8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
Grundig Mini 300PE AM/FM/SW radio
Date of Review: May 27, 2009
The Bottom Line: I love this radio, it's a great buy!
This is a review of the Grundig mini 300PE AM/FM shortwave portable radio. This radio was purchased at Radio Shack for 30 dollars plus tax. This is a small handheld radio that easily fits into your shirt or pants pocket.
When I first checked out the 300PE at Radio Shack I was impressed with the speakers audio. Nice fidelity and loudness for such a small speaker. The receivers sensitivity was very good also. A larger radio will usually have better sensitivity to AM signals due to a larger internal ferrite rod antenna, they also have more transistors for greater amplification of received signals. As far as very small handheld radios go this Grundig radio is about as good as it gets receive wise for pulling in weak stations.
The radio has very attractive styling. It looks more like a 2 way communications device than a shortwave radio. The radio is flat black with a thin rubber coating that provides a secure grip.
The mini 300 PE has dimensions of about 4 1/4 inches in height, 2 1/2 inches in width and 7/8 of an inch in depth. Fully loaded up with 2 AA batteries it tips the scales at a whopping 6 ounces.
The radio has an AM/PM clock feature that is always displayed except when the radio is on. The radio has an alarm that can wake you to a radio station you select. There is also a snooze feature that turns the radio off up to an hour and 59 minutes after this function is set. Small icons on the LCD screen indicate which functions are on.
The 7 shortwave bands along with the AM and FM bands are selected with a slider switch on the side of the radio. The radio has an earphone jack with inexpensive earbuds incuded. There is no stereo function for the earphone jack only mono FM.
The numbers on the LCD display are 1/4 inch in height and I have no problem reading them. To tune the radio there is a rotary dial along with a rotary dial for the volume control. There is no light function for the display.
As you can see in the photo there is an antenna stub that extends out from the body. The antenna itself is rather long at 22 inches fully extended. If you do not care for the antenna stub on the 300PE then the just released Grundig GM400 shortwave radio may be a better choice. I think the antenna stub may help prevent antenna breakage, I like it.
The last shortwave radio I purchased was 5 years ago. It looks like manufacturers have improved features and functions of these radios along with making the pricing more attractive for the consumer.
I do own another Grundig mini shortwave radio, the mini 100PE. This newer model blows that radio away in features and functions along with a much better receiver for pulling in weaker stations.
There is not much action on the shortave bands here in the southern California area durring the daytime. A few Spanish and religious stations on the higher frequencies. Sunset usually provides an open window for more interesting shortwave listening.
What I like most about the Grundig mini 300PE is the low price. When I was in the market for a shortwave radio 5 years ago Grundig did have a mini shortwave radio available with an LCD display, but the price was rather expensive at 80 dollars.
The radio has a one year warranty for people in the states, 2 years for Europe. It comes with a carry case that has a belt loop and a radio carry strap that attaches to the radio just behind the antenna.
Grundig mini 300PE receive frequencies
AM(MW) 520-1710 kHz
FM 88-108 mHz
Shortwave bands-
49 meters 5730-6295 kHz
41 meters 6890-6990 kHz
31 meters 9250-9900 kHz
25 meters 11.500-12.160 mHz
22 meters 13.570-13.870 mHz
19 meters 15.030-15.880 mHz
16 meters 18.900-19.020 mHz
