grundig yacht boy 500

Europe's Premier Medium Wave DX Club

RECEIVER REVIEW: GRUNDIG YB500

This review was compiled independently. The Medium Wave Circle and Radio Netherlands has no financial connection with R.L. Drake, the manufacturer of this receiver.

Reviewers: Jonathan Marks, Diana Janssen, and Willem Bos.

INTRODUCTION

The Yacht Boy 500 appeared in most of the Grundig outlets in Europe in the course of October 1993. In North America the situation was different. Some of the US radio dealers we spoke initially disappointed that Grundig North America gave the exclusive distribution rights in the USA for the Yacht Boy 500 to a mail-order house called Willabee & Ward. Their toll-free number is +1 800 367 4534. In 1997 a salesman there told us the Yacht Boy 500 is still available at US$299. That does indicate though that Grundig in North America has brought some of its prices down to more closely match the competition from the Far East.

This radio was first shown at the Berlin Audio and Video Fair in 1993 and initially caused an impact on the European scene. The receiver offers coverage of FM with the Radio Data System, longwave, medium wave and continuous shortwave coverage from 1611- 30000 kHz. Unlike some of the Yacht Boy series, the 500 is double conversion.

The radio has an enormous number of functions with many of the buttons on the front of the receiver being used to do two or more things. Press a button gets you one function. Pressing and holding a button gives a different result. The display tells you what you’ve selected. We gave this radio to some visually handicapped users who reported they had difficulty setting up menus and accessing the memories without help from a sighted person. Things are not helped by a truly terrible translation of the (quite clear) German language instructions. In 1997 this had not been improved much if you want to get a quick overview of how the set works. Pressing 0 we’re told in the manual gives “passage from the ROM table to the normal memory and back again, with transfer into the tuning memory”. Reception may increase during evening and night hours due to “much more better propagation”. Nevertheless keep the instructions at arms length because unless you make frequent use of the memory and scan functions it is easy to forget the correct button sequence.

RDS FACILITY

Many stations in Europe (and a growing number in North America) now transmit a silent data code with FM signals. If the signal is strong enough the radio decodes the data and puts the name of the station on the display. The radio also knows of any alternative frequencies that many be in use and can check to see if these sound better. There are around 100 stations using RDS in the USA. During tests near Baltimore and Washington DC we noted WHFS with an RDS signal on 99.1 MHz. You can’t use the function for DXing though. Weak signals cause too many errors for any RDS decoder to function properly. We found the FM sensitivity best suited to a European environment. During our tests in Baltimore and Washington DC during November 1993, the unit we had purchased had overloading problems with nearby stations. Retracting the telescopic whip helped if you wanted to listen to stronger FM signals. The set also has a signal strength meter on FM (really designed to optimise the RDS feature) which is useful is getting the angle of the FM whip correct for maximum signal.

The radio works off 4 penlight batteries and consumes around 65 mA at normal listening levels. That’s quite economical. We got around 24 hours of listening on a fresh set of batteries. A dual-voltage mains adapter is supplied and if this is used the audio power of the amplifier is noticeably boosted.

Shortwave tuning is achieved by tapping the desired frequency onto the keypad, or moving up and down the dial in 1 kHz steps. If you hold down the TUNE buttons the steps increase to 5 kHz. This set offers SSB (but not sync detection), and comes complete with 95 major frequencies of 9 international radio stations already programmed into it. A further 40 stations can be put in the memory. A 77 mm loudspeaker gives an adequate sound for the size of the radio, and the bass response can be boosted for pleasant FM listening.

MEDIOCRE SW PERFORMANCE

The single 3.5 kHz bandwidth filter is narrower than most other portables. That gives a distinctive mellow sound to any shortwave signal. But the shape factor of the filter is only fair/poor. At night in Europe the background noise rises considerably as a result of second and third order intermodulation products. The marine band of 1.8 MHz is full of harmonics from the medium wave band. Although it may look sophisticated, the radio is only really designed for reception of the stronger international broadcasters. The Yacht Boy 206 and 207 offered much quieter results on the 49 metre band for instance, with considerably less intermodulation. We had really expected a bandwidth option for a radio in this price range (in North America the cheaper Yacht Boy 400 has this for much less). The Yacht Boy 500’s mellow audio is something you either like or hate. The audio distortion problems in early models have been solved and dealer stocks are only the new versions.

