Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, DanH, who writes:
Thomas,
My Sangean ATS-909X2 arrived in excellent condition late this Friday afternoon. I will enjoy a shortwave session with the radio this evening and early next morning. Other than setting the clock to UTC and tuning in XEPPM Radio Educacion in Mexico City I haven’t spent much time with it yet. This 909X2 was purchased from Amazon in the USA and is a retail production model distributed by Sangean USA. I will check-in on Sunday night to share some early impressions.
DanH
Many thanks, Dan! We look forward to your impressions and evaluation!
I placed an order on Amazon this morning, and then canceled it after seeing some additional reviews stating that SSB volume was low, SSB bandwidth is not selectable, And probably most importantly, the internal noise that is being generated from somewhere. Such a shame as I was really looking forward to this device and now I’m going to have to wait until the next batch comes out before I move forward with this one. I could be wrong, but I am guessing that Amazon has lowered the price on this because of the negative issues on this first batch and they are trying to get rid of the current inventory. I doubt it will be at this price with the second batch comes out if Sangean fixes the issues.
The first retail batch of 909X2s being sold now by Amazon is not from the same batch of 20 pre-order units that was sold by Sangean Europe in January. These are the radios that showed internal noise issues. Sangean USA received two of the pre-production units in October, 2020. These were from the same batch of 20 radios later sold by Sangean Europe in January 2021. To their credit Sangean USA never offered their two pre-production units for sale. These units were intended for internal evaluation. In effect, they were beta radios.
The first batch of production 909X2s were received by Sangean USA in February, 2021 and hit the North American market very soon after.
Wait for my submitted report and video on SWLing Post soon. The production 909X2 shows a trace of internal noise on 5950 kHz. But this is nothing compared to the noise demonstrated by a pre-production 909X2 from purchased from Sangean Europe last January.
That’s very encouraging! I’m very much looking forward to your review! Thank you
That’s great to hear! I wish you all the best at good DXing.
73’s
Tim
I NOTICED THAT THIS SANGEAN ATS-909X2 STILL HAS THE FRONT MOUNTED ROTARY DIAL. I WONDER IF THE QUALITY OF THAT CONTROL HAS IMPROVED. IN THE PAST, IT WAS FOUND THAT THE EARLIER ATS-909
HAD A SERIOUS MECHANICAL PROBLEM WITH THE ROTARY KNOB PRONE TO EVENTUAL FAILURE. I ONCE HAD THE EARLIER MODEL AND IT WAS AN EXCELLENT PERFORMER ON SHORTWAVE. I ALSO HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF RESPECT FOR SANGEAN RADIOS.
I LOOK FORWARD TO A DETAILED REVIEW. IT’S ALWAYS GREAT TO SEE SHORTWAVE CONTINUALLY ENDORSED BY NEW PRODUCTS!
I have a Sangean ATS-909X that has been in heavy shortwave use for over five years. By “heavy use” I mean that I tune stations with the rotary dial most days of the week in addition to using other tuning methods including memory pages. I don’t worry about the tuning knob wearing out and enjoy using it.
Hi Dan,
Any thoughts on the ats 909×2? I’m considering getting it from Amazon….they’ve lowered the price twice. What are your reactions?
Many thanks.
Alan
The fluctuating price at Amazon has been quite a ride. I ordered three times and cancelled two orders since December.
why judge this “earth-shaking” radio by its ability to receive AM/medium wave on its performance with an external antenna? Jay Allen judges the Panasonic Rf-2200 on its AM performance without the added cost antenna, so what is then so special about this 909X2 if not for “stand alone” reception, whether be it its sensitivity/selectivity…?
Actually, it’ll be reviewed using both its internal and an external antenna.
Thanks Dan for your kind words on my youtube channel 🙂
Looking forward to your review. 🙂
Either way you’ll love the 909 x2 with an external antenna. The tuning encoder on the front of the radio is really great to use too and makes true one hand operation a breeze.
Mark, I have kept up-to-date on the reports you and Stefan submitted regarding the 909X2. I also watched your excellent YouTube videos on the subject. You may be sure that I will be looking for the same issues as I put some hours on my 909X2. I am hoping to send a report on 909X2 performance to SWLing Post late Sunday night or sometime on Monday. I have enough time to examine SW and MW performance in some detail.
Dan I wonder is your radio the first production run same as mine or is it the new one ? although I was told by Sangean that the new production run should be end of March so it’s doubtful you have the updated version.
The first batch have issues, I’ll list them below to see if you notice the same.
1 : SSB Audio Volume a bit low
2 : Bandwidth Function does not work in SSB
3 : Noise on SW on the Whip antenna and it gets worse if you move your hand over the screen.
If they can fix these issues then it will be the best new portable you can buy because the sound on SSB is just fantastic compared to the Tecsun Pl-990x, 880 and S-8800.
ECSS works on the 909×2 wonderfully with the new 10 hz tuning. ECSS does not work on the Tecsun DSP radios because the sound is so bad on SSB and the 4 Khz filter does not work, funny enough the little Pl-330 sounds best of all Tecsun DSP radios and the 4 Khz filter actually works, the sound is a lot clearer but sadly still suffers from the same distortion but it handles an external antenna remarkably well.
But the 909 X2 via external antenna is just a wonderfully sounding radio and SSB/ECSS works incredibly well too. You can see my videos on my youtube channel.
Sangean told me I would receive a new radio from the updated production run, fingers crossed they fix the above issues.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjG-fisCXGOiIe_cmHpot9Q
Can’t wait for your review Dan.