YB400-yes or no?
Joe Lazzara
Greetings to all.
I have need to pick your brains for info and/or your opinion. I am an
occasional shortwave listener. I have a old Hammerlund HQ-100, which is
fun, but I wish something a little more modern and transportable. I have
seen the Grundig YB400 and it seems to fit my needs (mainly the price!)
Can I expect decent performance from this unit? I live in the midwest.
Thanks for all your time and concern.
Joe Lazzara
Gary J. Wilt Jr
Joe Lazzara wrote:
> first section deleted..
> Can I expect decent performance from this unit? I live in the midwest.
> Thanks for all your time and concern.
> Joe Lazzara
Joe,
I've had mine now for about 4 months. I really like it a lot, while it doesn't compare
to my Lowe, it does pull in alot of stations with ease. SW performance is very good. SSB
is simple to use, while there's no upper/lower SSB switches, its easy enough to tune via
a switch and the rotary dial control. Frequency tuning can be switched between 5 Khz for
the major broadcasters or 1 Khz for SSB, utilities, etc. Overall for the money, around
$169, its a good buy.
I'm sure you'll receive alot of other posts telling you to buy the Sony 7600, which is
about the same price as the Grundig. All in all the Grundig does an admiral job with
it's ease of use, good sensitivity, selectivity and nice audio. I also like the time
displayed simultaneously with the freq and it certainly blows away the YB-500.
Best of luck...
Gary
Clark C. Griffith
If the YB400 used the six batteries well, it would be a much better
radio. As it is, battery life is about 1/2 hour at the most. It cuts
out when the battery power is down to 1.3 volts. That means that
battery life for ni-cads is five minutes.
Pete Wragg
In article <32ED88...@ccgpa.com>, cc...@ccgpa.com says...
Mine lasts over a week with the radio on for several hours each night,
just on the batteries. If I were you, I'd check that:
(a) you don't have a short in the power supply area/battery holder
(b) the batteries are all OK
(c) you're not leaving the light on all the time and the volume at MAX
Mine is great - I love it. Now if only it had Synchronous detection
like the Sony 2001D.......... hmmm.
--
Pete, Brisbane, Australia.
David Beck
Have had a yb400 for over a year. Like it very much. I have a roomfull of
desktop shortwave receivers and still use the yb400 when I'm not in the
radio
room. Only negative about the 400 is, it used 6 AA batteries. Would
prefer it use 4. 73,
Dave K4PBN
Steve Carter
Clark C. Griffith wrote:
>
> If the YB400 used the six batteries well, it would be a much better
> radio. As it is, battery life is about 1/2 hour at the most. It cuts
> out when the battery power is down to 1.3 volts. That means that
> battery life for ni-cads is five minutes.
I think you got a bad one. I get over 60 hours between charges of my 6
AA Ray-O-Vac Renewals.
Steve
Henry Laviers
In regard to the poster who complained about the short battery life on the YB400, I too had this problem. When the
antenna connector broke, I mentioned the short battery life to the factory rep. He said that the low batt should not come
on until .9 volts.
When my unit was returned, Grundig had opted to replace instead of repair.
Now my replacement YB400 had much better battery life when using nicads. I ran a little test with a Voltmeter and found that the low
battery warning came on when the voltage reached 5.0 volts, which is 5.0/ 6batteries = .83 volts, not the 1.3 volts that
you mention and i also experienced.
If your YB400 is going "low battery" at 1.3 volts, you have a defective voltage detector IC and can get it fixed. Grundig
might even give you a new radio. :^)
By the way, a common 6volt 8 amp-hr lead acid rechargeable 'gell cell" will run my YB400 for weeks. You can also buy two
Yuasa 4 volt gell cells from surplus catalogs and use them the same way.
Sure beats buying alkalines, renewals or nicads. Does make it less
"portable" though.
My YB400 draws about 95 milliamps, so you should get 10 hrs or listening time per amp-hr of battery rating.
