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Grundig Yacht Boy 400PE World Receiver

Grundig Yacht Boy 400PE World Receiver

List Price: $149.99
Your Price: $129.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A much better radio than I thought it would be.
Review:

The good stuff:
-BFO for SSB
-will tune in 1 KHz steps
-very very good sound through phones( if you have good ones)
-very good sound with built in speaker
-FM stereo through phones
-very good FM
-good AM/MW
-good SW with whip ant.
-handy reel ant.
-very good owner's manual with frequency guide for ameteur,aironautical,and maritime.
-nice case
-built very well with good quality feel to it.


Things that bug me,but not too much:
-Bass and Treble would be nice,but if not CAN'T WE AT LEAST HAVE A TONE KNOB? Not even the famed Sony 2010 has one! Why not? The hi/low switch is better than nothing,and does an ok job.
-No rf gain control.Two way dx/local switch only
-no tune knob just up and down buttons,so it's a bit of a pain to band scan.Push push push push push push push.Can tune in 1 KHz steps.
-BFO only. No usb/lsb.Tunes in 1 Khz steps with bfo "fine tune" knob.Still ok for ssb ,just could be better.
-no sync detector.Hay,what do 'ya want for that price ?
-Cheezy "earbud phones". Then again, did you ever get a decent pair of headphones with anything? Not me.Spend a little and get some Koss "Porta-pro" phones.You will never go back to cheap ones again!
-dial light only stays on for 10 sec.
Don't let all of this talk you out of one though.What it does it does well....

All in all: A fine little radio esp. for the $. Quite good sound with the speaker,and very very good through phones.Good MW/Am dx( not a 2010 or RF-2200 but,still a lot better than you might think).Good with just the whip ant. for SW.Very good FM.I think it's by far the best radio you can get for the money....grab one while you can still get a new one....8)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: YB-400 is a very good receiver
Review: I own several shortwave/AM/FM receivers. Most of the radios that I have can only receive broadcast stations, the Grundig YB-400 can also receive single-sideband (SSB) used in Amateur or Ham Radio, utility stations, etc.
It has very good audio on all bands, BBC in London, RCI Radio Canada, and other shortwave stations are heard easily. I use this radio to go to sleep by listening to the AM Broadcast Radio Bands, the controls are easy to use by their feel and the sleep timer can be set from ten minutes to an hour. It also has a wake up timer alarm feature.
I have gotten years of enjoyment from this radio.
I have read that Grundig is renaming this radio to G4000A for 2005, except for the number change on the radio's front and a change from a soft carry case which protects it while you travel to a hard carry case the radio should be the same fine receiver.
It is a great value in it's price catagory. If you are looking for a good radio that is compact for travel or a good beginner's radio as well as for us seasoned shortwave listeners, I don't think that you will be disappointed.


Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Lot of radio in a little box
Review: 20 years ago a radio of this quality would have cost over $1000 dollars. I bought it for a trip through scandanavia. It was my best friend on the trip. The ability to follow European FM spacing (Which is different than ours) makes this radio a must for international travellers. I continue to use it here for stateside. AN external anteanna really does help though, and the included reel out one will show an improvement. Its also not too bad on batteries. Worth it at the price offered.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wow! Great little reciever!
Review: After being stuck in a little airport in Wyoming for 4 hours. I decided to get a travel radio for entertainment and emergenices. After checking around I notice everyone giving the YB400 PE rave reviews. I decided to pick one up at a local Radio Shack. Boy! I was certainly impressed. It was able to pick up quite a bit of stations in my apartment. (My state-of-the-art cel phone cannot work at all!) I noticed that everyone mentoned you get the best reception at dusk and night. I took this little beauty out on a open field in the middle of the day and I get all kinds of stations from various nations clear as a bell. It is a solid investment for anyone starting out on world band radio. I also recommend pick up the book "Passport to World Band Radio" when you pick up the Grundig. Then you can have a quite evening on listening to the world happening. It is a great buy!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A very complete radio
Review: Among the best consumer world band radios available today, and the finest low-cost radio I have owned in over twenty years of listening.

This is great all-around radio. If you are new to short-wave, this is an very good radio to start with. For beginners, the lock-on tuning and scanning functions make listening easy. For more experienced and adventurous listeners, there is the ability to access single sideband transmissions. All current and proposed medium-wave, FM, and short-wave bands are available.

The speaker sound is excellent, and one can also attach stereo speakers to the YB400's headphone jack; my YB400 does double duty as an FM tuner and short-wave.

