The 300PE is a good choice for someone who wants an am/fm/sw handheld
radio. It is about 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 1 and has a 2" stub smoothly
moulded in the case to protect the pull-up whip. It is a single
superhet with a digital display only. It receives seven sw bands using
bandspread tuning, am, and fm. It has a clock, alarm, sleep function,
and 60 min auto turn-off. It cost $30 and came nicely packaged with a
case, ear buds, manual, and two alkaline AA cells. It is also sold
under the Grundig name as M300BL.

PERFORMANCE
On shortwave, it was quite sensitive and had a decent bandwidth.
For example, I was able to hear Radio Cairo on 9995 khz clearly
without interference from WWV at 10000 or WWCR at 9985. It picked up
all the stations I normally receive with my larger sets. There was no
drift noted.
On am, It was not quite as sensitive as my other sets, especially at
the lower end of the band, due to its small ferrite bar but was quite
acceptable. It has a very deep and sharp null. There is lots of volume
from the 2 1/2 speaker and it is clear for speech. On fm, it was just
as sensitive as my other sets, but with automatic stereo, some fringe
stations were a bit hissy.
Like any single-stage superhet it had some images: for example, WBCQ
at 7415khz came in nicely at 6505 and at night, there were some images
above 1400khz in the am band. These images were not bothersome and
were not as bad as other sets I have used.

NIT-PICKING
It does not have the 60-meter band which has some good stations.
There is no way to turn off the fm stereo to get rid of hiss on fringe
stations. The thumbwheel tuning needs a delicate touch and a close
watch on the digital readout. There is no backlight so tuning is by
ear at night.

CONCLUSION
A very good radio for $30

I completely & heartily agree with this review! It's an excellent
*portable* receiver!
"ve3..." wrote in message
oups.com...
The 300PE is a good choice for someone who wants an am/fm/sw handheld
radio. It is about 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 1 and has a 2" stub smoothly
moulded in the case to protect the pull-up whip. It is a single
superhet with a digital display only. It receives seven sw bands using
bandspread tuning, am, and fm. It has a clock, alarm, sleep function,
and 60 min auto turn-off. It cost $30 and came nicely packaged with a
case, ear buds, manual, and two alkaline AA cells. It is also sold
under the Grundig name as M300BL.

PERFORMANCE
On shortwave, it was quite sensitive and had a decent bandwidth.
For example, I was able to hear Radio Cairo on 9995 khz clearly
without interference from WWV at 10000 or WWCR at 9985. It picked up
all the stations I normally receive with my larger sets. There was no
drift noted.
On am, It was not quite as sensitive as my other sets, especially at
the lower end of the band, due to its small ferrite bar but was quite
acceptable. It has a very deep and sharp null. There is lots of volume
from the 2 1/2 speaker and it is clear for speech. On fm, it was just
as sensitive as my other sets, but with automatic stereo, some fringe
stations were a bit hissy.
Like any single-stage superhet it had some images: for example, WBCQ
at 7415khz came in nicely at 6505 and at night, there were some images
above 1400khz in the am band. These images were not bothersome and
were not as bad as other sets I have used.

NIT-PICKING
It does not have the 60-meter band which has some good stations.
There is no way to turn off the fm stereo to get rid of hiss on fringe
stations. The thumbwheel tuning needs a delicate touch and a close
watch on the digital readout. There is no backlight so tuning is by
ear at night.

CONCLUSION
A very good radio for $30

I agree, Got one last year for travel etc., and was very surprised at what
that little radio would pick up. Very good performance for the money and
pretty tough too (dropped it out of my tree stand ear buds and all!) and it
still works great. I do wish the display had a back light, but then it would
have cost $37.00 instead of $30.00!

On Feb 14, 4:21 pm, "ve3..." wrote:
The 300PE is a good choice for someone who wants an am/fm/sw handheld
radio. It is about 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 1 and has a 2" stub smoothly
moulded in the case to protect the pull-up whip. It is a single
superhet with a digital display only. It receives seven sw bands using
bandspread tuning, am, and fm. It has a clock, alarm, sleep function,
and 60 min auto turn-off. It cost $30 and came nicely packaged with a
case, ear buds, manual, and two alkaline AA cells. It is also sold
under the Grundig name as M300BL.

