Elite Executive AM/FM/Aircraft Band/SSB/Shortwave Radio

It's a great little radio. It's very small and would be really easy to take anywhere, to a game farm for a little entertaimnet when screens aren't an appealing thought. On a picnic, on a road trip or some other kind of small adventure. It has a great tuner, it has great features which help make it much easier to use, for instance it can scan for channels which makes it easier to find air band frequencies which are in use rather than having to scan manually, arrive at a frequency which is in use but not in use at the moment that you scan so there's nothing to hear and no way for an uninitiated listener to know that they are on the right channel so to speak. It has every feature one could want from aradio and then some. It has a sleep mode so if you're listening and you fall asleep the radio will turn itself off after a pre-determined amount of time (The one sleeping in this case is you, not the radio). A radio like this, which has a reciever that can tune into almost any frequency used for radio by people is a little window on a world that exists but is otherwise invisible. One can listen to CB or Ham radio and there are still people who broadcast tiny radio stations which exist only for a few hours a week. Hearing the converrsations between airline pilots is interesting too. There are things that happen way up above our heads, interactions between people up there, that we would otherwise be unaware of, and they're interesting. It's a great toy and an interesting and fun thing to have. It has a squelch feature, so that even when the radion signal is weak or subject to inteference the little radio can make it more audible and clearer to hear. It is genuinely a wonderful device, if you want to hear what humans, even ones who are quite far away, are putting into the world using radio waves, this thing is definitely on your side. It's unquestionable a tool you want to use for that purpose. It does chuff when it's tuned but it makes up for that by having an autotune feature (seek). The flaw? It's not that it's not a high fidelity device and that the speaker isn't a powerful speaker, which is something that's possible today but wasn't possible when this device was originally designed (Also it's quite charming and a little nostalgic that the speaker isn't the same thing that one might get in a bass boosted sound bar). The flaw is to do with the way batteries are dealt with by the little radio. It can charge batteries but very slowly, putting a couple of L-Ion rechargables in it would seem to be a good idea. But it seems that the radio chews through them even if it's plugged into the wall outlet. I've had to take the batteries out and put them into a charger a few times when I unplugged it from the wall and found that the batteries were dead. It isn't all that light on batteries and will flatten a set in two days or so from fully charged (Better batteries might last a little longer, the ones I've chosen are eveready which while reputable, well better batteries do exist), but if the charge circuiit isn't isolated and the charger doesn't keep up with the rate of consumption then the batteried will slowly run down even if the device is plugged into grid power. If you do get one and do take it on n adventure which will see you away from home for more than a few hours I'd say take a few extra batteries along so that you don't take the radio out to let it play music in the backgrouond and find that the batteries are dead.

An exceptionally good radio but if you don’t like button procedures, it might not be for you. It’s a bit complex and the manual isn't much help. That aside, reception & selectivity on all bands is outstanding, audio quality is good. I’ve picked up AM-MW & SW stations I never received on similar radios. The RDS display is informative and easy to read when the backlight is on. The backlight stays on for several seconds after adjusting any control. You can make it stay on (and even adjust brightness) but you need to switch it off manually afterwards. To turn the radio on you need to press the power button twice - once to wake the radio and once again to turn it on. The sleep timer is easy to use but the 4 alarms are tricky. They come in handy if you like to hear a radio program every weekday. I like the page memory feature as you can name pages with 8 alphabet characters and store 7 favorite frequencies on each page. I’ve got pages for FM Faves, FM Alt, SW Day, SW, Night, Local Air, etc.. It takes (4) AA batteries and I get maybe 25-ish hours using 2800m NIMh rechargeables. It also runs on its included AC adapter without batteries in place. Comparisons: Air band picks up slightly better than my little Sihuadon R-108 - maybe due to antenna length. I also had an XHdata D-808 that crackled loudly while tuning bands through headphones but the Eton doesn’t do that. Like similar radios, the sync feature is hit or miss - it sometimes helps and works best in narrow bandwidths. Band filters are 6,4,3,2.5 & 2K in AM and go down to 500H in SSB which works quite well. Audio is not as big/deep as Tecsun’s PL-880 but still nice. I’d recommend it over the D-808 - it’s a touch bigger, has a much better display and better audio. I’ve amassed a small collection of radios in the last year (thanks to Todderbert 😄 on YouTube). This one has become my favorite and I enjoy using it every day. I bought mine, “used like new” on Amazon for roughly half MSRP. Highly recommended for radio geeks.