The Grundig YB400 comes as part of a very complete package. Included with the radio is an AC adapter, stereo earbuds, carrying case, and an external reel antenna that plugs into the radio itself. The manual is brief but clear, and a listening guide is also included.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Nice Try - No Cigar
Review: Great electronics with the PLL and Dual Conversion but too large to be a pocket radio yet too small to be a table radio. I found the plastic case to be quite a disappointment. The bottom is only 1.25 inches wide and has no rubber feet. As a consequence, the radio does not sit flat against the surface and rocks. The effect is even more pronounced when the telescoping antenna is fully extended. One other disappointment is the dial light that is almost useless. The left edge is illuminated by the bulb but the other 90% of the digital display is very difficult to see. The product could be improved drastically by using a larger case with feet on the bottom, a better speaker, and a dial light that illuminates the entire width of the display. As for reception and selectivity, I used the YB 400 next to the CC Radio and the Yacht Boy, except for audio quality, was much better at pulling the signals out of the noise, thanks to it's dual conversion circuitry. Don't be fooled by the Grundig name which, in the past, was German quality. The box says "Made by Grundig in People's Republic China. Perhaps the Chinese bought the Grundig name.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Shortwave Receiver
Review: Great sensitivity and sound in a small radio.

Very simple to operate.

It's to be compared with the Sony 7600G, in choosing a portable, its chief competitor. You can't go wrong with either one.

The YB400 audio is much better than the Sony, and the operation is easier than the Sony.

The interference rejection however is better in the Sony because of the Sony's synch detector, if interference of strong stations is a consideration, or if ``selective fading,'' common on shortwave or twilight AM broadcasting, where the carrier fades below the sidebands causing distortion, is a problem. This is also solved by synch detection.

If distance daytime AM listening is desired, the Sony with its fast AGC is better than the YB400 with its slow AGC, because you can add a MW loop (Select-a-tenna, Terk Loop, or Radio Shack MW loop) and tune it successfully with a fast AGC. It's difficult to tune with the YB400's slow AGC, though sometimes you can turn the switch to local and disable the AGC temporarily to do it.

(Slow AGC gives you an edge in copying interfering morse code stations, however, because the louder station won't modulate the weaker one on the YB400, and it will on the Sony.)

For strong stations, pick the YB400 for the audio. For interference or AM distance listening with a MW loop, pick the Sony.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Average performance radio
Review: Hello radio lovers! I have a vast collection of radios and many many years of radio listening and purchasing experience I can do accurate compares which many find helpful. When I purchased this radio I so wanted it to be great like the old days of Grundig . Its not bad , but I wouldn't go out of my way to reccommend it over others . The Sony sw7600gr and the Sangean ATS909 are much better buys . Here's why , first off the Grundig YB400pe is generally not made very well . The poor quality of the body , the antenna and the sound are obvious upon first look and listen . The tuner sensativity on FM is good but AM and SW are fair . The side band set up is ok , others are better . One draw back is that it takes 6 AA batteries while the others take 4 .This makes the radio very heavy for its size . True that the Sangean 909 and the Sony 7600 are a little more expensive but worth it . You are getting a more durable radio with a much better tuner and better sound . So I guess to sum it up its not that this radio is so bad its that the others in its class are so good.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: This is a good value in a portable shortwave radio!
Review: I got mine at Radio Shack, and its been a great addition to the monitoring station. I also had no problems with this portable. FM is a plus, but its good for DXing FM anyways without RDS. The longwave coverage is excellent and beats my other portables in the DX competition for LW DXing. I can receive alot more NDB in the 144 to 353 kHz range with this portable than any other radio I have owned. MW DXing has been easy with this radio, so is the selectivity of the AM bands. Shortwave is great and fun to listen to, and also the sensitivity, selectivity has been no problem for this portable even on the batteries since last year hurricane called Isabel.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great radio
Review: I have had this for a week and it is the best radio I have ever owned. It is portable and fits very ergonomically friendly into you hands. There are 40 memory presets. The BIG shortwave broadcasts (BBC, Radio Canada, Voice of America) came in very clear and those are really the only ones worth listening to on a regular basis as most of shortwave is flooded with religious programming and politically slanted news. FM reception is very good and AM is about as good as my other radios. The dial light and LCD readout could be stronger and bigger. It comes with an adaptor. Sleep timer and alarm works just fine. Has two times (for GMT/UTC and local time). It looks great with its platinum case. I highly recommend this. It costs more but if you love radio and want BBC and VOA, this is the one to get.


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