{"id":48626,"date":"2021-04-23T08:32:57","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T12:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=48626"},"modified":"2021-04-23T16:43:58","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T20:43:58","slug":"dan-robinson-reviews-the-sangean-ats-909x2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/dan-robinson-reviews-the-sangean-ats-909x2\/","title":{"rendered":"Dan Robinson reviews the Sangean ATS-909X2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post<\/em>\u00a0contributor,\u00a0Dan Robinson<\/a>, for the following guest post and review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

<\/h1>\n

Sangean v Tecsun in the Battle of Late Shortwave Era Portables:\u00a0 The ATS909x2<\/h1>\n

by Dan Robinson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some years ago \u2013 actually more than a decade \u2013 I decided to give Sangean a shot at winning me over in the shortwave portable category.<\/p>\n

I had and still do use numerous portables with a bias toward the classic SONY, Panasonic, and Grundig sets.\u00a0 The ones that made an impression stayed, often in multiples, as anyone can see if they visit the radio shack here in Maryland.<\/p>\n

These include, for those interested:\u00a0 the Panasonic RF-B65, SONY ICF-SW77, ICF-2010, ICF-PRO80, ICF-7600D, ICF-7700, ICF-SW1000T, ICF-SW55, ICF-SW100s, ICF-SW07, Grundig Satellit 500, to which were added in more recent times the Toshiba\u00a0 RP-F11, XHDATA D-808, and Tecsun portables ranging from the PL-365 and new PL-368 to the PL-880, PL-990x, H-501x, and S-8800.<\/p>\n

Sangean has generally not been on that list. There’s a good reason \u2013 I just never considered Sangean to be competitive when it comes to portables, though they did have some excellent larger sets such as the ATS-803A that made the first forays into multiple bandwidth options.<\/p>\n

My last experience with Sangean was with the ATS-909.\u00a0 I liked the looks and capabilities of that receiver, and even went to the point of having mine modified by Radio Labs.\u00a0 But those mods were underwhelming, in my view, and the original 909 always seemed to me to be deaf when using the whip antenna.<\/p>\n

That issue continued unfortunately with the 909x.\u00a0 Some of you may have seen a video<\/a> I did a few years ago in which I set a 909x against a SONY SW-07 and Panasonic RF-B65.\u00a0 This was done barefoot with only the whip antennas, but near a window.\u00a0 In short, the other two radios wiped the floor with the 909x.<\/p>\n

It took a surprisingly long time for Sangean to update the 909x with the 909×2, during which companies asked valid questions about the need for further development of world band portables.<\/p>\n

Eton turned the market on its head when it introduced the still superb E1\/XM which competed with the very end of SONY portable production, and co-designed with R.L. Drake added such superb features as Passband Tuning and three selectivity positions.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

So, now the 909×2 is here and with its 073 firmware upgrade has become a bit of a holy grail for portable receiver users.\u00a0 There have been a number of excellent reviews, including Dave Zantow’s deep dive, and some others here on SWLing Post.<\/p>\n

I’m going to give you my impressions, using the really detailed Zantow review as a base.\u00a0 I received my 909×2 from Amazon just today \u2013 it is a 073 firmware which confirms that new supplies have the upgrade.<\/p>\n

SENSITIVITY ON WHIP<\/h2>\n

First, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way.\u00a0 Although I have not undertaken detailed technical testing of the 909×2 \u2013 nor do I have the equipment to carry this out \u2013 it does seem that Sangean may have finally tackled this crippling flaw <\/b>that rendered the old 909x nearly useless when using it only on the whip.\u00a0 I’ll undertake further testing and comparisons with some of my other portables to confirm this.\u00a0 The whip antenna itself is robust \u2013 solid and long, something that Tecsun could take note of.<\/p>\n

AIR BAND<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>Inclusion of air band on this radio is a major selling point <\/b>for those interested in this type of monitoring.\u00a0 My initial tests showed the 909×2 to be quite sensitive and useful <\/b>\u2013 I managed to pick up no fewer than five airport comms frequencies in my area here in Maryland.<\/p>\n

SELECTIVITY \/ AUTO-BANDWIDTH<\/h2>\n

The 909×2 really shines with FIVE available selectivity options <\/b>that are easily selectable in shortwave mode.\u00a0 It would have been nice to be able to actually see the values of each filter as one scrolls through, but that’s a minor point.\u00a0 Think about it \u2013 in shortwave AM mode, this is the number of selectivity positions that one finds on such power house communication receivers as a Drake R8.\u00a0 Amazing that we now have that in a portable.\u00a0 On the negative side, I find the auto-bandwidth feature on the 909×2 to be nearly useless<\/b>, as useless as the similar feature found on Tecsun receivers<\/b>. The automatic switching is distracting and annoying<\/b>. My advice to users: forget this, and stick with manual bandwidth control.\u00a0 My advice to Sangean \u2013 I wish they had left this feature out but given us multiple bandwidths in SSB<\/b>.<\/p>\n

