IRST LOOK

New Product Reviews
Big Performance, Little Package, Low Cost

Grundig G6 Aviator

By Larry Van Horn, N5FPW
Google search. The typeset is a bit small due to the small size of the manual itself, but at least the G6 manual is in black ink (not gray as in the Satellit 750).
ecently while visiting with the Grove Enterprises staff, one of our technicians was singing the praises of the Grundig G6 Aviator portable. It has one of the best SW sensitivities I have seen, she said. Well, it is a low end $100 portable, so how good could it really be? We decided to take one home and perform an MT First Look test on this small footprint portable.

On-the-Air Testing

During our testing we used the venerable Sony 2010 as our bench mark receiver. The first noticeable difference was in FM broadcast band reception. The G6 definitely beat the 2010 hands down, even when using the whip antenna. Overall, I was very surprised at this receivers sensitivity. Shortwave sensitivity was almost equal to my 2010. It was pulling out some interesting stations from within the HF utility bands, voice and digital. AM reception was reasonable (see negative below). The receiver has good audio, one of the best I have tested in this price category. Even given the small size of the speaker, it was interesting to hear decent audio from such a small package. As I expected, there was a noticeable improvement in audio when I used earphones versus the speaker. Like many of the Grundig/ Eton portables, you can select mono or stereo reception via the earphone jack.

Inside the Box

The first thing I noticed when I took the radio out of the box was its size. Dimensions are 5 inches (127mm) x 3 inches (76.2 mm) x 1.2 inches (30.48 mm) and it weighs 9 oz. (255.1 grams), excluding the two batteries. This radio can easily be thrown into a briefcase or purse for travel. Accessories included in the box include a carrying pouch, operating manual, warranty card, AC adapter/charger, supplementary antenna, and a carrying strap. The manual was okay. I have not been a big fan of Eton/Grundig receiver manuals in recent years. For instance, there is no explanation for the beginner on the basics of shortwave listening. They tell you to do a
What really surprised me about the G6 was the fact that they included SSB reception capability at this price range. However, receiver selectivity, especially for SSB reception, was a bit disappointing. There appears to be only one bandwidth available, and it is shared by both the AM and SSB modes. On the other hand, I was particularly pleased with the FM selectivity, which is usually an afterthought in this price range. This is a dual conversion receiver. While that is good, we noticed more images when we connected it to an external antenna as compared to the same setup for the Sony 2010. If you connect an external antenna to this radio, I

TABLE 1: GRUNDIG G6

Manufacturer Specs/Key Features
Frequency Coverage: LW/MW/SW: 150-29999 kHz (steps selectable depending on jog switch position); AM steps selectable for either 9 or 10 kHz spacing. FM Band: 87.5-108.0 MHz (76.0 MHz selectable for outside the US and Canada) Conversion: Dual conversion Bandwidths: One bandwidth AM/SSB Freq/Meter Conversion: LCD signal strength meter Attenuator: None Tuning Options Digital frequency readout / manual tuning knob Auto up/down buttons Keyboard direct frequency entry Auto search Auto tuning storage for FM band Memory Locations 700 memories arranged in 100 pages; each page holds seven memories. SSB selection is not stored. Clock function: 12/24 hour selectable Sleep time direct entry 0-99 minutes Three programmable alarms Audio Control: Push button (31 levels selectable by user) Tone select: News/music switch, FM stereo bass (earphones only) Backlighting: Display backlight Antennas Telescopic antenna for FM and shortwave Built-in ferrite bar antenna for LW/AM External antenna jack External Jacks Earphone jack (stereo on FM) and Antenna jack; both 3.5 mm diameter Power Source Battery 2 AA batteries; External power: DC 4.5V, center pin positive Includes AC-DC 4.5V 300 mA adapter

Overall rating: 2 and 1/4 stars

MONITORING TIMES

January 2009
MT FIRST LOOK RATING (0-10 scale)
Audio Quality4 Audio Levels5 Back light/Display6 Battery Life6 Dynamic Range5 Ease of use6 Feature Set5 Keyboard/Button/Control Layout5 Sensitivity: AM-5, FM-6, SW AM-5, SW SSB-4 Selectivity4 Overall Construction6 Overall Reception6 Overall Manual4
as good ason the other two radios. I did note a bit of synthesizer noise while tuning around, but I have not seen it mentioned by others who own the radio, so it may have been unique to the model I tested. Table 1 is a listing of manufacture specs and key features.

