Sangean ATS-909X Tropical Band DXing

Further examining my new Sangean ATS-909X portable shortwave receiver, I chose to hold a short outdoor DXing session during dusk, scanning for signals on the 60 meter tropical band.

As the ATS-909X is not particularly sensitive on the lower frequencies using the built-in telescopic whip antenna (especially when running on battery power), I used the supplied ANT-60 reel-out wire antenna which is approx. 6 m long.

Stations received:

4765 kHz Radio Tajikistan, 100 kW, 4708 km
4780 kHz Radio Djibouti, 50 kW, 5405 km
4800 kHz China National Radio (presumed), 100 kW, 6589 km
4930 kHz Voice of America, Botswana, 100 kW, 8429 km
4940 kHz Voice of America, Sao Tomé e Principe, 100 kW, 5783 km

Location: 15 km Southeast of Hannover, Germany

Time: around 1940 UTC on 16 May 2011

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• sangean
• ats-909x
• shortwave
• radio
• receiver
• tropical band dxing
• dx
• kurzwelle
• tropenband-dx
• reception
• empfang
• longwire
• antenna
• langdrahtantenne
• ant-60
• outdoor dxing
• weltempfänger

[DjMaXXimal]

is shortwave signal reception better in 909X compared to old 909W?

I've tested out my friend's 909W and it had weaker reception on shortwave than my WR2100.

[senderjaeger]

@DjMaXXimal No. 909X and 909W are identical concerning shortwave reception. Both have rather poor sensitivity on the built-in antenna, especially below 10 MHz and when running from batteries. However, reception can be boosted considerably by using the supplied wire antenna (as I did in this video).

The WR2100 is highly sensitive on its whip antenna, sometimes even too sensitive.

[Shortwave68]

Oh super!! Du hast den neuen Sangean. Bist du zufrieden damit ??Der Sound hört sich sehr gut an.Beste Grüße Torsten

[senderjaeger]

@Shortwave68 Hallo Torsten, sagen wir mal so: Ich wäre noch zufriedener. wenn Sangean den Empfang auf LW, MW und KW gegenüber dem alten (brauchbaren) 909 verbessert hätte. ;-) Das AM-Teil entspricht dem des Vorgängers. Auf UKW ist der Neue aber durchaus besser, vor allem trennschärfer. Außerdem ist er wertiger verarbeitet, lässt sich bequemer bedienen und hat ein tolles, hell beleuchtetes Display. Insgesamt bin ich zufrieden, wenngleich der ganz große Wurf ausgeblieben ist. Beste Grüße Matthias

[cknqp108]

If I want to buy 909X, it is possible to buy it from US AMAZON. The price is roughly ￥19000 . I was able to be confirmed that about two months had passed from the Fukushima nuclear plant accident of Japan in the VOA news of 909X. Timely recording !

[senderjaeger]

@cknqp108 I don't know whether Amazon US ships to Japan. I bought mine at Amazon DE, they deliver only to Germany. Isn't it available at Amazon JP? Maybe you should look out on ebay for sellers who deliver to Japan, I'm sure there are some dealers who do so. Thanks for watching and comment!

[senderjaeger]

@pesnyaozemle Thanks for your comment. The good fidelity is due to the rather wide "narrow" filter (I think it's about 4 kHz wide). On the other hand, digging out heavily disturbed DX signals is not always possible with the factory equipped filters. But I did not buy this set for SW DXing anyway, its main purpose for me is receiving FM stations.

[senderjaeger]

@tvdxrools Thanks... I can't wait for the Es season to start... it's almost overdue. ;-)

[pesnyaozemle]

909X performs quite well when signal is weak, I think. The fidelity of sound is much better than affordable portable radios. Thank you for uploading !

[tvdxrools]

another great demo . look forward to seeing it with b2 Es