Radio
Boy
Yacht Boy 500 review
(Updated August 2005,
go there)
Some UK press adverts
for the Yacht Boy 500, 1994:
Ask Electronics,
Tottenham Court Road, London.
S.R.P. Trading, (the
ad has the text for the YB 400 & 500 transposed)
Haydon Comms.
Staton.
The Yacht Boy 500 is a general
coverage communications receiver, launched onto the market in 1993. The
combination of facilities, sound quality & output offered at that point
in time were outstanding for a set of this size.
Reception.
On FM, reception is adequate,
rather than outstanding. Stations which are adequately listenable on the
Satellit 300 are weak or absent on this set. Having said that, stations
which are strong are in high quality, but this is no FM Dxing set.
On AM, a better performer,
relative to its FM reception, but still not outstanding. It would probably
be fair to say it is average, so for general broadcast listening, a fair
choice. Dual conversion aids quiet background noise & image rejection,
which is excellent. The ability to tune in 1kHz steps, and a fine tune
control (which is active at all times on AM bands, only briefly mentioned
in the handbook!), allows for the avoidance of adjacent channel interference
in a way that the more typical 5kHz steps and no fine tuning of other comparable
radios cannot compete with.
Reception of SSB transmissions
should be commented on, however, to point out a better than average resolution
of the signal than you would expect from such a compact set. To counteract
the space saving use of a single button to select upper or lower sideband,
the software automatically uses the first push to select lower sideband
for frequencies below 10MHz, upper for frequencies above, in keeping with
convention. The second push selects the other sideband, a third reverts
to standard AM reception. Of course, there are exceptions to the LSB below
10MHz/USB above rule, but generally, this system helps save time. SSB mode
is stored in memory, when selected on a memory station. This doesn’t apply
to ROM selected memory positions, of course.
The fine tune control,
incidentally, is active at all times on AM. Worh bearing in mind when trying
to receive a station next to an interfering adjacent one. Its a pity that
the BFO/fine tune control cannot be set to spot on when in the centre detent
position, without removing the back of the radio, unlike the Satellit 700
which has an access screw hole in the back. However, it is not difficult
to do, click here for details.
Audio.
A widely acknowledged strong
point of Grundig radios, this is a particular strong point for this radio,
considering the size of the speaker, about 3 inches / 77 mm. diameter,
and indeed the size of the radio. Bass is surprisingly strong, and clarity
is first rate on FM. On AM, the fairly tight bandwidth used in this set,
the same as the narrow setting on a Satellit 500/700, leads to a slightly
mellow sound, not unpleasant, but maybe a little duller than some will
like. Judicious use of the fine tune control can help here, pushing the
radio off the bandwidth centre, and into the treble laden part of the signal.
Of course, having a smaller speaker than the 500/700 makes the AM bands
sound less mellow then would be the case with a bigger unit. Fortunately,
the audio stages are well up to making full use of what is coming from
the RF stages, and the sound is full and rich. Bandwidth is not selectable.
External speakers are
not a simple option, this radio having only a headphone output, inadequate
for driving speakers on its own, though you can use active (internally
amplified) speakers if you need to. Monitoring through Sennheiser HD480’s
on FM stereo listening to a broadcast CD, the sound is almost CD quality
to my ears, though there is some hiss generated by the amplifier at lower
settings, which strangely, reduces as the volume is increased. This is
not too obtrusive, however, and I consider it to be very good. A mono line-out
socket is provided, and the quality & level is equal to the Satellit
700 in mono mode. AM is good within the constraints mentioned in the previous
paragraph.
On balance, the compromise
of quality against portability is outstanding, and it is hard to think
of any comparably sized radio able to compete, especially on FM. This is
particularly true when you use the boost setting, which also boosts the
bass response (only available through the internal speaker) giving a 2
Watt RMS output using the AC adapter, which can be cranked up very high
without distortion setting in. My set can fill on office of about 90 x
50 feet with good undistorted sound.
Ergonomics.
In normal lighting, the LCD
display does a pretty good job, with large, clear characters and good contrast.
Unfortunately, the classy, green tinted illumination, despite better menu
options even than the Satellit 700, serves as little more than a nightlight!
Without external illumination, it is hard to read the characters from some
angles using just the display lamp, possibly because too much of the light
comes straight to the front of the display and not enough via the back.
Incidentally, the lighting is supplied by LED's, not filament bulbs, so
life expectancy should be high, current draw low! Another drawback is that,
being smaller than the 700’s display, there isn’t room for frequencies
and RDS/memory name tags to display concurrently, so, where a name exists,
it takes preference, and you have to press the mode key briefly to see
the frequency and waveband. Where no name exists, the frequency & waveband
is shown automatically.
The time displays continuously,
and when the alarm/timer is set, andf the radio is off, it clearly displays
the next switch on time and which modes the two timers are set for. A battery
low indicator is displayed when voltage drops to a certain level, and if
ignored, the set will shut down to protect the timer/clock settings, and
an internal supply will run the clock for 5 minutes or so to allow time
to change batteries. The memories are stored in an EEPROM, so will remain
indefinitely in the absence of power.
The tuning meter is well
nigh useless. Having only 3 segments is not a good start, but the threshold
between the first and second segment is much too small, so you rarely see
the first bar on its own. It also seems inconsistent, a high reading on
one frequency sometimes not sounding as good as a low reading on another.
