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| Reviews Summary for Grundig FR-200 |
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Reviews: 28
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Average rating: 4.5/5
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MSRP: $39.95 (actual price)
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Description: World Shortwave Radio (Survival) with
dynamo, 3 AA's, and AC power.
AM,FM, SW1, SW2. Flashlight. Vol. Tuner, Fine Tuner.
Mini Phone Jack.
Ext. Spkr. Jack.
Carry Camou Pouch.
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More info: http://
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N4RT
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 18, 2009 10:50
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BFO Mod
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Well, here's an update on the little Eton Grundig FR200 that I recently purchased. I bought a TenTec T-Kit external BFO for $11 and found a place to install it inside the radio. I drilled a hole in the case for the BFO tuning pot and installed a small ON-OFF switch for the BFO on the back of the radio. I found a place to pick up power off of the circuit board, and now I can copy CW and SSB on my little FR200. It sounds great and has very good sensitivity. However, I'd still like to find a service manual with a schematic for this radio so I can properly couple the BFO output into the IF chain. If anybody comes across a service manual or a schematic, please email me with a copy. I'm still trying to find one on the net. 73, Ron N4RT
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N4RT
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 28, 2009 12:27
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Excellent Value
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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found this little receiver on sale at a local Bass Pro Shop for $29.95. I picked one up, turned it on, and found that it had outstanding AM broadcast reception right there in the store. While playing with it a little more, I decided to purchase one. After I got it home, I started tuning around on the SW bands and was delighted to hear some good AM signals on the 80 meter band, loud and clear! The next evening, I checked into our Southeast AM Radio Club "swap net" and listened to the ragchew session for about an hour with the FR-200 on its internal loop and telescoping antenna. A clip lead to the shield side of my 80m dipole dramatically improved the reception, which was already pretty good! I think it is a bargain for the performance you get. Now, I've got to modify mine and figure a way to build in a BFO for CW and SSB. This little radio is amazingly stable although it will drift a bit over time. Audio quality is excellent and somewhat surprising for its size. Tuning in stations with the "fine tuning" vernier is a little tricky due to the backlash, but what can you expect on a receiver this inexpensive? At least the designers had sense enough to include a fine tuning feature! FM reception is so-so, but the audio is great on headphones. Get one! Now, if anybody has a schematic and parts layout of the circuit board, I'd sure like to have a copy.
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AC7ZL
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 4, 2007 22:29
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Can't really go wrong with this
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I received my FR-200 as a gift. Internal power generator (crank) works great, radio receives well and audio is good, though dial calibration seems a bit odd at times. The internal flashlight is a nice touch, though being an engineer, I can't seem to leave well enough alone. I removed the grain-of-wheat bulb used in the lamp and replaced it with a small white LED.(Unplug one, replace it with the other... it's that simple.) The flashlight is now considerably more intense, and the drain on the batteries is far less. I think this makes a great emergency/civil defense radio, as well as for general purpose listening while you work in the garage. If I'm not mistaken, this same radio was distributed in Iraq and/or Afghanistan by US forces to help spread news and information among the population.
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NS6Y_
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 6, 2006 20:05
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One hot little receiver!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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This has a very high fun to cost ratio! Trying to pick up CW on it is hilarious, you get the whole band at once plus the drift factor, like the audio equivalent of one of those old biplane dogfights in an old movie. It does have some drift. But, it's amazing what this thing receives! I was listening to the AM Navajo station in Window Rock, AZ from my home in Sunnyvale California just lying in bed last night. All this has is an internal loopstick and a telescoping whip, and it gets amazing AM DX. Shortwave is a bit more demanding, but it picks up some amazing stuff. It's really hard to tell where you are on the dial since for instance WWV will show up on what the dial calls 7MHz and so on, but that almost adds to the fun, to be able to think a bit and realize where one is in the band. I like to just hunt around for weird signals, and whatever's out there.
This would be a great first radio for a kid, and of course it's intended as an emergency radio and it's very well suited for that.
