without trying to hard.
Once again though, I want to say that these are VERY minor problems.
Buy it now if you can, its a fine piece of equipment for the price.
On: 2007-04-29
I have had quite a few shortwave recievers, and this is by far the best one Ive ever had! (Under a thousand dollars). It holds up to abuse, lasts forever on a set of batteries, and has fantastic reception! The "hard" antenna works far better than any other model Ive ever owned, and if you take the time to hook up a "soft" antenna, look out youll get so many signals you will have to use your gain and filter switch to sort them out. I have nothing at all bad to say about this model, infact I now own two! If you want a pocket unit, try the Grundig mini-300, but if you want to listen to shortwave from all over the world, save money on batteries, have crystal clear reception, and ease of use, this is it! It really isnt as bulky as you think, and youll never regret owning this one!
On: 2006-11-08
This is an excellent follow on to the orginal S350 and enhances the design to a higher end product. This is an analoge tunner with a digital readout, so it is a step back in time. However with a more stable front end and less drift, larger speaker, and stero headphone output, it improves the radio so that it has added good value to an already very sound design.
I wondered how a single conversion radio stacks up against a double or triple conversion receiver and for most people they will never notice any difference with this radio. I have collected 25 such radios and enjoy this one as much as all the rest. Like a good compact car that gets good gas milage, the Grundig S350DL gets very long life from its batteries.
All in all a very competent and enjoyable Radio at retail price and if you can find it on sale even more so.
On: 2006-10-04
Ive been using this radio for a few days now and really like it. Its above average. Forget the guy that says it has cheap knobs, plastic case, etc. It really does feel sturdy, has good selectivity and pulls in the distant stations as well. The only drawback that I wish this radio would have is some sort of memory for selected stations. But I can easily find my favorites manually. Its a lot of fun and the quality is evident. I would definitely recommend it based on price/quality. Another plus that is lacking in most radios of this type is the big speaker. Most Short Wave radios have a tiny speaker which is really bad. I dont know why they do this??? I would gladly pay more money for a bigger speaker with some sound to it.
On: 2006-10-03
Ive been using this radio for a few days now and really like it. Its above average. Forget the guy that says it has cheap knobs, plastic case, etc. It really does feel sturdy, has good selectivity and pulls in the distant stations as well. The only drawback that I wish this radio would have is some sort of memory for selected stations. But I can easily find my favorites manually. Its a lot of fun and the quality is evident. I would definitely recommend it based on price/quality. Another plus that is lacking in most radios of this type is the big speaker. Most Short Wave radios have a tiny speaker which is really bad. I dont know why they do this??? I would gladly pay more money for a bigger speaker with some sound to it.
On: 2006-07-17
I purchased my Eton here on Amazon for $99 and received mine several weeks ago with great anticipation. The wait was worth it, since the digital tuning and very good reception make the radio well worth the price paid. I own a large collection of shortwave radios and feel that this radio competes well with some of my classic 70s/80s era receivers which are extremely selective and cost more than the Eton/Grundig hardware.
The only minor dig I have is the cheap nature of the tuning knob and the desire for a venier tuning control. I can fudge the tuning with a bit of a fine touch, but it does take some attention, especially with some stations that drift in and out. For casual listening, this radio is extremely stable and very good for field use and trips. I fired mine up out of the box and was immediately impressed with the solid feel and large high-quality antenna. The leather grip and heavy-duty feel more than compensate for my tuning knob complaint and I feel that this unit competes well with my smaller Grundig radio that sees active use when camping and hiking.
I am uncertain if the AM band is tuned using a ferrite internal antenna with this model and will be testing the unit with an external antenna to see if DXing AM stations is possible with this model... It probably is a standard ferrite antenna but it sure would be nice to find I can extend the function of the S350 for this pleasant hobby of DXing remote AM stations.
One other nice modification would be for Eton to evolve the S350DL to support a simple circuit for memory of stations. It would be a logical thing to do and would be worth a few extra dollars to have some more intelligence built into the rig.
Overall, for the $99 I spent, a very good deal and a radio Ill own for a very very long time. If this is your first Shortwave radio, it is a good purchase and a good introduction to the hobby.
On: 2006-06-13
This radio has excellent features for someone who is either new to shortwave radio or just wanting a simple, user-friendly set of controls. Also perfect for those that like analogue-style controls that would be encountered on older radios. I have the S-350, the model that the S-350DL replaces. For general world band programme listening, this radio is fantastic. Outstanding speaker. Easy to read digital display includes backlight. Includes attenuator. Clock can be set to 24 hour time. Easy to carry anywhere. Robust antenna. Does not support SSB tuning, which you would need to tune in Ham radio. Same radio sold under Tescun name in other parts of the world.
