The Grundig G2 Reporter, an AM-FM-SW stereo mini-boombox, with recording capability. Discontinued, it can still be found for sale online, and is a handy radio and great performer on SW and FM, and good on MW/AM, although an external loop antenna is sometimes needed to DX MW/AM. When I took the pic, the radio was tuned to Radio Rebelde, a Cuban SW station, which the radio was receiving off the whip antenna with two bars' signal.
Fry's unfortunately went out of business in February of last year. But during the 20-odd years they had a store here in the Seattle area, it was a good place to shop for radios and radio accessories.
Fry's Electronics in Renton. Photo taken the night after it closed permanently, in February, 2021. The night I bought my G2 in September, 2014, this parking lot was probably half full of cars!
This particular night in September 2014 Fry's had a portable SW radio on sale. It was one of the lesser known Grundigs, the G2 Reporter. Being the radio nut that I am, I bought the radio.
AN ULTRA-MINI BOOMBOX WITH DSP
Apparently the Grundig G2 Reporter is a variant of the Degen 1128, a small, slim, ultra-mini AM-FM-SW boombox with two small stereo speakers, a rechargeable battery, SD card slot, and recording/playback capability. Over the years of its development, several glitches were dealt with, and the version I bought, the latest version of the G2, had most of them fixed.Like many newer digitally tuned SW radios, and many Chinese Tecsun and Degen made radios, the G2 has a SiLabs DSP IF chip, which acts as RF amp, IF amp and filter all in one. The chip is probably a SiLabs Si4735, which is their AM-FM-SW chip with FM RDS capability.
The G2 isn't talked about much in the radio community -- if at all. It had apparently gotten off to a shaky start, with some glitches and bugs being reported early in its run. It wasn't a huge seller. Consequently, there isn't that much info on the G2 on the internet. When I got mine, it was an impulse buy. Looking back, I am really glad I got my G2. Actually, since I got the radio, all of my Shortwave radio listening has been done on my G2 -- that's seven years, as of September 2021. The Grundig G2 is that good on Shortwave.
Because the G2 is so good on just the whip antenna, I no longer needed to plug my DX-398 into my indoor wire antenna. Who needs a wire antenna when a G2, just off of its whip antenna, will pull in the Voice of Greece with readable signals, or even pull in China broadcasting to Europe from Xinjiang -- and I'm in the Northwest corner of the U.S.? And on top of that, when it also sounds great through headphones?
According to the G2's specs, it's a little less sensitive than some of its Tecsun brethren... On MW it has 2.5 mV/m sensitivity, where a Tecsun PL-660 has 1 mV/m. On SW, the G2 has 50 uV sensitivity, where on the PL-660 is has around 20 uV. FM on the G2 is 5 uV sensitivity, where the PL-660 has around 3 uV.
So, as you can tell, the performance figures are a bit less than the Tecsun, which is a popular radio, and also has a similar SiLabs DSP chip. My guess is the specs are a bit less because the radio's main operations microprocessor may put out more RFI than the other radio models, and the designers wanted to reduce the chances of that RFI leaking into the radio -- but that is just a guess.
NOT MANY PICS ON THIS ARTICLE -- Beware :-)
This article on the G2 is a bit word-heavy, but I really don't have many cool pics of it, being that I haven't taken it apart like I have done with other radios I have written about here. The reason is that the Phillips head screws that hold the radio together do not look substantial (i.e., it looks like it would be too easy to strip the heads on the screws), and there are other pics of the G2 with its back off available on the internet. Inside, it's your typical green PCB, with surface mount parts, shielding around some of the vital electronics, and the 50-60mm, 7-8 mm thick loopstick tucked into the bottom right corner (just below the right speaker, when looking at the radio from the front). It also was difficult getting decent pics of the LCD readout for some reason. But I've done the best with pics that I could.
FWIW, the best interior pics I've found were at this link:
This guy, N9EWO, must of had an earlier model G2 than I did (his radio has firmware version V.0 2.1, 20120309 -- mine has V0 2.3, 20120516) because I didn't have some of the issues he mentions, and my radio has more memories available on AM and FM. But his article is fairly extensive and informative if you have one of these little marvels.
The Shortwave radio section at Fry's Electronics some time in 2019. You can see a Grundig AM-FM-SW radio for sale in the lower right of the pic (radio in a white box with black handle on top), and a MW loop antenna (Eton AN200) in the upper left, on the upper shelf. In the early 2010's, Fry's had more radios stocked on these shelves, mostly Grundigs.
BUYING THE RADIO
When it was new, the G2 radio normally sold for over $100US, and when I saw it on sale at Fry's in September 2014 it was on sale for around $30. I hadn't read much about the G2, although I'd seen it at Fry's for a while. But because it was priced at just $30, I decided to bite (since 2014 or 2015, the G2 has unfortunately been discontinued).I was pleasantly surprised in many respects.
Now I call this a 'DX radio' guardedly. There are many radio enthusiasts who believe that the only radios you can call a 'DX radio' are either high performance MW radios with 200mm loop antennas and tuned RF sections, or tabletop HF-MW communications receivers with longwire antenna capabilities (the Icom R75 and Drake R8 come to mind).
I don't share that narrow a definition. To me, any radio that's capable of picking up DX is a 'DX radio'. This includes Walkmen, boomboxes, and the like. If it can DX the MW with a loop and get decent results, or pick up FM on tropo or E-skip, or it can hear a SW station from the other side of the world -- whether off its whip or off an attached wire, to me it's a DX radio. Using this definition, the G2 fits -- although it does indeed have some quirks, which I'll go into later.
My Grundig G2, along with an old phone charger that came with an old TracFone I don't use anymore. The 5V charger (with one of the larger USB sockets) charges the G2 well. You can also rig a charger 'cube' up with a plug-in USB cable. It takes maybe 4-6 hours to charge the G2, depending on how low the battery has been drained. You can run the G2 with charger installed, only if you listen to FM. Otherwise, the 'hash' from the switching power supply will swamp the radio. Depending on use, one charge -- when just using headphones -- can last more than a month (See below for more info). In disaster or emergency situations, a spare, charged battery (available online) or a portable, lithium battery emergency charger would also be useful.
FIRST THING: CHARGING THE BATTERY
When I got the G2 home and got it out of the box, the first thing I had to do was fully charge and then discharge the battery three times. They said to do this in the manual. Apparently this is for long-term battery health. After that, you can charge it whenever you want -- I usually wait until it's down to zero bars or so before recharging, often recharging it after the battery conks out on me. When I first had my G2, I fully discharged the battery by actually using the radio: it was the only way I knew how to do that.When I added my Radio Shack loop, it was a different story. It was pulling in DX very well, and the selectivity is very usable. The only channels that I wasn't able to DX on were two channels covered in terrible IBOC hash from a local 50 Kilowatt station, and even then I could hear DX stations when the propagation is up. Since then, the 50 KW station turned off their HD.
Then I switched the G2 over to FM. It picked up stations that many of my other radios simply won't pick up. Most Grundigs and Tecsuns seem to have excellent FM performance (from what I've read on the internet), and this G2 was no exception. The FM sounded great through the headphones. Default FM is mono -- you press the "FM" button a second time to bring in stereo.
The G2 with the battery showing. The battery is available online, if you need to buy extras (I haven't done this yet). The black square of plastic beneath the radio is a clip-on battery cover, that keeps the battery secured inside the radio. Then, the radio's stand will clip down over the entire battery assembly. I never use the radio's stand -- I've never needed to. But it's fairly sturdy.
EXCELLENT ON SHORTWAVE!
