shortwave

My wife bought this little beauty for me as a gift. Planning to live in Africa for an extended period, I wanted a radio with shortwave to tune into the BBC and Voice of America. Further, I wanted one with solid AM and FM reception to listen to local stations. I was pleased on both counts.

Learning to find shortwave stations was easier than I'd expected, and the presets for each band made it easy to toggle to different frequencies for better reception during the broadcasts. AM and FM reception were admirable in our remote village, certainly faring better than the radios of our neighbors. I was also quite impressed by the battery life, especially considering that only three AA batteries are required.

A few reviews here have noted that the radio's sound quality is not the best. I'm not an audiophile and thus won't quibble with them. For a mono-speaker radio, however, I think that it sounds quite good.

The carrying case is quite nice, and the headphones are average earbuds. The AM wire antenna actually helped quite a bit to improve the signal. The radio is definitely slick-looking, and stood up quite well to the abuse we put it through (only a few nicks and scratches).

Overall, this is a very solid radio, and at a great price from a well-respected manufacturer!

This radio has very good sensitvity to FM, MW and Shortwave. Its sensitivity is almost as good as my Grundig 400PE, but some of the other specs aren't quite as good which I would expect for a receiver that is about half the price of the 400 PE. Its power consuption is better than the 400 PE too. It's smaller size (than the 400 PE), very good designed, easy to use controls, good sound quality along with an excellent read out offers a good value. I like this radio's abliliy to quickly get to the frequency I am interested in. This is a fine little radio--- four stars.

During any given week, I probably listen to more radio than I watch TV. Public radio and shortwave might be my main sources of broadcast news and current events.

The Yacht Boy 300 PE is among the better battery-powered portables I've come across when it comes to FM reception, and it compares well with Tivoli and Boston Acoustics radios, which are excellent. I can't speak for the AM section, since I rarely listen to it. Some here have been critical of the sound from the 300's speaker, but I have no complaints. You can't expect high volume or big bass from such a small radio.

The 300's shortwave reception is very good for the price. I listen almost exclusively with just the built-in whip antenna, but there is an external wire antenna included that improves reception in some cases. A local/DX switch provides attenuation on strong signals to avoid overload, and all 13 broadcast bands are covered. Sensitivity is very good, and selectivity more than adequate.

The 300 comes with everything you need in the box, so you get a good bit for your money. The radio comes with an AC adapter, batteries, earphones, and a carry case. Like all Grundig radios I've seen, a guide to shortwave listening is included as well; a nice touch.

I tend to prefer analog tuners to digital, despite their supposed inconveniences. To me, scanning the bands is just easier with analog, or at least a rotary knob. The 300 has the usual push-buttons for tuning, but that's likely to appeal to listeners who aren't old-fashioned like I am. At any rate, the controls are logically laid out and easy enough to operate. Even I have to admit the presets are sometimes handy, and the clock and sleep timer are nice to have.

Battery life is good, but like any digitally-controlled radio that has a clock, some current is consumed even with the radio turned off. Take the batteries out if the radio isn't going to be used for a while and unplugged from AC.

Overall, I'd recommend the YB 300. The build quality seems good, all the accessories are included, and its reception is good. No radio in this price range is going to be perfect, but I give it at least four stars for what it does at its price point.