CONCLUSIONS

This is a radio with a lot of functions. If you need simple shortwave performance, we feel the extra frills on the Yacht Boy 500 may be unnecessary and too complicated to use. Once mastered, however, the data bank of pre-programmed stations is handy while travelling and FM audio is great for a radio of this size. In our opinion, shortwave performance is only fair. Results will be better in low signal areas (e.g. US Mid-West and Pacific).

This review first appeared on the Radio Netherlands website.

Yacht-Boy 500

Grundig (Radio-Vertrieb, RVF, Radiowerke)
Manufacturer / Brand
Broadcast Receiver - or past WW2 Tuner
Radiomuseum.org ID
alternative name: Grundig Portugal || Grundig USA / Lextronix

Click on the schematic thumbnail to request the schematic as a free document.

Technical Specifications

Number of Transistors
Semiconductors present.
Semiconductors
Main principle
PLL, Phase-locked loop
Broadcast, Long Wave, Short Wave plus FM or UHF.
Power type and voltage
Batteries / addl. power jack / AA 4 x 1.5 V / 9 Volt
Loudspeaker
Permanent Magnet Dynamic (PDyn) Loudspeaker (moving coil) / Ø 7.7 cm = 3 inch
3 W (unknown quality)
Plastics (no bakelite or catalin)
from Radiomuseum.org
Model: Yacht-Boy 500 - Grundig Radio-Vertrieb, RVF,
Very small Portable or Pocket-Set (Handheld) < 8 inch.
Dimensions (WHD)
113 x 186 x 41 mm / 4.4 x 7.3 x 1.6 inch

RDS & FM-Stereo (nur über Kopfhörer), SSB, 40 Speicherplätze + 90 zusätzliche durch ROM.

Main features

Tuning steps: 100 kHz, 25 kHz
IF: 10.7 MHz
Tuning steps: 9 kHz, 1 kHz
Tuning steps: 9 kHz, 1 kHz (10 kHz, 1 kHz when on USA mode)
Additional 90, 80, 75, 60, 49, 41, 40, 31, 30, 25, 22, 20, 19, 17, 16, 15, 13, 12, 11, 10 m bands selection
Tuning steps: 5 kHz, 1 kHz
AM, SSB (USB, LSB) with fine Tuning
Single 3.5 kHz bandwidth
1st IF: 54.5 MHz
2nd IF: 450 kHz
Clock, sleep timer, Alarm
Dry batteries
External AC adapter model NR 90-1 thru the DC IN 9V socket
Net weight (2.2 lb = 1 kg)
0.6 kg / 1 lb 5.1 oz (1.322 lb)
Price in first year of sale
499.00 DM
Source of data
-- Original-techn. papers.
Model page created by Martin Bösch . See "Data change" for further contributors.
Other Models

Here you find 6201 models, 5426 with images and 4198 with schematics for wireless sets etc. In French: TSF for Télégraphie sans fil. All listed radios etc. from Grundig (Radio-Vertrieb, RVF, Radiowerke)

Collections | Museums | Literature

Collections

The model Yacht-Boy is part of the collections of the following members.

Piet Blaas (NL)
Martin Bösch (CH)
Rainer Friedrich (D)
Rudolf HEINZ (D)
Reinhard Hopfe (D)
Winfried Höller (D)
Willi Lich † 20.10.22 (D)
Jose Mesquita (P)
Fred Overbeek (NL)
Rich Post (USA)
Dieter Schulte-Kulkmann (D)
Francisc VISKY (RO)
Hannes Wurnitsch (A)

Forum

Modern Shortwave Receiver Survey

(5) China 1993-1999 9 VDC 6xAA 140-30000 kHz + FM Digital LCD 1. AM/SSB Two Position Double Conversion 8x5x1.5" 1.4 Lbs. Mini Head. Jack, S-Indicator, Batt-Indicator, Tone Switch, 40 Memories, Dial Lamp, Sleep, FM Stereo, Lock, Local-DX, Keypad, Ant. Jack, 1/9/10 kHz MW Step, Clock-Timer 24 Hr. 400ACA AC Adapter. $170-250 $100-130 Also called the Yacht Boy 400. The YB-400 is supplied with vinyl carrying case, wind-up antenna and stereo earplugs. Model "Professional Edition" features a titanium colored case and is supplied with the Grundig AC adapter ($200-270 new). Both units have enjoyed wide acceptance. for a color photo and more information at the Universal Radio on-line catalog.