Bottom Line

As I mentioned in my past reviews, manufacturers have come a long way in the last decade in improving under $100 portable radios, and that was quite evident when we tested this radio. The Grundig G6 will have a wide appeal to the traveler. You get a lot of bang for the buck using this radio, including SSB reception. ing wheel to fine tune the SSB signal. There is no USB/LSB, so it will not be obvious which sideband you have selected. Another negative that I noted when testing SSB reception was an AGC action that was way too fast, so some of the stronger stations were a bit distorted on signal peaks. One thing thatcan make the Grundig G6 radio more difficult to useis the much smaller display screen, especially if you are sightimpaired. AM reception compared to the Sony was not as good, and this was probably the result of a smaller ferrite loop coil inside the radio as compared to the 2010. And the external antenna on the G6 only works on the shortwave/FM bands, so AM broadcast band reception is not
highly recommend adding the capability to attenuate some of the incoming signal to reduce the problem of the strong signal overload that the radio will experience. Finally, for those who like tuning around, there was no chugging when tuning the G6 like you have with the older Sony.

The G6 Negatives

As I have said many times in these First Look columns, no radio is perfect. Keeping in mind that we are talking about a $100.00 portable, the G6 does have a few skeletons in its closet. Tuning SSB signals is a bit better with this radio than some other models we have tested. There is a SSB button on the front of the receiver. When you press that button you will be able to decode the SSB transmission, but you will have to use the front panel tun-

Grundig G-6

PORTABLE

29999 Khz)

POWERFUL
AM, FM-stereo, Aircraft Band (117-137 MHz) and LW/Shortwave (150 Set 9/10 KHz AM tuning; set FM tuning range Single Side Band (SSB) Dual conversion (1st IF: 55.845 MHz, 2nd IF: 450 KHz) Digital tuning with digital frequency readout (LCD) Three types of automatic scan tuning: STOP tuning system stops on next
available frequency; D5 tuning system stops for 5 seconds on each available frequency; ATS tuning system automatically stores your favorite FM stations 700 memories with 4 character page naming

Order RCV59

828-837-9200 fax: 828-837-2216

800-438-8155

ORDER TODAY!
order@grove-ent.com 7540 Highway 64 West Brasstown, NC 28902

www.grove-ent.com

* plus $9.95 Priority Mail or UPS Ground shipping in the US
January 2009 MONITORING TIMES