LCD AND BRIGHTNESS<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>Sangean hits it out of the park <\/b>with this multi-stage lighting for the display.\u00a0 Simply superb <\/b>and the kind of quality we could only hope for from other manufacturers.<\/p>\n

MAIN TUNING \/ DETENT CONTROL<\/h2>\n

I found the detents on the old 909x to be annoying \u2013 indeed, modifications have been available that could remove this feature.\u00a0 But Sangean being Sangean, the detent wheel remains in the 909×2 and it is not a deal killer<\/b>.<\/p>\n

AUDIO QUALITY<\/h2>\n

The radio retains the excellent audio <\/b>of the 909x \u2013 I am not sure the 909×2 exceeds what one hears from a Tecsun 990x or H-501x but it’s right up there and competitive.<\/p>\n

POWER SUPPLY<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>As others have noted, thanks to Sangean for sticking with AA cells.\u00a0 Together with internal charging when using Ni-Mh cells this is a major selling point.\u00a0 On the other hand \u2013 competitor Tecsun went a step farther with its H-501x which though it uses 18650 lithium batteries, has dual batteries, one of which can be held in standby, and switchable charging.\u00a0 That’s a design feature that you really have to respect.<\/p>\n

VARIABLE RF GAIN<\/h2>\n

Again, as noted by others Sangean retained the extremely useful thumb wheel RF gain control<\/b>.\u00a0 This is an excellent feature.<\/p>\n

KEYPAD<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>Another home run for Sangean when it comes to the keypads on the 909×2, 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.\u00a0 Time will tell, however, and we shall see if the keys on these radios hold up in heavy use.<\/p>\n

UP\/DOWN SLEWING<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>These controls which sit outside the circular main tuning knob are excellent, and reminds one of the slewing buttons on the SONY 7600GR, SW1000T and SW100.<\/p>\n

S-METER \/ DISPLAY<\/h2>\n

RSSI and SN Digital Signal Strength Information are provided on the beautiful 909×2 display.\u00a0 This is an improvement over the Tecsun signal strength\/SNR meters that I wish would be redesigned, if in fact Tecsun has any intention of future modifications to their portables.<\/p>\n

NO SOFT MUTING<\/h2>\n

Thank goodness we don’t 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).\u00a0 Soft muting quite simply ruins a listening session and it’s baffling that any manufacturer still puts it in.<\/p>\n

NEGATIVES (I AM IN TEARS)<\/b><\/h1>\n

OK, close all airtight doors and prepare to dive!\u00a0 Here are the negatives I see with the 909×2.\u00a0 I held off obtaining one of these radios because I knew there would be issues.\u00a0 And I was disappointed enough in the past with the 909x and 909 before it that I had almost decided not to go for it.<\/p>\n

SIGNS OF LONGWAVE RECEPTION PLAGUED BY CROSS-MOD FROM MEDIUMWAVE\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>On my particular unit \u2013 it remains to be seen whether this is true for others \u2013 long wave seems to be near useless.\u00a0 The band is filled with mediumwave stations bleeding through.\u00a0 Turning down the RF obviously helps but I still hear AM stations here in the DC area, when I am in LW mode.<\/p>\n

SSB PERFORMANCE<\/b><\/h2>\n

ALERT FOR SANGEAN AND ALMOST A DEAL BREAKER<\/b> \u2013 <\/b>as mentioned in the Zantow review, and in other comments I have seen on the 909×2, the drop in level from AM to LSB is a killer negative<\/b>.<\/p>\n

This is less noticeable in MW.\u00a0 But if you are in shortwave and have turned your volume up on any particular station, say a strong one such as Greece on 9,420 kHz or Spain, or an AM station, and you then switch to LSB it is like you have almost lost the signal<\/b>.\u00a0 This simply needs to be fixed<\/b>.\u00a0 Level on USB seems fine and acceptable, but LSB on shortwave requires immediate upwards adjustment of volume<\/b>, only to have to reverse the process when returning to AM mode.\u00a0 I find this problem to be sufficiently serious that I would recommend against obtaining a 909×2 until Sangean finds a way to fix it<\/b>.\u00a0 This issue is on the same level of BAD as the still unsatisfactory SYNC mode in all three of Tecsun’s shortwave portables<\/b>.\u00a0 In fact, I may return the 909×2 I obtained and wait until a fix for this emerges<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Example Video<\/h3>\n

In this video<\/a>, I demonstrate the extent of the problem as seen on this particular unit of the 909×2, which carries a serial number dk201043181.<\/p>\n