Sangean 909
 

Hello guys,

I am interested in buying a 909, but here there are some QC problems.
Is this true? And does this radio perform well, compared to my 2010
or YB-400?

Thank You

As far as the radio it self, I have owned one for almost 8 years


Lloyd Davies - Time Lord and Talk show host
"On the Domestic Front"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/domesticfront/

I have owned one for several years. It works great with an external wire
antenna (where many portables will overload with one). I find both my
ICF-SW7600G and Radio Shack DX396 are easily more sensitive with the stock
chrome whips. I had a YB400 and returned it - just not to my taste, though
it's a fine radio. Never used a 2010, but their reputation speaks for
itself. The 909 is fabulous for SSB and works well for ham and utility
listening. For program listening I prefer my 7600 (nothing beats a sync
detector that works) and then the DX396. The 909 has a couple of controls on
the side that I am always turning the radio to use. While the 7600 does,
too, it's a smaller item and more easily handled. (It's the little things.)
7600 also very nice job on SSB, BTW. The 909 also has a very long whip and
it's a bit cumbersome to move around the house compared to the other two.
(always falls over) These are small nit-picky items which may not bother
another user. The 909 also has a tape recorder remote jack that activates a
connected recorder with the radio's internal timer. Very nice feature. Lots
of memories in a page-organized fashion which doesn't suit me but may be
right for the other fellow. Text tagging of the memories is nice, though may
remain on the display once the frequency is changed. Annoying. None the
less, a fine radio. You may want to look at the 7600, too.

Happy shopping!

Neurotech wrote in message
om...
Hello guys,

I am interested in buying a 909, but here there are some QC problems.
Is this true? And does this radio perform well, compared to my 2010
or YB-400?

Thank You

Neurotech wrote:

Hello guys,

I am interested in buying a 909, but here there are some QC problems.
Is this true? And does this radio perform well, compared to my 2010
or YB-400?

Thank You

I've had a Sangean ATS-803A for over 8 years now and it has performed
flawlessly. I use it almost everyday.

__________________________
Mega Man
JobCrunchersUnite.com

Neurotech wrote:

Hello guys,

I am interested in buying a 909, but here there are some QC problems.
Is this true? And does this radio perform well, compared to my 2010
or YB-400?

Thank You

I've seen very few posts on this group about QC problems with the
Sangean-909 or the DX-398 (clone). There are quite a few mod's for these
two receivers which can improve their performance but that's not the
same as QC or reliability problems.


-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

Neurotech wrote:
Hello guys,

I am interested in buying a 909, but here there are some QC problems.
Is this true? And does this radio perform well, compared to my 2010
or YB-400?

Thank You

I just purchased the 909 yesterday. I originally had the YB400PE and
after reading reviews of the 909 vs YB400, I returned the 400 and got
the 909. My opinions:

The Grundig has a better quality 'feel' with respect to packaging. I
found the limit of 40 presets to be a little restrictive for a newbie
like me. It is small though and sounds very nice. The backlight is
useless. The carrying case is rather nice.

The Sangean is somewhat larger but not too much so. It has a ton more
features including auto tuning for FM/AM presets, nice backlight, tons
of preset memory, three alarms timers, RDS capability, to name a few. I
haven't yet noticed an improvement in reception over the Grundig but
then again I am new to swling so I wouldn't really be able to make an
educated statement about it.

I got my 909 at Fry's for $149 which is exactly what I paid for the 400.
The slight drop in quality of the radio case is acceptable in exchange
for the tremendous increase in memory and functionality over the
Grundig. Now if only I could stay up all night listening! (too old for
that I guess).

I suspect one day I will want more receiving capability but for now
there is a ton of stuff to hear. I love mine.

Cheers,
-Al

On 2004-03-25 09:40:27 -0800, Al Arduengo said:

Neurotech wrote:
Hello guys,

I am interested in buying a 909, but here there are some QC problems.
Is this true? And does this radio perform well, compared to my 2010
or YB-400?

Thank You

I just purchased the 909 yesterday. I originally had the YB400PE and
after reading reviews of the 909 vs YB400, I returned the 400 and got
the 909. My opinions:

The Grundig has a better quality 'feel' with respect to packaging. I
found the limit of 40 presets to be a little restrictive for a newbie
like me. It is small though and sounds very nice. The backlight is
useless. The carrying case is rather nice.

The Sangean is somewhat larger but not too much so. It has a ton more
features including auto tuning for FM/AM presets, nice backlight, tons
of preset memory, three alarms timers, RDS capability, to name a few.
I haven't yet noticed an improvement in reception over the Grundig but
then again I am new to swling so I wouldn't really be able to make an
educated statement about it.

I got my 909 at Fry's for $149 which is exactly what I paid for the
400. The slight drop in quality of the radio case is acceptable in
exchange for the tremendous increase in memory and functionality over
the Grundig. Now if only I could stay up all night listening! (too old
for that I guess).

I suspect one day I will want more receiving capability but for now
there is a ton of stuff to hear. I love mine.

Cheers,
-Al

Al,

$149 is a good price, did this include the AC adapter, ANT-60 wind-up
antenna, headphones and case?

Thanks,

B.