PERFORMANCE
On shortwave, it was quite sensitive and had a decent bandwidth.
For example, I was able to hear Radio Cairo on 9995 khz clearly
without interference from WWV at 10000 or WWCR at 9985. It picked up
all the stations I normally receive with my larger sets. There was no
drift noted.
On am, It was not quite as sensitive as my other sets, especially at
the lower end of the band, due to its small ferrite bar but was quite
acceptable. It has a very deep and sharp null. There is lots of volume
from the 2 1/2 speaker and it is clear for speech. On fm, it was just
as sensitive as my other sets, but with automatic stereo, some fringe
stations were a bit hissy.
Like any single-stage superhet it had some images: for example, WBCQ
at 7415khz came in nicely at 6505 and at night, there were some images
above 1400khz in the am band. These images were not bothersome and
were not as bad as other sets I have used.

NIT-PICKING
It does not have the 60-meter band which has some good stations.
There is no way to turn off the fm stereo to get rid of hiss on fringe
stations. The thumbwheel tuning needs a delicate touch and a close
watch on the digital readout. There is no backlight so tuning is by
ear at night.

CONCLUSION
A very good radio for $30

I agree that the tuning is tricky, especially on MW. But I too think
this is a great radio for the price.

One hint that is not obvious. The MW is much more sensitve if you pull
up the antenna, even though you would think that antenna is just for
FM/SW.

I keep thinking I will try out one of those radios,but every time I go
shopping,I keep forgetting.I forgot to buy some mayonaise last time I
went shopping.
cuhulin

On Feb 14, 7:21�pm, "ve3..." wrote:
The 300PE is a good choice for someone who wants an am/fm/sw handheld
radio. It is about 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 1 and has a 2" stub smoothly
moulded in the case to protect the pull-up whip. It is a single
superhet with a digital display only. It receives seven sw bands using
bandspread tuning, am, and fm. It has a clock, alarm, sleep function,
and 60 min auto turn-off. It cost $30 and came nicely packaged with a
case, ear buds, manual, and two alkaline AA cells. It is also sold
under the Grundig name as M300BL.

PERFORMANCE
* *On shortwave, it was quite sensitive and had a decent bandwidth.
For example, I was able to hear Radio Cairo on 9995 khz clearly
without interference from WWV at 10000 or WWCR at 9985. It picked up
all the stations I normally receive with my larger sets. There was no
drift noted.
On *am, *It was not quite as sensitive as my other sets, especially at
the lower end of the band, due to its small ferrite bar but was quite
acceptable. It has a very deep and sharp null. There is lots of volume
from the 2 1/2 speaker and it is clear for speech. On fm, it was just
as sensitive as my other sets, but with automatic stereo, some fringe
stations were a bit hissy.
Like any single-stage superhet it had some images: for example, WBCQ
at 7415khz came in nicely at 6505 and at night, there were some images
above 1400khz in the am band. These images were not bothersome and
were not as bad as other sets I have used.

NIT-PICKING
* *It does not have the 60-meter band which has some good stations.
There is no way to turn off the fm stereo to get rid of hiss on fringe
stations. The thumbwheel tuning needs a delicate touch and a close
watch on the digital readout. There is no backlight so tuning is by
ear at night.

CONCLUSION
* *A very good radio for $30

Yea, great radio - from Amazon:

"An annoying switching system and a too sensitive dial selector
combined with poor indoor reception adds up to a mediocre radio at
best. Battery hatch is very insecure (pops open all the time). Typical
Chinese workmanship. Definitely not your father's Grundig. Recommend
buying a good used one from Ebay."

I will buy one at a local Radio Shack store,if they have them in
stock.Try it out and take it back if I don't like it.Last year they had
them for sale at $29.95 or $29.99 whatever it was.If they don't have
them in stock,I will forget about it.
cuhulin