Sangean PT-10 AM/FM Stereo LW/SW Shortwave World Band Travel Radio Review

I am a die-hard "small SW radio" fan and 'news junkie'. Will not buy the $1.- American newspaper when I can have the news free. Also, I will not acknowledge that ever since the Cold War is over, propaganda transmissions on SW (in English) are "over and out". HOWEVER, when you are in (Central) Europe, (North) Africa, Central and South America and you do not speak the local Arabic, Hungarian, Russian, Japanese, Hindi, and Urdu these little radios will keep you connected to the BBC or other English Language News.

PROS:
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Sound: very good for this size.

FM sensitivity very good. I compared to the Sangean ATS 909 -- Sangean's top of the line. However for weak stations, annoyingly dependent on antenna position.

AM sensitivity good (not outstanding).

SW "haphazard". Good on 49m and 31m bands. On 19m and 16m I could not pick up some stations which came in loud and clear with ATS 909.

LW: I could not test in the US. Past experience with other Sangean radios in France and 'Eastern Block' was only "mediocre".

The accuracy of the dial is exceptional! I could actually use the numbers on the dial to retrieve a SW, AM or FM station.

Cons:
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I did not like the design. The leather case is press-buttoned to the radio. Looks cheap, klutzy and ugly (with or without the case). The competition (e.g. the small Kaitos) looks and feels far more elegant.

Unfortunately, the mechanical built puts this radio in the "Chinese $25- to $35.- class".



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Sangean PT-633 AM/FM Stereo/Sw Travel Radio Review

I picked up this radio on an impulse purchase for about 40 bucks. My job takes me all over North America, so I wanted to have a radio that I could use for AM, FM and SW listening, but I didn't want to lug around something bulky and/or expensive.

This radio is one of the very few SW pocket portable models you'll find that still uses analog tuning. While it does mean that you don't know what exact frequency you're receiving until you get a verbal confirmation, I still sometimes prefer to tune through the bands using an old-fashioned analog dial.

It features a two zone clock -- one for local time, and one for world time. That's handy for fast calculations of when a particular station is broadcasting. The alarm feature is easy to use, and there's a 60 minute sleep timer as well.

Sound is decent (what can you expect, really?) from the small speaker, and pretty good when using the supplied earbuds. You can even listen to FM stero through them.

Sensitivity seemed best (to me) on FM, AM (or MW) seemed a little noisy, but that may have just been due to interference. Strong SW stations came through loud and clear. I attached a 23' wire antenna to the whip, although it's not a necessity.

Bottom line: This is a nice little radio with good performance for the price. It's not intended for daily or serious SW listening. For that I would recommend the Grundig S350 or YB400PE (among others.) The size makes it very easy to stick in a briefcase, and it's easy to use.

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Sangean PT-50 AM/FM Stereo SW Shortwave World Band Digital Travel Radio with World Time Review

This radio only can tune in stations via an old-school tuning knob, making it a MAJOR pain to go from one station to another!!! It has NO preset capability!!! And what "genius" decided to NOT include a power cord??? I would've had to shell out $25 extra at Radio Shack just to be able to plug this freakin' thing in!!! You're better off getting this model:

Sangean PT-80 AM/FM Professional Digital Stereo LW/SW Shortwave World Band Travel Radio

It has preset capablity, auto tuning, an included power cord, and an optional antenna to improve shortwave reception. You'll get more bang for you buck when you get this model.

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Am/fm Utility Radio Review

Am/fm Utility Radio I purchased this for my husband as a Christmas gift, after shopping around on-line and in the stores, with not much success. He really liked it, the quality of sound is excellant, along with all the other great features. You can charge your cell phone, it has a digital clock, it also has an LED light. Again the sound quality is great. All the other cheaper radios I looked at in the stores, didn't compare to this. We actually kept it in the house for a few days and enjoyed it before he took it out to the garage. I would highly recommend it for the guy who loves to work in his garage or basement or to take on a boat, and have a quality radio (stereo sound).

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Sangean PT-80 AM/FM Professional Digital Stereo LW/SW Shortwave World Band Travel Radio Review

Pro: Not too large for a compact radio. Superior signal sensitivity and image rejection. Antanna is nice and sturdy. Reasonably priced. Tuning knob aids band-scanning a lot. No muting during band-scanning. The radio has a large LCD display.
Single-side-band is handy for listening to radio amateurs and utility stations.

Con: Leather case does not fully protect the sides and bottom of the radio. Magnetic clips are slightly weak. The case sags when acting as an elevation panel. The radio requires 4 AA cells; slightly inconvenient when using away from home. No power adapter supplied. The radio does NOT display the metre band; it says only "broadcast band" when entering into a broadcast band.

Overall, I like this radio, despite its flaws. I am planning on buying one for myself. I highly recommand it.

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Sangean ATS-404 AM/FM Digital Shortwave World Band Receiver Review

The Sangean ATS-404 AM/FM Digital Shortwave World Band Receiver is a great little radio. I have had mine for a bit over one month and really do like it. However, it is somewhat larger and heavier than I thought it would be. I bought it to take along on overseas trips, but I am afraid it is going to be too bulky for comfortably stuffing into my carry-on bag. Oh well, the unit is going to be a lot of fun at other times.

So far, I have not been troubled by the short battery life (20 hrs.) described in previous reviews. I suppose that could be a problem under certain circumstances, but AA batteries are easy to replace anywhere in the world that has paved streets.

I am a bit shy about describing my experience with the Sangean ATS-404 because several of the earlier reviews were apparently made by radio experts or aficionados much more knowledgeable than me. I am just an ordinary guy that likes to listen to the radio once in awhile, but I do have some observations from my experience with it that might be helpful.

First, the radio is touted to be an entry level shortwave unit. I thought that shortwave stuff might be fun to play with, but I quickly found out that listening to most programs from Europe and elsewhere is silly because I am usually asleep when they are broadcast. Nighttime is apparently best for shortwave reception. I find it best for sleeping. Further, the interesting shortwave broadcasts are hard to find among all of the bands and frequencies available.

Yes, I admit it--I am in over my head with shortwave. I even bought a book about shortwave radios that included programming schedules. I am still confused. I suppose a true shortwave fan might find this radio more usable in this area than I have so far.

The radio has a great "preset" feature that I like and use all of the time. Radio stations are easy to program in and to scan. I enjoy the sleep feature, the dual time display and option to lock the radio for travel so it doesn't turn itself on in the airport like my last radio did.

The AM and FM stations come very well and the digital tuning seems to be right on target every time. The Sangean-404 comes with an AC adapter which is nice, but it doesn't charge batteries in the radio. There is a backlight for the display window, but it is sort of feeble and is almost useless except in complete darkness--like maybe a cave or a closet with the door closed.

A set of low end ear buds is included along with a rubber-like envelope that serves as a case. I haven't used either one yet.

I think maybe this review sounds more negative than positive, but I didn't mean it to come out that way. The Sangean-404 is a dandy radio, I use it every day and I do recommend it.



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Sangean U-3 Utility Radio Review

I bought this radio for my boat. When I received it I read the owners manual and it said nothing about the radio being water resistant. However it did say "do not operate near water". This would be fine if my boat stayed in the back yard! Also it would not work on battery power. It worked great plugged into a wall outlet, and it worked fine using the dc adapter I bought for it. It is a large sturdy radio tho, with a very good sound. I don't use it on the boat because it may void the warranty and I can't use it on the beach because of the battery power problem. I can use it in the car with the dc adapter but it is really big and takes up the whole passenger seat. Amazon won't take it back because it is not their product. I have tried to contact Sangean but so far have had no luck.

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