Another tip on the YB400 is to lubricate the antenna connector with graphite from a pencil. This will reduce the
possiblity of breakage.
Now, why doesn't someone from cyberland figure out how to add some more station memories to the YB400?
Michael Maushak
David Beck <DNC...@prodigy.com> wrote in article <5cjmvb$g...@usenetz1.news.prodigy.com>...
Mike M here<mikm...@unix.ieway.com
I am highly impressed with my Sangean 909. I use what is known as a "Carolina Bug Catcher" Mounted
on the roof with a quick disconect and a moble truck mount. Pretty wild, but man does it work!
Maury Freedman
I can't believe the factory rep told you you had a defective unit! I get
about 10 hours out of my YB400, and 1.3v per cell is what I measure when
the radio refuses to play. I caled Grundig, and they told me that was
normal, especiall for these new-fangled digital radios. I can't even put
NiCd's in there. A few months after the first call, I called them back to
see if someone else would maybe give me a different answer. They basically
blew it off.
My radio is never away from an AC adapter. I use my Sat 500 when I want to
be portable.
Maury
Glen Quarnstrom
"Maury Freedman" <mau...@Earthlink.net> wrote:
>I can't believe the factory rep told you you had a defective unit! I get
>about 10 hours out of my YB400, and 1.3v per cell is what I measure when
>the radio refuses to play. I caled Grundig, and they told me that was
>normal, especiall for these new-fangled digital radios. I can't even put
>NiCd's in there. A few months after the first call, I called them back to
>see if someone else would maybe give me a different answer. They basically
>blew it off.
That's just sloppy design. My Panasonic RF-B45 runs for 30 or 40
hours on a set of 4 batteries, and it's fully digital.
--
gl...@cyberhighway.net
Clark C. Griffith
The YB 400 I have lasts a very short time on battery power. Grundig
told me that was too bad...Propably the most impolite and arrogant
customer service people on earth. I bought the radio thinking that
Grundig made good products. I was simply wrong. If any one wants the
radio, make an offer.
Jake Brodsky
I own a YB400 and I get about 15 hours of operation from fresh
alkalines. I don't think this is too bad.
[SOAPBOX MODE ON]
Enough with the battery life bitching. Here are some things you
probably don't realize: First: a good clean audio amplifier comes a
price: power consumption. Second: a low noise front end amplifier
stage with good second and third order IMD intercept performance also
comes at a price: power consumption. Third, small size and low
weight comes at a price: low power.
Grundig chose to chew up batteries rather than give you some trashy
sounding radio like most other manufacturers do. It would have been
nice if they could have included a low power consumption mode, but
they didn't. They had to keep the cost and complexity down too.
Is their attitude arrogant? Maybe. But please understand that they
made an engineering trade-off to get the performance you bought that
radio for in the first place. You want battery life? Get a crystal
radio. But don't complain about the performance.
[SOAPBOX MODE OFF]
Sorry about that, I just had to vent my spleen a bit...
73,
Jake Brodsky, AB3A mailto:fru...@erols.com
"Beware of the massive impossible!"
js...@aol.com
In article <32ff24ac...@news.erols.com>, fru...@erols.com (Jake
Brodsky) writes:
>Subject: Re: YB400-yes or no + a few tips
>From: fru...@erols.com (Jake Brodsky)
>Date: Mon, 03 Feb 1997 18:06:06 GMT
IMO, the result was less than spectacular. Probably because Grundig
chose to manufacture it as cheaply as possible to offset the extra cost of
the "clean audio, and low noise front end amplifier stage". ;-) What's
the point of a portable that needs an AC umbilical cord? Also, there
appears to be an extraordinary amount of "refurbished" YB-400 receivers on
the market; a good idea gone awry. For about $75 more you can get a
superb, comparably sized Sangean ATS-909. The extra cost is nothing when
you figure all the hours of use over the years. Great audio, too.
js
bowman
In article <19970203190...@ladder01.news.aol.com>, js...@aol.com says:
>
> Also, there appears to be an extraordinary amount of "refurbished" YB-400
> receivers on the market;
the YB-400 has a component in the front end that is very static sensitive. when
it destructs, the BC AM reception goes into the toilet, although the other modes
seem to function well. they don't do well in places like southern Arizona, where
dust storms in a very dry enviroment can develop some pretty good static charges.
if you have the radio in your hand, and ground yourself, it can be time for
'refurbishing'.
