Re: [IRCA] good portable receiver for DXing

[Rick Dau <drummer1965usa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Bob, here's a post I left on the ABDX listserver about a week or so ago in which I gave my thoughts on two receivers I've owned (the Sony ICF-2010 from June 1997 to Oct. 2011, the Sangean ATS-909X from Oct. 2011 to the present).  I acquired my 2010 from DXer Marc Marino in the Chicago area, and was very impressed with it right away.  As Russ mentioned in his post, the 2010 is a great portable, although the ones that are in really good shape are hard to find and quite expensive.  I start off here by talking about FM DXing with the Sangean, but I then go into comparing the two.   


BE CAREFUL when using the direct keypad entry on FM if you're hopscotching frequencies!  On my 909X, at least, if I neglect to hit "F" (to change the frequency) before punching any of the numerical keys, the number "27.67" suddenly appears on the LCD, and ALL functions on the radio suddenly cease to work.  This requires having to open the back panel, remove the AA batteries, wait about 2-3 minutes (until the "27.67" fades), then put the batteries back in, and turn on the radio.  A bit of a pain. 
 
IMHO, the audio on the 909X's AM side doesn't seem quite as clear as that on the 2010.  That's not to say, though, that the AM band on the 909X isn't DX-able, because it certainly still is.  One thing you will notice on the 909X when the batteries start to get low is that the audio on AM wavers a bit.  And when they get quite low, a high-pitched squeal makes itself known, as well.  One advantage that that 909X has over the 2010 is that the former (which operates on AAs) isn't so much of a battery hog as the latter (on Ds).  Another is that selectivity on the 909X's FM band is outstanding.  I'm just a mere 4 miles from a local classic rock station on 105.9, yet 106.1 and 105.7 have been open on regular occasions to the point where Ravenwood, Missouri and Waterloo, Iowa (respectively) have been heard with no splatter whatsoever.  And I get no images or spurs of locals on the FM band -- that was a huge problem with the 2010.  As far as FM rigs
 here at home go, it's the best I've used to this point in time.  
 
One advantage that the 2010 has over the 909X is that the 2010 has a carrying strap.  This has proved to be critical already on a couple of occasions when, walking out the door of my house to DX at a local park, the 909X has slipped out of my grasp and been dropped on a concrete sidewalk just outside my door.  Something inside broke off, so that the base of the AA battery does not make conctact with the terminal.  I could send the radio back to Universal to have them fix it, but I've simply decided to remedy the problem by taking a piece of aluminum foil (or tin foil, whichever's available here in the house), folding it up several times, and jamming it into the open space between the battery and terminal so that a contact is made and the radio can operate again. 
 
Hope that helps provide more insight. 
 
73,
Rick Dau
South Omaha, Nebraska 
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