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write your own review of the Grundig Mini 300PE.
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M1MBZ
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 21, 2007 10:41
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Tiny pocket sw broadcast band receiver.
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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The first thing that strikes you with this radio is how well it receives, how clear it sounds! This is no DX machine, but it's not deaf either, this is small enough to keep in your pocket and get out when you want to listen to your favourite shortwave broadcast, sounds even better through headphones.
The frequency display on the model I have is about 5kHz off frequency, would be less of an issue if the radio did not display the last digit, making the display a good rough guide to where you are tuning. Covers most major broadcast bands, meaning you won't miss a thing when out and about or on holiday.
It uses 2x AA batteries to work, there is no external psu option.
If this radio is too small, consider the grundig yacht boy 207/217.
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NS6Y_
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 14, 2007 01:19
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Could not wipe the smile off my face
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I went into Radio Shack today looking for a cheap but loud table top radio and they didn't have anything I like, but this caught my eye. I played around with it and could not get much - so the guy asked if I'd like to try it outside "because the interference is terrible in here". So, I walked out to the edge of the sidewalk out front and tuned around.... wow I could pick up all kinds of stuff! SW broadcasters, WWV of course, 40M CW (no bfo but on this radio but still copyable if it's slow) and so on, I could not stop smiling!
This has 6 buttons, 2 pots, and a slide switch. And a little display. And the most amazing little speaker, the sound out of this little radio is amazing! SW broadcasters come in very well, yet this is not overwhelmed by the "squealing gremlin" QRM source that's in this place.
What a neat radio to take camping, or just take along any time, to listen around with!
I have the black one, it has that odd paint IBM Thinkpads did for a while, that kind of rubbery feeling stuff. It's probably not any more durable than any other modern radio its size, but it has a sturdy feel.
This is probably a good gift for someone new to shortwave, or a kid, or well, anyone.
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KC9ERB
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 15, 2006 08:59
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a real winner
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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A beautiful little radio with excellent sound and general performance (within, of course, the limitations inherent in shirt pocket size receivers). Battery consumption is very friendly and performance on all bands is surprisingly good. Performance does not seem to improve with a clip-on antenna, but try it anyway (who am I?). I think experienced SWLs will appreciate this radio more than newbies: they will be more likely to understand its limitations and less likely to be frustrated when they can't pull in a full range of signals all of the time. There's no perfect radio, right? This one is definitely worth the purchase.
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KU4UV
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 11, 2006 13:34
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Surprisingly Good!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I picked this radio up at Radio Shack for $30. I mainly planned on using it to receive the WWV time signals on 10 and 15 MHz to set my home clocks and watch to. I am pleasantly surprised at just how well this little radio pulls in the stations. Shortwave stations come in loud and clear, even the weaker ones come through pretty well. MW reception is also quite good as well. The speaker audio is also quite nice, plus the radio has FM stereo through the included earbuds. The radio would probably be even better at reception with the longwire antenna spool that clips onto the external antenna, but I haven't tried this yet. Radio Shack carries an antenna spool for around $10 or so. The radio does tend to drift somewhat, and the frequency display on mine reads somewhat higher than the actual frequency of the station being tuned. A diplay backlight and a means of powering the radio without batteries would have been a nice touch, but for $30, this radio is probably one of the best deals going right now for a good portable shortwave radio. The only other reason I don't rate this radio a "5" is because some of the more popular shortwave bands are not included. It would have been nice to have had complete 3-4 MHz. coverage, as well as 5-6 MHz. coverage, as there are a lot of great SW broadcasters in this area. Overall this is one great radio, and I am seriously considering picking up another one. Did I mention, the radio also has an alarm and sleep timer, so you can fall asleep listening to your favorite shortwave or AM/FM stations. What are you waiting for? Go buy this great little portable radio!
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AL7B
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 16, 2006 23:37
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Great Knock Around Portable
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I bought the 300PE because I was looking for a small AM/FM broadcast band radio I could carry with me to radio sites. I wanted a small, inexpensive portable that would not be a great loss if stolen. The AM/FM bands perform very well, even in building basements. The radio is inexpensive enough other techs are buying them too, which makes me worry about mine less.
The radio is small enough to slip into a coat pocket, even with the whip antenna support on top. This is the only drawback to a perfect pocket portable. The audio is crisp and very loud for the size speaker.
It does tune and operate like portable radios from the 60’s, including the drift. I found that by initially tuning about 1kHz high the radio would not need to be touched for yours.
The SW bands do work but I have not explored their operation to any great extent.
Sliding the radio into the included carrying pouch does occasionally slide the band switch to FM. The FM/SW antenna housing that extends from the top of the radio does not prevent it from slipping into a standard coat pocket.
I like the radio and it represents good value for the money spent. It is a decent choice if you are looking for a small, knock around radio.
