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Reviews For: Grundig Satellit 750

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : Grundig Satellit 750
Reviews: 64MSRP: 300
Description:
The Grundig Satellit 750 with Advanced DSP technology is an exciting portable that brings the world to you! You will get complete coverage of all long wave, medium wave and shortwave frequencies as well as FM (stereo to the earphone jack). Plus the Satellit 750 also receives the VHF aeronautical band (117-137 MHz). Your shortwave coverage includes the reception of the single sideband (SSB) mode allowing the reception ham radio operators, maritime and shortwave aeronautical stations. You can select either wide or narrow selectivity to reduce co-channel interference. You can tune your favorite stations by the conventional tuning knob, quick keypad entry of via the 1000 memories. And you will enjoy the fidelity you have come to expect from Grundig enhanced by separate bass and treble controls. The radio features both an Earphone Jack and a Line Output Jack. Long distance Medium wave (AM band) reception is possible because of the built-in rotatable, directional ferrite antenna. External antennas may also be attached. 14.65 x 7.24 x 5.75 inches. There is even a USB (5V) outlet for MP3 or mobile phone charging function
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.etoncorp.com/product_card/?p_ProductDbId=351064
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00643.9
PU2NBU Rating: 2011-11-22
Far way from a toy! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
First of all, the Sat 750 has serious input antennas, im my case, I use a SWL Par Electronics with a BNC connector plus a FM Air Band Maldol Al-500H. Second, it has a commendable SW sensitivity. Third, its versatility, providing strong AM and FM signals with a powerfull and clear audio. I hear lots of SW commercial stations, many HAMs and inumerous CB drivers, since I leave near 2 major highways. I hear of course my soccer team on AM and good fashion musics on FM. It is not of course an Icom IC-R9500, however, it is not a toy neither. My best generic and domestic radio buy for 300 GWs at HRO. In my XYL opinion, it is the best looking hardware in my radio shack.

Nilton
Campinas/SP/Brazil
KO0KY Rating: 2011-08-19
I'm glad I bought it... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently bought one of these receivers from J&R Music World. I use it for general shortwave listening and for an alarm clock.

The Fm portion is great, the AM portion is terrific and the SW is acceptable. Acceptable means more than expected performance for the price. I've experienced no QA issues, the fit and finish is superb.

I am fully cognizant that this level of radio is no Icom R75, but for the money it performs really well.

I'm not sure what people are complaining about regarding the manual, I followed the instructions and everything worked.

I have recommended the radio to my friends and I do so for anyone reading this. You will not be disappointed, unless you think you're getting a Lowe or Palstar for the money.

73,

John - ko0ky
W6UXB Rating: 2011-07-24
I love this little radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well I must have got a good one too! It was with much trepidation that I decided to order the Satellit 750 from Amazon, with their good return policy I thought I would be returning this radio soon. I have had it for just over a week now and I am very pleased, I have owned many radios to compare it to from the Lowe HF150-225 Satellit 650-800 Eton E1-E5 etc etc after having sold them all I was left with just my trusty Yaesu FT-1000 MP not really a radio for listeing to shortwave AM. On receiving this radio I liked the looks and did not think it was 'toyish'. Performance on FM broadcast is excellent, sensitivity on SW is great the only thing on strong SSB you do need to use the RF gain control, aircraft band easliy hears OAK about 40 miles from my home. The calibration is spot on with the fine tune straight up on SSB signals on exactly the same frequency as my FT-1000 MP but the S meter does seem overly generous on the SW bands plus 15 DB from my calibrated FT-1000 MP There is no sync detector but I would rather have no sync detector than one that works badly the only good ones I have heard were on the Lowe HF 150 and the Eton E1. I guess the later models have all the flaws fixed, I love this radio because it is in one package no external antenna tuners, speakers or power supplys to move about, great size and weight and I like the bnc connectors for the antenna, it cost me $261 and I am going to keep it
KB3DIV Rating: 2011-06-15
I got a good one! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I must have got a good one!
Glad I found this receiver for sale on Amazon and had it delivered for free.
I have a swl antenna outdoors in the trees and find this receiver to work just fine.
I believe, as with any radio, you must have a good antenna system including a solid ground.
I am using an end fed multi band fan antenna which includes a good ground at the feed point.
SCANNUT99 Rating: 2011-06-11
I got the E3 Wrong and now this!! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
OK OK! I did it again. I junped the gun on the E3 and the Satellit 750. As I said in my E 3 second (and much harsher) review, "first impressions" type reviews do not work for me. I called this a toy but when I wanted another portatop to join my E1 (warranty so in repair) and my new ATS 909x, (which I will wait a month to review), there was no other model in this category except the 750!

