In 1968 Nordmende brought out their first double conversion shortwave portable receiver: the "Globetrotter Amateur" or it's very similar export sibling "Globetraveler Pro". It comes not only with double conversion circuitry for improved rejection of spuriuos signals bus also with an integrated BFO for CW and SSB reception. Grundig as the big competitor on the European shortwave receiver market integrated a BFO not before 1977 in their sets.

The receiver is a portable double conversion superhet covering the long- and mediumwave band, the marine band in the 1,5 - 3,5 MHz range, the FM broadcast band and 11 shortwave bands. The bandspread dial has been changed to a design with coarse frequency indicators that allow to determine (or to guess) the reception frequency directly.

The Globetrotter Amateur / Globetraveler Pro is constructed in a wooden cabinet with leatherette finish, the dimensions of the front panel at the top of the set are 31 x 10,5 cm, the height of the radio is 21 cm and it's weight 4,3 kg.
All controls and dials can be found on the front panel at the top of the receiver, the speaker grille is facing to the listener. But the set can be used tilted usind the carrying handle as tilt stand.

On the frontpanel, the telescopic antenna is found in the left upper corner, the slightly bigger signal strength / battery meter right next to it. The volume, the bass and treble controls are located just below. Pressing down the bass control will illuminate the dial, the treble control can be pushed down to display battery status instead of signal strength.
The square pushbuttons at the top of the frequency dials select the different bands: S or MB stands for the 1,5 - 3,5 MHz Marine band, M or BC for medium waves or "broadcast band", L stands for longwaves. The leftmost button activates the BFo for CW or SSB reception, the following switch toggles between a wider and a more narrow AM bandwidth.
The upper one of the two big tuning knobs at the right hand of the front panel acts as L / M / MB tuning knob and it's outer ring as FM tuning control. The shortwave band selector and shortwave tuning knob are now found in the lower right corner of the front panel.

The battery compartment is located at the bottom part of the receiver, the sets runs from five UM-1 / D or mono cells, You can also connect the set to a 7,5 V DC external power supply or directly to a mains outlet thanks to an integrated 110 / 220 V power supply.

Operation of the Globetrotter Amateur / Globetraveler Pro is not complicated. Connect the mains after having checked that the radio is set to correct voltage, pull out the antenna and turn on the set using the volume control. Pushbutton BANDS will active the shortwave bandspread bands, use the lower rotary control to select the 49 m shortwave band and try to find the interval signal from Cologne on 6.075 MHz somewhere in the region of the corresponding 25 kHz mark of the band spread dial in the turret tuner window. You can also try out the 40/41 m Amateur band, activate the BFO and try to catch a few Hams with their CW signals or even some SSB communications, tuning is not that easy as the tuning knob is quite coarse. Adjust the BFO for optimum readibility, i.e. until the voise sounds natural and not too much like Mickey Mouse.

When compared to other portable radios in the same years, the Nordmende Globetrotter / Globetraveler has a good sensitivity and selectivity, but the set is not general coverage and a correct (digital) frequency display is missing.

The Nordmende Globetrotter Amateur / Globetraveler Pro radios are considered as collectible sets; the receiver can still be used to listen to Your local AM or FM stations giving You pleasant audio; for serious shortwave listening, I would recommend a set with a digital frequency display to make tuning in a station on a known frequency less guesswork.
The Nordmende sets are less well known then the contemporary Grundig Satellit sets; in 1970 Grundig's Satellit 210 / transistor 6001 has been the direct competitor, it also offered a double conversion design but came with an optional external BFO for SSB reception.