My ATS 909X2 is a personal fave, was beginning to think there was something wrong on mine with the SSB, until clarified. I have it's predecessor as well, the ATS 909 from several years ago. It is still a gem.
Eton usually put out solid radios which is why it's a wonder how they fouled up the HD Elite radio so bad. But at least they found the time to put in different color lights.
I bought several different portable Shortwave radios just to learn about them and this was a few years ago and I was very disappointed with what I was receiving and that I may have to go outside late at night to get better reception caused my interest to be short lived. You either had a good location or not with no in between. My shortwave radios sit abandoned to this day with little interest to get them out again.
I took my Drake R8 out of the box recently and soon discovered a totally noise obliterated dc to daylight seascape. Back to the box……guess will settle for Radio Garden and WebSDR.
Shortwave is dying and I think the radio manufacturers know it. With that said, I like mine, I really have no complaints. Seems to work fine on SSB along with a long wire.
Almost every review of this radio (from the very beginning) has talked about it's deafness without using an external antenna. Well, that defeats the portability factor unless you're going to bring a wire wherever you go. After years of collecting radios, I have come to the definitive conclusion that there cannot be a perfect radio any more than there can be the perfect camera, wristwatch or pair of shoes! I use certain radios based on what I'm listening to or where I plan to be. Certain radios are best for indoors, a walk around the block, travel to different countries or my backyard deck. There are radios I have that are better for FM, MW, SW, WX and SSB. Some have better fidelity for music, talk, low level listening in bed, ear buds or loud enough to work in the backyard. Some are more sensitive, have a higher selectivity, or offer multiple filtering choices. Some will scan stations in a different memory bank, others have pages I can store my favorite presets. Some fit in my pocket while others won't blow over on an outside table. I guess I finally realized I don't want a perfect radio, I want multiple radios that I can play with, explore their features and compare to each other! With that enthusiastic rant over, I will say I find the CC Skywave comes closest to "best in most situations," yet I did not take it to Europe because I wanted the Tecsun "ETM" feature. Every time I feel "satisfied" with the current group of radios I use, along comes an XHDATA or Qodosen I just need to have. :) '73
In your opinion what is the all around best radio for around 350 US dollars. Thanks for any advice
I have a Barlow Wadley its 50+ yrs old weighs a "ton" long wire antenna, works like a battleship.....
My ATS 909X2 is a personal fave, was beginning to think there was something wrong on mine with the SSB, until clarified. I have it's predecessor as well, the ATS 909 from several years ago. It is still a gem.
A suggestion to by a best SW Radio . Do you prefer Tecsun PL-880 or 990x instead of Sangean ats 909x2 ? Thanks
Eton usually put out solid radios which is why it's a wonder how they fouled up the HD Elite radio so bad. But at least they found the time to put in different color lights.
I bought several different portable Shortwave radios just to learn about them and this was a few years ago and I was very disappointed with what I was receiving and that I may have to go outside late at night to get better reception caused my interest to be short lived. You either had a good location or not with no in between. My shortwave radios sit abandoned to this day with little interest to get them out again.
There are antennas to help for noise, there is a lot to listen to
I took my Drake R8 out of the box recently and soon discovered a totally noise obliterated dc to daylight seascape. Back to the box……guess will settle for Radio Garden and WebSDR.
Shortwave is dying and I think the radio manufacturers know it. With that said, I like mine, I really have no complaints. Seems to work fine on SSB along with a long wire.
Almost every review of this radio (from the very beginning) has talked about it's deafness without using an external antenna. Well, that defeats the portability factor unless you're going to bring a wire wherever you go.
After years of collecting radios, I have come to the definitive conclusion that there cannot be a perfect radio any more than there can be the perfect camera, wristwatch or pair of shoes! I use certain radios based on what I'm listening to or where I plan to be. Certain radios are best for indoors, a walk around the block, travel to different countries or my backyard deck. There are radios I have that are better for FM, MW, SW, WX and SSB. Some have better fidelity for music, talk, low level listening in bed, ear buds or loud enough to work in the backyard. Some are more sensitive, have a higher selectivity, or offer multiple filtering choices. Some will scan stations in a different memory bank, others have pages I can store my favorite presets. Some fit in my pocket while others won't blow over on an outside table. I guess I finally realized I don't want a perfect radio, I want multiple radios that I can play with, explore their features and compare to each other!
With that enthusiastic rant over, I will say I find the CC Skywave comes closest to "best in most situations," yet I did not take it to Europe because I wanted the Tecsun "ETM" feature. Every time I feel "satisfied" with the current group of radios I use, along comes an XHDATA or Qodosen I just need to have. :) '73