Radio feels good to pick up, hold, push buttons, listen to. As Ive mentioned in previous posts, I feel it can be problematic using a pre-production model radio for review only because there can be differences in quality control when a small number of pre-production units are manufactured compared with a proper first production run (remember this case?). At this point Im looking mostly at shortwave and medium wave performance. At times, especially when the room is colder, the radio can be off by 200hz but easily correctable with the fine tuning. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. This has been incredibly helpful as I put together my PL-990 review for the 2021 World . One of the biggest fears I had with the radio was it not being sensitive with all the talk about SSB signals not having enough audio. to a product via email. the ATS-909X2's LINE OUT jack and adjust the REC LEVEL to a proper Posted on February 14, 2021, in About. - FM includes RDS display (RBDS with PS, PTY, RT and CT ). Switch the mode to "Music". Thank you! Anyhow, I decided to buy one. First connect the MINI phone stereo Tecsun PL-660, 990x, 330. Reading all reviews for the Sangean ATS 909X, it's either a total failure or the best receiver yet produced. This lock is toggled on the front panel We hope you understand, and are grateful for your support. The upshot was that when I listened to shortwave at the desk with a 909X I would run it off batteries even if a wall outlet was handy for running AC power, much like any other multiband portable with shortwave. Over the last couple months I have tried multiple radios (Tecsun 330,680,880)(Eton,D808 and a few other portable radios). There have been a number of excellent reviews, including Dave Zantows deep dive, and some others here on SWLing Post. Last night, however, a massive tree fell across our road knocking out power for the better part of 5 hours. This is a superb radio. Click here to donate via PayPal. I monitor the Amazon price on the ATS-909X and youre right, it wobbles a lot and theres often quite a large price discrepancy between the White and Black versions. Many thanks toSWLing Postcontributor,Matt Blaze, who shares the following comparison of the newTecsun PL-990x and the original Sangean ATS-909Xcommunications receivers. I sold the 8800 and 880 and got the PL-680 and the low noise floor and much superior make it the only Tecun I would buy. Simply superb and the kind of quality we could only hope for from other manufacturers. The MW band was full of synthesizer tones that made listening to strong signals annoying and DXing weak stations impossible. widest filter setting, SW Band again falls flat on it's face at 4 kHz Your email address will not be published. SW and MW features are shown in real-life reception conditions. In USB, the reduction is less severe. You may title pages alphanumerically any way you wish. Tecsun Radios Australia reached out and kindly sent me one of their PL-990 production model radios to compare with the PL-990x pre-production model from Anon-Co weve been testing up to this point. To me that really sets it apart from the 909x. If there are any special features is good sensitivity and selectivity, good performance on the SW band and portability. Some of you may have seen a video I did a few years ago in which I set a 909x against a SONY SW-07 and Panasonic RF-B65. Coffee helps fuel the SWLing Post! - Audio Quality much sharper (less muffled) over elder X model (see con). Switching shortwave bands by using the F frequency button followed by number key entries and the ENTER button is slower for changing bands but does not cause the tuning step indicators to disappear. feel the ATS-909X2 is a respectable set in the ever shrinking marketplace for shortwave (Our Sangean ATS-909X model review available here), good regulated linear transformer type adapter. The roll up antenna works somewhat; it seems to pick up lots of house related radio interference. There are many sample shortwave memory presets provided with the stock 909X2. The radio will identify cells that are defective, aging or wearing out. It may not display this or other websites correctly. I had and still do use numerous portables with a bias toward the classic SONY, Panasonic, and Grundig sets. Yep, I noted that low $190s Amazon price as well and now wished Id snapped one up! This is all fixed with the version 2, and now this radio is the complete package of nice operation and great performance. I held off obtaining one of these radios because I knew there would be issues. While these videos are far from ideal, they should give you a real-word impression of audio characteristics. These radios simply should not have been allowed to enter the market with this being as serious a problem as I think it is. It can still be had new for less than half of what the PL-990 costs, and is not that far behind it in performance. Unfortunately, Amazon sent me a used radio that didn't work right. Very sensitive, loaded with features and great sound. Starting to compare the Tecsun H-501x and Sangean ATS-909X2. You see, it has bee, Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who notes that Dave (N9EWO) has posted his review of the Sangean ATS-909X2. Each of my custom memory pages has a shortwave broadcaster