I have one of the older Grundig AM/FM/shortwave radios and it still works well (I bought it about 12 years ago, maybe even more). It came with an adaptor for AC operation, a battery compartment for battery operation, and crank generator and rechargeable battery pack for when AC and regular batteries are unavailable. One to two minutes of vigorous cranking gives you about 30 minutes of playing time. The only problem I had with it was the rechargeable battery wouldn't hold a charge when I cranked the generator, but a trip to the dollar store took care of that (it was less expensive to buy the dollar store rechargeable battery than to go back across town to exchange the radio). I also bought some cheap emergency radios (Audiovox) from Walmart for my family (this was about six years ago). The also have a crank generator and rechargeable battery, but do not get shortwave (only local AM/FM). I put one of them in my car and left it there for five years. Two years ago, when I tried I, it wouldn't work for about the first two hours, but once it warmed up inside (I should note it was January when I took it out of the car) it played great.
It looks like a fine radio, and when think of all the features it has vs the old DX-160 (AM and SSB only) I have that cost the same price back in the 70s. You getting a lot more for your money.
Hey folks.
Seeing as this was a thread about Grundig sw radio's, I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on the G8 Traveller II http://www.amazon.com/Grundig-Traveler-Digital-Shortwave-Storage/dp/B001QTXKF6
Would this suffice for a first time sw user as well as a source of entertainment and news? Any pros and cons from anyone that currently owns one would be great. I'm looking at this one for it's smaller size - I want to be able to keep it in my truck console and maybe an inner jacket pocket (like I can with my Playbook tablet).
Runs With Scissors