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| Reviews Summary for ETON E5 with SSB |
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Reviews: 22
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Average rating: 4.3/5
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MSRP: $169.95
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Description: The Etón E5 is the a world class portable radio covering AM, FM and shortwave. It features dual conversion AM/SW circuitry for exceptional sensitivity and image rejection. It offers S.S.B. - Single sideband reception. It has an amazing 700 channel memory capacity with memory scan and auto tuning storage. The 24 hour clock features alarm and sleep timer functions. Tuning is via auto-scan, manual scan, conventional tuning knob or direct keypad entry. FM stereo is supported to the mini earphone jack. The LCD display can be illuminated one of three ways. In Normal Mode pressing any button activates the display. While plugged into the AC outlet the Always-on mode illuminates the display whenever the radio is turned on. In Manual Mode the dial will light for 15 seconds when the light button is pressed. Other refinements include: Local/DX Switch, Wide-Narrow selectivity and external SW antenna jack.
The E5 operates from four AA cells (not supplied) or via the supplied AC wall adapter. The supplied AC adapter can also recharge NiMH AA cells (not supplied) while in the radio. (Do not attempt to recharge other types of AA cells). This radio also includes a multi-language Owner's Manual, wrist strap, protective case, wire antenna and ear buds. 6.675 x 4.125 x 1.125 inches 12.2 oz (168x105x29mm 346 g). One year limited warranty.
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More info: http://www.etoncorp.com
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write your own review of the ETON E5 with SSB.
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WD40
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 19, 2009 13:59
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Great Radio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Everytime I turn on this little radio I'm amazed at it's performance and features. I use it for listening to SSB signals but also for AM and FM. The price is right and with a good outside antenna it's a powerhouse!
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VE4AMN
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 23, 2008 21:05
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Good performer compared to Kaito 1103d
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is a decent radio and much less frustrating than the Kaito 1103. Its strong points are senstivity, fidelity, a not bad selectivity switch, and ease of tuning SSB. The auto scan feature is not quite right, since on low sensiivity it can pass by a station and on high sensitivity it stops at every spurious signal.
I would prefer an alarm with a beep.
The Kaito is also sensitive, but I find the frequenncy management to be difficult to use. The alarm and memory functions are tricky and the volume control set-up just a little weird.
So while it is more expensive, the G5 represents better value IMHO.
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G3WAW
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Rating: 4/5
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Apr 24, 2008 09:05
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A very good radio
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I picked up My Little Eton E5 a couple of weeks ago and thought I'd share my view on this remarkable little unit.
The first evening I had this set I managed to hear a HAM operator in Cyprus on SSB using just the built in telescopic Antenna - the signal was good and strong and I also heard many of the stations calling into him also with usually superb clarity... Very impressive!
I have since put up a long-wire antenna in the garden and now the E5 REALLY shines (and it wasn't overloaded by nearby transmitters either) - I've managed to pick up a vast range of stations from just about all over the globe. The audio is crisp and the tone is very good considering the size of the unit.
I would have given this little guy a 5 score but for the following niggles:
No finger dimple on the tuning knob - not a biggie but not as comfortable when tuning a band,
No icon on the display for DX/LO and as the switch is on the side of the unit means it's not easy to see (yet there is one for the narrow/wide filter switch),
No marking on the fine-tune control for the 'centre' position - I've marked it myself now to make things easier
The good points:
Superb sensitivity,
Very little sign of overloading even when on a long wire,
Selectivity also seems to be pretty good allowing stations to be legible even during busy times,
No 'chuffing' when tuning the band using the rotary tuner,
very clear and crisp audio,
easy to read display that is well lit for night time use (although the buttons are not so well lit but they are usable),
170 memories
All in all, for the price, a superb little radio and highly recommended.
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BLACKKNIGHT
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 11, 2008 00:45
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Best Multiband Radio I Have Ever Owned
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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The Eton E5 receiver is by far the best portable multiband radio that I have ever bought. Earlier this week (Jan. 8th 2008), I went to a Circuit City near a friend's house and was intentionally getting the Eton E10. I did not see there, but I did see the E% and E100. Both receivers were on clearance (E100 for $83 and E5 for $86). I decided to buy the E5 over E100. When I brought it to my friend's house, I tuned to many FM and AM stations. The stations, even distant ones, come in loud and clear. Later, I tested the SW bands and was greatly impressed. I was able to receive my favorite SW stations much better without a lot of of fading, noise, and interference that I would have on my Radio Shack Travel Digital SW 20-125 (I bought this one earlier this year.) I was also able to receive SW stations that I couldn't get on my other radios. I was even able to receive a BBC transmission to West Africa during the afternoon. The digital input for frequencies is something I value most since I dealt with anaolg radio and hate how they drift off a station. The E5 also has a light feature that allows you to see the display. I really like the signal strength indicator on the display since it gives a better idea on how strong the signal really is. Overall, this is the best radio I ever had and most likely be the last SW receiver I will ever buy since I am quite satisfied with the Eton E5.
