Stephan’s replacement Sangean ATS-909X2 has a few issues

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Stephan, who shares a follow-up report after receiving a replacement Sangean AT-909X2 from Sangean Europe. Click here to read Stephan’s initial report along with Sangean America’s comments.

Stephan shares the following update:

Below are some of my observations on my recently arrived ATS-909×2. I spent two week-ends to carefully test this radio. Unfortunately, the radio that I received is not much improved, and it’s even worse in some aspects. This device has the latest firmware, VER. 073.

The bug related to sensitivity loss after switching bands is fixed, but the receiving performance is too bad to keep this radio in my collection.

This unit has better sensitivity on medium wave and long wave, but also it has lots of birdies on these bands. On long wave there are 14 strong birdies and dead carriers, on medium wave there are over 20 tones. The meowing sound while tuning is also still present. If somebody is interested, I can record audio demonstrations.

For these unpardonable issues, I consider this device a very expensive toy, but not a radio, at least not for listening to medium wave stations. It’s unbelievable that my 5 times cheaper Tecsun PL-398 is so much better on medium wave than this expensive receiver.

Another interesting issue which I discovered is a loud popping sound that occurs if I turn the tuning wheel a bit faster than usual. That pop gives you the impression that you just passed over a strong signal.

Sometimes, pushing the bandwith button puts the radio in SSB mode. It happened at least 5 times. I know that I am blind, but the keys are easily discernable.

Very low volume on SSB mode, but this is a known issue.

That’s all for now. This device goes back to Sangean Europe and I’ll not try again soon.

I really hope that only my particular unit is affected by these issues, but this is the second problematic device here. Might be I should buy from Sangean America… I simply can’t understand why a radio is not verified before shipping. I prefer to get a tested device with the original box opened, instead of exchanging multiple products. Such an expensive radio should be tested before shipping, because sometimes there are significant unit to unit variations. Or, even better, devices should be checked at the factory location with professional tools. Testing is needed, because there are many situations when a birdie is audible only if it’s mixed with another signal.

Thanks for reading!

Thank you for sharing this, Stephan. It sounds like the unit you received does have some quality control issues. Other than the low SSB volume level, my ATS-909X2 unit (from Sangean America) hasn’t had these issues.

Indy 500 Week Marks the Second W9IMS Special Event of 2021

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Indy 500 Week Marks the Second W9IMS Special Event of 2021

By Brian D. Smith, W9IND

If you’re looking to add a 2021 Indy 500 QSL card to your collection, and perhaps a certificate as well, your odds of success just accelerated. From now through the end of Sunday, May 30 (Race Day), the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Amateur Radio Club will take to the airwaves with special event station W9IMS.

The station’s SSB signals will appear daily on 20 and 40 meters – usually on or around 7.245 and 14.245 MHz – and possibly on 80 meters (near 3.840 MHz) later in the evening.

The Indy 500 special event is the second of three W9IMS operations commemorating the major races at the Speedway – and comes only 9 days after the first, which honored the IndyCar Grand Prix. The third and final special event of 2021, which runs from Aug. 9-15, celebrates the NASCAR 400 at the Brickyard.

Both hams and SWLs are eligible for the newly designed 2021 W9IMS QSL cards and Checkered Flag Award. To earn the certificate, however, you must work (or tune in) W9IMS during all three of this year’s special events – and the first race has already come and gone. But even if you miss the clean sweep, you can still claim individual QSL cards from the last two races.

Tips on finding W9IMS:

Check DX Summit (www.dxsummit.fi) for spots listing the current frequency or frequencies of W9IMS, if any. By typing “W9IMS” in the search box at upper right, you can customize it to show reports for only that station.
Go to the W9IMS web page (www.w9ims.org) and look for the heading, “2021 Operating Schedule.” Click on the Indianapolis 500 link, which opens into a weeklong schedule listing individual operators and their reserved timeslots. Your odds of catching W9IMS on the air are enhanced during hours with an operator’s name attached.
Prime time on weeknights is 6 to 10 p.m. Indy time (2200-0200 UTC). However, W9IMS can pop up anytime, even on two bands at once, between now and 11:59 p.m. Sunday, May 30 (0359 UTC Monday, May 31).
Remember that the published schedule can be curtailed by adverse circumstances, such as noisy bands, local thunderstorms or a lack of calling stations.
On the positive side, operators frequently fire up the station at unscheduled times. That’s why DX Summit is the best starting point for locating W9IMS’s current frequencies.

Antenna array on NBC television show “Debris”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bruce Fisher, who writes:

Hi Thomas,
I recently watched an episode of a science-fiction tv series on NBC called “Debris”. There was a brief scene of an antenna array and the following dialogue:

“What is this place?”
“It was used to transmit news reports to the Allied Nations during World War Two.”
“Voice of America?“
“Yes, yes. And also shortwave radio communication with spies…”
Can anyone identify this location and the veracity of the information?

Thanks for sharing this, Bruce! I’m certain some of our savvy readers can positively ID this transmitting site. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a military site rather than the VOA.

Please comment!

Armin hears “clicks” after update of SI473x receiver firmware

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Armin Sander, who writes:

Hello Thomas,

Thanks for posting the info on the SI47xx firmware-update.

I have done the update and the receiver runs now on firmware ver. 3.0.7a

It works fine but I hear now on am/lw/shortwave “click” noises on the radio.

Is this the sign that something is wrong with the firmware programming?

Before I had the ver. 1.5 on my radio without these noises.

Maybe you can post this info on your homepage.

Best Regards from Germany

Armin Sander

Thank you for the feedback, Armin. My hope is that an SWLing Post reader might be able to help you hear. I haven’t heard others report of click noises yet.

Circa 1959 Spectra-Radio Spectacles

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi, who writes:

While perusing through a 1959 Lafayette Radio sales flyer, this hybrid radio/sunglasses radio was spotted (see image above). Put a huge smile on my face–a three-transistor, germanium diode model hihi. Runs on a Mercury battery which were common years back.

That is fantastic, Mario! Love it.

I can tell you that I think Spectra-Radio seem a lot cooler than Google Glasses! Thank you for sharing!

UNID Russian Numbers Station recorded April 26, 2021

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who recently shared this recording of an unidentified numbers station in Russian.

Paul recorded this on April 26, 2021 at 0218 UTC in McGrath, Alaska, on 11,615 kHz:

I’m not an expert on numbers station identification–if you can ID this station, please comment!

Update: Many thanks to a number of readers who have suggested that this is the “S06 Russian Man” station.

SI473x Receiver Firmware Update and Internal Photos

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Robert Richmond, who writes:

Hi Tom,

Ricardo (PC2CLR) recently published an excellent firmware update for the SI473x kit-based receivers flooding AliExpress, eBay, etc.

I purchased a preassembled SI473x model, and it has a much better user interface following the update IMO. Other changes include being able to tweak or disable soft mute, finer grained attenuation, and a few options being moved to the encoder instead of multiple button presses.

The update including directions and a list of features can be found here:

https://github.com/pu2clr/SI4735/tree/master/examples/SI47XX_KITS/AliExpress

Best Regards,

Robert Richmond