Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Troy Riedel, who notes that Eton has now placed a splash page image of the new Elite Satellit (above) on their home page.
There is no further information yet and the splash page simply links to their current production shortwave models. It does, however, show that Eton is committed to produce the Elite Satellit this year.
Of course, we’ll post any Elite Satellit updates as they become available! Stay tuned!
8/2022 now on Universal’s site:
“In November 2020 the owners announced their retirement and the company will wind-down sometime in 2023.”
Thank you for the information. I pre-ordered mine in January of 2020, also spoke to Universal Radio a while back and they confirmed they were honoring the pre-order price. It also says that on their website. Good information about mid August…did not have that information. Thanks again…can’t wait to get mine. I am hoping that it has the noise blanking button like the E1 had, but did not see that in the online user manual
I pre-ordered mine in July 2019. I was just on the phone with Barbara Osterman at Universal Radio. They will honor the special price of $ 349.99 if you had placed a pre-order. They expect delivery for middle August. If you have a pre-order, it is a good price. Full price? I am not sure.
Yes, hi, I ordered mine on March 19, 2020, and seem to be
guaranteed for the pre-order price of $349.99. I did see
their new add pages in the Spring Summer 2022 Ham Radio
Outlet catalog. I nowadays do most of my ordering from
HRO, and I am luckily only a short distance away from their
Salem, NH store, now residing in Southern NH. Anyway, I
did not see a listing in their catalog for the Elite. So with all
the problems considered I am hopefully waiting for mine.
Additionally, I obtained a new in the box Eton E1XM through
a seller on Ebay, but it was for more than the original price,
and works well, except MW reception is mediocre as there
is no ferrite rod antenna, due to what I read is interference
from the large LCD screen. This suddenly got dim and was
unreadable, though otherwise it worked well, but this made
tuning difficult. So, a couple of months ago, I found an Eton
recommended repair facility in Scarborough, Ontario, CA.
I have read this problem was quite common with the E1XM.
I was quoted a repair price of about $200.00 US, and $50.00
for round trip shipping. It cost $252.00 US, about $317.00 CAN. Matt was quite helpful and explained the problem was
mainly with the power supply and surface mount type
components. I have it back now, repaired, but I would say it
still is not the brightest or most legible of LCD displays that I have seen in receivers of this type. Manufactured in 2005.
seen in re
The page at Universal Radio has updated information as of 5/8/2022. I’m in a rush, so I can’t enumerate all the changes I see, but what is an “EQUALI” control (in place of the E1 SQUELCH control)? I don’t know how to tell if the photo is real or altered but the Eton logo is different. Also, based on the number of available bandwidths, I’d bet the unit doesn’t use discrete analog filters.
73,
N4LUS
Always celebrate a new radio in the marketplace! I have an older Satellite which while it works, there was a coating that decayed and made the outside of the radio a mess. Let’s hope Eton deletes the coating on this run!
Still re-furbing GE Super Radio model 1 and 2. No one has been unhappy yet,
I agree with your comment about dropping the coating that was used on the previous version of this radio. I have an Eton E1 which became very sticky and unpleasant to handle after the coating deteriorated.
Finally, after seeing some internet posts, I wiped down the affected areas with rubbing alcohol and a paper towel and that removed the coating. It didn’t seem to affect any of the radio’s markings. Of course, I can’t guaranty how this remedy might affect your radio, but you might like to try it.
I contacted Eton directly before ordering the Elite Satellit.. They said they are not manufacturing any new radios with that rubberized coating so should not be a problem
It just showed up in the Spring/Summer 2022 Hammacher Schlemmer catalog (page 15) for $699.95 +s/h.
Hammacher / Schlemmer is waaaaay overpriced on everything.
I think they are asking $499 for Tecsun S2000,
while Anon-Co is around 35% under that.
Well, now (5/5/2022) June has been eliminated as a possible release date (per Universal Radio update).
BTW, Universal was supposed to close the doors last year. Are they staying in business just to wait out the release of this radio? …..
Universal is still in business, but scaled back their operations. They no longer have a retail “bricks and mortar” storefront, but they still actively sell a number of SWLing products including a number of portable receivers, books, accessories, etc. They no longer sell new ham radio transceivers to my knowledge.
Yes, I know this. They have very little product (almost no portables, BTW). The point was, they were planning (and it is still on their website) that they would close completely by the end of 2021. Hence, my question.
5/25 – Universal now (suddenly) is carrying stock on Eton receivers, but no others.
Guess, Eton is making them carry their line in order to get their order of the EliteSatellit when it is released. Who knows…
Eton’s CEO and Fred at Universal Radio are dear friends. I’m privileged enough to both of them and can tell you that if Fred is carrying the radio at Universal, he’ll give it full support. It’s true that he really downsized his company and no longer carries other models.
Pre order delivery 08/04 /2022. 699.00 plus tax and shipping for H and S. They have got that radio Eaton Elite-1 satellite .Whoopee Eh? I ordered one.
Pre order available at Ham and S, delivery 08/04/2022. .
Hi all. Every now and then I search google for an update to the Satellite Elite (or Elite Satellit, heck I never know I to spell it right) and a release date nears but is always pushed out somehow. Anyway, all I care about is performance at par with the old E1 (I ran through 3 of them) and a body with no oxydizing paint job. What a mess that was!
Hope a shortage of components isn’t gonna drive price through the roof with shortcomings on some features.
