On 3/27/2013 11:01 AM, D. Peter Maus wrote:
On 3/19/13 21:53 , m II wrote:


Bought used for 90 dollars. It seems well worth it. No scratches and
no corrosion in the battery compartment. Model 1A9 serial 8-0057XX.
Build quality is good, but the controls are a bit on the wobbly side.
Better than the tuning knob on the early Grundig Satellit 800, however.

Once I got it home and practiced learning the controls it started to
remind me of the FRG-7 sitting in the other room. The Barlow-Wadley
tuning scheme is almost identical, with just the location of the knobs
changed to protect the innocent.

At first, the preselector tuning, which is a rotary knob turning a
wide, frequency marked belt was frozen. A minutes of twisting back and
forth has loosened it up nicely. Pure luck, no doubt.

The reception is nowhere near as bad as some have reported. I tied a
three foot wire to the high impedance terminal and got the 10 Mhz time
signal right away. Cuba, at around 6060 Mhz (I forget the exact
frequency...) came in very well also. There was no ground wire attached.

The Digital readout is right on, despite the analog tuning circuitry
driving it.

Is anyone aware of weak points in this set? Any preventive medicine to
delay an early death?

As an extra bonus, the seller threw in a Patrolman 9 at no charge. He
had received it in trade for a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels. It
appears Holland MI is just crawling with derelict neighbours.


mike




The good news is, you didn't overpay. The bad news is this isn't much
of a radio. DX-302 is a much better terrible radio.

DX-300 is, as you've noticed, is a Wadley Loop. It's pretty stable.
And, as far as sensitivity goes, it could be much, MUCH worse. Grundig's
YB-500, comes to mind as an example.

Audio is pretty unpleasant. A better speaker, and a bit of acoustic
padding inside will take out some of the harsh resonances. Change a few
coupling capacitors in the audio stage, and you can broaden the audio
bandwidth, and smooth out some of the harshness.

But broad bandwidth is really the issue with this radio. Selectivity
is so wide, the lower sideband starts on the radio sitting next to it on
the left. The 'Wide/Narrow' switch does little but drop a bypass
capacitor in the audio path, taking the top off the frequency response.
In the days of crowded SWBC bands, this radio could reliably receive 4
stations at once. DX-302 fixed this. Sort of. With filters. Better
filters in later production runs.

GRE made this radio. And it's not their best work. It's not the
paperweight that many call it. That would just be insulting to
paperweights. It's good for a ball game on WGN, once the audio is
addressed. But if you're planning on working the bands...not exactly
your most effective tool.

Now, what can be done? Lots, actually. It's pretty susceptible to
overload. So, keep the antenna short. 20 feet, in some areas may be too
much. Work against a good earth ground. Since cold water pipes are no
longer subject to the same codes as in years past, a cold water pipe may
not be a reliable ground. You'll have to install a ground rod. 8' is
good. 12' may be better, depending on soil moisture and height of the
water table.

A radio of this vintage will have capacitor problems. There will be a
few, if not many, electrolytics that are out of tolerance, or failing.
Replace them. Replace them all. Do it now. Do not hesitate. The radio
police are looking in your windows at this moment, and if they find
you've got a radio that's subpar, with bad electrolytics, they'll send
you to Al Gore's house to explain to him the meaning of the words
'electricity conservation.' As bad as that is, he may also eat you. The
way Mary-Chapin Carpenter ate her fan club. Or Wynonna ate an Old
Country Buffet in Henderson.

After replacing the caps, and you may want to replace some of the
non-electrolytics, as well...especially ceramic discs in the audio
stage, they have a terrifically bad sonic signature, and you will
noticed the difference. Particularly on hard consonants when up on the
bands. This is one of the many shortcomings of R-71, too, so you're in
good company.

And, you'll want to install some filters. Murata ceramics are fine.
There are procedures on the web to show you what needs to be changed,
and how to do it. Not tough to do, but it can be time consuming. Take at
least a week's vacation. And get some rum. Bermuda is preferred. And
some fresh ginger. Infuse the ginger into the rum for at least 24 hours
before you begin. The more the better. It should burn all the way down.

After installing filters, an alignment is a good idea. GRE radios of
this vintage are not particularly good at holding an alignment. So,
you'll want to make sure that the radio has come up to constant
temperature before beginning. In a warm room.

You may have to do this more than once over the life of the radio.
It's not uncommon.

Clean the switches. Replace the pots. Give the case a good cleaning.

And enjoy it. After a week, put it on eBay, and buy a DX-302 with the
proceeds. You'll marvel at the difference.

Until someone puts you in front of a Drake.

Quit holding back and tell us what you REALLY think.