Bill Jones wrote:
On 2004-03-25 09:40:27 -0800, Al Arduengo said:

Neurotech wrote:

Hello guys,

I am interested in buying a 909, but here there are some QC problems.
Is this true? And does this radio perform well, compared to my 2010
or YB-400?

Thank You


I just purchased the 909 yesterday. I originally had the YB400PE and
after reading reviews of the 909 vs YB400, I returned the 400 and got
the 909. My opinions:

The Grundig has a better quality 'feel' with respect to packaging. I
found the limit of 40 presets to be a little restrictive for a newbie
like me. It is small though and sounds very nice. The backlight is
useless. The carrying case is rather nice.

The Sangean is somewhat larger but not too much so. It has a ton more
features including auto tuning for FM/AM presets, nice backlight, tons
of preset memory, three alarms timers, RDS capability, to name a few.
I haven't yet noticed an improvement in reception over the Grundig but
then again I am new to swling so I wouldn't really be able to make an
educated statement about it.

I got my 909 at Fry's for $149 which is exactly what I paid for the
400. The slight drop in quality of the radio case is acceptable in
exchange for the tremendous increase in memory and functionality over
the Grundig. Now if only I could stay up all night listening! (too
old for that I guess).

I suspect one day I will want more receiving capability but for now
there is a ton of stuff to hear. I love mine.

Cheers,
-Al


Al,

$149 is a good price, did this include the AC adapter, ANT-60 wind-up
antenna, headphones and case?

Thanks,

B.

Yes it did. In my searches I found the asking price elsewhere to be in
the 219-249 range but I am not sure if that is truly representative of
the fair value. I just bought the Passport to World Band Radio 2004 Ed.
and was at first a little dismayed to find the 909 only rated 2 stars
compared to the YB400PE's 3 stars. But in reflecting on the entire book
(which I think is generally wonderful!) I get a sense that Grundig has a
little clout with the authors. There are an enormous number of ads for
Grundig and coincidentally many of the rundig radios faired
significantly better than others - including Sangean. But before anyone
claims a case of sour grapes, I admit I may be a little miffed that the
radio I ended up with got a lower grade than the one I exchanged it for.
Ah well. I still like my 909 and frankly I think the features are
worth the single-star penalty.

Thanks for the message!
Best,
-Al

I have both the YB400PE and the 909/398. I can tell you that the Grundig is
better at pulling in a weak signal OFF THE WHIP then the 909. If you hook
a long wire up to the 909 it will out perform the 400 on a long wire. The
SSB capabilities of the 909 are FAR SUPERIOR to the 400's touchy BFO. You
chose wisely, grasshopper!



Yes it did. In my searches I found the asking price elsewhere to be in
the 219-249 range but I am not sure if that is truly representative of
the fair value. I just bought the Passport to World Band Radio 2004 Ed.
and was at first a little dismayed to find the 909 only rated 2 stars
compared to the YB400PE's 3 stars. But in reflecting on the entire book
(which I think is generally wonderful!) I get a sense that Grundig has a
little clout with the authors. There are an enormous number of ads for
Grundig and coincidentally many of the rundig radios faired
significantly better than others - including Sangean. But before anyone
claims a case of sour grapes, I admit I may be a little miffed that the
radio I ended up with got a lower grade than the one I exchanged it for.
Ah well. I still like my 909 and frankly I think the features are
worth the single-star penalty.

Thanks for the message!
Best,
-Al

sigh-of-relief

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I was beginning to see that very
sentiment in readings from the web.

While I have you here, I am admittedly the newest swler on the face of
the planet so I ask: does using the external wire antenna imply it must
be strung out to it's full length *outside* or would stringing it out as
far as possible around the ceiling in a room make any sense? In a
nutshell, I am currently confined to do my listening in a medium size
bedroom at the house I stay in during the work week (I commute from
Austin to Dallas) so I am rather limited in how I implement an external
antenna. Is there a SW listening FAQ?

Thanks for your input. It is very valuable to me at this early stage.

Best,
-Al

ac-acadaptor wrote:
I have both the YB400PE and the 909/398. I can tell you that the Grundig is
better at pulling in a weak signal OFF THE WHIP then the 909. If you hook
a long wire up to the 909 it will out perform the 400 on a long wire. The
SSB capabilities of the 909 are FAR SUPERIOR to the 400's touchy BFO. You
chose wisely, grasshopper!




Yes it did. In my searches I found the asking price elsewhere to be in
the 219-249 range but I am not sure if that is truly representative of
the fair value. I just bought the Passport to World Band Radio 2004 Ed.
and was at first a little dismayed to find the 909 only rated 2 stars
compared to the YB400PE's 3 stars. But in reflecting on the entire book
(which I think is generally wonderful!) I get a sense that Grundig has a
little clout with the authors. There are an enormous number of ads for
Grundig and coincidentally many of the rundig radios faired
significantly better than others - including Sangean. But before anyone
claims a case of sour grapes, I admit I may be a little miffed that the
radio I ended up with got a lower grade than the one I exchanged it for.
Ah well. I still like my 909 and frankly I think the features are
worth the single-star penalty.

Thanks for the message!
Best,
-Al