Eton E1 User Manual

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The Eton E1 Story
© Bjarne Mjelde, Sept 2006
www.kongsfjord.no
There is a classic TV commercial series on Norwegian Television.  It ends with the phrase 
(translated from Norwegian):  "Gotta have it.  Just gotta have it!"  I've been down that road with the 
Eton E1. Though resisting fiercely, when acclaimed MW DX-er Jan Alvestad said he had bought 
one and it performed well in his environment, I succumbed to the phrase above.
I bought a refurbished set from Siegler in the USA, now out of business.  The following will start 
off with a brief description and evaluation of the user interface and the different functions found on 
the Eton E1.  I will then delve further into subjects of special interest to a "hard-core" DX-er like 
me, most notably sensitivity, selectivity and strong signal handling.  And the Eton E1 story has a 
relatively happy end.
The E1's display is very large and has room for all the information you need, including a large 
frequency readout. The illumination has three positions; off, dim and bright, and the contrast can be 
adjusted. Unfortunately, the "bright" position is nowhere as bright as I would want it, accustomed as 
I am with the IC-746Pro's exceptional display. May be difficult to read in dim  light, or if the light 
source is behind the radio.
Tuning is done by way of a tuning knob, up/down buttons, and direct input via keypad. The tuning 
knob could use a dimple to make quick tuning easier. Otherwise, one can choose to tune in 10, 100 
or 1000 Hz increments. The up/down buttons are used for tuning in pre-selected tuning steps; 5 kHz 
on Shortwave and Longwave, and selectable 9/10 kHz on Mediumwave. The functions are easy to 
learn and easy to use. According to the specifications, frequency stability is +/- 10 ppm in the 0-50C 
temperature range. Not impressive. Actually it is advisable to let it warm up for an hour before 
doing much ECSS DX.  In fact it seems that many (most?) E1s are supplied with an off-reading of 
50 Hz or more.  It is easy to align but it really shouldn't be necessary.
Modes and bandwidth are chosen from a row with "soft buttons". One button defines the 
bandwidths as you cycle through the alternatives. One button defines AM/AM-sync, and one SSB 
button defines USB or LSB. If AM-S is selected, the SSB button defines USB, LSB or DSB (double 
sideband). There is no choice for modes like CW and RTTY. The button for PBT turns it on and off, 
and a separate control under the tuning knob adjusts the offset. The offset is displayed above the 
soft button. These functions are intuitive and easy to use.
AGC is selected from a soft button which cycles through "Fast" (0.3 sec), "Slow (3 sec) and "Auto" 
(Fast during tuning, Slow when set to a frequency).  I use Slow AGC most of the time.  The release 
time seems to be very well chosen.
Audio: Volume, Treble, Bass and Squelch controls are placed on the left side. The Treble and Bass 
controls do not have a very wide span, although they appear to be adequate for adjusting the audio 
blend to one's personal preference. I was not impressed though.
Time, Memory: The E1 has rather advanced clock and timer functions which I will not delve 
further into now. One clock is displayed, unfortunately only hh:mm, not seconds. The E1 also has 
ample space for memory channels; 500 free to use and 1200 restricted to 120 countries. The 
memory channels are easy to store, edit and delete. They store frequency, mode, bandwidth, AGC 
setting, PBT setting and Sync detector setting.
The External Antenna input is placed on the left side, with separate sliders for AM and FM to