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| Reviews Summary for Eton E1XM [E1 XM] : E1 AM/FM Shortwave Receiver with XM Satellit |
![Eton E1XM [E1 XM] : E1 AM/FM Shortwave Receiver with XM Satellit](/data/reviews/images/5353.jpeg)
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Reviews: 43
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Average rating: 4.2/5
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MSRP: $500
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Description: Eton E1XM [E1 XM] AM/FM Shortwave Receiver with XM Satellite Radio (Optional)
The E1XM [E1 XM] is the world’s first 'portable' {Port-A-Top} Communications Receiver to combine AM, FM, Shortwave, and XM Satellite Radio technology into one ultra-high-performance unit. The finest 'portable' Radio in the world, the E1XM [E1 XM] offers powerful reception through its digitally synthesized PLL Tuner with Synchronous Detector, PassBand Tuning, and Selectable Bandwidth Filters. Offering rich sound, the latest in Radio Technology, 1700 Station Presets, and Memory Scan function, the E1XM [E1 XM] is designed without compromise, giving you direct access to News, Sports, and Music from around the World.
INFO =>
SPECS =>
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More info: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ETON-E1-XM-Radio/
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write your own review of the Eton E1XM [E1 XM] : E1 AM/FM Shortwave Receiver with XM Satellit.
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WB9YCJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 13, 2008 19:50
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Improved with Clear radio stand - holds at optimum view angle
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Great value in the sub $250 area. Makes a great bedside receiver for those who want a satellite/DX radio on their nitestand, especially with the Clear radio stand to hold the E1 at optimum viewing/operating angle from UNIVERSAL RADIO. Order #3873. Enjoy.
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KC7JBB
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 17, 2008 07:54
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Very nice radio
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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After reading all the positive and negative reviews on this radio, I decided when a price drop occured, I would get one. I missed the Circut City close out so had to wait.
Then I saw the new Grundig 750 on Eton's site but was dissappointed that it did not mention Synch detect. Not available yet anyway.
Walked into Fry's electronics the other day and the E1 is on close out at 299.99, so I decided now or never. Guess what, none left so I bought the display, no box, no papers, Fry's warrenty though, at 285.00.
Well it seems to be all OK so I start a little comparison to my Son's 2001D (2010) Sony and his Grundig 800, yes He has better radios than I. I also check against my Degan 1103.
Sensitivity..... E1/2010 are both excellent
Selectivity..... Again E1 /2010/800 on par.
Audio/Listenability.... E1/800
Portability..... 1103/2010
Reliability..... So far so good on all.
User friendly features ... E1/800
E1 Pro's: Excellent Synchlock, three filter selctions, pass band tuning, good linear gain control.
E1 cons: No handle, flimsy tilt stand, I wouldnt use it. Noise on wallwart, Dim LCD screen when light is off.
Summary: So far I really like this radio. It performs with the best, lots of features, very user friendly. Just hope I dont have some of the reliability issues mentioned but we will see.
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KC2IYK
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 15, 2008 06:01
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Excellent- after FM lock repair
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I got in on the Circuit City online blowout- for $224 I could not resist what Passband calls the greatest SW portable ever made (I am a fan of Passband's and mostly agree with their past findings). As a SW receiver, I'm quite pleased. On MW and LW, I was even happier despite the lack of internal ferrite. Off the whip or with external antenna, the E1 is hot and I'm doing well chasing NDBs. But on FM... well, my serial #2608 simply would not lock onto stations whether hot, cold, whatever. Eton was great about RMA off to Drake for repair. Drake was quick- changed an IC, upgraded firmware, and FM lock problem solved. As a past 2010 owner, I think it's a bit unfair to try an apples-to-apples comparison as the E1 benefits from intuitive menus/interface, etc- but for sheer receiver performance, I think the E1 does come out generally ahead.
Final analysis- for what I paid, and Eton backing up their product, I could not be happier. For $499 as listed almost everywhere? I'd say wait for a good sale- just a bit overpriced (but then again, we hams tend to be "thrifty").
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K7CF
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 5, 2008 18:57
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Good Radio
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Someone on QTH.COM said Circuit City was having a sell on this radio for $224. Sure enough, they were. It was out of stock initially, but checked early one morning and there was one available. Received it with 3 day shipping for about $240 with tax. It was new, the radio had plastic on LED face, the wrapping was factory. The serial number was 23XX so apparently had been sitting on the shelf for a while. I bought a XM min-tuner and home adapter for about $44 from local Circuit City, there was a special on for three months free XM radio service offer with the mini tuner purchase and no set up charge. So for about $280, the E1 XM radio, the XM mini-tuner and home adapter and three months free XM service.