Then I switched the radio to Shortwave. Tuning across the 49 meter band around 5-6 in the morning I found the band chock full of signals -- just on the radio's whip antenna! Amazing.With the whip fully extended, I received some local MW interference on SW that morning. When I shortened the whip to around 8-9 inches (10-15 centimeters), the local MW interference disappeared and the 49 meter band was still loaded with signals from Asia! The fact it would pull in so many signals on 8-9 inches of whip antenna was a testament to the radio's performance: most of my other SW radios won't pull in many signals without the whip fully extended, and even then, performance is relatively poor. The SiLabs DSP IF chip that the G2 uses is really a high gain chip -- and one of the SiLab chip's functions is to 'tune' itself to whichever antenna it is using -- and it was apparent to me as soon as I tuned the radio through the 49 meter band that the DSP chip worked quite well on SW.
The G2 is best used with headphones -- really, it's a headphone radio with two small stereo speakers just as a bonus. Through headphones it sounds full and rich on all three radio bands. The volume control -- like it is on many modern radios -- is two buttons on the top right of the radio. One button increases volume, the other button decreases the volume. There is enough volume allowed through headphones to DX quiet MW and SW channels.
The performance on SW and FM is impressive. On MW it will DX quite well with an external loop.
Many of the functions of the radio operate from a menu, although using the menus is not necessary. You can turn on the radio and use the FM, AM, or SW buttons and tune away.
But the menu comes in handy for setting the time, changing the MW/AM channel spacing, or recording a catch. You can also use the menu to switch the FM range from 88-108 to 76-108 ("Japan Band", according to the radio) or 64-108 ("School Band") if you want.
My G2 with a script that appears right before it powers off. I think the date is the date of the calendar that is included the radio, something I've never used. There is a "Calendar" function, assessable via the Main Menu, in SysSet. I've never bothered to change it. Consequently, it's always 2011 on my G2! I don't mind, because 2011 was a fairly good year!
THE G2's SHORTWAVE 'BANDS' TUNING FEATURE
On the G2, there are two separate ways to tune the SW bands.The first way is to hit the "SW" button once, and you'll get the entire SW spectrum from 2.2 Mhz to 22 Mhz on the LCD readout. Then you type in a frequency -- say, 6000 Khz -- and go to whichever station or band you want to tune.
The second way is to tune the individual SW broadcast bands -- the 60 meter band, the 49, 41, 31, 25, 21, 19, and 17 meter bands. To do this, you hit the "SW" button twice. It will bring up the 60 meter band at first (a relatively dead band anymore, thanks to poor propagation). If you don't want to tune the 60 meter band, you hit the "SW" button again. Then it brings up the 49 meter band -- about 5800 - 6300 khz. When you are finished tuning through that SW band, you can hit the "SW" button again and it will toggle up the bands each time you hit the button.
I have found this a useful feature sometimes. It is kind of fun just tuning through your favorite SW band by itself, sort of like you do on FM or MW.
If you are in SW Band 'mode', where you're just looking at a single SWBC band, and you enter a frequency outside that band you are looking at, however, the radio will not do anything.
The way to get out of the SW 'bands' tuning feature is to switch from SW to the AM band or FM band, and then go back to SW by hitting the SW button once. Then you will have access to the entire SW spectrum (2.2 Mhz to 22 Mhz) again.
It's pretty simple.
MW DXing CAN ONLY REALLY BE DONE WITH AN EXTERNAL LOOP
Because the G2 has a small loopstick, out of the box the G2 isn't an ear blazing DXer on MW. Now, in some regions of the world, this might not be the case. But in my area, which is a low MW signals area, the G2 is about as good as your average clock radio. OK on MW, but not a Superadio by any stretch. :-)Unaided, the G2 will hear most regional stations, and some DX stations (in high signals areas it will probably bring in more DX signals than it does here where I live).
But to really hear more distant AM band radio stations, you need to use a loop. Why this is, I don't know -- most DSP radios are pretty hot MW DXers. However, the G2 is moderate on MW. It is possible that MW is desensitized somewhat to reduce interference from the radio's keyboard scanning function, as when you press a key on the keyboard, you can hear a very slight electronic 'click' or 'pop'. But that is just a guess. Maybe it's the quality or type of 50-60mm loopstick. According to specs, the G2 should be able to DX on its own, and maybe it does in regions with high DX signals. But it definitely needs an external loop here, even a small loop like an Eton AN-100 or Select-A-Tenna will do excellently.
SiLabs DSP IF chips usually are great on MW, and even pocket radios equipped with a 50-60mm loopstick and a SiLabs DSP chip can DX. But my G2 isn't as hot as a pocket radio I have that has a similar SiLabs DSP chip and similar sized loopstick.
Either way, unless you live in a high signals area (with terrific ground conductivity) an external loop is a must when using a G2 to really DX the MW/AM band. And indeed, you can DX with a G2, using a loop, and it will DX very well.
When using an external loop with the G2, you place the G2 either to the left side of the loop, or place the loop right behind the right hand speaker (when the radio is facing you). It will work with the loop on either side of the radio, but the radio seems to have a hair more gain if the external loop is placed on the right hand side of the radio (when the radio is facing you).
This is probably because Grundig placed the 60mm loopstick antenna underneath the right hand speaker. So that is where the loopstick's sensing coil is.
Tuning a loop with a G2 is a bit tricky at times. The G2 has very tight AGC, and SiLabs chips are designed to peak themselves to the antenna every time the radio is tuned to a new frequency. Unlike most radios, you don't hear the volume go up when you peak the signal using an external loop. Instead, you have to listen for the station's programming to get louder, or clearer.
Tune the loop slow. Listen to the station's audio, and slowly peak the loop until the audio is the clearest.
It is very different until you get used to it. It can help if you hold the radio farther away from the loop and peak the signal that way, and then place the radio closer to the loop for maximum results. Usually it's very easy, but sometimes if you are tuned near to a local station, peaking the adjacent channel is a bit tricky.
In such cases, you can tune to a strong signal about 10 kHz away (9 kHz if you're outside the Americas), and keep it there and then tune to the target signal; you still should be able to receive the target signal that way. I've done this while DXing 700 kHz. There is a 50 KW blowtorch here on 710. Sometimes to hear what's happening on 700 I tune to 690, where there is a regional station in Canada (CBU Vancouver), and leave the loop there and tune the G2 to 700. I can still hear 700 reasonably well that way.
Once you get the hang of peaking a signal with the loop and G2, it gets easier.
The selectivity on the G2 is very good for MW DXing. The audio characteristics of the G2, when using headphones, are very good for MW DXing, too. The radio isn't tinny, and the selectivity is good enough to reduce splatter from nearby, strong signals.
On a good DX night I was able to heard KXLX 700 kHz (an ESPN sports station) from Spokane, a station 250 air miles (maybe 310 km) away, which is usually covered in horrendous splash from 50 Kilowatt KIRO 710.
Using the loop and the G2, I was able to receive KXLX with minimal hash and it was very readable. With most of my radios, even on a good DX night when KXLX is coming in, it's only half readable because of the splash from 710. Just last night KXLX was coming in loud enough that there was almost no splash at all from KIRO. That's rare. On most of my other radios there was more splash. I don't know what the selectivity on the G2's DSP chip is set to, but my guess is that it is 5 or 6 kHz. It's wide enough for good sound, and narrow enough to DX with (on this night I didn't have to tune the loop to 690, as I described above -- KXLX's signal was strong and steady).
As for overall DX, I've heard WJR Detroit, weakly, in between two strong local/semi-local stations on my G2, using the loop. When propagation is in well, you can hear regionals and some farther stations without a loop, similar to what you may hear on a Sony clock radio barefoot.
It is very different until you get used to it. It can help if you hold the radio farther away from the loop and peak the signal that way, and then place the radio closer to the loop for maximum results. Usually it's very easy, but sometimes if you are tuned near to a local station, peaking the adjacent channel is a bit tricky.