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PHILNIC99
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 3, 2008 02:40
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Great Little Receiver
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Read some of the reviews on ETON products and I must be one of the lucky few who have had several of these , but had little or no reason to gripe about quality-wise. I have an E1 also and love it to bits (Review elsewhere).
Anyhow the E5; hummed and haaed about getting one until an offer from Maplins came up for these @ £64 each. Arrived within 2 days, quality looks really good, solid and nice construct, but no external wire antenna supplied ; no matter as I had one from my previous (SONY ICF2001D)so dug that out in anticipation. Evening/morning reception was ok with whip, then tried connecting external wire via the jack - disappointing until I read somewhere that results were better connecting directly to the whip itself. Hey presto,what a difference; the SSB and the fine tune wheel were a lot of fun to use, was picking up aircraft on SSB over US side of the Atlantic along with New York, Santa Maria and Gander all coming in clearly and loud on 3, 5 and 6Mhz freqs. Plan to try the 8/13 Mhz freqs this afternoon but initial reception looks promising.
Controls are easy to use and the memory input is a doddle (after I got my head around it, dont do at the end of Xmas period when your brain has been sozzled!). Speaker for the price is good.
For the money, simple and easy to use and for my hobby (aeronautical HF), would recommend as a good entry model. Only complaint I have is the antenna socket which IMHO is a red herring.
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G6LFT
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 2, 2007 12:04
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Great value for money
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I am sitting here at the laptop listening to CW on 80m on the Eton E5 using its internal whip! It is very rare that I am so pleased with a 'cheap' item. I bought the radio through a special offer from the RSGB for 60 UK pounds. For this money I expected an OK radio with a crude BFO. The radio has far exceeded my expectations. I like listening to cw when at work, or relaxing away from the main rigs and this radio is just perfect. It is small and feels very well built. With a ground connection (to the external antenna socket) it really comes alive. It is not a fully fledged comms receiver but it is as good (and probably better) than the RX sections of many of the QRP radios I have built/own. In fact, I will most likely try to use it as the RX with a simple TX on 40m or 30m. The wide/narrow filter works well and is more than adequate for general listening (but it is not a cw filter, most likely about 2kHz).
For the money, it is great. I wish radios like this had been around when I first got into radio in the late 70's.
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A22EW
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 17, 2007 08:17
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Excellent
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Picked up this receiver as I need a travelling radio instead of my Sony 7600GR. Picked it from RadioShack clearance.
Pleasantly surprised at its performance. My biggest plus that I have for the radio is its good sensitivity and selectivity. The tuning dial is just right. I find it more useful than the key for 5khz.
The whip antenna does not deliver much of a performance just like the sony. However putting it with a long wire outside, it does compare. Filtering has been well done.
Overall, very satisfied.
Downside, time setting is a bit of a issue. Since, I did not get a manual, downloading - there are 2 variation; one give more details in English only; use that one instead of the eton updated multilingual book.
Other question is - Power supply is noted for 8v while the receiver takes 6v. Is that to compensate for the fact that it serves two purposes i.e. to recharge and to run the radio. Manual or Eton's website did not elaborate.
If you are entering the field and need a good all rounded set, this is definitely it. I had bought a Kaito 1102; it left a lot to be desired.
TheSourceCC is clearing it for $69.99 in Canada.
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N3KMJ
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Rating: 4/5
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May 20, 2007 10:25
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Excellent portable with some unexpected surprises
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Let me start by saying I've never been a big fan of Grundig/Eton products. Those I have owned previously were returned within days or sold at the next hamfest; mainly due to poor performance, cheap construction and a general lack of "wow" factor. I have owned MANY receivers over the past 20 years and the majority have been Sony, Panasonic or Sangean, so I have a lot of reference points to compare the Grundig G5 against. This radio was the last chance I was going to give this its company given the excellent reviews of the Degen DE1103 and I wasn't going to attempt a leap of faith by purchasing one on eBay or online to find out I bought another piece of junk. I notice the local Radio Shack carries the G5, so I set out to put my hands on one before making the investment, and if I decided I didn't like it I could promptly return it. Keep in mind, I went into this endeavour very skeptical and was expecting the worst, and I'm going to cover a few surprising things that no others have mentioned.