This is a quality radio, as it should be for the price. It's solid, 17 ounces with batteries, and has a good heft. I wish the operational buttons on the front were a little larger for my fingers and aging eyesight. So far, battery life seems to be OK, with the backlight set to off. The manual could be better with more detailed explanations. It appears to have been written for use by those with more short wave experience than I have. There is one error that a previous reviewer noted on page 14; item 4 should be included in item 3 before pressing the PAGE/TIME button. The auto tune feature could be better on the short wave channels. It will tend to by-pass stations I think it should stop on. For me, manual tuning is more effective on the short wave stations. The external speaker isn't the greatest, but I do like the sound quality with quality earphones. The RDS feature is marginal, giving very little info about the particular program playing for an RDS station. If you use the RDS feature to set the radio's time, that time will change with each RDS station you tune in. I haven't had much success with the Single Side Band frequencies; probably need an external antenna for that. Reception seems to be very good, indicating a quality whip antenna, Overall, this is a quality, feature rich radio, intended for those with short wave knowledge and experience. I would recommend reading the manual thoroughly.

Overall.... Love this radio. It receives almost all SW, long wave, AM/FM that we require. It does benefit from a better antenna than the internal one from time to time; often just a matter of extending the metal antenna [read the manual]. We use it in a back bathroom on rechargeable batteries -- just change them every month or so. It's cool to be able to catch news at 2 a.m. or set it to local stations at our whim. But VERY frustrated with owner's manual, which seems to have been written by extraterrestrials: complex steps needed to just adjust TIME: After almost 3 years and dozens of step-by-step progressions, I've STILL been unable it to set proper time. So annoying, when my 40-YO GE radio, my microwave, kitchen stove, fridge, and coffee pot.... ALL of those devices remember current time unless they become unplugged! The Eton Elite neither records nor remembers. After writing the above complaint about difficulty synching time, I re-read manual and meticulously followed instructions. What I learned: (1) Some FM and most or all AM stations do NOT provide RDS signal essential to allowing the radio to synch time; (2) as long as it is connected to power (AC or battery) the radio will remember time and date, and synch to RDS if it is available on stations you listen to; however, anytime the battery power fails and it is not connected to AC, the radio will re-set and you will have to either manually reset time/date or set it up for RDS.

I'm a novice with these advanced radios. But I thought it was a good idea to have a couple around just in case there was every a major internet/communications outage. I have an old Grundig World Radio which is easily 20 years old and still works well but I wanted to see how much they've improved given how much technology has advanced since then. So I bought this Eton Elite Exec and a C. Crane CC3, each for different reasons. The C. Crane gets weather bands and provides much better sound for FM listening due to a larger case and speaker and is really more of a home radio. The Eton was advertised as receiving Ham and Aircraft frequencies but also as a superior AM radio and its very portable. Even comes with a carrying case. There's reviews on YouTube where the reviewer is picking up AM radio stations from hundreds of miles away very clearly. Well unfortunately that has not been my experience. I live in NE PA about 75 miles north of NYC and this radio struggles to pick up NYC AM radio. One or two stations come in but not as clearly as I expected. I've tried different rooms, upstairs, outside and really no difference. Today I put the Eton next to my C. Crane and tuned them both to the one NYC station the Eton does OK with (770 AM) and there was really no difference in the reception. One of the main reasons I bought this radio was so I could pick up NYC AM radio so really no distinct value there. Same with the HAM radio function. I have yet to pick up anything clearly on any of the meters/frequencies. I was just about to return this radio when I tried the Aviation frequency feature. And to my surprise, it is outstanding. I'm receiving very clear reception for all the major airline communications with Newark and the NYC Airports. Yesterday I was picking up Military comms for Dover AFB in DE which is 200 Miles away. This is really interesting and fun to listen to . So I'm going to keep it and just ordered an external antenna and we'll see if the AM reception improves. The Eton Elite Exec also has a lot of features and options and unfortunately the user guide falls very, very short when it comes to explaining how most of them work. When I was playing around trying to see if I could improve my AM reception, I came across options that are not at all mentioned in the user guide, didn't come up in a Google Search, so I have no idea what they mean. I even watched a few YouTube reviews and they weren't mentioned either. Maybe over time I'll figure it all out. The sound is OK. I really think this radio was designed for voice and AM reception. When listening to FM, it has a transistor pocket radio kind of sound quality. I haven't tried the headphone feature yet but I'm sure that will be much better. So all in all at least for me, this radio really doesn't receive AM radio better than the other radios I own. I'm really liking the Aviation frequency and the fact that it's highly portable and I can take it hiking and camping so I'll definitely keep it.