In such cases, you can tune to a strong signal about 10 kHz away (9 kHz if you're outside the Americas), and keep it there and then tune to the target signal; you still should be able to receive the target signal that way. I've done this while DXing 700 kHz. There is a 50 KW blowtorch here on 710. Sometimes to hear what's happening on 700 I tune to 690, where there is a regional station in Canada (CBU Vancouver), and leave the loop there and tune the G2 to 700. I can still hear 700 reasonably well that way.
Once you get the hang of peaking a signal with the loop and G2, it gets easier.
The selectivity on the G2 is very good for MW DXing. The audio characteristics of the G2, when using headphones, are very good for MW DXing, too. The radio isn't tinny, and the selectivity is good enough to reduce splatter from nearby, strong signals.
On a good DX night I was able to heard KXLX 700 kHz (an ESPN sports station) from Spokane, a station 250 air miles (maybe 310 km) away, which is usually covered in horrendous splash from 50 Kilowatt KIRO 710.
Using the loop and the G2, I was able to receive KXLX with minimal hash and it was very readable. With most of my radios, even on a good DX night when KXLX is coming in, it's only half readable because of the splash from 710. Just last night KXLX was coming in loud enough that there was almost no splash at all from KIRO. That's rare. On most of my other radios there was more splash. I don't know what the selectivity on the G2's DSP chip is set to, but my guess is that it is 5 or 6 kHz. It's wide enough for good sound, and narrow enough to DX with (on this night I didn't have to tune the loop to 690, as I described above -- KXLX's signal was strong and steady).
As for overall DX, I've heard WJR Detroit, weakly, in between two strong local/semi-local stations on my G2, using the loop. When propagation is in well, you can hear regionals and some farther stations without a loop, similar to what you may hear on a Sony clock radio barefoot.
A pic of the G2's "FM Radio" menu. It's actually the menu that covers all basic radio settings, including FM band tuning range and MW/AM channel spacing.
MW/AM CHANNEL SPACING IS A SNAP
If you hear heterodynes on the MW band here in North America and want to try to receive a Trans-Pacific or Trans-Atlantic station, you can switch from 10 KHz MW spacing to 9 KHz MW spacing quite easily, using the radio's main menu. Changing the channel spacing is very easy to do.Turn on your G2, and tune to the MW/AM band (hit the "AM" button).
The MW spacing 'switch' doesn't appear when the radio is tuned to the FM band or SW, so you've got to have the radio on MW to change the 9 khz / 10 khz spacing. Believe me -- I learned this the hard way after forgetting this.
If your radio is on MW, press in on the tuner button up on the top right corner of the radio, or hit the ESC button in the right top corner. This will give you a menu. Because you are already tuned to the AM band, the menu will automatically be the radio menu, the one called "FM Tuner" ("FM Tuner" is the menu item that deals with radio settings in general -- not just FM).
Scroll down until you reach "AM spacing switch" and click the tuner button in (by pushing on it until it clicks), and the MW channel spacing will change instantly.
If you want to change back to your preferred channel spacing (whether it is 9 KHz or 10 KHz), repeat the process.
Sometimes you want to tune a KHz or two to the left or right to reduce splash from a strong, adjacent local station. As the G2 tunes the MW with only 10 KHz or 9 KHz increments, you're sort of stuck when it comes to tuning away from splash.
But a US DXer discovered a tuning trick. It's most easily explained this way:
My strong local, KIRO, is on 710 KHz. I want to hear KXLX Spokane on 700, with less splatter. On some radios I would tune to 699, or fine tune to the left.
But on the G2, I'm stuck on 700. If I tune to the left, I get 690 and CBU Vancouver B.C. Canada. There are no 1 KHz tuning steps, as there are on some SW FM AM radios.
So, what if I want to tune to 699 KHz, so I can clear a little of the splatter from 710 KHz?
Press 6-9-9-9 (that's right, you add an extra 9 at the end of the sequence), and hit the ENTER key (the key on the keypad with the arrow on it). Now your G2 will not only tune to 699 KHz, it will also tune to 599, 899, 999, 1499, 1599, etc.
Every channel you tune to will be one KHz to the left!
The side effect to this is that this tuning trick STICKS. I.e., you turn the radio off, and back on, it's still there! It will tune that way until you change it back again!
To "fix" it, to where it will get back to tuning in 10 KHz channels again (600, 700, 900, etc.), you turn the radio on to the AM band and press 7-0-0-9 and ENTER. Now it will tune normally again.
It's a fun trick, and I can see how it would come in handy, as the G2's selectivity is very tight, but it still can't overrun a 50KW local 100%.
The main thing to remember, if you don't have this article handy, is press in a frequency ending with a 9 (699 KHz would be an example), and add a 9 (making it 6-9-9-9), and then hit enter, if you want your G2 to tune 1 KHz to the left.
If your radio is on MW, press in on the tuner button up on the top right corner of the radio, or hit the ESC button in the right top corner. This will give you a menu. Because you are already tuned to the AM band, the menu will automatically be the radio menu, the one called "FM Tuner" ("FM Tuner" is the menu item that deals with radio settings in general -- not just FM).
Scroll down until you reach "AM spacing switch" and click the tuner button in (by pushing on it until it clicks), and the MW channel spacing will change instantly.
If you want to change back to your preferred channel spacing (whether it is 9 KHz or 10 KHz), repeat the process.
MW TUNING TRICK TO REDUCE SPLATTER
There is a trick a DXer discovered on the G2 that can help other DXers on the AM band.Sometimes you want to tune a KHz or two to the left or right to reduce splash from a strong, adjacent local station. As the G2 tunes the MW with only 10 KHz or 9 KHz increments, you're sort of stuck when it comes to tuning away from splash.
But a US DXer discovered a tuning trick. It's most easily explained this way:
My strong local, KIRO, is on 710 KHz. I want to hear KXLX Spokane on 700, with less splatter. On some radios I would tune to 699, or fine tune to the left.
But on the G2, I'm stuck on 700. If I tune to the left, I get 690 and CBU Vancouver B.C. Canada. There are no 1 KHz tuning steps, as there are on some SW FM AM radios.
So, what if I want to tune to 699 KHz, so I can clear a little of the splatter from 710 KHz?
Press 6-9-9-9 (that's right, you add an extra 9 at the end of the sequence), and hit the ENTER key (the key on the keypad with the arrow on it). Now your G2 will not only tune to 699 KHz, it will also tune to 599, 899, 999, 1499, 1599, etc.
Every channel you tune to will be one KHz to the left!
The side effect to this is that this tuning trick STICKS. I.e., you turn the radio off, and back on, it's still there! It will tune that way until you change it back again!
To "fix" it, to where it will get back to tuning in 10 KHz channels again (600, 700, 900, etc.), you turn the radio on to the AM band and press 7-0-0-9 and ENTER. Now it will tune normally again.
It's a fun trick, and I can see how it would come in handy, as the G2's selectivity is very tight, but it still can't overrun a 50KW local 100%.
The main thing to remember, if you don't have this article handy, is press in a frequency ending with a 9 (699 KHz would be an example), and add a 9 (making it 6-9-9-9), and then hit enter, if you want your G2 to tune 1 KHz to the left.
To get the radio back to normal 10 khz channels, press a 10 khz frequency, add a 9 at the end, and hit Enter again.
I am not certain how this would work in 9 Khz areas of the world, being that the channels aren't as "regular" as they are here in the Western Hemisphere, where all MW frequencies end in zeroes.
I am not certain how this would work in 9 Khz areas of the world, being that the channels aren't as "regular" as they are here in the Western Hemisphere, where all MW frequencies end in zeroes.