So considering I bought the store displayed model because they had no new in box radios, I got the display model for only $200 and a full warranty so that was so cool!! What a deal. No blemishes or anything.

Now before going further I must put in a word about today's radios. To me there are five categories. A portable which should have good sensitivity off the whip and no overload. Any extra perks are great, but it should have decent sensitivity and selectivity. There seem to be new models coming out every week. So there are many nice ones to choose from.

Another dieing out category is a Mid level Table Top. The Icom R75 has many features a Table Top should have but even it lacks sync, and has awful audio output. There are a couple of others but they cost anywhere from 799-1100.

The next category is the new Computer/black box Radio. I personally feel if I have to run a radio for anything more than firmware or programming it, I will never buy a black box with a virtual display on my computer. It just doesn't seem natural to me.

Then ofcourse there are the wide frequency professional models. Few are available and they can set you back several thousand dollars.

SO NOW COMES A GREAT COMPROMISE. THE PORTATOP

While this kind of radio can make a good table top for the price (250-500) it is also portable although they certainly will not be nearly as easy to pack in a suitcase. I use these radios because they combine more features, more fun, and dare I say it, more bang for the buck. But alas, other than the sangean 909x which seems to come close to being a portatop, those are the only two out there. The Eton E1 was discontinued which is too bad, because despite quality control issues, it is by far the best portatop ever created.

So, I know what you're thinking. Why did Eton downgrade their portatop and make it without sync or dsp? Probably because the new model would have to be better than the E 1 and that would probably move that radio into a new category that isn't getting much attention, especially in this economy.

I feel this is a great portatop and I was so wrong to call it a toy. It is so fun to use and it has a lot of great features. It has variable RF Gain which can be on auto or manually controlled. It has wonderful sound, even better than the E1. It has 3 levels of Attenuation It also has fine tuning on sideband.

I find that this radio has great sensitivity with a long wire (Several ways to hook one up to this radio and that is a huge plus) so finding stations and locking then works very well without much fading. That is, if you know how to work with the bells and whistles. I was impressed what tinkering with all these controls could do.

OK OK, it maybe should have had DSP but for $249, it is a great radio at a great price with that retro look of a Shortwave Radio from past eras.

It is not perfect but if you judge it as a portatop and not an expensive table top, then it is a lot of bang for the buck and is a heck of a lot of fun to use. It also has no qc issues. Wow! An Eton radio without QC issues. Wow!!!!

The key though to using this wonderful radio is playing with the controls and changing things around. I find that with some fun filled moments of tinkering, I get great reception and image rejection.

The only criticism is sadly the Ferrit Bar. It somehow does some strange things when turned. It is no where near as good as attaching a Terk to the Bar itself. (An eighth inch input is on the bar) And I still find that the best am dxing is done with my prize Panasonic RF2200. The model I purchased used is clean and on am, it really is highly sensitive and incredibly selective like nothing else I have ever used.

I am still giving this radio a 5 because it does what it's supposed to do at a reasonable price. It is a wonderful portatop!!!
N5FPO Rating: 2011-05-28
overall good performer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The only negative issue I've encountered with my Satellit 750 is that the antenna selector switch on the side of the unit is intermittent, you have to fiddle with it when using the "internal" telescoping antenna. The only other drawback is that it doesn't tune in smaller increments making it very easy to miss narrow band CW signals. But if general listening and SWLing is what you're after, you'll be hard pressed to find a better radio for the money. 73 Michael. KD5FPO
N1ARS Rating: 2011-05-27
Worth Every Penny Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The secret to good results with this radio is in the Antenna. I was into short wave listening long before I ever became a ham. I've had a lot of shortwave receivers and dollar for dollar this is a good buy. I can imagine how much more I could expect to get for $225.

One of the complaints I've heard about this radio regards its reception of The aircraft Band. It's important to realize that the signal for the aircraft band comes in through the FM antenna jack. I live about 15 miles from Tampa international Airport. I am able to copy all Ground control and approach frequencies without difficulty.

The Tuner is dead on frequency. The maritime mobile net is at 14300.
HFHAM2 Rating: 2011-05-21
Great Rig ! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Okay, when this radio was first announced, I must admit that I thought it looked toy-like with its rotatable antenna, fake rack-mount handles and plastic tuning knob (knobs are all aluminum on the newer ones despite the old pictures that dealers continue to show on their web pages).