Jake Brodsky
Seems that many small portable radios are like that. Sangean's radios
have that problem too. What larger radios would do is to shunt a nice
high Q inductor across the input as part of the front end filtering.
That can get quite expensive...
I have other radios. This one, for what it is, and for what I paid
for it, isn't a bad product. Sure, I could spend more money and get
something better. But one has to draw the line somewhere...
L. M. Picard
On Mon, 03 Feb 1997 18:06:06 GMT, fru...@erols.com (Jake Brodsky)
wrote:
>I own a YB400 and I get about 15 hours of operation from fresh
>alkalines. I don't think this is too bad.
>
I don't have any personal experience with the Grundig but I would
suggest that you might try rechargable alkaline batteries.
I have used these in several of my radios and other appliances with
excellent results.
While I understand that some controversy remains about nickel-cadmium
batteries and "memory effects", it is advised that the rechargable
alkalines be put in the charger after even short-term use.
This seems to provide a cost-effective solution, although the
inconvenience factor is a course not eliminated.
Daniel Grunberg
There is at least one cheap, low-tech solution to the static problem.
Just shunt the input of the front-end transistor with a high
(but of course not too high) resistance. If you want to get really
expensive <g> you can shunt the resistor with a four diode network. The
circuitry has appeared previously on rec.radio.shortwave, so the design
engineering is a freebie. Total cost here, RETAIL at Radio Shack, is of
the order of US$0.35. You mean any self-respecting manufacturer can't
justify that cost?
--
Daniel A. Grunberg Kensington, Maryland USA
Henry Laviers
Isn't the well-tried solution to front end transistor "zapping"
to put a pair (one forward one reversed) of Ge diodes, both as shunts, side by side?
(Ge diodes have a turn-on voltage of about .4 volts whereas Si diodes have a turn-on voltage of .6)
Seems like this was the solution to the Sony 2010 "zapping" problem.
Jake Brodsky
On 5 Feb 1997 13:38:29 GMT, ce...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Daniel
Grunberg) wrote:
>> Seems that many small portable radios are like that. Sangean's radios
>> have that problem too. What larger radios would do is to shunt a nice
>> high Q inductor across the input as part of the front end filtering.
>> That can get quite expensive...
>>
>> I have other radios. This one, for what it is, and for what I paid
>> for it, isn't a bad product. Sure, I could spend more money and get
>> something better. But one has to draw the line somewhere...
>>
>There is at least one cheap, low-tech solution to the static problem.
>Just shunt the input of the front-end transistor with a high
>(but of course not too high) resistance. If you want to get really
>expensive <g> you can shunt the resistor with a four diode network. The
>circuitry has appeared previously on rec.radio.shortwave, so the design
>engineering is a freebie. Total cost here, RETAIL at Radio Shack, is of
>the order of US$0.35. You mean any self-respecting manufacturer can't
>justify that cost?
>
You don't want to do that. A high value resistor, maybe. Diodes, no.
A high value resistor will bleed off static charges from outdoor
antennas, but it won't protect the radio against walking across a rug
in a dry room. Besides, you could just flip the attenuator switch.
That would do the same thing.
If any strong stations are nearby, the package of diodes would get
modulated and give you all sorts of second and third order responses.
As a matter of fact, Dr. Ulrich Rhode (the Rhode of Rhode + Swartz
(sp?)) wrote an article for QST a couple of years ago complaining that
all the indiscriminate use of front end diode switching was doing
serious damage to the front end performance of many receivers.