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LISTENING_FOR_NOW
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 18, 2006 22:24
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Excellent set for the $$!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I had a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to buy with it. So I ended up getting the Mini300PE; like I need another SW receiver.
Pluses: it's very sensitive, surprisingly so for a small analog receiver.
FM performance is exceptionally good. I am able to pick up a low-powered college station on this set that I can't reliably pick up on my home stereo or my car's receiver. What's up with that?!
Sound quality is quite acceptable for such a small receiver. No "tinny" sound from this set at all. Pleasant to listen to, even for hours at a time.
Very reasonably priced set from a reputable company that's worked with Grundig extensively to offer quality SW receivers at a reasonable price.
Very small size, making it great for travel and for tucking away in a purse or coat pocket.
Snappy colors make it an attractive little set.
The first night I used it, I put it up against my most-used small SW portable, a KA-1102. The Mini300 performed quite well; on all the bands I tested, there were only three stations the 1102 picked up that the 300 didn't.
MW reception was not tested extensively, as I live only 2 miles from a powerful AM broadcast station (KSTP, AM-1500) so even my best radios have some problems competing with that station on a good night. Lots of breakthrough from that station all over the MW band on just a cursory test. The same has been the case on most all my other receivers though, so that observation isn't indicative of this receiver's MW performance. I suspect I would need to get away from the local flamethrower before I could fairly evaluate the 300PE's MW performance.
Negatives: Frequency coverage isn't great, but few sets at this price will cover all the shortwave bands.
Thumbwell tuning is touchy... take a bit of practice to dial in a station without over- or under-shooting your chosen frequency.
If you have $35 to spend on a shortwave set, you could do much worse than this one.
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SLIDERULEX
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Rating: 4/5
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Jul 11, 2005 12:09
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Pretty good radio!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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For $27.00 (including shipping) on ebay, I think I got a good deal. Radio picks up AM/FM quite well, but my main purpose in buying it was to get a good/cheap SW radio. I did.
The Mini 300PE is small, but well made. The tuning control is analog dial (vertically situated) as is the volume control. Both move smoothly with just the right amount of tension to make using them kind of fun. I like the digital frequency read-out. The SW band selection is adequete except I wish its 49m band went down to 5.0Mhz or so. If you're really into SW listening, you need to check out its bandwidths to see if it has the coverage you need.
Performance was quite good for this cheap radio, though no better than a Kaito WRX911 (similar in price) which I consider just as good, and better if if you need more SW bands. SW comes in clear and even picks up some of the less powerful stations. Since I live on the West Coast, I was surprised at how well it picked up stations some of my other SW radios (cheapies) wouldn't pick up. All in all, I consider I got a good radio for the price.
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SWL-MARK
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Rating: 2/5
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Mar 7, 2005 12:14
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MW band shortcoming
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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My Grundig Mini 300PE performs very well with the exception of the MW (standard AM) band. My set experiences poor image rejection. Ex. a station on several miles away (WTOP Wheaton MD) 1500Khz can clearly be heard at a tuning of 590Khz. That tells that this radio uses an IF freq. of 540Khz.
I was surprized initially at all the whistles and hetrodynes that occurred at night time at frequencies above 1000Khz. With some investigation, I've discovered that this radio is receiving short wave transmissions from the 5 to 7 Mhz band. At a tuning of 1082.5Khz, WWCR on 5.070Mhz is tremendously strong. By some simple arithmetic calculations, it appears that the third harmonic of the local oscillator (at the 1082.5Khz tuning) is at 4.62Mhz--below 5.070Mhz by the IF frequency of 450Khz. For the math to work exactly right, the exact receiver tuning would need to be 1.090Khz, so that the radio's frequency display may be a bit off by -7.5Khz. Similarly, I receive other shortwave stations where there is no conflicting AM broadcaster. The FM/SW telescoping antenna seems to be active on MW; touching it attenuates reception. It's as though there is no front end tuning.
This is poorer AM performance than a '60s shirt pocket six transistor radio.
It's hard to believe that this performance is typical for this radio. If I got a bad one, someone please say so.
Thanks
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VE5NAT
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 22, 2005 18:56
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:D
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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no problems yet. I like the longwire and adapter included with it. I have picke dup broadcasts that i have not recieved with a couple other recievers I own.
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KB0XR
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 30, 2004 06:51
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A Lot of Radio for $40
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I just can't stop buying sw radios. I watched as this little jewel started being sold. I got mine online from Amazon for $39.95 with "free shipping". I find that it is quite a bit or radio for the price of dinner for 2. The tuning is a little fast but it seems to be very sensitive and fairly selective. The bandswitch is a little flimsy as well as the case itself.
But, It plays well. I experimented finding stations with my R 75 and then trying to tune them with the 300pe. Most were audible on the 300 and some were better than the R 75 with long wire.
I'll be taking this with me on trips. Packs right away in a corner of the carry on. No power switch lock so just turn one of the batteries around so it won't come on by itself.
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