When I tried this new tuning trick, I didn't find an incredible difference in reception -- but it could be a handy DXing tool nonetheless. With standard analog chipped, digitally tuned radios we often tune a little to the left or right to reduce splash from a strong adjacent station. Whether this undocumented tuning trick works on other Tecsun/Grundig radios with fixed tuning increments, I don't know. But this tuning trick could be just one more wrench in the DXing toolkit. :-)
If, by chance, you try this tuning trick and can't get your radio back to normal, turn it off, and pull the battery. Wait a few minutes. Then put the battery back in. This will cold-reboot the radio and should reset all of the tuning settings to default.
ANOTHER 1 kHz TUNING TRICK
I have since found a different 'tuning trick', which I discovered completely by accident, in early November, 2024. If you enter a ZERO after a non-standard, three digit kilohertz entry (520 through 990 kHz), the radio will tune every channel to a frequency ending in the number before the zero.
Example: I was on 840. I wanted to quickly tune to 860 to see if there was a station there (at night it's usually KPAM Portland and KTRB San Francisco). By accident, I hit 8-6-6-0 instead of 8-6-0. There is no delete key, so I just hit 'ENTER'.
The radio tuned to 866 kHz. When I used the tuner knob, every channel was a frequency ending in '6' -- 876, 886, 896, 996, 1206, 1506, etc. The FIX, to get it back to normal? Enter the frequency correctly! I entered 8-6-0 and the radio went back to normal. No powering down / powering back up the radio necessary.
Whether this was intended at the factory, or was just a fun glitch, I wouldn't know. But it would be a handier way to tune 1-2 kHz away from a target channel. For example, if you were tuned to 1060 and there was considerable splatter from 1050, you could tune the G2 to 1058 or 1059 by entering 8-8-8-0 or 8-8-9-0 or something similar (it would have to be in the three digit kHz areas of the MW band, because you need the extra zero to make it work), and then use the knob to tune up to 1058 or 1059.
Then entering a frequency correctly would clear the useful tuning glitch.
CHIT CHIT
One of the biggest quirks with the G2 is the "chit-chit" noise you can get when tuning over a couple spots in the MW band, and sometimes when there is no signal on SW you will hear it in the background.
I don't know what causes it, but I'm guessing it is a clock function, or possibly the keyboard scanner, as it happens exactly once a second, in the background. I've heard similar if I have one of my MW DX radios sitting next to my cell phone (which also has a clock).
I hear the 'chit-chit' mostly between 650 kHz and 680 kHz, and sometimes higher up the band (in the 1200's somewhere) when there is an empty channel. If there is nothing but static on the Shortwave bands I'll sometimes here it. Otherwise, it's gone.
It might be occurring because the MW antenna wire goes across the back of the PCB where the microprocessor's clock may be located. I don't know. It's a minor issue, as it doesn't interfere with DXing, but it could be annoying to some people.
It's most noticeable on poor DX nights when most of what you hear is static, and signals are mostly weak -- S3 or lower. You'll also notice it if you aren't using an external loop antenna.
On nights like that I will hear the "chit-chit" underneath KNBR 680 or KFI 640. But on good nights the "chit-chit" is there but not as loud because it's covered up by the programming. When signals are S4 or more, you hardly notice it.
It would have been nice if it weren't there, but I can live with it. I've been able to listen to John Batchelor's program on KBOI 670 and not be annoyed by the sound. But like I said, it would have been nice if it would have been able to be filtered out completely somehow.
FM AND FM RDS -- GREAT FM RECEPTION, and OIRT FM, TOO
I'm not a huge FM fan -- at most I listen to the local rock stations (98.9 and 99.9), and sometimes the alternative pop/rock stations on 107.7 and 104.9, and every now and then I'll tune into the local pop station on 106.1 FM. So my review of this radio is limited to mostly SW and AM. However, the G2 has a very good sound on FM through the headphones. It can receive RDS, although you have to switch that on using a menu, and the readout is different from other FM RDS capable radios I have used. It garbles sometimes, but generally works well enough to ID a station or song.
One cool feature of the G2 (at least for travelers) is that it will receive the Japanese 76-108 Mhz FM band and the Eastern European OIRT 66-74 Mhz FM band also. These options ("Japan Band" for 76-108 MHz and "School Band" for 64-108 MHz -- "Normal Band", 87-108 Mhz, is the default) are selectable under the FM Radio menu, which you get when you push in the Tuner button.
As the FM default is mono, as mentioned before, you press the "FM" button (located below the LCD readout) a second time to get stereo. The stereo has a clear, full sound.
To get RDS, which lately I've found useful (very few stations back-announce songs, and RDS is a great way to ID a song you don't know but you find you like), you press the Tuner button in and scroll to the "FM Radio" menu selection, if it isn't there already. Press in the Tuner button again and then you get a series of menu choices and you scroll down to "Open RDS". Press in the Tuner button again and it will start the RDS function appearing on the LCD readout. Then you hit ESC to get back to the radio again.
The RDS function has six characters it uses to readout the call letters, song titles, etc., and they scroll. It's a bit funky to use, but it works. I really am not an RDS freak, so what RDS the G2 has is adequate for my uses.
It turns off when you turn off the radio or switch to another radio band.
One cool feature of the G2 (at least for travelers) is that it will receive the Japanese 76-108 Mhz FM band and the Eastern European OIRT 66-74 Mhz FM band also. These options ("Japan Band" for 76-108 MHz and "School Band" for 64-108 MHz -- "Normal Band", 87-108 Mhz, is the default) are selectable under the FM Radio menu, which you get when you push in the Tuner button.
As the FM default is mono, as mentioned before, you press the "FM" button (located below the LCD readout) a second time to get stereo. The stereo has a clear, full sound.
To get RDS, which lately I've found useful (very few stations back-announce songs, and RDS is a great way to ID a song you don't know but you find you like), you press the Tuner button in and scroll to the "FM Radio" menu selection, if it isn't there already. Press in the Tuner button again and then you get a series of menu choices and you scroll down to "Open RDS". Press in the Tuner button again and it will start the RDS function appearing on the LCD readout. Then you hit ESC to get back to the radio again.
The G2 comes with a cloth carrying case. One should be careful, however, as if you bump the radio against some surfaces the tuner button can catch and then be pushed off the radio. Pressing the button back in is a snap, but still -- it's not a good thing to have happen.
It turns off when you turn off the radio or switch to another radio band.
ON SHORTWAVE THE G2 IS EXCEPTIONAL FOR A SMALL PORTABLE!
On SW the Grundig G2 is -- in my view -- exceptional. I say this because it will hear anything off the whip that my other SW radios will hear off my indoor 25-30 ft. (10 meter) wire. I don't have another SW radio that will pull in stations so clearly just off the whip.
I've heard China Radio International broadcasting to Europe from Kashgar on 31 meters -- which means I heard it off the back of the beam, and Kashgar (located in Sinkiang, in far western China) is on the opposite side of the North Pole from my location. This was just off the whip antenna.
I've also heard the BBC broadcasting to Africa from Ascension Island on 49 meters, just off the whip. That would have been off the side of their beam. I've heard -- more than once -- All India Radio's Vividh Bharati program on 9565 KHz., broadcasting to India and the Indian Ocean from Bangalore. This was also just off the whip! India is often a fairly tough catch for those of us here in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., as any signals coming from that location skirt the Pole, and consequently get a little degraded by the time they reach here.
The first time I heard the stations mentioned above I compared the G2's reception to my DX-398 off the 25 ft. wire. The G2's reception was maybe one S unit lower with a bit more fading. But it was still just as readable.
I have read some other reviews of this radio that claimed that the G2 wasn't very good on SW, and that it was "just a toy". Perhaps they were using earlier versions of the radio, as I understand it has had some of the bugs worked out since it was introduced. My G2 may be a more recent version. Or, maybe I just got a good one.
In either case, G2 is the best SW radio I have for the price: very easy to use, works well off the whip, and sounds great through the headphones.