Let me first start off by saying, "I thought this radio was bigger". I have quite a few of these "book size" radios, and this is the winner out of all of them. It's not without it's quirks and definitely not perfect (what radio is?). This is going to be a somewhat long review, so grab a cup of Joe and relax. Size: It's as long as Bluray case, but slightly taller by another 1.5". For reference, It is smaller than a Tecsun 880, 660 and a 990X, which makes it a good travel companion. It has some weight to it (sorry, don't have a detailed scale yet), but I would guess its in the same ballpark as the Tecsun 880. Sound: Nothing spectacular here, but it gets the job done. For it's size, I'd say its right in the middle -5- (not bad, but not the best). When compared to the C. Crane Skywave, this blows it away! When compared to the Tecsun 990X, the Tecsun just pulls away a notch to -6- on my scale. The Tecsun 880 is still king, and has the best sound out of all my portables rating a solid -10- out of 10. Features: This thing is packed with them. 700 memory stations FM with RDS (Radio data system). Very nice feature. External antenna connection (3.5mm mono) 50-75 ohm Shortwave Longwave Air band Single side band(SSB) tuning Select-able bandwidths on each band sleep timer World clock Line in/out (3.5mm) Performance: Oh boy, is little guy sensitive! Aircraft band just shines on this radio. It definitely is not a gimmick. It will outperform the Tecsun 660, CC skywave, and the xhdata 808 hands down. On shortwave, this again, just shines. It can hear stations, my other radios don't even know are there. As with the aircraft band, the noise floor is quite low on shortwave, and so, you can dig out those barely detectable signals with this little guy. For it's size, it packs quite a punch. Long-wave was not tested. On FM, not only is this very sensitive, but also very selective. I would rate this radio as "one of my best" on FM. The king so far is the Eton Elite Field BT, as it's dipole antenna is nearly twice the length. Eton pushes the envelope with these DSP chips, that's for sure. AM performance is quite good. I know it got 2.5 stars from Jay Allen, but I will give it a solid 3. It outperforms (or equals) my larger Tecsun radio like the 501X, and slowly walks away from my Tecsun 990X, 660 and 880. The reason for this is shear sensitivity and low noise floor. The Tecsuns have a bit of a higher noise floor in comparison, so some DX stations might be hidden in the mud (as they say). Quirks: I think this is a Eton thing, but you have to press some buttons more than once. The power button being one of them. My Eton Elite field does the same thing. It's a quirk of the radio, not a quality issue. If you understand this going in, it's something you will have to get use to. I wish this radio had (optional removable) Protective plastic film cover over it's front display. Full protective case (comes with protective glove, but does not fully protect the entire radio) Better instructions Longer dipole antenna ( a must ). Stronger dipole antenna-to radio attachment (internally). Optional Wrist strap 6 inch 3.5mm antenna dongle Final thoughts: This is very good radio. It can be found from $110 up to $205. I paid $174. For what It can do, and the outstanding performance on all bands (except LW--which I could not test), I think it is worth it. I own quite a few radios (more than I should have), and this one is at the top, just under my Eton elite field BT. It has top tier performance, small and compact, and packed with features. This review is subject to being revised, but as of now, I'm happy with this little bugger.