Grundig YB-500

zum Inhalt springen

shortwaveradio.ch

Benutzer-werkzeuge, webseiten-werkzeuge.

Letzte Änderungen
Medien-Manager

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Power supply, accessories, seminconductors, development, further information, grundig yacht boy 500.

Manufactured by Grundig, Fürth .

Grundig intended to sell their world band receivers from the Satellit series to people living abroad who wanted to stay in contact with their home country as well as to short wave listeners, who like to tune in to signals from many different countries. For taking the set abroad on holiday trips, the Grundig Satellit double conversion receivers were usually much too bulky.

As an alternative to these heavyweight sets, Grundig introduced a series of much smaller lightweight travel portables, the Yacht Boy series. These single conversion superhets with several shortwave bands on a linear bandspread dial were predecessors of many successful travel radios.

The Grundig Satellit 500 was one of the last Grundig sets produced in Portugal, it features a PLL synthesizer circuit, alphanumerical memory channel designations and a FM tuner capable to decode RDS (radio data system) signals to display the station name or the name of song played…

Technical data

Principle : double conversion
Modes : A1 with BFO, AM (A3) , FM (F3)
Frequency range : VHF, LW, MW, 6 x SW (1.6 - 30 MHz )
Frequency display : digital display
Frequency memories : 40
Signal strength indicator : LCD bar
Signal processing
Features : on FM Stereo reception with headphones, RDS
Sensitivity : AM (A3) / Selectivity : kHz (-6/-60 dB)
Mains operation : 220 V with mains adapter NR 90-1
Batteries : 4 x 1.5 V ( UM-3 )
113 x 186 x 41 mm, weight 0.56 kg

Because of the extravagant design and the fact that all important controls are located at the upper half of the front panel, you will most often have to use both your hands to operate the set and then put it back to listen… I would stay away from using the light button and the timer snooze button at the upper face of the set in an unlighted hotel bedroom, your radio will most proably end tumbling on the floor.

The telescopic antenna is mounted at the bottom of the right face and can be tilted to the rear; when you drop the set, you will almost surely damage the antenna - why did Grundig construct such a fragile travel radio…? An internal antenna that could be pushed down into the cabinet, when not in use, would have a longer lifespan.

In the upper part of the frontpanel, you find the backlit multifunctional LCD display; the frequency, signal strength (in three steps) and the time are displayed continuously. When you press the FM button, the RDS identification will be displayed, when are tuned to an FM transmitter with coded information.

Below the frequency display, the pushbuttons 0 to 9 for direct frequency entry and memory recall are located. The number 5 button is marked for visually disabled listener. I a vertical row at the right of the numbered keys, you find the pushbuttons for FM, AM, TUNE up and down. The volume control is a small slide control, You will have to grasp the set with botch hands to operate this without dropping the radio.

The speaker is located in the lower part of the front panel, you can switch the tone from MUSIC to SPEECH and with the button BOOST, you can increase the audio output power when the set is powered from the external mains power supply.

Small round pushbuttons at the right of the frontpanel activate the LOCK function, the SLEEP and TIMER modes, mono/stereo mode for FM reception, upper and lower sideband for SSB reception and MEMORY / alphanumeric TAGGING functions.

At the left face of the cabinet, you find the sockets for the center - positive 9V power supply, headphones and line out; at the rear the battery compartment for six UM-3 / AA batteries.

The set is switched on by pressing the OFF/ON button, at least as long as the set is not in locked mode.

Use the AM button to receive stations in the AM bands from long- to shortwaves, key in the frequencies and press the AM button again to set the receiver to the desired frequency. You can use the UP/DOWN buttons to move to a frequency higher or lower in the band. The 0/ROM button activates the ROM table with 96 frequencies of the major international broadcasters permanently stored in the receivers ROM: this table is nowadays mostly useless as very many international shortwave broadcasters ceased operation. Press the LSB/USB button for single sideband reception, to change to USB press the button again and for AM a third time; use the „fine tuning“ thumbwheel to tune for zero beat.

Press the FM button for reception of the VHF / FM broadcast band, you can enter frequencies using the numbered keys. If the FM station transmits an RDS identification, this will be displayed instead of the frequency. You can use the FM/RDS AF (alternative frequency) to seek for an alternative transmitter with the same program with better signal strength. The RDS coder needs a certain signal level and seems not to be too sensitive, but the RDS capability is an enormous help when you travel to a foreign country or city and want to make a bandscan of the available FM frequencies. It has never been so easy to identify the local FM station with the weather forecast after having arrived at a new location for holidays.