Recently I heard Radio Verdad on 4055 kHz, a 'tropical' band station in Guatemala, only 1 KW in strength. I was able to hear the station well enough to ID the language (Spanish) and some of the words. All off the G2's whip alone.
Recently I heard Radio Verdad on 4055 kHz, a 'tropical' band station in Guatemala, only 1 KW in strength. I was able to hear the station well enough to ID the language (Spanish) and some of the words. All off the G2's whip alone.
More recently, in 2021, when SW conditions have still been mostly horrible, I attached my 25 foot indoor wire to the end of the G2's whip antenna with an alligator clip, and was able to get 2-3 more S-units of signal, with practically NO OVERLOAD.
USE THE WHIP LENGTH LIKE AN RF GAIN CONTROL
The G2 will overload when conditions are awesome and signals are really strong. You will hear very faint audio from local MW stations as you tune across parts of the SW bands. In those times you just reduce the length of the whip until the overload stops. I've been able to tune the 31 meter band and hear a lot of stations even with just 6-10 inches (15-25 cm) of whip antenna, using the length of the whip antenna like an RF Gain control -- lengthen and shorten as needed.
Also, when SW conditions are really good and there are a lot of strong signals, you obviously would not need to attach an extra length of wire to the whip antenna with an alligator clip. The G2 will hear a LOT of SW stations on just the whip, if conditions are good. The SiLabs DSP chip is very good for filtering and amplifying signals off the whip.
One interesting idiosyncrasy is that there are times when shortening the whip antenna actually improves reception of a SW station. It seems to be contrary to what one would expect, but I've experienced this more than once. My guess is if there is a lot of atmospheric noise, it might cause the AGC to work too hard, and shortening the whip reduces the noise level and the AGC concentrates more on the SW station's actual programming.
The DSP chip, after all, works a little differently than an old-school analog, superheterodyne chip.
So don't be afraid to also shorten the whip a bit if a station isn't coming in well, especially if the ionosphere is noisy. You never know.
USING A WIRE ANTENNA on SW with the PROXIMITY EFFECT
Although the G2 is excellent on Shortwave using its whip antenna, there are times that a little extra gain is needed or desired. I have a 25 ft (10 meter) indoor wire antenna that I have used for my portables ever since my 100 foot outdoor wire (30 meters) blew down in a windstorm in the early 2000's.There have been times while I've DXed the Shortwaves on my G2 I needed extra gain to read the station I'm hearing. Clipping the 25 ft. wire to the whip antenna sometimes works -- other times I just get more static and noise. Clipping it to the whip when the whip is completely folded down seems to work at times also.
But the best way I've found to use an external wire with the Grundig G2 is the proximity effect. This is where you place the end of a wire antenna, or feedline, near the radio, but you don't attach it directly.
I've done this in the past with my Realistic DX-370, which doesn't really like to have a wire antenna clipped to the whip. I was able to hear Radio Tunis that way in the late 1990's -- I would place the end of my 100 ft. wire (30 meters) near the DX-370, and the 370 would pick up the signal from Tunis readably -- where off the whip it was barely audible.
It's the same with my Grundig G2. If I bring the end of my 25 ft. indoor wire near the radio, I get about one extra S Unit of signal. The radio seems to like it best when the wire antenna is sitting near the bottom of the radio -- possibly there is some inductive coupling through the G2's loopstick, which is also at the bottom of the radio.
So, if you have a G2, and want a small signal boost, and clipping a short wire to the whip doesn't help, try the proximity affect. I was recently able to get Radio Feda (in the 21 Meter SWBC band, broadcasting to the Middle East from Madagascar) with very good results using this method, where the signal off of the whip antenna was choppy. The proximity effect addition of the indoor wire antenna boosted the signal from S2 to S3 or more.
This proximity effect method of adding wire to increase SW signals on a portable radio may also work with other DSP chip, portable SW radios, like many of the Tecsuns, Etons and Grundigs available today. It also can help with older, analog IF chip radios (like my DX-370).
Sometimes this 'proximity effect' doesn't seem to work as well as other times. I don't know why. But I'm throwing the idea out there because there's no harm in trying it.
During GOOD SW conditions, however, clipping on a wire can give you overload. So, YMMV.
YOU ALSO CAN CLIP A WIRE TO THE WHIP During Poor To Miserable SW Conditions!
When I first wrote this article on the G2 in 2022, I hadn't been able to experience improved SW reception by clipping my 25-30 ft. indoor, second story wire antenna to the G2's whip. Oftentimes, when I tried this, I got overload. So, I had thought that the G2 won't take a wire antenna at all. In 2024, however, I learned that my conclusions about that were wrong!
When conditions are poor and grainy, clipping a wire antenna to the whip will bring weak stations out of the mud, with NO OVERLOAD.
So, if SW conditions are rotten off the whip, try clipping a wire to the whip. I recently (in Spring, 2024) had good to decent reception of Radio France International's French broadcasts to Africa by clipping my indoor wire antenna to the whip. Without the wire, all I heard was weak traces of audio.
So -- the key here, is experiment!
RECORDING FROM AM, FM, OR SW
With the G2 you can record directly off the air to WAV or Mp3. There is enough space on the internal memory to record a couple hours of WAV files. I am up to recording number 124, and I have a over an hour of space left.To record a station, you tune to it, set the volume to 10 or a bit higher, and press in on the tuner button. This will give you a menu -- one of the choices is "Record". Press the tuner button again, and you have a choice between Mp3 and WAV. I choose WAV because it sounds better.
I was able to record a bunch of songs off the Radio Disney AM station in Portland (KDZR 1640) before Radio Disney went off the air. I've recorded music off of the Voice of Greece, Vividh Bharati, and other SW stations using this feature.
So far, the playback has been fairly clean. The recordings transferred easily to my computer in WAV form, and they sound great on the computer.
It is much more convenient than using an external recorder.
The radio uses more power from the battery when recording... So if you get a G2, and want to extend battery life between charges, don't record anything. The battery use while recording is not drastic, but it is a bit noticeable.
What I do when recording a broadcast (usually 5 minutes or so) is mark down the recording number in my paper log as I'm recording. I suppose there may be a way to label recordings once you get them onto a computer, but in the radio itself they have recording numbers.
It's a very handy feature to have on a radio.
The internal memory is extensive, but can be filled up. I have about 200 3-5 minute recordings of various MW and SW broadcasts, and my G2's internal memory is full.
You can add an external, mini-SD chip to the radio, however. It will insert into a socket at the bottom of the radio.
WAV and MP3 RECORDINGS of SW and Radio Disney on MW
Before the internal memory of my G2 filled up, I was able to record approximately 100 recordings of various MW and SW stations, including the last days of Radio Disney on Portland's KDZR 1640. Unfortunately, Blogger doesn't have an MP3 or sound file function, or I would post some of them. I also tried posting a sound file of them on SoundCloud, but their software detected the copyrighted pop music.
That said, any recordings you make off the air are easy to listen to on the G2, and they are easy to transfer to a laptop or other computer -- you just use the USB cable you use to charge the G2, and plug it into the computer's USB slot. The computer should 'see' the G2's sound files, and you just copy and paste.
A GOOD TRAVEL RADIO; BUT FOR SHORTER EMERGENCIES ONLY
Because of its slim size, good FM and SW performance, and adequate AM performance, the G2 would probably be a great travel radio. If you're into MW DXing, however, it would be best to take a loop along with you. The recording facility would be helpful for capturing foreign local FM and AM radio broadcasts.
The G2 is very slim, lightweight, and low profile -- perfect for travel. Just add a MW loop, headphones and charger cable and go.
The G2 is very slim, lightweight, and low profile -- perfect for travel. Just add a MW loop, headphones and charger cable and go.
