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Grundig Globe Traveler G3 AM/FM/Shortwave Radio with Aircraft Band, Single-Side Band, Radio Data System and Synchronous Detector | 
| Brand: Grundig
List Price: $200.00
Buy New: $126.56
as of 9/5/2010 01:48 CDT details
You Save: $73.44 (37%)
New (8) Used (1) Refurbished (1) from $89.00
Seller: TechUStore
Rating:  8 reviews
Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 1.1 x 6.6 x 4.1
MPN: G3
Model: G3
UPC: 750254804250
EAN: 0750254803888
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | AM/LW/FM/SW with SSB (150-30000 KHz) and VHF Aircraft band (118-137 MHz) Dual Conversion PLL Digital tuner, with digital display (LCD) showing frequency, time, sleep time and symbols for sleep timer and alarm activation | | • | RDS (radio data system) on FM shows frequency, call letters, artist, song title, date, messages in display when available Synchronous Detector with selectable side-band Line-in/out 700 randomly programmable memories for all frequencies | | • | 3.5 mm headphone input (earphones not included) Telescopic antenna for FM and SW reception Internal ferrite bar antenna for AM reception Power source: 4AA batteries (not included) | | • | Display Indication: Time, frequency, stereo, sleep, alarm, lock, battery, memory page, memory, time zone, week-day, wide narrow, signal strength, synchronous detector, SSB, RDS External antenna jack SW, FM, Aircraft Band | | • | Batteries 4 x 1.5 V (LR6, AM3, AA); 4 AA rechargeable NI-MH Dimensions: 6.614? x 4.13? x 1.1? and168 x 105 x 28 mm (W x H x D) Net weight: 345 g Accessories: owner?s manual, warranty card protective pouch, AC adapter/charger |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The Radio has AM/LW/FM/SW with SSB (150-30000 KHz) and VHF Aircraft band (118-137 MHz) Dual Conversion PLL Digital tuner, with digital display (LCD) showing frequency, time, sleep time and symbols for sleep timer and alarm activation. It comes with 3.5 mm headphone input (earphones not included) Telescopic antenna for FM and SW reception Internal ferrite bar antenna for AM reception Power source: 4AA batteries (not included)
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 8
 Best Portable September 24, 2009
C. MacGuyer (RI)
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
I'm a collector of portable shortwave radios.
For its size, I find the G3 the best you can buy.
The E1XM is the best, but not very portable, and all radios have some issues.
The G3 is sensitive, selective, and sounds very good.
The back lit display is outstanding with with a power blue color.
I also like the G6 for its diminutive size, sound, and generally good reception.
Both these Grundigs can charge rechargeable (NIMH) batteries while onboard.
Another good radio is the Kaito KA1102. All the above radios are SSB capable.
I also like the Sony ICF-SW7600GR but it does not recharge batteries, and its sound needs improvement as does its display. Don't get too excited about the synchronous detection circuitry as few radios have one that works really well. The E1 however is the exception as it's designed by R.L.Drake and repaired there also.
The price of the KA1102 is very reasonable and comes with rechargeable batteries.
If you can erect/build an outside antenna, and serious about SWL, for the price, the E1XM is the one to own. XM radio is also very entertaining for about $15 a month. The Grundig G3 is more expensive than the G6 or KA1102. I like the ergonomics of the controls and the firmware logic of the Grundig more than the Kaito/Degen design. The Grundigs also have a tuning wheel which may be old school, but still adds to the overall functionality of Shortwave Listening.
 Very nice radio, better than the G6 August 8, 2009
NathanBrazil (Texas USA)
12 out of 16 found this review helpful
I am a collector of radios, I have over 200 in my collection starting in the 1920's to today. Lets deal with complaint number one, the sync is bad, poor would be a better description. This discription will also apply to almost any radio under $1000.00. The SYNC on this radio performs as well as the Sony 7600GR which is not very good either. I personally have found this feature to be of dubious value.
Now to the good stuff:
The SSB feature on this radio is the best I have seen on any small portable radio. You can select either USB or LSB and it also allows fine tuning via a tuning knob. A great inprovement over the G6. The aircraft band works very well from my location ( about 10 miles from DFW airport). FM stations come in very well up and down the dial. The local AM stations come in great, even in my office building.To be fair I live and work in Dallas,Tx and there are many AM and FM stations close by.
The shortwave performance seems very good as well, on a par with My favorite portable radios the Sony 7600GR,ICF-SW100E, Grundig Yachtboy 400, DEGEN 1102 and ATS 909. The radio itself is quite small, smaller than the 7600GR. It feels like it is well made, only time will tell for sure about that. It also has RDS capability. I have not found any stations to test that feature on yet. The radio also has a line in/out connection, this is a bit unusual for a small radio.
The internal memory store is easy to use. I really like this while using the aircraft band.
All of my testing has so far been using only the built in whip antenna.
Fairly Nice Unit January 8, 2010
Bill Lowe (Rochester, NY USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Given to me as a Christmas gift replacing an older, similar-size radio that had died, the G3 has proven very enjoyable so far. Let's be clear: my main use of it is for shortwave listening. The AM and FM reception I've logged so far is average to slightly above average. As someone who worked in broadcasting for nearly 50-years, I don't spend a lot of time listening to the drivel on those airwaves today. And let's face it...you can't expect a radio of this size to sound anything like a much larger set with multiple speakers! So it's okay for casual AM and FM.