The sensitivity of the receiver seems not to be overwhelming, Sony's ICF-2001D remains unsurpassed. But the sensitivity of the Yacht Boy 500 is good enough to catch the signals of the international shortwave broadcasters and some tropical band and ham radio stations. I rate selectivity also also as only fair - good, but the receiver tunes in 1 kHz steps and has a fine tuning control to slightly detune to a higher or lower frequency to avoid interference from a stations on an adjacent channel - what a contrast to the cheepish Chinese PLL sets with their 5 kHz tuning steps.

In conclusion, the Yacht Boy 500 is not the smallest travel portable in size, but it has a good audio reproduction even for outside listening and has the very convincing RDS stations identification capabilities, it tunes the complete shortwave band even in SSB modes and comes with a clock / timer to wake you up - exactly what is needed for a travel radio.

If You can locate a Yacht Boy 500 at a amateur radio fair or an online auction for a good price, get one - it's a radio with quite unique features.

Technical principle

Double conversion with PLL frequency synthesis.

The unit is solid state.

Technical documentation

Grundig Yacht Boy 500 Instructions
Grundig Yacht Boy 500 Service Manual
Grundig Yacht Boy 500 on the website of www.radiomuseum.org

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Grundig YB 500

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Grundig Manuals

Grundig YB500 Manuals

Grundig YB500 Owner's Manual (29 pages)

Table of contents.

Table of Contents 2
Yacht Boy 500 - LC DATA MONITOR (Display) 3
Y O U R U ni T a T a G L a N Ce 4
AC (Mains) Operation 7
Battery Operation 7
Battery Check 7
Data Protection 8
Reset Button 8
User Guide Via the Menu 9
Key-Protect 10
Direct Entries 10
Hints and Error Messages 11
Display Illumination 12
The Volume 12
The Tone 12
Waveband Selection 12
Selecting Frequencies 13
Calling up ROM Table Memory Locations 14
Step by Step into the World of Shortwave Reception 15
Tuning to Stations with the TUNE A/V Buttons 16
Tuning to Stations 17
Entering a Meter Band 18
What Can You Store 19
Is the Frequency Tuned to Already Stored in Memory 19
Checking the Desired Station Memory Position 20
Programming a Station Memory Location 20
Entering Abbreviations 21
Calling up Stored Stations 21
The MEMORY Button 22
Clearing an Occupied Memory Position 22
Going to Sleep to Radio 23
Setting the Clock 24
Clock Time Indication TIME I/II 24
Programming Switching Times Switching Times 1/2 25
Checking the Switching Times 1 /2 26
Automatic Switching on and off 26
Automatic Functions 27
Special Functions on FM 28
Special Functions on am 29

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Grundig Yacht Boy 500 Owners Manual

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GRUNDIG Yacht BOY 500 YB500 AM FM LW SW Shortwave Radio + GRUNDIG Carrying Case + Multi Language Instructional Manual + Documents

Brand	ER-RADIO
Number of Channels	200
Special Feature	Portable
Tuner Technology	FM, AM
Manufacturer	ER-RADIO
UPC	690225502054

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Product information

Technical details.

Item model number	‎YB500
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer	‎No

Additional Information

ASIN	B017O04BSU
Customer Reviews	3.8 out of 5 stars
Date First Available	November 22, 2015

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Product details

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
Item model number ‏ : ‎ YB500
Date First Available ‏ : ‎ November 22, 2015
Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ ER-RADIO
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B017O04BSU

Product Description

The Yacht Boy 500 is a dual coverage portable digital receiver covering 150-353, 513-30000 kHz and the FM broadcast band.

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Reviews For: Grundig Yachtboy 400

Category: receivers: general coverage, email subscription.