Not a bad deal. Still learning the radio, the XM is OK but hate paying for a radio service. The radio locked on to XM quickly with the antenna on the window sill facing east. SSB is good, the pass band tuning is good. The radio has 45 MHZ and 455 KHZ IF frequencies, I read somewhere that our own RL Drake engineered the radio. So, the bottom line is the first few hours of learning the radio, it is a good buy, XM portable radio, SSB, AM/FM and the only thing missing is analog TV channels like CC Crane, but those channels will disappear next year so not a biggie. I checked Circuit City, they no longer have them offered. They must have run out.
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N0AH
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 27, 2007 18:58
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Eton-Phone My Home!``
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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XYL got me this great radio for X-mas 2007. But radio was obviously repacked. While no dings or scrathes, their was no enclosed warranty card, the radio's plastic wrap had been obviously opened and just put around losely, and most of the shrink wrap around radio box was gone, and the AC cord was not wrapped. Even the enclosed CD had a scratch with finger prints on it, etc......
She got this direct from Eton. I was #@$! She really spent the $$$ for me and went out of the way to hide it. Trust me, if it RF, I find it. But not this time......
Well, like a dog from the pound, after listening to it for awhile, I wanted one.
I just wished someone at Eton would respond to my emails, answer the phone, announce that they are closed for the holiday week on the ph or web etc...so far, no answers on Dec-Wed 26- Thursday Dec 27.
Moving on......I used a Hustler 6BTV for all of the HF comparisions to a Pro III.
I just tuned around on the FM band with their internal FM antenna.
For the money, not bad. In fact, it is more pleasurable to listen to for me on every mode but CW. Over-all selectivity and sensitivity were beyond expectations to what I was comparing to.
I believe that this short wave receiver had a lot of thought on filter bandwidths on their part as well as a super dynamic speaker. I would imagine with the XM feature, they did not skimp on this.
The CW is a bit choppy but you are comparing a $3,000 Pro III to a $500 Eton E1XM.
After receiving this radio in the condition mentioned above, it was going straight back to Eton. But after testing it all day on AM, FM, SSB, etc......I want one.
I just would appreciate getting a unit that is not some accidently re-stocked radio. Maybe someone had a problem with the attached HF vertical as it hears nothing but our local am stations......but I was not expecting anything else. You need a real SW antenna for HF, right?!
Two things that I really don't like about the radio.
One, the display screen is difficult to see from any angle except head on. The adjustable back lighting, as some have mentioned, helps but not to any real degree. It really needs a contrast control.
The second item is the radio's PAL HF antenna jack. It needs a hard to find PAL to F adapter (a PAL is an European TV plug which is reccessed into this radio case and can be connected to an antenna using a F adapter (Radio Shack part #278-265B)) will work with a Male F-F coupler which can be fed with a 259 to F coupler). Dizzy yet??
I'm sure that their is a simplier way to do it but not from my immediate resources around town. And only a few radio Shacks in Denver had the PAL to F adapter.
I have a lot more to discover about this radio. I know I want to have it set up in a room away from the shack to either a long wire or simple 20-30 foot vertical. I feel it is a great family room radio. Also, I can't wait to hear XM radio was that gets set up.
On a very short test drive, I have really enjoyed the radio. But I would suggest to avoid buying direct from any company who also sales through dealers.
You'll pay the full retail price and so far, customer service is questionable. I know this would not be happening with AES or HRO. I would have had my exchange in process yesterday.
It just really miffs me about no one being home when I called for an explanation on the radio's condition when I opened it. To be continued.......
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G3UXB
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 22, 2007 20:56
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I do like this radio
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Well it appears there are two versions of the E1 out there, ones that work great and ones that don't. I bought a new E1 (non xm model) from Universal about three weeks ago and have done some extensive testing, overall the radio works great the only problem I have found is the FM stereo is a bit 'iffy' on it's lock seems to get better after time. Mine is totally on frequency, all knobs, switches etc tight and firm and the S meter(without the pre-amp on) tracks my Icom 718 perfectly, the noise floor is really good and I love the memory function. I am afraid to say it does beat my Ten-Tec RX320D in overall performance and is only just edged out by my Icom 718 (buit that has Collins filters installed) so in overall I guess if you buy the cheap early serial numbers from Circuit City on the cheap you get what you buy, I bouight the latest serial number non xm model from universal and have no regrets (Eton even sent me an RA number to send it back to Drake to fix the FM stereo problem) together with excellent customer service form both Eton and Drake in my opinion this is a radio to get and keep, 73 Geoff
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KE6YX
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Rating: 2/5
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Dec 22, 2007 15:59
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A real dog!!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I am sending my new X1 back!!