On: 2006-06-12
This radio has excellent features for someone who is either new to shortwave radio or just wanting a simple, user-friendly set of controls. Also perfect for those that like analogue-style controls that would be encountered on older radios. I have the S-350, the model that the S-350DL replaces. For general world band programme listening, this radio is fantastic. Outstanding speaker. Easy to read digital display includes backlight. Includes attenuator. Clock can be set to 24 hour time. Easy to carry anywhere. Robust antenna. Does not support SSB tuning, which you would need to tune in Ham radio. Same radio sold under Tescun name in other parts of the world.
On: 2006-04-17
Living in Shanghai on assignment, I wanted to get a radio that would give me Voice of America and other stations that I cannot get with AM/FM. Some of the Chinese people I work with suggested the Tecsun as it is considered to be a good Chinese brand, at least in China.
The radio does everything I need it to, and has great sound. It offers a lot of features, but the gain is a bit silly, just leave it on max. The batteries last forever and the unit has an alarm and an auto shutoff, nice features. My unit of course takes 220V for AC, but also has the batteries and takes a 6VDC adaptor, which I can buy cheaply back in the States.
One problem, as others have said, the station lock causes the digital to drift into a station, so when trying to pick up a weaker station next to it, it will often drift past, telling me this is not a true digital unit, but an analog unit with digital readout.
I paid $51 US in Shanghai, but of course you cannot get that price in the States. Also the manual was in Chinese, so I had to get a lot of it translated.
Overall, I am very happy with the radio, although true shortwave audiophiles will probably not be happy with this unit.
On: 2006-04-04
Note: This is a copy of the review that I posted for the Red model of this radio.
The old (Silver) Grundig/Eton S-350 is being phased out. (see my review on the S350). The Eton S350DL series is the replacment...For more on this, visit the website of "Passport to World Band Radio" (passband.com) under "Receiver News: Update to Edition 2006" (near bottom of the page).
The S350DL (with headphones eliminated from the package, see S350DLR,S350DLB and S350DLS) will then drop to about the same price as the old S350. Right now, some of the older stock of the S350DL (with headphones still included) is being sold off at cheaper than the normal price...shop around.
I do not own a S350DL, but it has been reported that this model reduces the "drift" problem observed on the S350, and provides STEREO reception through the headphone jack. Perhaps Eton will now offer this radio in more colors, since it is dropping the silver model... a nice "electric blue" or "emergency yellow" like they use on some other models (crank-power and pocket) would go well with the blue display illumination.
On: 2006-04-03
Note: This is a copy of the review that I posted for the Red model of this radio.
The old (Silver) Grundig/Eton S-350 is being phased out. (see my review on the S350). The Eton S350DL series is the replacment...For more on this, visit the website of "Passport to World Band Radio" (passband.com) under "Receiver News: Update to Edition 2006" (near bottom of the page).
The S350DL (with headphones eliminated from the package, see S350DLR,S350DLB and S350DLS) will then drop to about the same price as the old S350. Right now, some of the older stock of the S350DL (with headphones still included) is being sold off at cheaper than the normal price...shop around.
I do not own a S350DL, but it has been reported that this model reduces the "drift" problem observed on the S350, and provides STEREO reception through the headphone jack. Perhaps Eton will now offer this radio in more colors, since it is dropping the silver model... a nice "electric blue" or "emergency yellow" like they use on some other models (crank-power and pocket) would go well with the blue display illumination.
On: 2006-03-22
It is a good radio. $99.00 will be a better price for it. Excellent reception and attachments. On the down side, be careful with the on/off button when packing the radio if traveling; it activates easily.
 On: 2006-03-11
"Million-Dollar Looks for $100" - Analog w/digital display receivers do not have the stability of digital phase-locked loop (PLL) receivers.
I opened up the back of the radio, before returning it to RadioShack - it was mostly hollow inside, very cheap, low-grade plastic, and with 1960s-grade electronics. The front filter and band switches and tuning knob are flimsy. When putting the radio back together, I was very careful not to over-tighten/cross-thread the screws, but as soon as, one of the screws started to tighten down, the plastic started to crack. Because of the very cheap quality construction, the radio is very light-out-of-the-box, until the 4 "D" size batteries are inserted.
The filters do a minimal job and only muffle the very good audio. The RF gain control can always be set on maximum, so it only acts like a DX/LOC switch. Even the newer model drifts off the tuned frequency, despite a kludged fix, that only causes ergonomic problems - once a frequency locks on, it still drifts, causing one to have to retune way past the desired frequency, to break the lock. The S350 has significant tuning backlash, which is partly responsible for the frequency drift. There are images all over the SW bands, being a cheap, single-conversion superhet. There are no station memories, so anytime the band selection changes, the radio has to be retuned to the desired frequency. The speaker grill is plastic, the digital readout is low-resolution, the antenna doesnt lock into place, and the carrying handle is cheap, smelly, imitation-leather.