Hi, Denis,
We’re all awaiting more details, but I know the radio is, in fact, in the works. I’m sure supply chains and now the labor issues in China due to lockdowns are affecting the availability. I seriously doubt the new radio would be covered in the rubberized coating like the E1–Eton stopped using that product nearly a decade ago due to how quickly it deteriorated.
Cheers,
Thomas
Más vale tarde que nunca , espero y deseo que salga al mercado , imagino que con el tema de la maldita pandemia y la guerra se demorará un poco su puesta a la venta , saludos !! 🙂
3/28/2022 New update on Universal’s website says Eton now is looking at June or July for release.
If they delay it long enough, maybe everyone will forget all about it. Still falls in the “Believe it when I see it” file.
By “June or July” I assume they mean 2022….
Thanks for the good detective work, Park. I’ll enjoy my Drake SW8 and forget about this one.
It was my impression when the E1/E1XM was introduced that it was basically a repackaged Drake SW8 (thanks Michael for refreshing my memory). If so, I think it used ceramic IF filters. Does anyone know if Murata or NTK are still making ceramic filters for radios?
Funny story about the E1, and I think you were there, Tom – at one of the Winterfests, Ian McFarland was there and brought his Barlow Wadley XCR30 with him. You could tell it had seen its share of miles, although it was in remarkable shape for its age. Well an E1 was up for grabs as one of the door prizes, and yes, Ian got the radio. I’ve known Ian on and off for 30 years, and I’ve never seen him as shocked as he was. To say that his jaw went through the floor is an understatement. I wish I had my phone to take a pic of his face – the look was hilarious
Interested, but I’ll wait for Thomas to review it before ordering.
The radio is featured in a multi-page Grundig ad in the new February issue of QST.
The specs look pretty good in the QST. There is also a new Elite Executive HD in that ad. It looks like the display coloring is different but I couldn’t tell if anything else was changed from the current model.
Looked like a full color screen?
Not really full color. It still looks like a segmented digital LCD display but with different colors for some of the info on the screen. It’s odd because the description reads “Rich Orange LED Display” which is what the current iteration of the radio has. I’m curious if the “HD” denotes that it’s capable of receiving HD radio but there’s nothing in the description in the advertisement that mentions that.
Eton seems to be notorious for stretching the truth a bit in their advertising. I know there are quite a few people that thought the original iteration of the current Executive Satellit was kind of a off-white/bone color based on the pictures they had published and then were disappointed when it showed up and was just another silver radio. Count me in that bunch.
Would love to see this ad somewhere, that hopefully doesn’t require my purchasing a full membership to the ARRL, since I’m not a Ham.
I’m skeptical that it will be produced. But if so, I expect the price to be high .. especially if the specifications and performance is about the same as the original E1 (and I have one of those).
I am excited by the prospect of an improved radio – I missed out on the first version as it became something of a legend, and was then priced out of reach. I am hopeful they listened to the users and improved upon the few shortcomings it had, rather than “updating” it to a whole new, inferior design, as so often happens these days. Thanks for the update Thomas (and Troy!) Cheers!
Remains to be seen whether the pre-orders taken in by Universal Radio, which formally closed, will still be valid.
Universal Radio still operates online. The question I have is if they will honor the original pre-order price? I just dug up my confirmation and it was $349.95. They now have the price of the future release listed at $449.95.
” Ouch ” !
The product page at UR currently lists 5/11/2020 as the last info update, so I would think pricing might be a YMMV situation for now.
As I noted earlier, Eton itself is pricing the current 750 at a ludicrous $450 right now. For comparison, IIRC, the original E1 retailed for $400 and original 750 for around $300.
Now factor any circuit changes along with ongoing semiconductor availability issues, and I would not be surprised if pricing for the new E1 ends up (much?) higher than $450 when launched.
That’s a good call noticing the product page was last updated almost 2 years ago. Oddly, UR’s home page has a “Last updated: January 21, 2022” at the top.
Does any colleague knows the actual status of Universal Radio? Are they only updating the website? Are they still in business? Who’s running it? ?
I called Universal Radio on 1-10. They still have my order from January 2020, and said they are honoring existing orders. I did not specifically ask if price was the same but assume it is. They confirmed that Eton has been contacting them about color choices, etc. I also emailed Eton about it (early January I think?) and Julia replied that they were still going to release the product “hopefully in February”
I’m not going to get overly excited about a radio that has been vaporware for over a year. This could just be a marketing ‘hook’ to get people interested in the website. Unless and until it becomes available, it’s more vaporware.
Good to know. But just how big is it? wasn’t already a V1 of this radio, or was it all hype from a few years back?
Thanks and 73s
Yes, there was – it was actually a joint venture between Eton / Grundig and RL Drake – yes, the same company that made the excellent R8 series tabletops.. There were 2 versions – The E1XM (with satellite radio) and just the E1 (no satellite). There were LOTS of reviews written, and even a White Paper by (I think) Larry Magne which went into great detail about this radio
Whether this radio is a copy of these radios or whether there were any refinements remain to be seen
Anyone want to guess the MSRP considering Eton prices the 750 at a laughable $450?! o.0
Please, don’t be another SiLabs Si47xx-based radio. The chuffing and harsh AGC does not fit the tradition of Drake-designed receivers like the original E1.
Yeah, that would be hugely disappointing. My 2009 E1 performs so much better than any hardware radio I’ve bought since, including top Tecsun and Sangean models.
Agreed.
Hope they don’t use the “sticky” coating this time!
It looks exactly like the E1. Presumably the innards are changed!
I wouldn’t bet on much being changed Abigail………but we’ll see. At least they could have updated the look.
I guarantee there will be no rubberized coating this time.