It arrived yesterday, and I went directly to radio shack and picked up the coax connectors and hooked it up to my coax switch.
Doing A/B tests against two of my ham rigs, a Ten Tec Corsair II which just came back from a factory alignment, and a 4 month old ICOM 746 PRO. They were all going directly to a trap dipole resonant on the CW portion of 80, 40, and 30 meters.
I never expected the ETON to do as well as the ham rigs, but I was still disappointed. I set the ETON to the narrow filter, and the ham rigs without the CW filters in. Signals that were S8-S9 and easy to copy on both ham rigs, were hard to copy, muffled, and weak on the ETON, Both Ham rigs have s-meters that agree within one S-unit. A signal that was S-9 on the ham rigs were 15 to 20 over on the Eton S-meter. I guess if you cannot deliver a good signal, just crank up the S-meter.
I next took it upstairs to my bedroom where I have a new DEGEN 1103. With both radios side by side using the whip antennas the DEGEN was way better in weak and strong signal reception, and sound quality. This is from a $48.00 radio.
I did like the ergonomics and tuning of the Eton X1, but the while the screen is large its quality is quite poor unless you are viewing it from the perfect angle. This is with the contrast and brightness cranked up. Just looking at the two radios one as big as a house, and the other small and easy to place on the table, you just want to ask what they are doing with all that space. No amount of neat features can make up for poor performance.
Overall, I think the ETON is a loser, and I have packed it up, and will return it to my local Circuit City as soon as the holiday madness is over. Save your money, and buy a DEGEN 1103.
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AKSWL
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 21, 2007 11:53
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E1 on sale at Circuit City $225
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I just ordered another one of these great portables at the above Circuit City bargain price. My last one had a bad display and it went back the following day, so I did not get much chance to try the radio as the display problems were affecting the CPU and the radio did not work. (no rx)
For $225 it's a bargin so I'll try again.
73 and good DX'ing
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KD8JHR
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Rating: 4/5
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Nov 29, 2007 15:15
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Good but not great...
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I purchased this receiver and tested it for about a week against my other radios. Ultimately, I was not sufficiently impressed to keep it.
==== I was pleased with the following: ====
* Overall sound fidelity (although it was a bit too bass-y for me...) -- but as a multi-band radio, it sounded fabulous on FM and the AM BCB - just a bit boomy for SWL
* Overall reception on both the whip and an external antenna (although the radio is only acceptable on the whip, it really does much better on an external antenna)
* Overall feature set is quite impressive for a mere "portable" rig - it does a lot that other portables cannot
* Filter selection was appropriate and seemed to work as intended - something I cannot say about many of the less expensive portables (such as my ATS-909 or Kaito KA-1102)
* Tuning the various SW and amateur bands was pleasing and easy - it was fairly easy to capture and tune up both broadcast stations and ham operators on SSB - better than less expensive portables, but not necessarily better (but very close) than tuning a tabletop receiver with a ham geneology, such as my Kenwood R-5000 - as a portable it came real close to tuning like that type of tabletop receiver - a real plus.
* Overall appearance is really good - this rig looks high tech and looks modern and timely - and I have no objections with the appearance of the screen - it tells you what you need in a clear way. Not a cool color LCD monitor like a Icom 756Pro III - but it does a good job of telling the listener what he needs to know
==== Things I did not like: ====
* Sound to me was heavy on bass and a bit muddy - I prefer a more crisp sound - there is too much high and low end to suit me - I ran it though an equalizer and it really improved clarity. I like clarity. My Kenwood R-2000 has better over audio, but the E-1 audio is way better than, say smaller portables like my Sangean ATS-909 - which I use with a small external speaker to get good clean, full sound - but we are talking about a radio, and not a radio + speaker combo.
* I did not like the feel of the knobs and buttons - felt mushy and loose (soft) to me - They worked, but not real well. I experienced static and crunchy noise if I put any downward pressure on the knobs as I turned them - making me realize I had to turn them very softly if I did not want to get any noise as I turned the volume and other knobs.