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Review Summary For : Grundig Yachtboy 400
	Reviews: 67	MSRP: 199
	Description: 100 Khz - 30 Mhx portable receiver
	Product is
More Info:
# last 180 days	Avg. Rating last 180 days	Total reviews	Avg. overall rating
0	0	67	3.9

updat as of nove 2023 great radio			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
	Rating:	2023-11-13
UPDATE as of nov 203 when i brought it use from our local hamfest i brought it fot 45.00 i find not bad but does not tune the band but works fine only 4 band fm mw lw sw when got i heard 160 meter cw is like wow i hear cw lol no wonder i heard cw on 160 meter band ! a keeper for sure ! 73 Jackie BACK IN 2017 I BOUGHT THIS LITTLE WAVE RADIO SOMETHING TO TAKE WITH ME ON CAMPING TRIP ! DUE TO MY HEALTH PROBLEM THAT DON'T STOP FROM LISTENING TO THIS RADIO IT PICK UP 160 METER FIRST TIME I EVER HEARD 160 METER I NEVER WOULD THOUGHT NEVER PICK UP 160 METER BEFORE I REALLY ENJOYED LISTEN TO THIS RADIO AS LONG I HAD 73 Jackie N4MJG I brought this march 11,2017 find this radio black radio for $45 at local ham fest ! I have always wanted one for awhile to take with me at the inn or camping out ! or if power goes out at home. takes little get use to it and to understanding the radio ! I also pick up morse code which is great !! I see the radio been out since 94 not bad for this radio it's a keeper for me !! 73 Jackie N4MJG Been Hamming since 2001

	Rating:	2017-12-09
Very capable portable			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I'm actually on my third YB400. First two succumbed to hard drops on concrete by other people.....long story. These receivers were great company to me for many years while I travelled out of town during the week. I have also taken them with me to the Caribbean and Florida while on vacation. Coolest experience with my YB400 was while in Aruba I was monitoring an Aruba station working the CQWPX CW contest and actually heard my station back in Illinois work him which I was controlling remotely via TeamViewer and Pignology K3ui. I still regularly drag it out onto the patio while I'm grilling dinner. My Grandfather got me interested in SWLing. I think he would have been very fond of this receiver.

	Rating:	2017-02-16
It works just fine			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
One of my very first 'modern', contemporary manufactured SW receivers, purchased waaaay back in the early '90s, this little guy worked and works just fine for its price point, and even more so for its much lower resale prices. It was the first receiver I used with a dedicated SSB mode and though it was touchy, I was able to use it pretty well very quickly, and I don't recall it getting too drifty most of the time. Certainly, having long since used much better and pricier receivers, I now consider the YB400's SSB to be worse than mediocre, but not worse than its average used price would promise. FM sounded nice for such a little radio, and MW/SW AM signals were clear and mostly crisp and intelligible, no worse than on most portables of its size and retail point. In fact it sounded better than the Tecsun 600 I had for a while (which certainly had better SSB but was still not great). It's not a powerhouse performer, it's not even a decent DX machine, but it's just fine for SW b'cast listening, AM/FM bands and if you don't mind twiddling with a little finesse and patience, amateur SSB can be enjoyed to some extent, too. Certainly performs well for its current price range.

	Rating:	2012-10-20
Three Thumbs Up			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had three of these including a silver PE for many years and they work great. Bought 'em all used for very little $. Performance to price ratio is high. Now they aren't meant to compete with high priced pro-grade receivers so one must adjust his/her expectations accordingly.

	Rating:	2010-02-18
OK Choice if SSB not required			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This review is for the almost identical G4000A. I also own an E5,7600GR, and KA1103, so this review will focus on where the G4000A falls short or exceeds these models. Pros: Sensitivity/Selectivity on SW/BCB/FM matches or exceeds the previously mentioned models. Sound from the built in speaker is richer and fuller. Has a non-radio (beep) alarm with snooze Push button frequency step control. (7600GR also has additional buttons for same function.) Memory system is easy to set and use. (but only 40 presets.) Volume control feels smooth and is easy to set anywhere from silent to loud. Cons: SSB SSB Did I mention SSB? CW was a warbled mess, and SSB voice took forever to tune in a signal that was easy on the other radios, to only halfway intelligible on the G4000A. For an SSB radio I'd rate it 1/5 if I was being generous. Overall Control quality. The buttons and switches feel sloppy and cheap compared to the other radios. They work, but don't inspire confidence. * requires 6 rather than 4 batteries. So... Buy this radio if you are looking for BCB/SW unit to put on your nightstand with a beep alarm, and use a few memories. Do not buy this radio if you want to monitor SSB/CW ham transmissions, if you plan to operate mainly on batteries, or have hundreds of presets.

	Rating:	2010-01-08
Bought mine in 1994			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I guess I'd give my YB400 a 5 just because I've been using it almost daily for 15 years and it has served me well. Whether at home, in a motel room or in a tent while camping I've listened to the bands nearly every night. It absolutly isn't the best receiver I own but it is the most versatile and I can always find something to listen to on it. I bet I'm still listening to it 15 years from now too!