Instead, I bought a Radio Shack AM/FM (for AM DXing) model 12-898 for $25; it has digital PLL tuning (prevents drifting), DX/LOC switch, hi/low tone switch, 3" speaker with metal speaker grill, internal ferrite-bar antenna, lock switch, 20 station memory, almost as sensitive as the S350, and much better quality - even the antenna locks into place.
Dont be fooled by the "Grundig" name - it used to be made in Germany, but is now made in China, by Tecsun/Eton. Check out the Tecsun/Eton brand of this radio on Amazon (same junk), and show, "lowest rating first", also, look at the reviews for Grundig G2000A. Tecsun/Eton is becoming known for marketing jazzy, pretty radios that are poor quality/performers; they bought the rights to market products, under the "Grundig" name, hoping consumers will think they are still made in Germany.
With all that being said, with the restructuring of the 50K watt clear-channel AM stations, in the 1980s, AM DXing is not what it used to be, in the 1960s and 1970s. For example, many stations out West now have to use directional antennas, that cannot be picked up on the East Coast. All the hype about the CCradio, Superadio III, and S350 being, "DX machines", is nonsense, and with the clear-channel situation, certainly not worth the extra expense. With the Radio Shack receiver, I can easily pick up WWL 870 New Orleans (1000 miles), WHO 1040 Des Moines(900 miles), WABC 770 New York, and my favorite, WLW 700 Cincinnati - same as the S350. These stations can easily be picked up with standard car radios.
For just, as little as $30 more, one could purchase the Sony ICF-SW7600GR instead; it has digital PLL, SSB, and synchronous detection - the ICF-SW7600GR is many times the radio compared to the S350 (Ide be kicking myself, if I was stuck with the S350).
On: 2006-03-10
"Million-Dollar Looks for $100" - Analog w/digital display receivers do not have the stability of digital phase-locked loop (PLL) receivers.
I opened up the back of the radio, before returning it to RadioShack - it was mostly hollow inside, very cheap, low-grade plastic, and with 1960s-grade electronics. The front filter and band switches and tuning knob are flimsy. When putting the radio back together, I was very careful not to over-tighten/cross-thread the screws, but as soon as, one of the screws started to tighten down, the plastic started to crack. Because of the very cheap quality construction, the radio is very light-out-of-the-box, until the 4 "D" size batteries are inserted.
The filters do a minimal job and only muffle the very good audio. The RF gain control can always be set on maximum, so it only acts like a DX/LOC switch. Even the newer model drifts off the tuned frequency, despite a kludged fix, that only causes ergonomic problems - once a frequency locks on, it still drifts, causing one to have to retune way past the desired frequency, to break the lock. The S350 has significant tuning backlash, which is partly responsible for the frequency drift. There are images all over the SW bands, being a cheap, single-conversion superhet. There are no station memories, so anytime the band selection changes, the radio has to be retuned to the desired frequency. The speaker grill is plastic, the digital readout is low-resolution, the antenna doesnt lock into place, and the carrying handle is cheap, smelly, imitation-leather.
Instead, I bought a Radio Shack AM/FM (for AM DXing) model 12-898 for $25; it has digital PLL tuning (prevents drifting), DX/LOC switch, hi/low tone switch, 3" speaker with metal speaker grill, internal ferrite-bar antenna, lock switch, 20 station memory, almost as sensitive as the S350, and much better quality - even the antenna locks into place.
Dont be fooled by the "Grundig" name - it used to be made in Germany, but is now made in China, by Tecsun/Eton. Check out the Tecsun/Eton brand of this radio on Amazon (same junk), and show, "lowest rating first", also, look at the reviews for Grundig G2000A. Tecsun/Eton is becoming known for marketing jazzy, pretty radios that are poor quality/performers; they bought the rights to market products, under the "Grundig" name, hoping consumers will think they are still made in Germany.
With all that being said, with the restructuring of the 50K watt clear-channel AM stations, in the 1980s, AM DXing is not what it used to be, in the 1960s and 1970s. For example, many stations out West now have to use directional antennas, that cannot be picked up on the East Coast. All the hype about the CCradio, Superadio III, and S350 being, "DX machines", is nonsense, and with the clear-channel situation, certainly not worth the extra expense. With the Radio Shack receiver, I can easily pick up WWL 870 New Orleans (1000 miles), WHO 1040 Des Moines(900 miles), WABC 770 New York, and my favorite, WLW 700 Cincinnati - same as the S350. These stations can easily be picked up with standard car radios.