* I did not like the feel of the rubberized case and feel the case is lightweight for such a valuable instrument. Both my Kenwood R-2000 and R-2000 have a handles and are, therefore, more portable than the E-1 which is nearly as large as a tabletop and while it is a portable, it is almost so big as to qualify for membership in the tabletop category
* While better on the whip than my ATA-909 (everything IS...) it was not better on the external antenna - there was nothing I could get on the E-1 that I could not get on my ATS-909, Kaito KA-1102, Kenwood R-5000, and even my venerable old friend, the SONY ICF-5900w portable - which I dearly love using. All comparisons were performed on the same two external antennas: 1) a Wellbrook ALA-100M loop and 2) a 75 foot random wire with 9:1 transformer/balun with grounded coax feed.
* AM BCB performance was OK, but just OK, and I have other radios that do as well in this category. A RadiosPlus Quantum 2+ antenna did not save the day, either - besides, this is really a SW radio and I do not think anyone is buying it because it has stellar MW performance.
* Overall fit and finish did not impress me - certainly not good enough for a radio bearing such a large price tag.
Conclusion = it did not feel like a $500 radio, so I returned it. I can buy another radio, with better fit, finish, and feel, with a more solid case, better working buttons and knobs, and equal or better receiver performance in the same price bracket. I respectfully disagree with the suggestion we should compare this radio only with portable radios, and not with any table top models. Given its hefty price tag, it is not unreasonable to consider its performance and relative value against other radios in the same price range. I only consider how much radio can I get for the money. At this price, it should not be granted any special dispensation or allowed any comparative weakness because it is a "portable" - after all, the E-1 is as large as some so called "table top" receivers, and the E-1 lacks a transport handle, while my so called "tabletop" R-5000 and R-2000 each have handles. So under either the "size" or "handle" criteria I guess those other rigs are "more portable" than the E-1. (They are certainly more rugged... and in that sense are more "portable" as well...)
So, really good radio - just not good enough for the money, in my view. Thank you for considering my opinion.
NOTE - I do not believe Eton's published specifications for the radio. Eton claims it has Image Rejection equal to, and IF Rejection 10 dB better than, that of, say, the receiver section of the TenTec Omni VII - a $2600 transceiver, or the receiver sections of the $4,400 TenTec Orion or $2600 ICom IC756 Pro III transceivers -- all such rigs having stellar receivers. But then Eton admits it has an IP3 intercept point rating of only +10 dBm@20 KHz spacing, while those other rigs boast (an appropriate and expected) 90 dB @20 kHz spacing. Eton claims SSB/AM selectivity is in the same league as the ICom ICF9000.
Like Yosemite Sam says... "Something around here just don't add up...? That may be what Eton says, but after using the radio for a week, I do not belive it.
----------------------------------------------------------------
That is MY take, anyway.
Happy trails and 73 to all. /// KD8JHR ///
----------------------------------------------------------------
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PHILNIC99
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 8, 2007 14:02
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Impressed
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Been a big fan of my SONY ICF2001D ever since I bought it back in the mid-80's, however several repairs to try and resolve a reoccurring memory loss problem lead me to consider options available in terms of a replacement.
Saw the reviews here and came to conclusion that a lot of the apparant issues occurred early on in the life of the ETON E1, and with stocks in the US (may have been coincidence).
Took the plunge and bought one, started it up with the telescopic aerial at my bedside and was gobsmacked; my passion is civil aviation HF, so was more than happy to hear Shanwick clearly booming out on 5598 khz with planes over the Canaries coming in clear.
Went one step further and (based on reviews again on eham) purchased and installed a Par-Electronics EF-SWL wire aerial with earth-grounding; the results were astounding. I regularly get Gander over the arctic on 8891, with the aircraft themselves just about laudable towards the Canadian arctic and beyond going towards Russian airspace .New York ARINC also regularly comes in as does all the traffic in the Caribbean later in the evening, together with Murmansk Radio on 8950. I also receive HF ACARS pings over China, South America, Guam, US Mid-West (just as examples).
On the negative side, I agree that the radio is bulky although havent yet needed to transport anywhere; would also be nice if there was some kind of PC interface to back up and manage freqs against. I did contact Eton about the connection point contained in the battery compartment but they advised that this is only for use by service personnel.
Minor gripes but overall very pleased with the set. Performs well at 3,5,8,and 13 Mhz levels.
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