{"id":23118,"date":"2017-01-03T08:18:01","date_gmt":"2017-01-03T12:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=23118"},"modified":"2017-01-03T08:18:01","modified_gmt":"2017-01-03T12:18:01","slug":"updated-version-of-the-sangean-ats-909x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/updated-version-of-the-sangean-ats-909x\/","title":{"rendered":"Updated version of the Sangean ATS-909X?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor,\u00a0Avo Ohanian, who writes:<\/p>\n

I had read with interest a review on Amazon about a purchaser receiving a Sangean ATS-909X in black with the firmware listed as “P-01”. I can confirm that this is indeed the case and that I am curious as to whether there is more than just a simple firmware revision.<\/p>\n

Brief history with my unit: I originally purchased one new (only available in white in Australia factory backed ) in August. The packaging was as I remembered from years ago and the firmware was 1.29. After a few happy months of use sans batteries I decided to slot in some Eneloops . First charge nearly cooked the batteries then the unit refused to charge at all. Back to the retailer.<\/p>\n

A few days before Christmas I got a call that a replacement was sent from the distributor and promptly trained it over to pick it up.<\/p>\n

First impression is the box is now all white with the new look Sangean logo. This unit is also set for extended FM (76-108 MHz) whereas the old unit started at 87.5MHz. Upon switching on, firmware check showed “P-01”.<\/p>\n

Now, differences…<\/p>\n

The biggest disappointment for me is the backlight. The old unit backlight had a beautiful even light blue colour across the LCD panel. The new one has a distinctly darker browny tinge on the left and bright bluish rings of light where the LEDs are on the right. I think whatever was behind the LCD display that gave it the uniform light has been removed or moved. I know I used to be able to see some sort of ribbon cable just behind the Page and mode region on the LCD which the new unit does not have. That or quality is an issue….<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My partner can’t see any issue with the display but then she is well aware that I am picky.<\/p>\n

Mediumwave reception appears to be much better on the new unit, however I do note one static hash frequency at 885 kHz. Seems very narrow and doesn’t affect reception for me. I note the bandwidth is very wide. Even 8\/10 stations have a distinct hiss. Nothing major and music clarity is very good because of this but DXing in wide mode can get tiring.<\/p>\n

[After]\u00a0listening to MW for about an hour, the unit drifts about 1kHz down (in 30 deg C heat). During normal operation, you don’t notice it–however, when trying ECSS using SSB it will vary from cold at nearly dead on frequency to dropping to the top cusp of the next lowest kHz when hot. It may be that the old unit was the same but was calibrated slightly higher hence it never dropped a kHz on the display when hot.<\/p>\n

LW is of no use in Australia however the new unit does have weak MW images, something I did not note on the old unit. Aircraft NDBs are all there.<\/p>\n

SSB. Hmmm. There is a problem as others have noted. First there is quite prominent drift due to heat. The old unit was rock solid and had very, very good ECSS capabilities. The new does appear to be very picky but it is still usable. I think the techs forgot to set the DSP bandwidth to narrow in SSB mode. It seems extremely wide. There is no tune muting though (in any mode) when using the wheel but a careful–finger is needed to get close to zero beat.<\/p>\n

Shortwave is hash for me as I live in units where people seem to buy cheap LED RF spewing globes. Ugh. It seems the same as the old unit. It needs AC to get maximum sensitivity. Go battery and there is a definite deafness.<\/p>\n

FM is superb. Only difference to the old unit is the stereo decode threshold. The old unit would decode stereo well before RDS. This new unit requires at least 7\/10 before decoding stereo. Some fringe stations will get RDS info without ever getting stereo decode. No biggie, [especially since] unit only has one speaker.<\/p>\n

I am thinking that the DSP chip has changed on P-01 units as the slight differences in operation and look behind the LCD panel makes me think some re-engineering has been done to the circuit board perhaps to accommodate chip changes.<\/p>\n

Happy New Year,
\nAvo<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thank you for your evaluation of the “P-01” version of the venerable Sangean ATS-909X, Avo.<\/p>\n