As for emergencies, the problem with rechargeable radios like the G2 is that if the power is out for more than a few days, you can't recharge your battery. It takes 4-6 hours for the G2's battery to recharge. The battery life using the radio on speaker is supposedly 5 hours, according to the manual. Using just headphones it probably is much longer. I have used my G2 for a half-hour to an hour a night and the battery still has juice to power it 3-4 weeks later.
My average battery life has been around a month.
But -- I only use headphones.
The problem with having a radio that is dependent on rechargeables is that in an emergency you can't just go to your drawer and grab some AA's and shove them in the radio when the old batteries are dead. Because it's a single battery, and it is rechargeable only -- you have to recharge it. I know there are compact rechargers out there, and maybe that would be the way to go for some. But for long term power outages (like when big earthquakes and other natural disasters hit) I would suggest an old Sony Walkman and stock up on AA's, or use the Grundig G2 sparingly -- headphones only -- and maybe get a portable recharger. With a good recharger, you could possibly get a second month out of the G2 before the battery's dead.
Ever since I discovered the G2's "sleep mode" trick (described below) my battery life has been extended drastically. I usually listen to SW and some MW and FM on my G2 about half-hour to an hour a night, maybe 5 nights a week. This past year I have averaged about a month in-between charges. My last period in between charges was almost two months, where I averaged ten days per 'bar' of power on my battery meter (40 days total, approximately).
So it's possible you could get a month or more out of a charge in a disaster before needing a recharge, if you used headphones only and limited your time to an hour or so of listening a night -- and you'd also have to turn on the G2's "Sleep Mode", which switches most of the G2's microprocessor functions OFF when the radio is not in use. Otherwise, your battery life will be more like 2 weeks instead of 1-2 months.
The problem with having a radio that is dependent on rechargeables is that in an emergency you can't just go to your drawer and grab some AA's and shove them in the radio when the old batteries are dead. Because it's a single battery, and it is rechargeable only -- you have to recharge it. I know there are compact rechargers out there, and maybe that would be the way to go for some. But for long term power outages (like when big earthquakes and other natural disasters hit) I would suggest an old Sony Walkman and stock up on AA's, or use the Grundig G2 sparingly -- headphones only -- and maybe get a portable recharger. With a good recharger, you could possibly get a second month out of the G2 before the battery's dead.
Ever since I discovered the G2's "sleep mode" trick (described below) my battery life has been extended drastically. I usually listen to SW and some MW and FM on my G2 about half-hour to an hour a night, maybe 5 nights a week. This past year I have averaged about a month in-between charges. My last period in between charges was almost two months, where I averaged ten days per 'bar' of power on my battery meter (40 days total, approximately).
So it's possible you could get a month or more out of a charge in a disaster before needing a recharge, if you used headphones only and limited your time to an hour or so of listening a night -- and you'd also have to turn on the G2's "Sleep Mode", which switches most of the G2's microprocessor functions OFF when the radio is not in use. Otherwise, your battery life will be more like 2 weeks instead of 1-2 months.
My guess is that the G2 would work best as an emergency radio for short emergencies and shorter power outages only, and then only if you're using headphones. If you keep the G2 set to "sleep mode", the battery life will be extended, and using headphones only it's conceivable you could get a week or more out of the battery before recharging. So it's possible that with a portable recharger you could get two or more weeks out of a G2 before you run out of juice during longer power outages (thinking a massive disaster here).
First of all, press the "Escape" button (the little button marked ESC in the upper right hand corner of the radio).
If you've been listening to the radio, it will take you to the Menu function "FM Radio" (the default Radio setting, which covers all radio listening settings). Scroll up to "SysSet". "SysSet" is the Menu item where you adjust various system functions.
Under the "SysSet" menu option, you choose "Sleep Mode". This apparently shuts the microprocessor almost completely down when the radio is off, leaving only the internal clock and power button processes to run.
You also get to the "SysSet" menu option by pressing in on the tuner button when the radio is OFF, and then scrolling up or down until you reach it.
Whether you hit the Escape button and then scroll to "SysSet", or use the tuner button, pressing in on the tuner button is probably the easiest way. This will bring up the scrolling menu, and usually the "FM Radio" option is at the top. Scroll down to "SysSet" ("System Settings"), press in the tuner button again, scroll down to "Power Off Mode", and press the tuner button in once more. You will have three choices, the top two are "Standby Mode" (the default, which uses more power when the radio is OFF) and "Sleep Mode". Scroll to "Sleep Mode" and push the tuner button in.
This tells the radio to turn off all functions (except the internal clock and on/off switch) when you have the radio OFF. Then hit the "ESC" button in the upper right corner of the radio. If you do this while listening to the radio, the radio will turn off and you will have to go to "FM Radio" again and choose your band.
You will now get much more time from your G2's battery between recharges.
If, for some reason, you remove the battery (which I had to do only once, to re-set the G2 when it glitched on my a couple years ago), your Shortwave, AM and FM stations will stay in their memory locations but you will have to re-set the "SLEEP MODE" function to "Power Off Mode".
One could always buy a spare battery, charge it, and keep it handy, too.
This is the menu for "Power Off Mode", which you use to turn the radio to "Sleep Mode" -- where the radio's firmware is told to shut off all functions -- except the clock and the power button -- when turned off. Otherwise, other functions will be on Standby and you will use up the battery much more quickly. I always keep my G2 in Sleep Mode. With Sleep Mode, I get nearly a month out of a battery in between charges. When I had the G2 in "Standby Mode", I was lucky to get more than a week out of the battery.
SAVING BATTERY POWER ON A G2 USING 'SLEEP MODE' -- a good idea
There is a trick to saving battery power on a G2. I would suggest every G2 owner do this. Your life will be made easier, believe me. It is described in the Manual, but as it is a really great feature to save battery power, I'll describe it here. First of all, press the "Escape" button (the little button marked ESC in the upper right hand corner of the radio).
If you've been listening to the radio, it will take you to the Menu function "FM Radio" (the default Radio setting, which covers all radio listening settings). Scroll up to "SysSet". "SysSet" is the Menu item where you adjust various system functions.
Under the "SysSet" menu option, you choose "Sleep Mode". This apparently shuts the microprocessor almost completely down when the radio is off, leaving only the internal clock and power button processes to run.
You also get to the "SysSet" menu option by pressing in on the tuner button when the radio is OFF, and then scrolling up or down until you reach it.
Whether you hit the Escape button and then scroll to "SysSet", or use the tuner button, pressing in on the tuner button is probably the easiest way. This will bring up the scrolling menu, and usually the "FM Radio" option is at the top. Scroll down to "SysSet" ("System Settings"), press in the tuner button again, scroll down to "Power Off Mode", and press the tuner button in once more. You will have three choices, the top two are "Standby Mode" (the default, which uses more power when the radio is OFF) and "Sleep Mode". Scroll to "Sleep Mode" and push the tuner button in.
This tells the radio to turn off all functions (except the internal clock and on/off switch) when you have the radio OFF. Then hit the "ESC" button in the upper right corner of the radio. If you do this while listening to the radio, the radio will turn off and you will have to go to "FM Radio" again and choose your band.
You will now get much more time from your G2's battery between recharges.
If, for some reason, you remove the battery (which I had to do only once, to re-set the G2 when it glitched on my a couple years ago), your Shortwave, AM and FM stations will stay in their memory locations but you will have to re-set the "SLEEP MODE" function to "Power Off Mode".
RE-SETTING THE RADIO when it ACTS UP (Rare)
On one evening recently I switched on my G2, and instead of automatically tuning to the last SW or MW station I had tuned to, it was on 87.9 Mhz, the lowest frequency on the North American FM band.I switched off the radio, and switched it back on, and the same thing happened. I also noticed that when I tried tuning the SW band, the radio was stuck on one frequency. I switched to MW, and it was on 9 Khz spacing.