Update 3/28/2022 I have had some months to use this now, an still give it 5 starts. A few key fidings: 1. You may read that this has poor battery life. Not true, so long as you turn off the display when not in use. There is a setting for that, and if left one at full brightness, the batteries do get drained. So just be sure to set the display at the default setting (reamins on for about 10 seconds, and then shuts down). 2. For new SW users, timinjg is everything. I pick up Asian stations in the morning, 900 to noon. I pick up ham operators in the early evening. Stations simply have their own unique schedule, like a New Zealand station (11725), awesome station, I usually get this very late at night (Mountain Time USA), weekends, but it comes in really clear, with music, politics, great stuff. 3. On YouTube, search for "how to save statiions on eton elite executive" and there's a great how-to video there by a fellow, he does a really nice job of explaining and showing how to save your various stations and frequencies (all bands). Also how to label your pages. One you do it a few times, it's really easy. 4. Finally, I called Eton once with a question about the line-in. They got back to me, they called me back, it's still a weird feature IMHO as I list below, but what I did learn is that Eton is pronouced "ee-tahn" (emphais on the second syllable). So after some months of use, I enjoy the radio more with time, woth every penny. Original review Briefly, this is a great radio. I don't have much experience with short wave radios as points of comparison, but here are my experiences with this radio after almost a month, in no particular order: 1. I love the leather cover, I never take it off, look at the product pictures, it serves as a stand. It covers the face of the radio when not in use. Very functional. 2. Audio quality is outstanding, the audio output. The speaker is very small, limited range obviously, but I have connected good headphones and multiple speaker systems and the sound is just terrific for music. I have listened to a wide variety, classical, jazz, great highs, a solid bottom end. You can use either the headphone or the audio out jack for audio output, I use the latter, very similar to a standard FM tuner. 3. The audio-in feature battles me, it is only one channel, and I see no use for it. A mystery. 4. The instructions are not well written, but the information is there, it just takes a couple of times through. But this could be improved. 5. People complain it is a complicated radio to operate. I see that more as a reflection of its rich features; there is plenty to learn. 6. I get a gazillion AM stations.; I get a good number of FM stations (I do not live in a large metropolitan area) with good reception. 7. I am exploring the shortwave bands, I have picked up radio New Zealand, North Korea, China I think, many Spanish-speaking stations, and lots and lots of bible folks. Little in the way of European or African stations thus far. I now better understand why short-wave listening is a bit of an art, as reception varies a lot based on time and atmospheric conditions. 8. SSB was a bit of a mystery, but it works great while listening to ham radio operators. 9. Aircraft band is fun; I live about 60 miles north of Salt Lake City and pick up the local airport as well as the Salt Lake Center and aircraft with whom it interacts. 10. Great battery life, and the built-in battery charger is great and easy to use. 11. Finally, IMHO, this is a nice-looking and well-constructed radio, well designed in appearance, features, controls. It amazes me how the screen adapts to sunlight and shows up in a blue screen. Very cool. All in all, totally pleased. A lot of attention to details and features. I always like have a radio available especially for emergencies, but this radio I used almost daily at this point. This radio has a great pedigree.

This is a nice radio. It does a lot of things, more things that I'm ever going to figure out. The manual is pretty clear for the most part. Some of the buttons don't make sense. Pressing the AM button doesn't actually give you AM stations, it gives you SW and other than seeing that the frequency is in the SW range, there's no indication on the screen or on the buttons that you are receiving or have chosen SW. I prolly need to better understand SW and how and why it works as it does. I live in Colorado and was listening to a broadcast from Madagascar yesterday which was pretty cool. I hope I can get to the point where I can sit down with this and get where I want to go without putting on my glasses and holding the manual in the other hand. So to conclude, it's a complicated radio that really is pretty cool. A three year old will likely master it in a day. It'll take me a lil longer. Why did I get it? The world is becoming a dangerous place and it's about to get way worse starting Jan 20th, 2025.

