Home > Consumer Reviews > Sangean ATS-909 All Band Digital Shortwave World Band Receiver

I am kind of collector of short-wave portable radios. When I read about the 909, it seemed to me like the definitive portable (I don't like the 'other definitive, Sony 2100). So, I bought it from Amazon (good price and reliable store) and as soon as it was delivered to me I benchmarked it against the first radio I got on hand: a modest fifteen years old Phillips COMPASS. Well, to my surprise, the Phillips showed twice as sensitive as the Sangean. Even with the sangean's whip full extended, and the Phillips' one totally folded, the Phillips clearly outperformed the 909. When switched to an external antenna, the Sangean improved 100%, but the point is, what a portable means? why such a good radio performs so poor with such a long whip antenna? If you need the receiver to carry it around while travelling, then check the Sony 7600g or grundig YB400PE (both with superior performance as portable). Otherwise, with an ext. antenna, the radio is an excellent all-kind-of-features receiver. The FM capture is superb, as well as the SSB legibility. The sound is quite good, even if not as good as the grundig's.

If you are really interested in what shortwave radio has to offer, this is the radio to get. There are better models, but for this price, it's second to none. Good sensitivity, adequate selectivity (ability to separate signals from one another) and lots of bells and whistles. Covers all the shortwave specturm. Numerous ways to tune stations, the best of which is the keypad input. Digital readout eliminates guesswork as to what frequency you're on. FM tends to overload in urban areas with lots of FM signals. The only real downside to this radio is it can be pretty complicated to operate. Plan on spending some time going through the manual and figuring out all the features.

If you live outside of Europe or the east coast of North American, you'll likely need to use an external antenna. 30 feet of wire with alligator clips on each end should do the trick.

I own a Sony ICF-2010, Grundig YB400 and just purchased the ATS-909. Of the three I would give the ATS-909 the lowest score. It definitely lacks the sensitivity of the other two. (Though connecting an external antenna helps greatly but defeats the purpose of a portable radio.) And I find the audio quality to be muddled and tiring to listen to.

If you're looking for a good portable I would also recommend the Grundig YB400 or the new Sony ICF-7600GR.

The ATS 909 is the best portable receiver available. Unlike its Grundig and Sony competitors, the ATS 909 has a wealth of features, good audio, awsome selectivity, and an advanced memory system. The negative reviews received by this product both on the internet and in publications are wrong. There's nothing wrong with the whip sensitivity and the supplied roll out antenna makes the sensitivity even better! I was able to pick up broadcasts from Bulgaria, N.Korea, Canada, Taiwan, and the VOA program broadcast to Russia. On the Grundig YB 400 PE that I had, I had trouble picking up even the stronger stations such as BBC and Radio Netherlands. If you like shortwave, get the ATS 909 but get the deluxe version from the [online store]. The deluxe version eliminates muting while tuning manually (something you can only do with Sangean, since neither the Sony 7600GR nor the Grundig have tuning knobs), this allows you to adjust the reception more precisely and to catch the weaker stations.

This is the finest Sangean shortwave radio on the market, and it is a worthy "competitor" to most of the finest portable shortwaves in the industry. I own many shortwave radios, including venerable entries by Sony and Grundig. And while this doesn't quite match the best of either company, Sangean's radio is respectable in many ways.

The radio's shortwave reception is more than adequate. A good external antenna always helps, but it also does fine with just the telescopic aerial. The Sangean's sensitivity could be favorably compared with the Sony ICF-2010, although the Sony is still champion. It also should be noted that the Sangean radios of the last 15 years or so share the same lineage with the older Sony ICF-2001, so the Sangean's performance is understandable.

The ATS-909 has very good FM reception with good adjacent signal rejection, and the Radio Data System (which automatically reads out some station IDs and other info on the LCD) performs well.

The Sangean features 306 programmable memory positions. There are 29 "pages" of 9 frequencies (261 total) allocated for shortwave. As an example, a page could be used for up to 9 frequencies of a chosen broadcaster, and the page can be assigned an 8-digit alphanumeric ID by the listener. I'm not a big fan of the "page" format, because I'd like to assign IDs to each frequency, not a whole block of nine. But, when you have hundreds of memory positions of keep track of, the page format does have its advantages.

I don't like having to select the FREQ button every time I want to directly tune into a frequency. I just want to punch the numbers and enter it. Having another step to remember makes tuning a pain at times.

Overall, I believe the Sangean ATS-909 is an excellent radio and a good value for shortwave listeners with a little experience. It could be slightly improved, but it's certainly worth a listen.