It was apparent that somehow there was a firmware glitch -- only the second time my G2 has had one since I got the radio in 2014.
To bring the radio back to normal operation, I had to pull the battery, and leave it out of the radio for about 15 seconds. Placing the battery back into the radio, I switched it on. Everything was back to normal -- MW was back to 10 khz spacing, and all my memories were still saved. The only thing I had to do was change the radio back to "SLEEP MODE" to save the battery.
Apparently when you re-set the G2, it will keep your memory pre-sets, and preserve most of your settings, but you have to re-set the radio back to "SLEEP MODE", so you won't have to recharge your battery so often.
ONLY ONE OTHER SMALL, ONE-TIME GLITCH
I had to pull the battery to re-set the radio when it locked-up while recording off the air. It's the only time in the four years I've had the radio that the radio has locked up in any way. So far, my G2 has been basically glitch free.ONE LOW POWER GLITCH -- Clock Was Off By Several Hours
Recently I went a week or so without using my G2, and the battery meter has been on one bar for the past two weeks. The battery is low enough to give me zero bars while using the radio.
That said, when I fired up my G2 earlier this evening the clock was off by 12 hours. I had to re-set it, and since then it's been OK. Another peculiarity was the frequency that the radio was on when I fired it up was unusual -- 6340 or something, a SW frequency I never tune to.
I rack it up to a low battery. Right now when I use it, it starts out at one bar, and then reduces to zero bars. And we've had some cold nights lately, and batteries do not like cold.
CHARGE THE BATTERY WHEN IT HITS ONE BAR OF POWER,
Especially if the battery is getting old
In late June, 2023, my G2 had been on one bar of battery for maybe 2 weeks. On June 20th, when I switched it on, the radio came up on FM, 87.5 MHz, a frequency I never tune the radio to. I then discovered that the AM band was set to the default 9 Khz steps, and SW was set to 2300 khz. My stored memories were completely gone. Turning the radio off, and then back on, didn't fix the problem.
It obviously was not a short-term glitch. I pulled the battery out, waited maybe 10 seconds, and put it back in, re-setting the radio that way -- something that had worked before. It didn't work. I pulled the battery and waited 5 minutes. Put it back in. It didn't work.
The radio would still tune the bands, and play OK, it just lost all temporary memory.
Being that the battery was low, I re-charged it (which takes 4-6 hours). Then I switched the G2 on again. No change.
I then noticed the RESET pinhole in the battery compartment, just below the battery. I found a small piece of stiff wire, and pressed it.
IT FIXED THE PROBLEM! My memories were back! My sound files were back! No more turning on my radio to find it's back to the factory pre-sets again! The date on my G2, which I've never changed, is back to 2011 again!
I think the G2 doesn't like to be on low battery for a length of time. Perhaps the battery dips in output now and then while the radio is off. Maybe it drops below a voltage threshold and causes the G2's operations to glitch. The battery is old. The date code says 2012. That may have something to do with it.
Suggestion: get a backup BL-5C battery and charger, and RECHARGE YOUR G2 when it's been on one bar of battery power for more than a day or two. Also, consider getting a few newer BL-5C's, and use your older one as a backup.
Obviously, when the radio began to operate normally again, I was relieved. It felt kind of bad losing the WAV recordings of the Voice of Greece and Radio Disney. Most of the 50 SW memory locations I entered over the years are for stations -- like the Voice of Greece -- that are no longer on the air. Sort of like the hundreds of filled memory locations in my Realistic DX-398, they don't take you to active frequencies anymore but it's kind of a reminder of how much more there was to hear even 10 years ago, in 2014-2015, when I was filling the memory locations with stations I enjoyed listening to.
I'm glad the memories, and the sound files, are back.
So recharge your G2's battery when it's been on one bar for a couple days. And four firmware glitches in 9 years of ownership aren't all that bad.
If you have another radio that uses BL-5C lithium batteries, it might be a good idea to recharge when they're on one bar for more than a day or two. Especially if your battery is 5-10 years old. It's possible other radios can glitch on low battery power, too.
The opening screen when you first turn on the Grundig G2 -- you get their logo. If you have the radio turned off, and 'locked', you get this screen without the logo -- just a white screen, which stays on for about three seconds. I call that "lantern mode". It probably could be used in an emergency, to help you find a flashlight.
LANTERN MODE
The Grundig G2 doesn't have a specific 'lantern mode', like some cell phones do, but it does have a 'lantern' like feature which could be helpful when the power's out. If you keep the lock on the radio, and press the power button, the LCD backlight will come on for three to four seconds. It's not enough to actually replace a flashlight, but if you kept pressing the power button you may get enough light over time to go find one.
IN SUMMARY, A GREAT RADIO IF YOU PAY $50-$100 U.S. or LESS
In summary, the Grundig G2 is a radio that is often overlooked, and is a good bargain for the money if you find it on sale. I've seen it listed as high as $175 -- to me, that is a bit too high for a radio that isn't a DXer on Medium Wave without an external loop.But if you can find one for less than $50-$100 US, it's a good radio for the money -- especially if you love FM and SW. If you love MW, and live in a lower signals area (as I do), get an external MW loop antenna and you'll be happy. :-)
From what I understand, the G2 was discontinued by Grundig in 2015 or 2016. In a way, it's too bad, as the record feature and performance are both very useful. Perhaps they had the price too high, and the reported bugs early in production caused low G2 sales. Either way, if you get one for a decent price, it's well worth it for the SW, FM and recording alone. And -- as I've repeated here -- if you even have a small external loop, like a Select-A-Tenna, AN100 or similar 1 ft. loop, the G2 will DX on the MW/AM band very well.
As happens with discontinued products, prices seem to have climbed. A recent search for Grundig G2's brought up several G2's for sale with prices ranging between $140 US and $200 US.
Are they really worth $200 US? I'll leave that up to the individual to decide, after reading the article. I bought my Sony ICF-38 for around $34 US at Fry's in 2015 or 2016 and they now go for as high as $250 new, although you can get used ones for around $50 or so. Prices go up when radios are discontinued. It's a sad side-effect of the decline of radio overall.
A FINAL NOTE -- MEDIUM WAVE LATELY HAS BEEN SO-SO, AND SHORTWAVE HAS BEEN EL DEADO MOST EVENINGS AND MORNINGS
(With Some Cool Exceptions)
It is now two years after I started this article, and propagation has still been mostly abysmal on SW, and only fair to middling on MW. I still use my G2 to see what's on the bands, as it is very handy, especially on SW. I also use it to listen to MW sometimes, and also to tune in FM, as the stereo through headphones is excellent.Shortwave has been improving very, very gradually.... Some nights and mornings it's like nuclear winter conditions, where the 31 meter band is nothing but static, and even the domestics (and Cuba) on 49 meters are barely readable or MIA.
But the sunspots are destined to pick up during the next 3-5 years, and even if the new solar cycle is mediocre, there still will be more to hear than there has been since the sunspots dived in late 2016.
It is unfortunate that the G2 is no longer offered new, because it is very handy, especially if one wants to record off of SW or AM.
This afternoon I tuned around on my G2 and there were maybe 8 signals on the airwaves, and none of them really readable except for Firedrake on one frequency in the 31 meter band. Over the past several years SW conditions have been poor and I think it is killing the hobby. Hopefully, when the sunspots pick up in 2022 or 2025 or so, there will still be SW stations on the air -- probably mostly serving parts of Asia where SW is still a very viable broadcast medium.
My apologies to my readers for delaying this article so long. Being that SW has been sort of mediocre the last three to four years or so, my enthusiasm for writing articles about SW radios has been rather low.
It is unfortunate that the G2 is no longer offered new, because it is very handy, especially if one wants to record off of SW or AM.