The real reason you should have something like this is straining those shortwave broadcasts out of the ether and doing so without breaking the bank. In that regard, the Grundig does pretty good, even with its on-board whip antenna. I have augmented that by installing a random length wire up near the ceiling in my small listening room. Connecting it with an alligator clip to the antenna has GREATLY improved reception of shortwave.
The unit's SSB feature only works so-so on shortwave but with the external antenna, I seldom need to use it anyway. Don't know about the aircraft band since I have a hand-held transceiver for that sort of work. And, no, I don't transmit at random. I have the transceiver because I'm a pilot and carry it as a back up when flying.
Back to the subject...my biggest gripe about the Grundig is that the jacks and switch on the left side aren't clearly labeled. Coupled with the fact that the directions contain no diagram pointing out what switch or jack is what, it means you've gotta pour through the directions to figure out that left side. Really minor problems, though.
If you are new to shortwave, make sure you use the Internet or go to a book store and get a guide for shortwave broadcast schedules. That'll insure that you are listening at the right times and to the right frequencies for broacasts aimed at your part of the world and in your language.
Bottom line: A more than adequate radio for shortwave listening.
Does not Replace My Eton E5 :( August 19, 2009
jr_Tech (Portland OR. area)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
I had high hopes for this radio, hoping that I could replace my much-used and beat up Eton E5. Sadly, this will not be the case. While the G3 adds some features such as the Aircraft band, LSB/USB switch, RDS and Sync detector (which sorta works), several important traits/features of the E5 are not carried over to the new model.
1. FM sensitivity is not as good. Several FM stations in Eugene Oregon (about 110 miles away) that are easy catches for the E5 can still be heard with the G3 but not as clearly, and with much more effort to get the antenna "just right".
2. MW (AM) sensitivity is not as good...side by side comparison on several weak AM stations that yield decent reception with the E5 are heard with more noise and hiss on the G3.
3. Ditto for LW... several aircraft beacons are heard, but with more hiss on the G3.
4. The "wide/narrow" switch does not also function as "voice/music" tone control on FM, as it does on the E5.
5. The push-buttons are NOT illuminated on the G3.
6. Tuning steps increased from 25 kHz to 50Khz on FM... not what is needed to pull in a weak DX station that is first adjacent to a strong local!
The good points:
1. The RDS functions well.
2. SSB stations are MUCH easier to tune with the G3 than the E5.
3. The Aircraft band works well, this will be great for airshows.
4. Under some conditions (stations that are not too weak) the sync detector does provide improvement. I find that I must tune 1 kHz LOW to get it to work, so there could be some alignment issues with my particular radio. The feature does not work as well as it does on my Sony ICF-SW7600GR and is not even close to the performance of my Sony ICF 2010!
5. The G3 is less likely to "overload" in strong signal areas than the E5... perhaps the sensitivity was reduced on purpose to provide better reception for city dwellers, at the expense of reducing DX capabilities.
So, I will keep my beat up old Eton E5, and use both... sad!
Update: 5/19/10 I have read several reviews/comments that seem to indicate that the sensitivity and Sync detector problems on early production units have been fixed. This model might be worth a second chance.
Equivalent to Eton E5/Grundig G5, not an improvement August 23, 2009
clyde (san francisco, ca, usa)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
I ordered the Grundig G3 because it's the same radio as one I already own (the Eton E5) with a few new features. I got the Eton E5 as soon as they came out in early 2006, and it has been my main receiver for shortwave listening and mediumwave dxing (searching for distant stations). Synchronous detection was the new feature I cared about the most. For testing, I used alkaline batteries, the telescopic whip antenna for FM and VHF, the internal ferrite bar for AM (mediumwave), and two different wire antennas for SW.
Pros:
* In my experience, the G3 provides equivalent sensitivity for shortwave as my E5, and mediumwave sensitivity is slightly improved.
* The G3 has a brighter backlight that more completely illuminates the LCD screen and looks great.
* Memory pages can contain eight-character names; an improvement over the four-character names supported by the E5.
* Audio from the speaker seems to produce more treble than the E5, which helps somewhat with clarity.
* RDS works for 15 FM stations in my area.
Cons:
* Synchronous detection provided some benefit for mediumwave signals suffering from adjacent channel interference, but has provided no benefit for any of the shortwave broadcasts I tested with. In fact, activating synchronous detection on weak-to-medium strength shortwave broadcasts caused the radio to mute, emit a loud whining sound, and perform this cycle repeatedly. Sync detection on the G3 is a significantly worse implementation than can be found on the Sony ICF SW7600GR, which costs about the same as G3.
* I found the VHF aircraft band to be useless because line-of-sight reception only allows me to hear planes, not ground-based crews at the international airport 10 miles away. I'd rather use websites that stream air traffic control channels so I can hear the whole conversation.
* My radio has a strong burnt rubber smell that has persisted for weeks. The smell gets on my hands as well when I handle the radio.
* The G3 is noticeably slower to respond to frequency changes than the E5 when entering a frequency via the keypad.
* Sometimes when I press the "3" on the numeric keypad, the radio interprets it as a "4".
* Watching a song title and artist scroll by while using RDS is kind of painful due to the fact that only eight characters can be displayed at a time. I'd rather go to a radio station's website to find out what's playing.
Conclusion:
Since synchronous detection does not help with shortwave reception and clarity, this radio is not an upgrade from the Eton E5 which I already own. I decided to return this product.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 8
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