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Reviews For: CountyComm GP-5/SSB

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : CountyComm GP-5/SSB
Reviews: 29MSRP: 79.95
Description:
Portable SWL receiver w/SSB
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00293.9
W6CAW Rating: 2018-03-15
WOW! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
WOW! What a great radio. Now I can listen to Ham radio anywhere. Great sensitivity and tons of features.
K5TTE Rating: 2018-01-28
Decent CW reception Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I can’t add much more to the satisfactory reviews from other hams.
But since I’m a CW nut, I was pleasantly surprised that this
pocket lightweight radio provides decent Morse reception.
The “BFO” feature allows precise manual tuning of a CW signal —- essentially a fine-tuning bandspread function that a CW operator will appreciate.
N0TLD Rating: 2017-12-24
Cute fun Time Owned: more than 12 months.
If the rating was purely about the coolness and fun factor, it would be 6+. This little thing is very enjoyable to use, for me anyway.

It performs remarkably well for its size and design -- the MW ferrite antenna actually turns and nulls noise and other signals; SSB reception is not difficult to tune in and it STAYS tuned in.

One feature I really enjoy is ETM, or Easy Tuning Mode, which is its ability to scan the FM and/or AM bands for stronger, local signals and put all of them in temporary memory without using up real memory slots (of which there are 100 AM, 100 FM and 250 SW), which you can cycle through with the push of a (little!) button. This adds a LOT to its usefulness as a traveling radio -- its form factor and size are excellent for travel, and the ETM brings you local radio stations in a new place in as little time as a minute. That is a very good travel radio.

I'm quite convinced that the reviewer who claimed it was 'deaf as a stone' had a broken/damaged radio -- I've used mine for two years now, as well as given a number of them as gifts and have put all of them through their paces first, and they are ALL quite sensitive and perform much as my Tecsun 660 performs. If you "can't hear a thing" even with an external antenna connected, then the problem is with that particular radio, not the design itself.

It may not be a powerhouse DXing radio but it is certainly NOT deaf as a stone. Try another unit and see.

I don't like the lack of a visual S meter, replaced with a numerical system that is just tedious and clutters the already packed display. A common LCD bar line would have been perfect.

I don't like the on board audio, but of course it's a tiny radio, you can't expect it to be loud and rich. But through the headphones, it is very warm, rich and worthy.

I don't like the lack of a numerical keypad -- tuning can be a pain in the ass across large sections of spectrum. I got around this, though, by putting a few freq's in memory for each HAM and SW band, so that scrolling through memory I am never far from where I want to tune. It greatly eases tuning!

But overall I love this thing. It performs quite well, feels solid and not cheap, has SSB, and stereo through headphones, and fits in a coat pocket. It puts the fun back in functional!

KF7SLM Rating: 2017-12-24
Real value for the price. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It does what all the others promised,I bought over the years and didn't deliver. The ETM function is a dream. Just the whip hears a lot when in a hurry. The audio is good. It fits in my shirt pocket like some of the newer HTs. $10 more now than the price listed. The guys in the club assumed it didn't have SSB. Nice that it has a charger for NiCads & NiMh. Great when you are on HF and can check the signal. I would buy it again in a heart beat.That says a lot for 79 & counting



N4YX Rating: 2017-12-24
Group Purchase Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Once our local ham group got their hands on one of these about a year ago they all wanted one of their own so I purchased ten units from CountyComm. Yep - not a single complaint. They all luved 'em.
KK4NWW Rating: 2017-11-09
Basic lightweight and reliable Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Hello, I have had this mini wonder radio for a week or so. Well I can say its a hot receiver, I bought it to monitor the SSB ham bands during my delivery job. So basically have a external icom IC703 antenna connected to radio and an aux audio cable from the countycomm to the aux input on stereo equipment. Super nice small footprint and lightweight is a plus. FM sounds very good. Selectivity and sensitivity are pretty acceptable. I wish I could direct frequency entry thru number keyboard.
N8ZEE Rating: 2016-08-03
Great little radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The best $80.00 I have ever spent. Radio works great on sw bands, but I use it mostly on ssb where it shines. A couple of my friends were on 20 meters and 2 of the three came in great the other one was pretty low on my ham radio so no big thing. Great for a go bag. Check out all the reviews and see what most think about this radio. My call sign is n8zee you can look me up on qrz if you want more info.
AA5IT Rating: 2016-06-09
Excellent for what it was designed for Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This radio fits into the "portable" category with its performance that is only "hand-held" in size. Very cool radio.
K0CRX Rating: 2015-12-10
DEAF AS A STONE Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I read the reviews and I was pretty excited to get one of these little receivers. When it arrived, I was totally disappointed. It's hard to tune and takes way too much effort to get to a specific freq.

But, most importantly, IT'S DEAF AS A STONE!! Anxious to hear it perform on SSB, I connected it my 160-meter dipole and tuned across 80 meters during prime time. I heard ONE SIGNAL!! Thinking we were having some sort of radio anomaly, I tuned across 80 meters with a real radio and the band was hopping, as usual.

The bottom line - IT'S JUST ANOTHER DEAF PORTABLE SHORT WAVE RADIO. Save your money.
NZ5L Rating: 2015-08-28
great for a pocket receiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Despite the innovative "Easy Tuning Method" (ETM) it's difficult to scan with - odd, because that should be a digital radio's forte. But it's surprisingly sensitive, especially when hooked to a permanent antenna. The AM plug in loop actually works rather well, and the FM sensitivity is above average for the type. The adjustable BFO is able to "clarify" ham SSB audio fairly easily, and even CW sounds pretty good. FM stereo thru the earbuds (supplied) is excellent, and the little speaker gives reasonably good audio. It's very light and portable, and - this is important for an every day user like myself - the batteries last a long time.
Needs a better scan system and a better written manual, but it's definitely a winner in amount of performance per pound!