This afternoon I tuned around on my G2 and there were maybe 8 signals on the airwaves, and none of them really readable except for Firedrake on one frequency in the 31 meter band. Over the past several years SW conditions have been poor and I think it is killing the hobby. Hopefully, when the sunspots pick up in 2022 or 2025 or so, there will still be SW stations on the air -- probably mostly serving parts of Asia where SW is still a very viable broadcast medium.
My apologies to my readers for delaying this article so long. Being that SW has been sort of mediocre the last three to four years or so, my enthusiasm for writing articles about SW radios has been rather low.
As I mentioned in my previous blog post here, it does look like we may be heading into a new sunspot cycle, so maybe Shortwave radio will have one last surge of good listening, with plenty of DX, before all of the stations go off the air. The BBC still uses shortwave to reach listeners in Africa and Asia, and there are still some other broadcasters that transmit on the 31, 41, and 49 meter SW Broadcast bands. There are a couple religious (and other) broadcasters out of Madagascar that make for good DX here in the US. Radio Nacional da Amazonica and Radio Voz Missionaria are still broadcasting out of Brazil, giving DXers a chance to hear Brazilian folk music and religious hymns, and brush up on their Portuguese. :-)
If atmospheric conditions pick up a bit over the next few years there may still be some good listening for those who have radios like the G2. One can always hope.
Weather wise, Spring here has still remained colder than usual. Several nights in mid-April it's been 29F, 29F, and 28F (-2C), which -- in normal years -- doesn't happen later than February here.
....AND A LOT OF SLIDE GUITAR PLAYING
Outside of work, some fiction writing, bicycling, and MW DXing, I have been doing a lot of practicing on slide guitar. The two years of corona-world has given me plenty of time to work on it. Some of the 'work' has been on my red, Lotus L520 Les Paul copy -- trying to get it to be great for slide but not pop strings.
As some guitar players probably know, to play slide guitar well your guitar needs to have decent string tension -- meaning you go with bigger strings, and either tighten the tremolo springs on your Strat style guitar, or raise the bridge and lower the tailpiece if your guitar is designed like a Gibson.
The trick is to increase the string tension gradually, so you don't pop strings. So far, I've been able to do just that, and although I can't say my L520 is perfect on slide yet, it's getting close, by incrementing the tailpiece downwards about a thousandth of an inch (maybe .10 millimeters) at a time.
Meanwhile, my Daimaru / Teisco-Kawai / Sakai Jag copy plays slide perfectly, as it has since 1996 or 1997 when I modified it extensively. No work needed on it in over 25 years.
MW listening with the DX-398, Panasonic RF-B45, DX-375, DX-350, and Sony ICF-P26
When I revised and edited this article in March, 2021, it was cold and grey outside, with the trees still mostly bare of leaves, and it still looked like Winter without the frost and snow. Very strange.
This past MW DX season has been medium/fair to poor -- the usual suspects from the Western US, the bright spots being Las Vegas on 840 KHz and 670 KHz, and periodically catching San Diego on 760 KHz.
I still like hearing the regional stations but it can get tedious pulling out the logbook, pulling on the headphones, switching on the radio and hearing the same 30 stations every night.
Most of my MW DXing the past couple months has been on my DX-398, Panasonic RF-B45, DX-375, and my DX-350 analog portable. I also DXed some with my Sony ICF-P26, a capable pocket radio with a CXA1019 IF chip inside, which DX's OK by itself, but better with a loop (although you want to place the radio about 6 inches (15 cm) from a loop to get better selectivity. As the Sony ICF-P26 is a radio one can get online for $25 US or so, it's a bargain, and would be a very good disaster radio.
I also have done a bit of late night listening / DXing with my Radio Shack 200629 (the Radio Shack version of the updated Sangean ATS-505), which is a handy DXer that sounds good through headphones.
LAST BUT DEFINITELY NOT LEAST -- THE WAR
As we all know by now, Ukraine has been invaded by Russia, and the two countries are at war. I have a few readers in both countries, so I don't really want to comment about the war here, except to say that I sincerely hope that the war is ended soon.In times like this I always wish that negotiations and peacemaking prevailed over sabre-rattling and warmaking.
That's all I want to say about this hard and painful subject.
Until later, dear readers, have a great DX season, where ever you are in the world.
And may there be Peace.
CC 9-2017, 6-1-2019, 8-2021, 12-2021 and 3-2022.
CC 9-2017, 6-1-2019, 8-2021, 12-2021 and 3-2022.
ADDENDUM, February 22, 2023:
I added a paragraph or two on shortening the G2's whip to improve reception of a SW station, something I experienced a few nights ago. Lesson learned: don't be afraid to experiment! :-)
ADDENDUM, June 20th, 2023:
I switched on my G2 this evening to find that it had somehow re-set itself. None of my memory presets were working, and -- when I turned it on -- the G2 was set to 87.5 MHz FM.
Tuning the radio I noticed that the MW was set to 9 Khz, which is apparently the default. None of the SW memories or MW memories worked. The date was re-set to the year 2000 (which is before the G2 was actually made or designed) and the clock was set to the right time, but everything else that involved memory was shot. My WAV files on the radio, of stations on SW and MW I'd recorded from Sept. 2014 to just after 2015 (when the memory filled up) were also all gone. Pulling the battery and waiting a few seconds, and then putting it back in didn't help any. Switching on the radio, it went right to 87.5 MHz again, and the MW had reset itself back to the default 9 kHz setting.
Strangely enough, the radio remained on the 'Sleep Mode' Power-Off mode (the one that saves the battery). So that function must be stored separately from the frequency memories and the sound recording memories.
It looks like sometimes between the night of June 19th and when I switched on my G2 on June 20th the memory chip inside the radio either fried, or otherwise is not accessible by the radio.
Otherwise, the G2 operates normally. If I set the MW to 10kHz, it stays there. I haven't tried saving any new stations to memory because I'm certain they won't stick. Anyway, when I turn the radio off, and when I turn the radio back on, it's on 87.5 MHz again.
It's a bit discouraging when something like this happens. I have so many fond memories of tuning the bands with the G2 during 2014 through 2016 or so, and recording SW and MW stations -- and then it's also been my main SW radio even since then.
I'll still use it, but I think the RAM memory left us, and it will be more of a chore to use, being that I won't be able to turn it on and start tuning the SW band right away.
Stuff happens, they say. And they're right. I'm just glad it still works otherwise.
C.C. June 20th 2023.
ADDENDUM, June 21st, 2023: IT WORKS AGAIN!
Pulling the battery (after charging it -- it had been on one bar of power for a couple weeks at least) and then RE-SETTING the G2 (there's a small pinhole beneath the battery that is marked "Re-Set") fixed my radio!
The G2 now remembers it's frequencies when I turn it off, my memories are back, and so are my WAV and MP3 files!
I think the G2 may tend to glitch when the power from the battery gets low. I have added a small section to the article about this.
ADDENDUM, April 22, 2024:
I discovered that YES, you CAN indeed clip a wire antenna to the whip of the G2 and get improved SW reception! However, this only seems to work well when SW conditions are poor, and signals are extremely low. I added a paragraph and photo to the article about this.
ADDENDUM, November 4th, 2024:
This morning I discovered a new tuning trick on MW, by accident. I added several short paragraphs about it in the 'TUNING TRICKS' section of the article.
A short summary: If you are using the keypad to enter a three digit frequency (520 through 990) and mess up, by adding a zero at the end, the radio will tune to oddball frequencies -- i.e., if you hit 8-6-6-0 instead of 8-6-0, the radio will tune to frequencies ending in '6': 866, 876, 886, 1106, 1206, etc. To get the radio back to normal you just hit a three digit frequency (520-990) correctly, and the radio then works normally.
I'm not sure if this is just a G2 radio peculiarity, or if it works with some other Degens out there.
I tested this several times after discovering it by accident.
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