That's why major manufacturers don't put those parts in. It isn't as
good an idea as it first seems. A good band pass filter would help a
lot in this area, but then you get in to switching, matching, and loss
issues. In the end, it's much easier to put it straight to the gate
of an FET and hope the users don't zap the radio before the warrenty
period's up.
L. M. Picard
Perhaps somebody more knowledgeable then myself could comment on the
idea of putting a highpass filter between the antenna and the radio.
This could be used for any receiver.
Assume, that the radio has a frequency range of 150 KHz to 30
Megahertz. Then a highpass filter with the cutoff point of around 100
KHz could be used without substantially degrading the performance.
Duane Waller
"Maury Freedman" <mau...@Earthlink.net> wrote:
>I can't believe the factory rep told you you had a defective unit! I get
>about 10 hours out of my YB400, and 1.3v per cell is what I measure when
>the radio refuses to play.
One can tell what the current drain for a unit is by taking 3
alligator clips, a volt meter set at Millivolts DC, one 1ohm resistor.
1. Connect one alligator clip to the negative pin where the
batteries go or at the external power connection straight to the
negative terminal of the power supply (AC adapter).
2. Connect alligator-clips 2 and 3 to the positive terminal of the
radio and the power supply with the 1 ohm resistor in-between.
3. connect the meter both sides of the resistor and turn on the unit.
the meter reading in Milli-volts will equal the current draw in
mill-amps. 50 to 80 milli-amps is not unusual.
I might be wrong, but I think nicad batterys are often 1.3 VDC at
full charge. A call to a local radio shack store could confirm this.
Once you know the current draw, you can talk to a service tech and
find out if it is above normal. If so, something is wrong with the
unit. You can then also calculate the time a battery will last by
looking at the battery "amp/hour" rating. ie: 1 amp/hour means
that the battery will discharge in one hour with a current draw of 1
amp.
On the hi-pass filter, one might experiment with a T type antenna
tunner. MFJ sells a few of these in different forms. This will act
as more of a band pass filter.
Best fun,
Duane.
Jake Brodsky
On Sat, 08 Feb 1997 08:28:24 GMT, lmpi...@netcom.ca (L. M. Picard)
wrote:
First, if you're referring to the YB400, the external antenna jack
works for SW only.
You could build a high-pass filter to kill everything on the AM
broadcast band and below. This will often result in substantial
improvements if you live near an AM broadcast station. Many of the
more expensive radios already have this built in.
But frankly, if you don't already know how to build one from scratch,
you will probably spend so much money and effort building this filter
that you might as well give up and buy a better radio. I wish I knew
of place which sells this kind of thing, but I don't.
Incidentally, these filters also make great static protection for the
first stage of the receiver.
Daniel Grunberg
Jake Brodsky (fru...@erols.com) writes:
> On Sat, 08 Feb 1997 08:28:24 GMT, lmpi...@netcom.ca (L. M. Picard)
> wrote:
>
>><snip>
>>Assume, that the radio has a frequency range of 150 KHz to 30
>>Megahertz. Then a highpass filter with the cutoff point of around 100
>>KHz could be used without substantially degrading the performance.
>
> <snip>
> You could build a high-pass filter to kill everything on the AM
> broadcast band and below. This will often result in substantial
> improvements if you live near an AM broadcast station. Many of the
> more expensive radios already have this built in.
>
> But frankly, if you don't already know how to build one from scratch,
> you will probably spend so much money and effort building this filter
> that you might as well give up and buy a better radio. I wish I knew
> of place which sells this kind of thing, but I don't.
>
Grove has a highpass filter for $20 or $30, I don't remember which.
> Incidentally, these filters also make great static protection for the
> first stage of the receiver.
>
I don't think that's so. A 5-element Chebytschev (sp?) filter looks
like:
C C C
-----||-----|-----||-----|-----||-----
) )
to receiver L ) L ( to antenna
) )
------------|------------|------------
The problem is that if the static builds up very slowly (think DC) the
capacitor coupling to the antenna will not provide a path for "bleeding"
the charge.