I have heard the crank wears out if used a lot so I use batteries, and will only use the crank if actually needed, which is how this is intended to be used. This runs seemingly forever on a load of batteries so that's not a problem.
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W8KQE
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 6, 2005 15:30
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Excellent inexpensive crank radio!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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For 40 clams, this is an excellent value for a lightweight, name brand portable hand-crank generator analog radio. The radio is constructed very well, with AM/FM/SW, and a built-in small LED flashlight. It also allows for use of 3 'AA' batteries, and AC adaptor (not included). Audio quality and reception is surprisingly good for this kind of radio. I get about half and hour of solid playback for 90 seconds of cranking.
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SLIDERULEX
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 11, 2005 12:25
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Outstanding performance for the price!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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For the price (I paid $23.00 including shipping on ebay) I cannot imagine any competitors.
Performance:
1). AM/FM is good and using earphones is quite good.
2). SW is outstanding! I can pick SW broadcasts that other SW radios (like the Radio Shack DX-350) can't pick up.
3). The wind-up charger functions, and I can get about a half-hour of listening (through earphones) on a 1.5 minute 2-turns-a-second winding period.
It's small size and light weight are features that make it portable. The only downside I see is that the tuning on SW is sometimes tricky because they pack in a lot of SW frequency range (though it is continuous which is nice) in this radio. All in all, this is a fine SW performer and is well enough constructed that it should last a long time with proper care.
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KF6GOM
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 31, 2004 21:15
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Great Buy at $20.00
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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got this on the last day of the year.A electronic store ( Circuit City) had them for $20.00 in 5 different colors. picked up the blue one and cranked
the handle for about 1 minute. this thing is great
in audio quality, on SW 1 and 2 i attatched a 4 foot piece of wire and the stations were sounding great.
i believe these radios are retailed at $39.99 which i believe there worth it and it has a bright white LED for emergency light which is a great feature to have in an emergency. Grunning also includes a nice pouch to carry it camping or to the beach.
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THATBPGUY
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Rating: 4/5
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Sep 23, 2004 07:08
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Great- for what it is
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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For $40 I wasn't expecting much. I own another freeplay SW and this one is easier to crank, quieter and lasts well over 1 hour (the other 45 minutes at best- it's a Sony). SW reception was suprisingly good and I was able to locate numerous stations. My only complaint is that all but the few strongest stations faded more than I had hoped. But, it's very compact, has a much stronger speaker than the Sony and while I've used it a tremendous amount in the last 18 mos, it just plugs right along. Great gift for someone who travels and doesn't have time or money for batteries.
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RU546
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 6, 2004 22:02
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Small price large value
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I recieved mine for christmas last year
and have been enjoying it ever since,
easy to carry and use.
the shortwave comes in real good with a little
patience the fm and am work just as well
the only draw back I had with was the antenna
broke a couple months after using it,
but that was easy to replace
For the price you cant beat it
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IANCHRISTIE
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 15, 2004 01:21
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Not bad for the price and the purpose.
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I bought this for christmas because of the power failures that have been happening every-now-and-again is South Western Ontario. Well, so far I've been very impressed with the opperation of the unit. AM and FM signals come in clearer than my clock radio. Indoors I have a hard time receiving Shortwave, but out doors, it's extremely sensetive, but right now with sub zero temperatures, I'm not wandering around outside listening to the radio. :)
The crank dynamo is a tad noisy when in opperation and is a tad stiff, but works well. For me this radio has been a great introduction to Shortwave listening. I'm contemplating a Grundig Miniworld 100 PE, a Mini 300 http://www.radioshack.ca/estore/Product.aspx?language=en-CA&product=2019104&category=Portables+%26+Multiband&catalog=RadioShack , or a RadioShack SP-2004 http://www.radioshack.ca/estore/Product.aspx?language=en-CA&product=1209416&category=Portables+%26+Multiband&catalog=RadioShack .
If anyone has any comments on those, my prefference are the Mini 300 or SP-2004 because of the digitaly display, feel free to email me.
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