	Rating:	2010-01-02
Good general use portable			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned mine for seven years. This radio has very good sounding audio. Not particularly good for surfing the bands because of the push button tuning and it's annoying to tune with headphones on. But for casual BCB on SW/AM/FM it's a good radio. Headphone L/R channels aren't balanced in my set until the volume is turned up high then it's too loud, so I have a little in-line volume control to compensate for it. Overall a good general use portable radio. Doug NG0K

	Rating:	2010-01-02
Very Nice			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had my Yachtboy 400 since 2003; bought refurbished from Universal Radio for $99.00. I have used this radio at home and camping, with internal and external antennas, on MW, FM and SW bands; this radio has been great. It performs well beyond the expectations of a $99.00 radio. It's actually built in a manner that makes portability easy and safe for the radio. The earbuds, external antenna and carrying case included with the radio made the purchase even better. The radio is great in every aspect with only a few exceptions. The audio is terrible with the built-in speaker. I use an external speaker with the headphone jack and it sounds much better. I am not too fond of the battery level monitor that shuts the radio off when it thinks the batteries are low. Other than those two things the radio is a keeper even at full MSRP.

	Rating:	2009-07-19
I like this little beast!			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been a swl for 53 years and have owned many radios from 1926 models to present. I got my YB400pe 3 years ago and really enjoy it. Paid 149 at Radio Shack and it's worth every penny.Remember, it's not a 2 grand tabletop! I would never consider Degens or Kaitos because of a huge gap in coverage. This radio looks great and construction quality is good but not great. Refurbished units can be had for about 99 yankee dollars. Get one--you will like it.

	Rating:	2009-03-29
Get One while they are still in good shape			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hello All, I have used several portable radios in it's class and must say although the Grundig 400 is discontinued you can still find them on Ebay for reasonable prices. I have used the KAITO 1103,SONY 7600GR and now have the G4000A which is just like the 400PE but with a leather case. I liked the KAITO but it had a VERY SENSITIVE front end and NON CONTINUOUS tuning across the entire spectrum of the shortwave bands. Although the Kaito 1103 charges it's batteries inside the unit it takes at least 12 hours and while charging the charger/adaptor introduces a nice "BUZZ" all over the bands. The Sony 7600GR is nice but doesn't come with an AC power adaptor,no Signal strength meter and not as good sound from it's speaker. Is it really worth the Sync detection to sacrifice those? For those who like to use a portable SW radio with AA batteries just go to your local Best Buy and buy those Energizer rechargable batteries that come with a charger. They charge in 15 minutes in this charger unlike the 12 hours in the Kaito. I will list the Pros and Cons of the YB 400 as I see them.. PROS- 1.EXCELLENT sound from it's built in Speaker 2.Good reception across all the bands 3.Simple tuning and no band switching needed when tuning across the entire SW spectrum like the Kaito 1103 4.SIMPLE memory operation(No goofy pages to use) 5.Memory Tuning,Direct Entry,and auto tuning built in 6.Radio when new comes with manual,real antenna,and power adaptor. 7.Signal Strength Meter 8.Two times 9.Sleep timer 10.Good SSB reception,just takes a little patience 11.unlike the KAITO 1103 this guy has a DEDICATED volume knob,the Kaito you had to hit a button and then adjust the volume! Even with the New G5(I have not had) apparently does NOT have a volume knob,you have to adjust the volume with buttons! 12.well layed out keypad 13.Alarm clock to wake up to radio 14.Good location of the "LIGHT" and "Snooze" button. 15.EXCELLENT SENSITIVITY 16.EXCELLENT SELECTIVITY CONS: 1.a little large for a portable these days 2.No Sync detection 3.No Dedicated LSB/USB like the SONY 7600GR 4.No Tuning Knob. 5.Display light won't "stay on" but bright enough to see what your tuning in the dark. Light will stay on for 10 seconds and go off. If you tune the radio while the light is on by letting go of a button and then pressing the same button you originally pressed or another one in the ten second window the light will stay on.However if you are HOLDING DOWN a button while the light is on the light will go off in 10 seconds so if you want to have the light stay on you have to let go of the button and push it again in the 10 second window for it to stay on OR tap the light on button. Don't let the poor reviews fool you. I consider this radio to be a favorite of mine and for me it's a little better then the SONY 7600GR I liked the Sony but if you want to jog through more then 10 memories you have to change pages,the sound is FAIR at best from it's built in speaker and no signal strength meter. It is a good radio though but I think you get more bang for the buck with a used Grundig 400.