Winkleried
I Agree that the grundig YB-400 is hard on batteries. Instead of going
homebrew try this little solution.... get an ac/dc power supply at Radio
Shack and plug it in into the radio. I keep the batteries handy in case of
power outages, which are a common occurance here in oklahoma. Besides if
you read the manual that came with the radio you will have found that
Grundig doesn't recommend the constant use of batteries to power the
radio. I have had my YB-400 for six months now and it has not given me any
problems. Don't knock a good design
Bucky Hydal
The owner's manual says: (Pg 11) "Remove the batteries if you intend to
operate the unit permanently on the mains!" (The "mains" being British
for AC power supplied through a wall recepticle.) There is no advice
against using batteries full-time.
Also, fully charged Renewal alkaline batteries to not power this radio
for more than a few minutes, just like reported here with nicads.
On the subject of batteries: A few years back a consumers organization
rated Radio Shack alkaline batteries longest lasting. While that may be
true, what they did not tell us of the tendency of Radio Shack batteries
to leak battery acid when installed. I have had this happen in three
devices, one a RS DX-440 that I sent to RS to clean and rehab. I can't
recall this being a problem when using other brand name batteries, i.e.,
Duracell, Everyready, etc. I never have used Radio Shack batteries
since.
Bucky
Michael Zimmet wrote:
>
> winkl...@aol.com (Winkleried) wrote:
>
> > Grundig doesn't recommend the constant use of batteries to
> > power the radio.
>
> Do you recall where in the owner's manual this recommendation
> against the constant use of batteries appears? I don't recall reading
> anything to this effect, although I certainly don't claim to remember
> every word that appeared in the manual.
> --
> Michael Zimmet
> mzi...@voicenet.com
Steven Higgins
Jake Brodsky <fru...@erols.com> wrote in article
<330e5f6f...@news.erols.com>...
> >idea of putting a highpass filter between the antenna and the radio.
> >This could be used for any receiver.
> >
> >Megahertz. Then a highpass filter with the cutoff point of around 100
> >KHz could be used without substantially degrading the performance.
>
> works for SW only.
>
> broadcast band and below. This will often result in substantial
> improvements if you live near an AM broadcast station. Many of the
> more expensive radios already have this built in.
>
> But frankly, if you don't already know how to build one from scratch,
> you will probably spend so much money and effort building this filter
> that you might as well give up and buy a better radio. I wish I knew
> of place which sells this kind of thing, but I don't.
See Below!
> Incidentally, these filters also make great static protection for the
> first stage of the receiver.
>
> 73,
>
> Jake Brodsky, AB3A mailto:fru...@erols.com
> "Beware of the massive impossible!"
Check out
http://www.wolfe.net/~kiwa/bcb.html
The Kiwa BCB filter goes for $60.00. You might be able to find something
cheaper that performs a comparable function at Universal or
EEB's web sites.
I have not tried this Kiwa product, as I am fortunate enough to be several
miles from the closest AM broadcaster in my area, but I've been happy
with several other products they sell.
--
Regards,
Steve
steve....@worldnet.att.net
Lexington, KY USA
Daniel Grunberg
"Steven Higgins" (steve....@worldnet.att.net) writes:
> Jake Brodsky <fru...@erols.com> wrote in article
> <330e5f6f...@news.erols.com>...
>> On Sat, 08 Feb 1997 08:28:24 GMT, lmpi...@netcom.ca (L. M. Picard)
>> wrote:
>>
>> >Perhaps somebody more knowledgeable then myself could comment on the
>> >idea of putting a highpass filter between the antenna and the radio.
>> >This could be used for any receiver.
>> >
>
> Check out
> http://www.wolfe.net/~kiwa/bcb.html
> The Kiwa BCB filter goes for $60.00. You might be able to find something
> cheaper that performs a comparable function at Universal or
> EEB's web sites.
>
> I have not tried this Kiwa product, as I am fortunate enough to be several
> miles from the closest AM broadcaster in my area, but I've been happy
> with several other products they sell.
>
Grove Enterprizes has a high-pass filter for about $30.