وصل الجهاز وبه خدوش عن زر sync/ssb وهذ دليل التغليف السيء ، بما ان الجهاز يصدر للخارج كان من الطبيعي ان يكون مزود الطاقة الكهربائية يدعم 220v-110v على الاقل لذلك حصل على 🤩

Overall , A great radio for a enthusiast . Only drawback was the AC charger adapter. It is for 110 v a/c.

Muito bom.

​Es una buena radio para quienes buscan calidad y versatilidad. Su recepción en Onda Corta y Banda Aérea es de las mejores con antena externa (no incluida) y la claridad de la señal FM me sorprendió gratamente. ​Es elegante y robusta, la funda de cuero incluida es un gran detalle. ​Requiere un poco de tiempo para aprender a usar todas sus funciones. ​La Eton Elite Executive es la compra correcta.

I have a lot of experience with portable shortwave receivers, and the Eton Elite Executive is the best I’ve ever owned. Here are my pros and cons: PROS • Sensitivity in SSB (single side band) is similar to desktop general coverage receivers. The ability to change bandwidth is an advanced feature that can help in improving the intelligibility of SSB signals, and works well. Frequency stability (important for SSB) is very good. See CONS below for a note about entering SSB. • Shortwave broadcast sensitivity and sound quality is excellent. Bandwidth adjustment helps reduce the effects of adjacent channel interference and/or noise. Bands can be accessed quickly by the “F” buttons, or you can let the radio scan and automatically stop at a strong signal. • Medium Wave (AM broadcast) sensitivity is also excellent. Again, the ability to change bandwidth helps with adjacent channel interference. • Long Wave is not used much in North America, so I have no comments on it at this time. • The FM band includes RDS (Radio Data System) similar to that found in modern car radios. This identifies the station and the music playing and scrolls it in the display. While this radio only has one speaker, the stereo sound on headphones is very clean and full. • The aircraft band is surprisingly good. Portables I’ve owned in the past that include this band were terribly insensitive. The sensitivity of the Elite is as good or better than that of my ham radio VHF/UHF transceiver which also receives the aircraft band. Bandwidth filtering is also available on this band. • Squelch (to silence noise when no signal is present) is also included, and works on all bands. This is particularly nice when listening to communications (SSB or aircraft) that tend to be intermittent. It also serves as a ‘mute’ on FM to silence the radio hiss between stations when tuning the FM band. • 700 memory locations in 100 pages of 7 each to store favourite frequencies. Pages can be labelled (eg. AIR BAND, FM1, FM2...) • Line In/Out jack to play an mp3 player through the radio’s speaker or to record off the radio, respectively. • For someone who is interested in getting into short wave listening or aircraft monitoring for the first time, save some money and buy one of these radios instead of a more expensive desktop receiver. Performance is on par, although it may not have all the features found in a desktop. CONS • While the leather cover is nice, it’s only practical for protecting the front, top and back of the radio while travelling. I would have preferred a more practical soft lined pouch. • The manual is misleading on how to enter the SSB mode. It states that you have to quick press the SYNC/SSB/RDS button twice, but all this does is put the radio into SYNC mode. SYNC is the worst feature of the radio and is poorly implemented. It’s meant to help with minimizing the effects of fading broadcast signals, but is terribly distorted. Ignore this instruction (and avoid using SYNC for listening to broadcasts!) and simply quick press the U/LSB button above it to enter SSB. You can then toggle between upper and lower sideband with this same button. • After just a couple of weeks of gently swivelling the telescoping antenna about, it has become quite loose where it enters the radio, causing the antenna to wobble as you move the radio. • I sent Eton Customer Service a note about the antenna wobble and several days later, not even an acknowledgement of my issue. This may be an indicator of what to expect if warranty issues ever come up. • For setting the clock, avoid using RDS AUTO. Set it manually. If you use RDS Auto, the radio reads the RDS data from local stations (if they are transmitting this data) and automatically sets the radio’s clock. Depending on whether the station you are tuned to has properly set their time, you may find that going from one station to another will result in your clock time changing. This is the fault of the radio stations and not a fault of the radio. Overall, this radio is an excellent buy, particularly when the price is reduced on Amazon. It’s also generally cheaper than its competitors (TECSUN, SANGEAN) for radios with similar performance/features.