LETTERS to the Editor

April Foolishness
Its been a long, hard winter: cabin fever is setting in and were starting to hear things. And when you start to hear things nobody else does, thats a good time to build an ultra-sound receiver. Well, its as good a reason as any. You could also say you want to hear bat and rodent calls, insect communications, or the sound of rubbing your fingers together -- all equally bizarre. Indulge your curiosity and check out this months On the Bench column and review of a simple kit to build your own receiver.
This column is open to your considered comments. Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of Monitoring Times. Your letters may be edited or shortened for clarity and length. Please mail to Letters to the Editor, 7540 Hwy 64 West, Brasstown, NC 28902 or email editor@monitoringtimes.com Happy monitoring! Rachel Baughn, Editor
Antenna Tuner for Long Waves
Bill Bowers allowed us to share a letter he wrote to Harry Weaver, author of Januarys On the Bench article Antenna Tuner for Long Waves. Your article on LW antenna tuners (January 2009) was interesting and your construction beautiful. I could never build things to look as professional as you do. Before the days of QRSS transmissions and computer listening, I spent, for 12 years, most of my winter nights trying to pull out the one watt lowfer signals in Morse code from all the noise in the LW band. I built all types of antennas, including some 1,000 foot long wires. With the long wires I built a dozen different types of tuning and matching circuits. The one shown below is by far the very best method of matching a long wire to a receiver in the LW band. This high Q resonant type of circuit not only gets rid of a lot of noise, but it
will give you more signal strength than any other type of matching circuit. The best solution to matching a long wire antenna is to build a universal coil with a wide range of inductance and the highest possible Q to resonate with the capacity of the antenna at the specified frequency. To get the maximum tuning range, the approach was to put as many turns as possible on the tickler coil and a series of taps on the coil body winding. Before the matching transformer is connected, the open circuit voltage, Eo, is measured. Then a variable resistor to ground is connected
to the antenna and the resistance varied until the voltage is 1/2 Eo. This resistance is the impedance of the tuned antenna circuit. The turns ratio of T is set by winding a matching transformer on a toroid core to give 50 Ohms out to the receiver Old age forced me to move from our 80 acre farm in rural Oklahoma to the Houston, TX area. The land behind our townhouse is a power transmission easement. There are five rows of high tension towers with the tallest having 5 foot long insulators that glow in the dark. Needless to say, my LW listening days are over. I look forward to your articles in Monitoring Times, and it is refreshing to see some handson construction and experimenting activity. It was interesting to note that you use a Harris 590 receiver. I have or had top of the line Racal, ICOM, & JRC receivers but in the end, the 590 was clearly the best on LW. Bill Bowers
Aero Performance of Aviator?
I was going through my January issue of Monitoring Times and read Larry Van Horns review of the Grundig G6 Aviator radio. He never mentions the Aircraft Band (117 - 137 MHz) operation in the article or lists the band in the specifications. The Grove ad for the Grundig G6 Aviator on the bottom of page 69 does list the Aircraft Band in the specifications. Did Larry review the Grundig G5, which doesnt receive the aircraft band.? Thanks for a great magazine. George Tasson We apologize for the oversight, which was unintentional. It was the G6 under review, but, not being impressed with the aviation reception on the whip antenna, Larry postponed writing up that aspect and then forgot about it! Bottom line: the radio is acceptable, but not if aviation is the primary reason for the purchase.

US Prices for Bonito Software
While on a Caribbean cruise (see BOATS page 58), Ron Walsh snapped a picture of the US Airways plane which crashed in the Hudson River in January. It was loaded on a barge in Bayonne, NJ. MT reviewed Bonito Softwares sophisticated RadioCom6 computer control and decoding software in the December 2008 and January

MONITORING TIMES

April 2009
2009 Computers & Radio columns. Dennis from Bonito has only one update to the article, and that is the price quoted for the software sales to the U.S. Though a look at www.bonito.net suggests prices are fluctuating in the current market, special pricing is made available to non-Euro countries to make it more affordable. Pricing to the US is currently US$246 according to Dennis. Grove enterprises sells the software at www.grove-ent.com/RC60.html
antenna found on walkie talkie radios. It was also much larger in diameter. In both cases the user appeared to be the ground contact for the Marine 1 helicopters. In the AF1 program he was on the ground in Africa. In the Marine 1 program it was New York City. Any idea what frequency or band this radio operates on? Pat Griffith Larry Van Horn and Chris Parris also apparently watched the same shows! Larry wondered the same thing and sent a similar query to Chris, our Fed Files columnist. Heres Chriss reply: I see we watch the same television shows! I also noted the large antenna on the hand-held radio. While I have not confirmed this from any official sources, it appears to me to be a hi-gain UHF air band antenna. I have seen similar antennas on some of the UHF rescue radios that downed flyers are sometimes equipped with. My guess is that they are operating somewhere within the 225-380 MHz military air band. I also wouldnt be surprised if they were using some encryption! Although some sources indicate some loband FM channels might be used by the HMX-1 squadron, I have not confirmed that they are still in regular use. Chris