The other thing that put me off this radio was the lack of a synchronous detector (a feature that I like a lot).

Well, I got the short wave listening bug again and wanted a decent receiver as my Ten Tec Argosy doesn't have general coverage receive. I have a C. Crane CSW (Redsun RP-2100) and a Degen DE-1103, but I wanted a table top. There are very few table top short wave radios avaiable at an affordable price now, so it was basically a PC based radio (no thanks!), something used (older technology), a boat anchor, or the Sat 750 "porta-top".

Just for the record, I hate the look of the Grundig E1/E1XM regardless of how good it's supposed to be and I ain't paying for XM; no way, no how (/end rant).

I opted for the Sat 750 as it gives you something of that boat-anchor look and feel without the disadvantages of a boat-anchor (weight, size, outboard speaker, electrocution risk); and a degree of portability too.

It does pretty well on its telescopic antenna, but hook it up to an external antenna (I use my Hustler 4BTV vertical) and it pulls-in stations surprisingly well. That's on the U.S. West coast where short wave signals tend to be weak. I'm not sure if the attenuation and RF gain controls would adequately prevent overload in stronger signal regions like Europe though.

The bass, treble and RF Gain controls could use more cut, but they're adequate for my purposes. I never use memories on my radios because short-wave frequencies change so much, it's just too much of a pain changing them, so I don't care how easy or difficult it is to use them. I do like the ATS feature on medium wave (AM) and FM though.

I've previously owned an RME 99, Hammarlund HQ-140X, Sony 7600G, Sony 2010, Grundig Satellit 700 & 800, Lowe HF-150 and Palstar R30C amongst others. All in all, for program listening and as an "entertainment machine", I find the Satellit 750 about as good or better (in some respects) than most of those radios. It sounds great, has a nicer range of tuning features than most, has a very usable narrow bandwidth filter, and has FM broadcast band, which some of them don't have available.

A sync. detector would've been nice, but I can live without it. ECSS is just about possible on this radio (better than on the Palstar R30C) but being BFO controlled, it will require touch-up to stay on frequency.

SSB sounds great when properly tuned-in and in the clear, but of course the narrow filter is too wide for SSB and CW (could be supplemented with an external audio filter).

Wide filter is wide (maybe ~8 KHz) like the Sony 2010, which is nice for full fidelity from stations that are in the clear. The narrow filter is one of the best I've come across for broadcast reception (maybe about 5 KHz); narrower than wide but retaining much of the fidelity and not muffled. Tuning off the station's frequency up or down a little (in slow tuning mode) usually improves the fidelity even more and can often eliminate heterodynes (whistles).

No, it's not a "Communications Receiver", it's a short wave radio, with medium wave, FM broadcast band and aircraft band thrown in.

On short wave, it's probably better suited to program listening than DXing, but I'm basing this on the filter bandwidths. I'm not a DXer, so I wouldn't really know though.

Being made of modern consumer grade materials, it won't have the longevity of radios from the past, but if current trends continue on short wave, this may be my last purchase of a short wave radio anyway.

All in all, it's turned out to be a great radio with a couple of minor flaws (hence the 4 rating).
KE8Y Rating: 2011-02-15
Great radio. Worth the money. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After only a week, the Satellit 750 has already exceeded my expectations. Everything works as advertised or better. There are many subtle features that the manual does not even mention. Grundig has left that up to you to discover!

I am using mine for SWL, and to supplement my Kenwood TS-530S transceiver by letting me tune other bands without having to touch the dials on the Kenwood. I am also thinking of routing the audio from my Kenwood through the Grundig for better sound quality and power.

The Grundig replaces my RS DX-390 and a Hallicrafters SX-99. Both will be going to cold standby.
KC7NYI Rating: 2011-02-03
LIKE THE LOOKS, HAPPY Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
RECEIVED YESTERDAY FROM AES. LOOKS GREAT, HAVE HAD KENWOODS, ICOMS, YEASU S. U PAY FOR WHAT U GET. MY DRAKE 8 B WAS THE BEST, AND I PAID 999 FOR A USED KENWOOD 5000. SO FOR WHAT I PAID FOR THE 750 IS A DROP IN THE BUCKET. I THINK WORTH THE MONEY. GIVE ME MORE THAN A DAY!!! WOULD BUY ONE FOR THE GRAND KIDS ROOM.