Other than that, controls
are well thought through, the keys fairly logically grouped, with a nice,
tactile click, and crisp action, and the traditional “pip” on no. 5 to
assist the visually impaired. Interestingly, there is no decimal point,
the software working the location of that out on the basis of which keys
you’ve pressed. The volume control looks stylish, but is stiff, and with
its short travel, makes setting the volume awkward. The tone switch is
of little use, though fortunately the tone, as referred to earlier, is
excellent.
The rear stand/telescopic
(whip) aerial arrangement is pretty good, when the stand is used, the aerial
can be kept vertical. The only criticisms are that, with the set leaning
back and an upright aerial, the aerial can get in the way of right handed
users sometimes, and you can’t lean it to the left, because the aerial
joint protrudes from the right hand side of the set.
Facilities.
The forte of this set, in
terms of ease of use. There is little in the way of reception enhancing
tricks, no bandwidth, synch, DX/local switch or external antenna connection,
but memory and tuning tricks abound. I won’t list them all here, but the
memory feature is good, 40 user programmable slots with user-defined or
RDS-added name tagging is supplemented by 90 factory programmed frequencies,
for 9 major broadcasters, almost the equal of a ROM capable Satellit 500!
The ROM frequencies are pretty well chosen, even though they were chosen
in 1993! On a trip to Turkey in 2002, I only had to add one frequency for
the BBC world service to have 24 hour coverage. Several ways of accessing
the memory are joined by various tuning and scanning options, including
direct frequency and SW metre-band entry. A tuning knob would be nice but
given the size of the set, you can understand its exclusion.
Timer facilities are generous,
matching the Satellit 700, but adding selectable radio/alarm/radio &
alarm independently to each timer, plus a snooze button, as befits its
more travel-friendly size! An error in my view is that the snooze button
only works on the bleep alarm, not the radio alarm function. The software
is intelligent enough to allow the radio or alarm to still come on using
the batteries, if the radio is powered by the AC adaptor but the mains
supply fails. The beep is emitted from a small transducer in the set, incidentally,
not from the speaker, so plugging headphones in doesn’t disable the beep.
Worth bearing in mind if you keep hitting the wrong buttons by the pool
while using headphones with the error beep enabled!
The Mode button gives
access to the timers, lamp settings (you can choose the brightness of the
lamp when it's AC powered but switched off) error beep volume, and MW tuning
steps, 9 or 10kHz. Choosing 10 kHz causes the set to tune 1611-1710 kHz
as MW, and use the ferrite rod rather than the telescopic whip for these
frequencies. Confusingly, pressing the Mode button results in “Menu” appearing
in the display.
Two locks exist. A button
controls a software lock to stop accidental mistuning, the off switch is
a push button, but slides to the side to lock the set off while in transit.
Its a pity Grundig didn’t
cover the RDS test mode in the instructions, as many owners would have
liked to try that out. One RDS facility that has been suggested by some
as missing from this set is the update of the clock, but this would not
have been a good idea given the SW usage, there being no guarantee that
an owner would want local time on either clock.
Update:
August 2005
Having used this model on
several vacations, some more points have occured to me. 2 of them were
in Olu Deniz, Turkey, at the foot of a 6500 foot mountain, so reception
there was compromised. Use in Normandy, France, was not unlike the UK,
but this year, 2005, I took it to Salou, Spain, about an hour from Barcelona.
As always, the RDS function enables you to get familiar with the local
FM stations quicker than would otherwise be the case, and some spare memories
store the best ones. One station, Totmusica, even displayed song titles
and artists in the RDS PS name function, contravening RDS governing body
rules, but proving useful nonetheless. But it was on SW that the real benefits
came. not only does the sensitivity prove perfectly adequate here, unlike
weak signal areas like parts of the USA, but the ROM table is not as out-of-date
as you'd expect, given it was created in 1993! Several DW frequencies in
the ROM are still in use for German language, but one also covers English
in the evenings, and 6140 kHz does service during the day. Several Radio
Netherlands frequencies are still in use, mostly in Dutch, but a couple
in English too, and a couple more I added gave good service. The BBC is
surprisingly well represented even today in the ROM, and by adding just
3 frequencies in the user programmable area, I had near 24 hour coverage
of the World Service, Radio Austria is still well covered in the ROM too,
though they do almost no English these days, sad, as they were one of my
favourites! Sweden, the Vatican, (frequently interesting, even though I'm
not a Catholic) and even Iran came in loud and clear, and with a list of
frequencies for the Lincolnshire Poacher spy numbers station, courtesy
of Simon Mason's
site, meant holiday listening was a delight. In short, the YB500 may
not be the most sensitive radio for weak signal areas, but in Central Europe,
where it was no doubt designed to be used (It was never forcefully marketed
in the US after all, only Willabee & Ward stocked it) it is more than
adequate, and with RDS, Top notch audio for the size, and near total reliability
(I've had 4 pass through my hands, and except for the fragile tilt stand,
never a problem, and you rarely see faulty ones on Ebay, or being discussed
on mailing lists etc) I cannot recommend this radio highly enough in the
right places. It has been my travel radio of choice for over 5 years, and
I'm not expecting that to change anytime soon!
Sum-up.
Many people don’t need or
want all that is offered here, but for those who do, this is a good choice.
An average receiver, but with first class sound, a surfeit of facilities,
and reliability and build quality. Bold, stylish and distinctive in appearance,
this is a radio for those who have a good receiver at home, and want to
listen to major broadcasters in high quality while out & about. For
those who want to work the weaker stations, particularly if this will be
your only SW radio, the Yacht Boy 400 might be a better choice.
Grundig Radio Boy
10
good reasons to own a Yacht Boy 500