Category:

Receivers: General Coverage

Product:

Grundig Yachtboy 400

Summary:

Rating:	Time Owned:

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Monday, August 27, 2012

Thazin radio - pyin lwin (via naypyidaw).

Hello, T.L. Breyel at, I am Brazilian Amateur Radio since the year 1980, and tell you that the frequency spectrum between 7.000 to 7.300 Mhz, both in Brazil with almost every country in the world, is assigned by the competent organs: IARU, ITU, MINICOM, Etc, Etc, Etc... to Amateur Radio, and tell you more, those who are broadcasting this following is the frequency that is outside the norms of the world telecommunications.

The SWLing Post

Shortwave listening and everything radio including reviews, broadcasting, ham radio, field operation, dxing, maker kits, travel, emergency gear, events, and more.

Georges’ review of the XHDATA D-808

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Georges (F6DFZ), who writes:

After the first information from your wonderful website, I immediately ordered the XHDATA D-808 receiver from Aliexpress for €62 including shipment to France. I got it very quickly, shipped from Amazon UK! I did a few tests on SSB. MDS is outstanding, the minimum signal from my HP generator at -127 dBm (0,1uV), is strong even on 28 MHz. Selectivity is also good, and the opposite sideband rejection is audibly also good. However I was unable to measure it because the S meter give the same indication over a few kHz around the signal of the generator. I suspect the opposite sideband rejection to be done by the DSP chip at AF, but I cannot confirm this. Reception is very good on FM, and the AF from the loudspeaker is reasonable. On headphones, it’s very good. RDS works as it should and sets the clock of the receiver. I did only a few minutes test on LW and MW, and it seemed OK, even if I don’t have a lot of experience on these bands. SW AM listening was very good; good audio, great selectivity. I suspect that the bandwidths given are AF bandwidths as even the most selective were not too much muffled. If it was IF selectivity, the AF bandwidths would have been half the values and much muffled. SSB and CW reception are also very good even if the DSP chip has a long attack time and hence gives distortion during the beginning of each message. About SSB: I think that this receiver is better than the [Tecsun] PL-880 and comparable to the PL-660. Reception is good on the short but sturdy telescopic antenna. If you connect the receiver to a large external antenna, you will encounter many IMD signals. As there is no built-in attenuator, you will need an external one. The manual is correct, but very short about the memories. ATS logs its findings into the first pages, so if you want to keep some memories, log them a few pages away. The available pages are different with bands, FM has its pages, SW its pages etc… Unfortunately, memories don’t keep the mode on SW–only the frequency and selectivity. After calling a memory, you will have to choose between AM, USB and LSB. I was totally unable to light the “Preset” label on the display ?!? Display and backlighting are very nice. Somewhat odd, but the squelch seems to work sometimes on other bands than Air band ! Ergonomics are reasonable, quality of construction is good for the price. Overall, for the price, this receiver is quite outstanding. Best regards from France . Georges F6DFZ

Thank you, Georges! Excellent thoughts on the D-808. Your note about squelch control working outside the AIR band reflects what the Digitech AR-1780 does as well–hinting that firmware is very similar.

I fully suspect the D-808 is on the path to being one of the best radio values under $100 US.

Merci bien, Georges!

11 thoughts on “ Georges’ review of the XHDATA D-808 ”

I also got my radio via AliExpress (for 79$, including shipping to Hungary, in July 2020). Just have just one remark to improve this radio listening: The radio has a quite big speaker (in diameter is approx 7cm), almost the maximum which can be mounted into chassis but sounds like a cheap receiver. The reason is the output capacitor. If we consider the speaker as an 8ohm resistor, with the 100uF/10V original subminiature capacitor the cutoff frequency is approx 200Hz. The used capacitor is a very cheap model with poor parameters (high dissipation factor and high ESR). I changed both of them with a 470uF/6.3V Nichicon Fine Arts type, and now the cutoff is at 42Hz, but the music on FM, especially with headphones is brave! – also via speaker is much better. Try this modification, and you will be surprised by this improvement in sound quality.