First Impression: While at Radio Shack I was surprised at how small the G5 really is. I was expecting something along the size of the Sangean ATS909 (DX-398) but it's more comparable to the ATS-606AP (DX-399), just slightly larger. The build quality is above average for a portable in this price class and it has a nice heft -- overall it doesn't "feel" cheap. The casing has a very unusual and unique coating giving it a rubberized texture that minimizes any chance of it slipping out of your hands. The buttons, knobs and switches have a solid feel and aren't loose like other portables I've owned. The backlight is cool blue and very bright, one of the best I've ever seen and on par with my Icom 746Pro. It appears it's LED which will consume far less battery power and is a well thought out engineering design that others should follow. Being in a mall reception was horrible and that was expected. However, I wanted to experience the non-muted tuning and lack of "chuffing" that everyone raves about. Sure enough, the G5 tunes like a REAL communications receiver. Exceptionally smooth and comparable to radios costing hundreds more. I was convinced and pulled out the cash.
Down to the Nitty-Gritty: Once I got home I ran the G5 through it's paces for nearly 4 hours straight. The manual is poor but is enough to get you started, and you're going to need it to understand the less then intuitive memory system compared to other radios. Firstly, don't be deceived by the alphanumeric tagging feature. You can ONLY name pages, not individual memories. This was a disappointment but not a deal breaker. Using the telescopic whip yielded above average results and directly connecting my G5RV to the external antenna jack only slightly overloaded the front end. Switching on the attenuation cleared everything up nicely and it performed well beyond what I was expecting. The receiver front end is extremely quiet, comparable to or better then my Sangean ATS909, yet it cost half as much. Although I did notice some fairly strong synthesizer noise in the AM broadcast band and approximately 5-10 birdies in the SW spectrum. The noise in the AM broadcast band can be eliminated by using an external antenna. The narrow filter works exceptionally well and doesn't distort or muffle the audio as with some Sony or Sangean units. Audio from the internal speaker is rich and full, even better with headphones. One VERY EXCELLENT design feature that I discovered by accident and have never found on any other radio is the internal ferrite bar antenna is deactivated at 3000Khz rather then 1750Khz. This allows listening to the 160M amateur band without having to use a gigantic longwire or dipole, although its bandwidth drops off sharply at about 2100Khz, so you'll need at least some type of external antenna to hear anything worthwhile between 2100Khz and 3000Khz. No biggie.
This is the first radio that has impressed me in years in terms of price and performance. It's a very good value at $150, if you can buy it for less your stealing it. I like it so much I want to buy another and will probably sell off a couple of my Sangeans that are now overshadowed by the Grundig G5's excellent features, quiet receiver and above average workmanship.
PROS:
- Price/Value/Size
- Above average build quality
- Very smooth tuning with no muting or "chuffing"
- Superb narrow filter
- Internal ferrite bar antenna functional to 2100Khz
- Big and very well lit display
- Great battery life
- Good audio
- Sensitive, low noise front end without overload
- SSB performance very good
CONS: (but could be improved on)
- Synthesizer noise in AM broadcast band
- Funky memory system
- No alpha tags for individual memories
- No dedicated USB/LSB modes
- Up/Down volume control could be a bit more linear instead of being coarse steps.
- Poor manual
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TOBYDOG
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Rating: 5/5
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May 5, 2007 20:47
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My favorite receiver
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I own a total of 12 portable SW receivers ranging from a massive Zenith TO 7000Y to a tiny Grundig Mini World 100 PE. My most recent purchase was a Grundig G5 (= Eton E5) on EBay for about $80 including shipping. In a few short days it has become -- along with the great old TO 7000Y -- my favorite receiver.
In my MW sensitivity tests the G5 finished in a virtual tie for first with the Kaito KA 1103 and the TO 7000Y. In my SW senaitivity tests it finished a close second to the KA 1103. But in terms of features, versatility, build, ergonomics and ease of use, the G5, in my opinion, beats out a very capable KA 1103 as a mid-sized, moderately priced portable multiband receiver. It sounds great, feels great and looks great as well -- like driving a fine automobile!
As for comparing the G5 to the Zenith 7000Y, it's like comparing an apple to a watermelon. Different sizes, different eras. Granted, the G5 isn't a legend, but it's a darn good portable!
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KC2OYZ
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Rating: 3/5
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May 4, 2007 23:40
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Buy the Sony SW7600GR
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have been using a Sony SW7600GR for about 5 years as a bedside radio and occasional DX portable, particularly for BCB DXing. But I'm always on the lookout for something new and interesting, and the E5 (G5) was getting some very good reviews, so I decided to check one out.
The E5 is aesthetically pleasing and has many nice features that make it user friendly. But it terms of performance, at least on MW BCB, the Sony blew it away, particularly when using the sync lock.
If you're want a nice looking, quality built, user friendly radio, the E5 will not disappoint. But if your are interested in more serious dx'ing without shelling out $500, buy the Sony and you'll be glad you did. My E5 is going back.
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