John Wrisley

by Bob Grove W8JHD As we prepare this months edition, we are saddened by the death of John Wrisley, the original engineer at Grove Enterprises, who was responsible for the printed circuit board (PCB) layouts of all the Groves original products. These included frequency converters, preamplifiers, shortwave preselectors and more. Johns artwork was meticulous, and he would pore over his work repeatedly to insure its perfection. I would hastily sketch the wiring on a piece of paper, making sure I had all the connections right, label the parts, and hand it to him. I know that when I got his work back it would be perfect every time. Before coming to work for us, John had a colorful career with NASA following his tour of duty with the U.S. Navy. His profession would allow him first-hand participation in the heyday of Americas space program, and gave him the perspective we needed to create listening products for our clients. His irrepressible sense of humor was his trademark, and it was contagious. He was an incurable tinkerer; nothing escaped his attention. One day I looked out the office window during a lunch break and saw him hunched under the open hood of this ancient, blue, Toyota pickup truck. Curious about what he was up to this time, I ventured cautiously toward him and peeked under the hood. Dangling from the underside of the hood was a canteen of water with a rubber hose leading down to the carburetor; a clothespin controlled the flow, one drop at a time. John, Im not going to ask Oh, this? Im trying to wean this engine off gas; I figure a little more water each day, and eventually itll run completely on water! I nodded patronizingly and drifted back inside. Knowing Johns ironic sense of humor, I should have known better than to ask. Then there was his electric-powered soda straw to ease the task of drinking a beverage through an ordinary straw.but thats another story. We will all miss John, and extend our thoughts to his wife Josephine and their family.

Radio Telescope Clothesline?
I agree that it is unlikely that Grote Rebers mother used his radio telescope antenna to dry clothes. (See February Antenna Topics.) I had the good fortune to attenda talk by Mr. Reber about his radio astronomy experiments. This was in Washington, DC, in a small auditorium at the Smithsonian Institution, 30 or 40 years ago.Icant prove it, but I had the impression that he was living alone as a bachelor during his experiments.None of his pictures showed laundry on his dish antenna, and he made no mention of such a problem. Perry Crabill, W3HQX, Washington, DC

Alternate E-Mail Address

Several subscribers have noted over the past few months that their email has bounced when they have written to the monitoringtimes.com email addresses. While we dont know the reason for all instances, we do know that our domain is frequently a target for spammers. We apologize for the problem, but there seems to be very little we can do about it in todays internet environment! If you find you cant get through to your columnist, try this alternative: Send your email to the editor via rachel.baughn@gmail.com for forwarding to the authors personal email address. Or try rachel@grove-ent.com. Well get it through somehow!

Rebanding?

Jim MacDonald wrote columnist Dan Veeneman to ask about tracking rebanded Motorola radio systems such as the Massachusetts State Police and Nashua, NH city P2 digital system. While Dan may answer Jims other questions in a later Scanning Report column, I wanted to call particular attention to this months Whats New column on page 74. Youll find information about downloading an update to your Uniden digital scanners firmware which will enable it to follow the newly rebanded systems.

Rob Harrington

Wayne Heinen N0POH forwarded the following information from Chris Knight about the passing of radio hobbyist and early MT contributor Rob Harrington: I received the sad news that Rob Harrington passed away. Rob had been suffering from a lengthy illness. Rob founded a SWL/ DX club in the early 1970s called Colorado Association of DXers (COADX). He was a member of SPEEDX, NASWA, and other clubs. Although Rob was interested in AM BCB to some degree, his main interests were shortwave listening and computers. He had the SWL call sign WDX0SWL and ham radio callsign N0NNI. Our sincerest condolences go out to Robs family and friends.

Unusual Antenna

I have a question that maybe you could pass on to the right contact. On two recent television programs, one about Air Force 1 and the other about Marine 1, I noticed a fellow in a suit with a standard sized handheld walkie talkie sporting a 2 to 3 foot long helical antenna. It was much longer than the typical low band helical
John Wrisley drew the original headers for Monitoring Times regular departments. Here are two of my favorites.