Is the Digitech the same radio just under a different brand? I’m interested in the CB radio listening sometimes and will tune the bands to hear local traffic since my portable is more sensitive and has better DSP than my CB radio but would like to squelch the static to save battery and listening to noise during long breaks between transmissions. Do you know if the Squelch can work on shortwave on all D-808 radios or is it only some and is a firmware bug like making the Degen 1103 tune VLF and use the whip/antenna jack for it?

I got my receiver shiped from China before they cut off United States Sales. I have many friends who really like the receiver but now ate unable to but it. Why have all the sellers refused to ship to the united states, these include Amazon UK, Ebay UK, and the orginal Chinese Seller What is going on here. Why no US sales?

Joe, you can try to choose country of deleivery “Guam”, that is serviced by USPS, but write your actual address and zip code. It’ll be redirected to your home when it reach USPS.

From what I heard on Radio Jay Allen it is because this radio is the C Crane Skywave SSB. The supplier made agreement to only sell outside USA. They managed to get in because someone from Israel I believe shipping them in. Though now you can get them on eBay and Amazon again thankfully as well as the Alibaba/express. I just need to figure out if the squelch will work on HF so I can use for local CB and HAM HF traffic.

I will agree with you on all findings. What I am afraid of: will this crowd out all others in the comparable portables in the race to the bottom? It’s specs are good but I don’t like gaps in the coverage (450 to 520 Khz) ,(018-118 Mhz), and the ergonomics leave a lot to be desired. Also this is a power hog. I have to recharge the battery (Lion 2000mah) on a daily basis. My pen cell radios about every week or 2. For $69 I am not dissatisfied, not about to return it if I could but not elated. Maybe this is a stepping stone to better user interface.

Thank you Edward! I thought I was the only person on earth not thrilled with this radio. I would give it a very high grade for sensitivity (once you get around the mute on tuning) but a VERY low grade on user friendliness. Thankfully I got a $10 discount and that helped. I wouldn’t return it if I could but it’s just in the box in a drawer. There are SO many better choices out there for the money.

This is odd. When I got mine I made a battery endurance test and it ran continuously for remarkable 32 hours, 14 of them with the backlight on. I suspect you got a faulty 18650 or something.

The problem is not when the radio is ON, but when it is OFF (sleep mode). Mine discharges a fully charged battery completely in 3 days with the radio OFF. Terrible design and there is nothing you can do about it. Contacted the seller and they said that since I was the first to mention this problem, all they could do was to let me test one of their future products. When I asked to send the radio back for a replacement, they did not even reply. Some customer service!

BTW, in case you are wondering, I tested this with three different kinds of batteries, so I am certain the problem is not with the batteries.

Great review, Georges. The number of portable multiband radio reviewers that use a signal generator to actually do a receiver sensitivity test is just about zero. Congratulations, my friend! I would be happy to note some exceptions to this rule if there were any. Did you terminate sig gen RF output with 50 ohms load for your test? This means a lot.

I have noticed the same selectivity issue with other radios using DSP bandwidth filtering (including Tecsun and Eton (Grundig) radios. These bandwidth settings have little effect on receiver selectivity. The outsider in modern DSP portables in this respect is the much higher priced Sangean ATS-909X. This is a Taiwan-designed radio. Sangean wisely passed on the DSP filter capability of the US Silicon Labs chip in favor of proven performance from more expensive and older-tech Japanese muRata IF ceramic filters. Kudos to them.

The two muRata filters on my 2015 909X are IF filters for 4 and 6 kHz. These two ceramic filters alone offer selectivity options far superior to the 2, 2.5, 3, 4 and 6 kHz settings on my Eton Grundig Edition Satellit (about $115 USD on eBay right now). Both radios offer additional settings for SSB. But, the DSP filters do seem to act more like AF filters on the Chinese radios which struggle with any relatively strong SW signals located 5 kHz or closer to the tuned frequency. I believe that all Chinese-designed multiband portables (including Tecsun) all suffer from the same problems because they rely on blind acceptance of the Silicon Labs DSP chip. The choice to make in Chinese radios is for better speaker sound, better internal shielding, better QC and build quality. The rest is all the same.

It is difficult to do accurate receiver sensitivity measurement due to the action of AGC. Accurate sensitivity measurements require that the receiver be operated without AGC, that is, with AGC shut off or bypassed. The high Z antenna input for most multiband portables will do quite nicely for most receiver antennas regardless of impedance.

So, yes. Choose as you will from the wide range of $100 multiband traditional portables. They are all pretty much the same Chinese-designed and built radios with a few rare exceptions.