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Reviews For: Sangean ATS-505

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : Sangean ATS-505
Reviews: 26MSRP: 129.95
Description:
Low Cost Portable RX with SSB
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/rx_index.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00263.7
KT6KT Rating: 2004-05-27
poor Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Modulation recovery in AM mode poor.

Same ham station heard all over SW spectrum.

Suspect filter is RC network rather than in IF.

Never seem to see any specs on sensitivity, selectivity, IF rejection, image rejection, or other pertinent technical data which allow radio-to-radio comparisons.
VK2HEL Rating: 2003-09-13
Lack sensitivity Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The overall design is compact enough, but the sensitivity is very poor, may be I got a defect item. I compare 909 and 505 side by side, both tuned to VOA. The sound from 505 is so soft mixed in background noise that I can hardly hear anything, while the sound from 909 was clear and nice. The mute when you tune is rather annoying, especially if you want to scan across the band rapidly.
K0ABE Rating: 2003-04-13
Price Is Key, Dude... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
WOW… I wish I got my DX-402 for fifty bucks. I got mine for $120 a couple of years ago. In general I’m pleased with its performance. For every day shortwave listening it’s a very good receiver. I do have some issues.

The case is rather “cheap” the main tuning knob wobbles and doesn’t seem to be secure to the radio.

It tunes in 5 KHz increments, nice for general broadcast listening, a pain when you switch to SSB. Yeah, you can press the center of the “cheap” main tuning knob to change frequencies one KHz at a time but that gets to be a pain too.

The sound shuts down when you change frequencies. This makes frequency surfing a major challenge.

It eats batteries like candy. The only radio that eats batteries faster is my FT-817.

Not enough memory… Goodness, it’s a general coverage receiver. Give the radio some memory. Plus, if you unplug the radio from the AC adapter the wrong way everything is erased.

Even at $120 you can’t beat the price, except for $50 (how could anybody not buy one for that price). Other than the price the DX-402 has some good things going for it.

It “hears” well with the stock antenna, better with an external wire, better yet with that wire high and outside.

It’s small size makes it easy to pack… Bring extra batteries… Lots of them…

It has two clocks, one for local time the other for UTC.

Sound quality is just OK.

If the folks at Sangean could have added one thing I would have liked to see an auxiliary jack for connecting a tape recorder.

73 Mike KØABE
W9SIP Rating: 2003-02-26
Great Beginner Bargin Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm new to shortwave listening so I may be somewhat naive. But the 505P I purchased works great. I have been pulling in stations from all over the world with no difficulty and very clean reception. I've also done alot of SSB listening. Using the clarifing knob pulls them in clearly. I have no noticeable delay on tuning nor is the knob wobbly as some have suggested. For $100.00 I got the radio, AC adapt, reel ant and earbuds. I am very happy with this unit.
ALLEARS Rating: 2003-02-09
Radio Shack DX-402 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was able to get the last one in my area for $45. Is it a great radio? Not really but it is well worth the price I got it for. A good external antenna might help. It is no DX-440. Mine is 12 years old and still outperformes all portables I have tried. I also have a DX-398 on the way for $99. I am curious to see how that one performes. If you are looking for a good radio at a bargan price call your local radio shack and have them round one up for ya. Tell them you want a DX-402 and a DX-398 like I did. LOL

----------------------
Earlier 4-star review posted by ALLEARS on 2003-02-09

I was able to get the last one in my area for $45. Is it a great radio? Not really but it is well worth the price I got it for. A good external antenna might help. It is no DX-440. Mine is 12 years old and still outperformes all portables I have tried. I also have a DX-398 on the way for $99. I am curious to see how that one performes. If you are looking for a good radio at a bargan price call your local radio shack and have them round one up for ya. Tell them you want a DX-399 and a DX-398 like I did. LOL
LNXAUTHOR Rating: 2003-01-02
At US$49 - a good deal Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
- OK, i'm new to SWL'ng, but i did my research and listened to a number of portable shortwave radios...

- my concerns were: portability, cost, performance and features...

- after researching, listening, handling, and cross-checking features, i purchased an RS DX-402 (aka, Sangean ATS-505)...

- yes, the radio doesn't have a 'solid' feel, but hey, we're talking about an inexpensive portable!

- yes, there is a slight delay when entering direct frequencies, etc., but i'm retired and i'm not in a hurry...

