{"id":48744,"date":"2021-05-03T08:29:14","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T12:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=48744"},"modified":"2021-05-03T08:29:14","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T12:29:14","slug":"dan-revisits-the-venerable-xhdata-d-808-portable-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/05\/dan-revisits-the-venerable-xhdata-d-808-portable-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"Dan revisits the venerable XHDATA D-808 portable radio"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Dan Robinson<\/a>, who shares the following guest post:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\"XHDATA<\/a>Revisiting the XHDATA: What Sangean Should Have Learned from the D-808<\/h1>\n

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

Recent additions to the shortwave portable receiver market have been quite impressive, especially considering the continuing decline in the use of shortwave as a transmission method by broadcasters.<\/p>\n

In what could be the final models from Tecsun, we saw the PL-330<\/a>, PL-990x<\/a> and H-501x<\/a> all of which bring impressive features and capabilities to the game.\u00a0 Sangean finally introduced its upgraded ATS-909×2<\/a> including an early firmware upgrade that was supposed to correct some issues with this receiver.<\/p>\n

As I have observed in some recent reviews, the very fact that the listening community still sees any new receivers is reason for gratitude, though we also have opportunities to acquire numerous classic receivers and can still do an excellent job in today’s listening environment.<\/p>\n

One receiver that emerged a few years ago and which took the listening hobby by storm was the XHDATA D-808.\u00a0 Numerous reviews are online, including ones here on the SWLing Post<\/a>, and excellent reviews by Gilles Letourneau here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 808 was and still is compared to the CCrane Skywave SSB, a much smaller and compact receiver.\u00a0 Unfortunately, in my experience both suffer from soft muting.<\/p>\n

I obtained a D-808 shortly after it appeared based on early positive reviews.\u00a0 I used it once, at the beach in Florida where reception conditions were superior \u2013 comparing it to some older portables in my collection such as the SONY ICF-SW07, ICF-SW55<\/a>, and the Panasonic RF-B65<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I was impressed with the sensitivity of the 808, large speaker, and inclusion of AIR band, though I noticed some digital artifacts and agree with negatives such as slight soft muting and chuffing, and slowness of the processor.<\/p>\n

I boxed the D-808 up and stored it away where it sat until recently when I took it back out after my experience using Sangean’s ATS-909×2<\/a> \u2013 thus the title of this brief commentary.<\/p>\n

Sangean made some basic decisions with the 909×2.\u00a0 Many of them are quite positive over the old 909x.\u00a0 For many users the 909×2 has more than enough features to justify the higher price of the receiver.<\/p>\n

I came to a different conclusion after returning my ATS-909×2, and I started thinking about how the D-808 could have informed engineers at Sangean as they considered which features to put in the 909×2.\u00a0 To what extent Sangean designers looked at various other portables, including the D-808, we will probably never know.<\/p>\n

D-808 DEMONSTRATES IMPORTANCE AND IMPACT OF BANDWIDTH FILTER CAPABILITY IN SSB<\/b><\/h3>\n

AM bandwidth control on the ATS-909×2 is quite nice.\u00a0 However, what leaps out is the absence of multi-bandwidth capability in SSB mode.\u00a0 It’s baffling that Sangean seems not to have recognized this as a must-have feature.<\/p>\n

Tecsun started providing this on small receivers years ago, and in the PL-880, the excellent though flawed portable that also took the listening world by storm, and in the recent 330, 990x and 501x.<\/p>\n

Using the D-808 again after a few years reminded me that this little China-made receiver offers no less than SEVEN <\/b>bandwidths, in AM mode.\u00a0 Let me say that again:\u00a0 SEVEN<\/b> (7) bandwidths.<\/p>\n

You don’t find that kind of selectivity capability even in a Drake R8B.\u00a0 After that, you’re getting into continuously variable bandwidth control found in premium DSP receivers.<\/p>\n

So, in AM mode you have:\u00a0 6 kHz, 4 kHz, 3 kHz, 2.5 kHz, 2.0 kHz, 1.8 kHz, and 1.00 kHz<\/b><\/p>\n

The D-808 also has fine tuning capability.\u00a0 This is not the same as the Tecsuns which actually enable you to re-calibrate, and with adjustment that remains set for both USB and LSB.\u00a0 On the D-808 you fine tune to zero beat, but have to repeat the correction\u00a0 for LSB and USB on the frequency you’re on \u2013 it’s a bit more twiddly, but on my 808 the fine tuning is nonetheless very smooth.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, combined with SIX<\/b> bandwidth options when in SSB, the fine tuning option on the 808 is a superb feature, not to mention that on my particular D-808 there is little to no \u201cwarbling\u201d when carrying out the fine tune operation.<\/p>\n

So, in SSB on on the D-808 you have:\u00a0 4.0 kHz, 3.0 kHz, 2.2 kHz, 1.2 kHz, 1.0 kHz, and an amazing .5 kHz !\u00a0 Imagine that: \u00a0 .5 kHz<\/b><\/p>\n

I usually remember stuff like this, but when I first tried the D-808 in Florida back in 2018 I was more focused on assessing sensitivity, audio, and issues such as its pretty slow DSP response when changing modes.<\/p>\n

Video Demonstration<\/a> of D-808 bandwidth capability in AM and SSB modes:<\/h3>\n