name followed by a letter if I use more than one page for a single broadcaster. Many of you have suggested in the past that the SWLing Post join an affiliate links program. However the 6 kHz filter is, not available in the SW bands. Many thanks again to Tecsun Radios Australia for making this comparison possible. I am glad I gave this one a shot and what great performance on all bands. Reviews For: Sangean ATS 909X Receiver Category: Receivers: General Coverage eMail Subscription Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted. Depending on your plans some of the best short wave radios aren't short wave radios at all. Sangean v Tecsun in the Battle of Late Shortwave Era Portables: The ATS909x2 by Dan Robinson Some years ago - actually more than a decade - I decided to give Sangean a shot at winning me over in the shortwave portable category. Is anyone into vintage multiband portable radios? LW activity is very limited here on the US West Coast. It is a little too large and heavy for a travel radio but over the years I have packed it many times in my carry-on bag. I have long suspected that these filters are actually much wider than described by most manufacturers of portable multiband radios. Ill be happy to answer any questions regarding the Sangean ATS-909X2 addressed to me in the comments, if I can. low cost ceramic filters, Up to 5 bandwidths available on LW/MW and SW bands. Another alternative would be to use the timer within the DAR-101. Signals and audio are very strong. Well, I don't know. I found the detents on the old 909x to be annoying indeed, modifications have been available that could remove this feature. No kidding. - 100 Hz digit added for LW / MW and SW bands. (current not measured with internal batteries). I must admit: as I put the Sangean ATS-909X2 th, Eton Elite Executive AM/FM/SW/Air With RDS Announcement: As of Spring 2020 Eton has announced that this model will be replaced with the Executive HD which will add HD radio. Believe it or not I have been very busy with the Sangean ATS-909X2 and havent tried FM or VHF air band on it yet! Degen radios with SSB actually perform better. Manual entry of shortwave pages and presets is relatively easy and fast on the 909X2 and is substantially unchanged from 909X. Thank you! I say yes! Even on 40m SSB, it does a good job. I packed up my 909X2 and sent it away on March 29. Again, as noted by others Sangean retained the extremely useful thumb wheel RF gain control. I had high hopes for the 990, Tecsun have a new smaller radio with DSP and SSB too with the same issues. Ads are what helps us bring you premium content! This means that by clicking on these links, a small percentage of the purchase price for goods you purchase from these sellers will help support our sites running costs. If youre curious about sensitivity and how the PL-990x compares, check out Dan Robinsons initial evaluation. At first I thought perhaps there was an internal/external antenna switch that had to be adjusted but I saw nothing like that on the unit or referenced in the instruction book. This means that by clicking on these links, a small percentage of the purchase price for goods you purchase from these sellers will help support our sites running costs. Like 909X, 909X2 occupies an interesting niche in the portable multiband world. This is one of the best looking radios I have ever owned and it is built very well. So, the question is, do you want to purchase a 9092 now that still has that LSB audio issue, or wait a while until Sangean gets its act together? Another home run for Sangean when it comes to the keypads on the 9092, which can be compared in this respect to the Tecsun H-501x which itself improves upon the 990x when it comes to front panel control. whip), selectivity using DSP with many selections (except SSB modes) The 909X may continue in production. Tecsun H-501x availability Alan Roes Music Programmes on Shortwave, List of QRP General Coverage Amateur Radio Transceivers, List of VHF/UHF Multimode Amateur Radio Transceivers, Dan Robinson just published his initial review of the H-501x, Alan Roes A21 season guide to music on shortwave, Radio Angela To Cease Broadcasts May 31, 2023, A Hallicrafters SX-28/A in Battle of the Bulge, BBC Radio 4 campaign to transition from long wave, Hawaii: FEMA unveils new emergency-hardened broadcast studio. Here are the negatives I see with the 9092. Buy Sangean ATS-909X2 The Ultimate FM/SW/MW/LW/Air Multi-Band Radio & Sangean DAR-101 Professional Grade Digital MP3 Recorder . And you will hear DX too, not just Brother Stair. Thats a design feature that you really have to respect. with decent dynamic range with external antenna's. found on the view). In short, this is an amazing receiver for its price. Please support this website by adding us to your whitelist in your ad blocker. Tecsun PL880 Shortwave Radio - Editor's Pick #2. Zero beating or ECSS is essential for the true DXer even of you dont listen to SSB using ECSS on SW is great to eliminate or greatly reduce QRM, this is not possible on the Tecsun DSP radios because of the distortion, high background noise or noise floor and the warble effect it applies to the Audio. - 1674 total memories with "Page" Alpha Tags. Soft muting quite simply ruins a listening session and its baffling that any manufacturer still puts it in. Then the prices jumped another $30 post-Covid 19, as did prices for other radios in this range. This simply needs to be fixed. I have used this radio for at least a half an hour to several hours a day for 14 months: indoors, outdoors, on the boat or traveling to other cities. quality" : normally use and prefer narrower bandwidth filters for MW/SW Im going to give you my impressions, using the really detailed Zantow review as a base. Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2023. Of course, the operator has the choice to use auto bandwidth control on the 909X2 or to select bandwidth filters manually. mode, however does NOT store the bandwidth. Alan Roes Music Programmes on Shortwave, List of QRP General Coverage Amateur Radio Transceivers, List of VHF/UHF Multimode Amateur Radio Transceivers, Tecsun PL-990x vs. PL-880: Comparing SSB audio characteristics and pre-production/production PL-990 models, check out Dan Robinsons initial evaluation, Radio Angela To Cease Broadcasts May 31, 2023, A Hallicrafters SX-28/A in Battle of the Bulge, BBC Radio 4 campaign to transition from long wave, Hawaii: FEMA unveils new emergency-hardened broadcast studio. But please note that we will never create a post and product link explicitly to receive a commission. This means that by clicking on these links, a small percentage of the purchase price for goods you purchase from these sellers will help support our sites running costs. When youd plug in an antenna (I tried 2) the volume on a shortwave or AM station already receivable without an external antenna would drop by 50% when using the AC adapter. channel. DAR-101 start and stop recording automatically No issues with the tuner knob. I plan to write a review of the Sangean ATS-909X2 for the June 2021 issue of The Spectrum Monitor magazine. Thank goodness we dont have to deal with the annoying soft muting issue that is still seen in some other portables (the XHDATA D808 comes to mind along with the Eton Executive). the main tuning wheel. There simply is something about this design that Sangean knew was a winner when it first arrived on the market years ago, so its not surprising that Sangean stuck with it. painted plastic that could get partially removed in time, especially on AM and FM are also great and the sound quality is very good. So in 2023 my top choice portable radios are. This radio had mixed reviews when it came out so I intentionally bought this from Amazon in case there were issues. Meanwhile, Tecsun plugged away, introducing an impressive array of portables including the PL-600 series, then the 880 and now the 990x and H-501 portables. It will activate the recorder and the recording will begin. I have read several reviews over the Internet all with their pros and cons for portable models. I agree. It's difficult to get exactly on frequency most of the time although close enough.There is a mod available that addresses this. Quickly becoming my favorite portable SW radio! Although I have not undertaken detailed technical testing of the 9092 nor do I have the equipment to carry this out it does seem that Sangean may have finally tackled this crippling flaw that rendered the old 909x nearly useless when using it only on the whip. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, DanH, who shares the following guest post: A few hours spent tuning a new radio are enough to make me feel confident that I know most of the new features and how to use them. Level on USB seems fine and acceptable, but LSB on shortwave requires immediate upwards adjustment of volume, only to have to reverse the process when returning to AM mode. The automatic switching is distracting and annoying. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. On my particular unit it remains to be seen whether this is true for others long wave seems to be near useless. Please support this website by adding us to your whitelist in your ad blocker. Click here to donate via PayPal. Tuning from 5000kHz to 16000kHz, I found: No signal could be found on one that the other could not tune. I purchased the Sangean ATS-909X new from an online vendor for $224 plus shipping in June, 2015. This time, I am going to make an exception and it links directly to the issue of the LSB problem on the 9092. SSB works great despite what the online reviews say. Sangean wins here. Tecsun PL-360 - Best Portable Shortwave Radio #5. Sides of radio are bumps to make holding easier. SSB The SWLing Post now participates in two affiliate advertising programs with two large retailers that still sell shortwave radios, the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and the eBay Partnership, designed to provide a means for sites like ours to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to these retailers of radio products. (M and then the Bandwidth button). I am getting to this a bit late, but not that late in early October 2021, the H501x calibration capability is simply moot on the three samples I have lain hands upon, not one of them maintains calibration long, and I am talking calibrating them to zero and then instantly encountering a 10-150 hz drift in zero beat by the very next frequency. As of this writing I have listened to the 909X2 VER 073 for several days. Good to see Sangean has improved their 909x. The radio is big and powerful enough to provide top notch sound for all modes. This has been incredibly helpful as I put together my PL-990 review for the 2021 World Radio TV Handbook. I do want to own a Sangean 909x2. Program the ATS-909X2 for ALARM TIMER operation. I listened to the recording with Sennheiser HD 280 pro headphones and agree with Matts conclusions. 