For just, as little as $30 more, one could purchase the Sony ICF-SW7600GR instead; it has digital PLL, SSB, and synchronous detection - the ICF-SW7600GR is many times the radio compared to the S350 (Ide be kicking myself, if I was stuck with the S350).
On: 2005-11-14
This S350DL is everything I need in a portable radio. Powered by D-cells which seem to last forever, the FM audio is fabulous for a $150 radio and long distant night time AM band reception is simply great. Just tune the well lit LCD display to a frequency and if there is anything on it worth listening to its there.
The selectivity is tremendous with the bandwidth set to narrow. I live almost next door to a powerful station on 820KHz and like to listen to a weak one several hundred miles away on 810KHz, not a problem. No interference from the strong station.
My scant and no doubt obsolete communications theory always held that for great radio reception, double or even triple conversion receivers were the norm. Now I have a radio advertised with highly sensitive and selective latest state of the art single conversion analog tuner circuitry. What that means, I havent a clue but Im impressed.
The only negative thing Ive found about the radio so far is that its fine tuning knob has a tendency to jump past the frequency youre trying to tune up to, then, when you tune back down it jumps past on the downside. Ive heard this called backlash. Eventually you can get a lock on the exact frequency but it is a minor annoyance. Another thing that takes some getting used to is that Im so used to push the button scanning type receivers, that rotating an old fashioned tuning knob several turns to get from the high end of a band to the low trys my patience. Overall Im a happy camper and find this radios good features far outweigh its bad.
On: 2005-11-13
This S350DL is everything I need in a portable radio. Powered by D-cells which seem to last forever, the FM audio is fabulous for a $150 radio and long distant night time AM band reception is simply great. Just tune the well lit LCD display to a frequency and if there is anything on it worth listening to its there.
The selectivity is tremendous with the bandwidth set to narrow. I live almost next door to a powerful station on 820KHz and like to listen to a weak one several hundred miles away on 810KHz, not a problem. No interference from the strong station.
My scant and no doubt obsolete communications theory always held that for great radio reception, double or even triple conversion receivers were the norm. Now I have a radio advertised with highly sensitive and selective latest state of the art single conversion analog tuner circuitry. What that means, I havent a clue but Im impressed.
The only negative thing Ive found about the radio so far is that its fine tuning knob has a tendency to jump past the frequency youre trying to tune up to, then, when you tune back down it jumps past on the downside. Ive heard this called backlash. Eventually you can get a lock on the exact frequency but it is a minor annoyance. Another thing that takes some getting used to is that Im so used to push the button scanning type receivers, that rotating an old fashioned tuning knob several turns to get from the high end of a band to the low trys my patience. Overall Im a happy camper and find this radios good features far outweigh its bad.
On: 2005-10-06
As the title says its not much more than that, so its going back as I write this review. I have a YB 400 and its a much better radio than this piece of plastic...
On: 2005-10-05
As the title says its not much more than that, so its going back as I write this review. I have a YB 400 and its a much better radio than this piece of plastic...
On: 2005-08-03
This is an improved version, for fifty dollars more, than the Grundig S350. It comes with nice headphones; it has stereo sound for the headphones; the 99-dollar Grundig has only mono through the headphone input; the speaker on the Deluxe is slightly bigger; but most significantly, the Deluxe version has been changed so that it does not drift away from the selected channel the way the old version did. Only a fastidious radio lover will want to spend the extra money since the drifting problem (I own both models) is quite minimal and doesnt in my case affect reception adversely.
This is a fun radio, easy to use, has a big stereo sound and has strong FM reception, the best you can find with a good speaker. The only better FM reception youll find is in the Kaito 1103 but the Kaito has a tiny speaker.
For those who are disgruntled and disappointed with this radio, may I suggest that environmental limitations or areas that are "hostile to radio reception" can sometimes be so insurmountable that no radio can overcome them.
Post Script: The Kaito 1103 now has a cousin, the Kaito 1107 (currently available as the Degen 1107) that has equal reception as the 1103 but is, like the Grundig S350 DL, an analog radio. Its fifty bucks and has a bigger speaker than the 1103. So for a hundred dollars less, you can get similar performance as the Grundig in the Degen/Kaito DE1107.
Update: Ive noticed that two AM stations, 1150 and 980, get overloaded with two stations blaring at the same time. Lack of filter, lack of SSB, AM reception that is "too good." Im not sure. My Kaito 1103 and Grundig G4000, both compact radios with SSB feature, have excellent separation and do not overload. Of the two, the Grundig G4000 has superior AM and a bigger, warmer speaker.
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