- but considering you can find these at many RS right now (Dec 02/Jan 03) for $49, this radio is a good deal and performs quite well (i also use a random external antenna once in a while to good effect)

- would i have spent US$150 for this radio? nope... do i consider US$49 a good deal? a resounding yes!
MADERAKEN Rating: 2002-12-29
Very good for the $$$ Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is my fourth Sangean/Radio Shack radio, and the Sangean 505/DX-402 doesn't disappoint. I wanted a sturdy travel radio and this fits the bill nicely.

AM sensitivity is equal to my ultra-small Sangean DT-300VW and almost as good my DX-398 and big brother CC+ radio, which is really outstanding.

FM...uhhh, that's a little different story. The DX-398's reception is outstanding in this category and the DX-402's is a definite notch below this, but probably equal to the CC+ radio. FM lock-in is stable and the musical reproduction is excellent.

Where the DX-402 seems to shine is in the shortwave band. If you own the DX-398 you've probably noticed that the radio performs much better with an external antenna and the 6V power adapter. The DX-402 is easily its equal with the external antenna and doesn't need the power adapter for that little extra kick. The whip antenna is very sensitive and has performed most adequately for this west coast listener. Definitely, however, invest in some sort of external antenna to snag the weaker stations.

If you can find a DX-402 at a Radio Shack outlet, pick it up. They're selling for $49.95...quite a bargain for what you're getting. All it takes is a little persistence. The Radio Shack manager even offered "to call around" if I wanted any other Sangean/Radio Shack product.
LIST Rating: 2002-11-21
Cheap + Good Performance = Real Value Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this radio several weeks ago. Technically it's not an ATS-505. But, it's the Radio Shack twin - the DX-402. I like it. Decent reception and surprisingly good audio. The best part: I paid only $69.95. Now there's a value. Apparently, Radio Shack will carry only Grundig SW radios in the future, and they're clearing out all their Sangean-made products. That's what they told me anyway. So, for now, the DX-402 is on sale at a pretty attractive price. I agree with previous comments about the tuning knob. Forget it. Useless. But, otherwise this is a nice lookin', good soundin' unit. And, at around $70, it's a good deal.
W1CLD Rating: 2002-02-15
OK for the price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this radio not expecting miracles. I found the audio quality pleasing and the sensitivity adaquate. Mechanically it needed a little help (tuning knob feels real cheap), but functioned OK. I no longer have this radio for one reason, the first weekend I set it on the kitchen table to listen happened to be a ham contest weekend and I heard SSB no matter where I tuned. I could be on 5 MHZ, 10 MHZ, 15.6 MHZ and there was SSB all over it, apparently due to the
selection of IF in its design (?). Of course my first thought was a local operator, but I detected call signs from Texas (just a "few" hundred miles from my home) and other places not quite local. Nothing in the house was reradiating and I have never experienced this with any other receiver. So after returning this to Sangean (and a several week wait)and still hearing SSB everywhere, I traded up to a 7600G (which exhibits none of the above). I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this.
TOMCAT Rating: 2002-02-07
A good starter HF/SSB receiver Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I shall only discuss the performance on this radio base from my location in an island in the central Philippines :

This radio really performs very well. I set up a longwire antenna outside my residence and it rarely suffers from front end overloading, except at night when the signals come in strong. All I do is remove the external antenna connection and use the built-in whip. My main listening hobby is on HF/SSB utility and aeronautical frequency. But when I brought this radio (along with my Yaesu VR-500 handheld receiver) in the crowded capital city of Manila, both radio became deaf on HF/SSB (but not on SW BC). It only shows that location can play a factor on the performance of any radio receiver. My QTH in the Phils is on an area that is near the sea/coast line and the island has few radio transmitter (only a couple of AM & FM BC station plus a few cell phone repeaters). So this makes for a "quiet" place to listen. And don't worry about that knocking noise when you shake the radio, it's only the batteries cause the compartment is a bit big for the AA size battery. I use a multi volt 350mA AC/DC adapter set at 3v (actuall output is 4.8v) and still get pretty good audio on HF. Plug the headphones out of this radio to a powered computer multimedia speakers and I really get a loud sound out of this radio!

It's a good starter radio for HF/SSB and SW listening. AM and FM are really superb especially if you plug the headphones out to a stereo components AUX in. I wish Sangean would eventually fix the wobbly tuning knob (and it's tendency to reverse tune when using it) and the those hard to press keypads.

D. Cruz, Bohol Island, Philippines