Post<\/em>\u00a0readers:<\/strong> have you also noticed performance differences between legacy\u00a0and current production ATS-909X models?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0Avo Ohanian, who writes: I had read with interest a review on Amazon about a purchaser receiving a Sangean ATS-909X in black with the firmware listed as “P-01”. I can confirm that this is indeed the case and that I am curious as to whether there is more than just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[836,3,3196,26,43],"tags":[5774,602,5775,2003],"class_list":["post-23118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-products","category-news","category-portable-radio","category-radios","category-shortwave-radio","tag-avo-ohanian","tag-sangean-ats-909x","tag-sangean-ats-909x-p-01","tag-sangean-ats-909x-review"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-60S","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11918,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/01\/two-strategies-to-improve-sangean-ats-909x-sensitivity\/","url_meta":{"origin":23118,"position":0},"title":"Two strategies to improve Sangean ATS-909X sensitivity","author":"Thomas","date":"January 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"SWLing Post contributor, Moshe, writes: \"I would like to share something I noticed about Sangean sensitivity issue: As I own the ATS909, I noticed that with fresh set of regular batteries (1.5V) or it's power transformer, it is very sensitive. When the voltage of the batteries drops, so does sensitivity!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How To"","block_context":{"text":"How To","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/how-to\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ATS-909X","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/ATS-909X.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/ATS-909X.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/ATS-909X.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14955,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/the-sangean-ats-909x-martys-bedside-radio-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":23118,"position":1},"title":"The Sangean ATS-909X: Marty’s bedside radio review","author":"Thomas","date":"September 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"SWLing Post reader, Marty (W5MRM), comments: I recently picked up a Sangean ATS-909X to use as a bedside radio. This blog post inspired me to put together a video review of the ATS-909X as a bedside radio. The video review can be found on my youtube page\u00a0[or via the embedded\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sangean-ATS-909X-Marty","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Sangean-ATS-909X-Marty.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Sangean-ATS-909X-Marty.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Sangean-ATS-909X-Marty.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45763,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/10\/a-new-sangean-ats-909x-model-in-the-works-two-909xs-lead-dan-to-a-potential-discovery\/","url_meta":{"origin":23118,"position":2},"title":"A new Sangean ATS-909X model in the works? Two 909Xs lead Dan to a potential discovery…","author":"Thomas","date":"October 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, DanH, who shares the following guest post: How two Sangean ATS-909Xs led me to news of an ATS-909X2 by DanH I decided to buy a second Sangean ATS-909X this summer. I operate shortwave portables on batteries and wanted the ability to switch radios if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Products"","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Sangean-909X-x2-DanH.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Sangean-909X-x2-DanH.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Sangean-909X-x2-DanH.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Sangean-909X-x2-DanH.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Sangean-909X-x2-DanH.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6785,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/lutus-review-of-the-sangean-atx-909x\/","url_meta":{"origin":23118,"position":3},"title":"Lutus’ review of the Sangean ATS-909X","author":"Thomas","date":"June 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanks to Benn (AK4AV) for forwarding Paul Lutus' in-depth review of the Sangean ATX-909X. Lutus mentions that shortwave sensitivity is fairly low, but medium wave and FM are quite good. Click here to read the full review: http:\/\/arachnoid.com\/Sangean_ATS-909X\/index.html On a side note, Benn points out that Paul\u00a0Lutus was the inventor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Radios"","block_context":{"text":"Radios","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/radios\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ATS-909X_small","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/ATS-909X_small-300x193.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":31525,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/recommending-the-tecsun-pl-880-over-the-sangean-ats-909x\/","url_meta":{"origin":23118,"position":4},"title":"Recommending the Tecsun PL-880 over the Sangean ATS-909X","author":"Thomas","date":"April 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0Direwolf131, who recently commented on one of the Sangean ATS-909X reviews in the Post archives. Direwolf131 writes: I\u2019m a few years after Steve\u2019s comments but I will have a go at it, at least anecdotally speaking. I\u2019ve owned a half dozen Sangean ATS-909\u2019s, which includes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/ATS-909X_small.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1910,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/sangean-ats909x-with-black-case\/","url_meta":{"origin":23118,"position":5},"title":"Sangean ATS909X with black case","author":"Thomas","date":"September 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Universal Radio is now selling the Sangean ATS-909X with a black case. Pricing is the same as the silver case ($259 US). For more information and reviews of the Sangean ATS-909X, please check it out in our Shortwave Radio Index (SWRI).","rel":"","context":"In "Manufacturers"","block_context":{"text":"Manufacturers","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/manufacturers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/SangeanATS909Xblack-300x287.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23118\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}