5= I do not recommend any DSP radio if you like using ECSS on a commercial station or like listening to hams. I will post updates here on the SWLing Post and possibly some comparison audio/reception examples. Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2022. This makes complete sense to me as to my ears this filter sounds closer to an 8 kHz bandwidth, which isnt a bad choice for strong SW stations without interference. Many of our links now function as affiliate links. MW122A was still available. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Personal opinion and observations after testing of both radios Tecsun obviously have no shame releasing radios with such performance issues. These and other earthshaking questions are before us here in 2021. Since I already have the PL-990x which is already highly portable with great sounding bluetooth, I am thinking the 909x may be a more complementary radio to the PL-990x than the H-501. Sangean USA has two of the pre-production units. Thankfully Amazon makes returns very simple. i spent several years debating if I should purchase and after there was a significant price drop, I made the plunge. A mechanical LOCK switch is For FM the combination of great audio quality, RDS and now auto bandwidth makes the 909X2 hard to beat by any other multiband portable with shortwave. We look forward to publishing your updates as you get to know the 909X2 even better! Amazing that we now have that in a portable. I picked black. So, now the 9092 is here and with its 073 firmware upgrade has become a bit of a holy grail for portable receiver users. Just watch, as soon as Amazon has the black 909X in stock again the price will be near $220. Additionally, we always try to include links to other retail options if they are available, as we support and freely advertise independent ham radio retailers. Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2023, Great radio. I use the radio 90% of the time listening at night on the ham bands. Many of our links now function as affiliate links. it in the lower left hand corner appears when activated for each memory I'm a ham radio operator and have used a lot of radios, including the predecessor of this one. Where both the H-501 and ATS-909X2 will have an advantage is in audio fidelity. For that reason, I honestly cannot recommend a Sangean 9092 until this is corrected. And as others have pointed out, once connected to an external antenna, it is awesome That said, the 40hz jump on SSB slow tuning is too broad. You can see this deleted feature below and watch it on my video: I have tried to bring this feature up on VER 073 without success. Sangean hits it out of the park with this multi-stage lighting for the display. RSSI and SN Digital Signal Strength Information are provided on the beautiful 9092 display. Click here to view a list of all sponsors. With eHam.net Reviews subscriptions, you can receive all messages posted You should also note that this isnt a sensitivity comparison. Using my radio to play a podcast from my phone while hiking or in the outdoors is a real treat. The 909X sold near US $220 for most of the last five years with a few rare Amazon holiday sales at the $190 level. are But please note that we will never create a post and product link explicitly to receive a commission. Hearing and seeing video is hard to beat. This is easily accomplished with the MANUAL/AUTO slide switch on the right hand-side of the radio and the bandwidth select button of the front panel. Thank you! Firmware Version Tested: 1.29 Country of Manufacture: China (not marked on radio cabinet, manual or box) Approx. MW is a tad better providing a 6 kHz It also has a BFO which allows the reception of CW and SSB signals. On the negative side, I find the auto-bandwidth feature on the 9092 to be nearly useless, as useless as the similar feature found on Tecsun receivers. You literally could not hear weak broadcasts over the buzzing tones. I'm a ham radio operator and have used a lot of radios, including the predecessor of this one. When the time arrives, the receiver will automatically receive the frequency preset and switch on the DAR-101. The wait is finally over. I am not expecting major new factory revisions or modifications for this fine radio. The original Sangean 909 has always been a pleasant radio to use with a lot of nice features, but had been lacking in a few key areas, including sensitivity. To repeat, I really (really) like the 9092. Privacy Policy. Yes it might struggle in performance using the stock telescopic but when using an external antenna it performs very well (for HF operation). Additional Sangean ATS-909X2 Press RECORD SETUP. All rights reserved. Weight without batteries is. Activated Recording) with the DAR-101, it is then possible to have the
Radiomaster R88 Telemetry,
Skinbetter Moisturiser,
Medivest Medicare Set-aside,
Articles T