On 3/29/13 07:02 , Joe from Kokomo wrote:
On 3/27/2013 11:01 AM, D. Peter Maus wrote:
On 3/19/13 21:53 , m II wrote:


Bought used for 90 dollars. It seems well worth it. No scratches and
no corrosion in the battery compartment. Model 1A9 serial 8-0057XX.
Build quality is good, but the controls are a bit on the wobbly side.
Better than the tuning knob on the early Grundig Satellit 800, however.

Once I got it home and practiced learning the controls it started to
remind me of the FRG-7 sitting in the other room. The Barlow-Wadley
tuning scheme is almost identical, with just the location of the knobs
changed to protect the innocent.

At first, the preselector tuning, which is a rotary knob turning a
wide, frequency marked belt was frozen. A minutes of twisting back and
forth has loosened it up nicely. Pure luck, no doubt.

The reception is nowhere near as bad as some have reported. I tied a
three foot wire to the high impedance terminal and got the 10 Mhz time
signal right away. Cuba, at around 6060 Mhz (I forget the exact
frequency...) came in very well also. There was no ground wire attached.

The Digital readout is right on, despite the analog tuning circuitry
driving it.

Is anyone aware of weak points in this set? Any preventive medicine to
delay an early death?

As an extra bonus, the seller threw in a Patrolman 9 at no charge. He
had received it in trade for a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels. It
appears Holland MI is just crawling with derelict neighbours.


mike




The good news is, you didn't overpay. The bad news is this isn't much
of a radio. DX-302 is a much better terrible radio.

DX-300 is, as you've noticed, is a Wadley Loop. It's pretty stable.
And, as far as sensitivity goes, it could be much, MUCH worse. Grundig's
YB-500, comes to mind as an example.

Audio is pretty unpleasant. A better speaker, and a bit of acoustic
padding inside will take out some of the harsh resonances. Change a few
coupling capacitors in the audio stage, and you can broaden the audio
bandwidth, and smooth out some of the harshness.

But broad bandwidth is really the issue with this radio. Selectivity
is so wide, the lower sideband starts on the radio sitting next to it on
the left. The 'Wide/Narrow' switch does little but drop a bypass
capacitor in the audio path, taking the top off the frequency response.
In the days of crowded SWBC bands, this radio could reliably receive 4
stations at once. DX-302 fixed this. Sort of. With filters. Better
filters in later production runs.

GRE made this radio. And it's not their best work. It's not the
paperweight that many call it. That would just be insulting to
paperweights. It's good for a ball game on WGN, once the audio is
addressed. But if you're planning on working the bands...not exactly
your most effective tool.

Now, what can be done? Lots, actually. It's pretty susceptible to
overload. So, keep the antenna short. 20 feet, in some areas may be too
much. Work against a good earth ground. Since cold water pipes are no
longer subject to the same codes as in years past, a cold water pipe may
not be a reliable ground. You'll have to install a ground rod. 8' is
good. 12' may be better, depending on soil moisture and height of the
water table.

A radio of this vintage will have capacitor problems. There will be a
few, if not many, electrolytics that are out of tolerance, or failing.
Replace them. Replace them all. Do it now. Do not hesitate. The radio
police are looking in your windows at this moment, and if they find
you've got a radio that's subpar, with bad electrolytics, they'll send
you to Al Gore's house to explain to him the meaning of the words
'electricity conservation.' As bad as that is, he may also eat you. The
way Mary-Chapin Carpenter ate her fan club. Or Wynonna ate an Old
Country Buffet in Henderson.

After replacing the caps, and you may want to replace some of the
non-electrolytics, as well...especially ceramic discs in the audio
stage, they have a terrifically bad sonic signature, and you will
noticed the difference. Particularly on hard consonants when up on the
bands. This is one of the many shortcomings of R-71, too, so you're in
good company.

And, you'll want to install some filters. Murata ceramics are fine.
There are procedures on the web to show you what needs to be changed,
and how to do it. Not tough to do, but it can be time consuming. Take at
least a week's vacation. And get some rum. Bermuda is preferred. And
some fresh ginger. Infuse the ginger into the rum for at least 24 hours
before you begin. The more the better. It should burn all the way down.

After installing filters, an alignment is a good idea. GRE radios of
this vintage are not particularly good at holding an alignment. So,
you'll want to make sure that the radio has come up to constant
temperature before beginning. In a warm room.

You may have to do this more than once over the life of the radio.
It's not uncommon.

Clean the switches. Replace the pots. Give the case a good cleaning.

And enjoy it. After a week, put it on eBay, and buy a DX-302 with the
proceeds. You'll marvel at the difference.

Until someone puts you in front of a Drake.

Quit holding back and tell us what you REALLY think.


Wow. Joe, I do believe that may be the first time you've admitted you
don't know what I really think.

And a Blessed and Joyous Easter to you.

p