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Vintage Radio (domestic) Domestic vintage radio (wireless) receivers only. |
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8th Feb 2015, 4:03 pm | #1 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Leicestershire, UK.
Posts: 21
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Poor Sangean ATS 803A clone
In late 1980's Sangean (various radio and HAM outlets) , Realistic(Tandy) , Matsui (Currys/Dixons) marketed the ATS 803A , DX-440, MR 4099 and write-ups I recall were quite good for this portable/desk top 'World Band' receiver; It only had 9 memories but it had clock , timer, bfo , shoulder strap (bit heavy) and was popular despite some reported 'chuffing' . I have just bought a Matsui version but its poor performance on LW and MW and even worse on SW firstly made me think it had been 'operated on' by a tree surgeon , roofer or member of parliament . But I cant see anything wrong inside - no trimmers screwed to the bottom, no duff soldering . if I use external aerial socket and switch no change even with a good aerial (no input for earth), rf gain does nothing, its only any good for BBC R4, R5 but no good for even RTE Radio 1, VHF/FM is weak even with rod full up. I'm powering it from internal batteries. Anyone have experience of a nearly dead (it seems) Sangean ATS 803A clone?
Rog. |
8th Feb 2015, 6:35 pm | #2 |
Rest in Peace
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Hexham, Northumberland, UK.
Posts: 2,234
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Re: Poor Sangean ATS 803A clone
The only thing I can suggest is that it sounds like an IF fault if the problem exists on all bands. I have a Sangean version and it has never given me any trouble apart from the encoder went a bit intermittent and would jump channels etc but that's the only time I have had mine open. Just an afterthought, is it worth doing a power reset by removing the AA cells which supply the clock, just in case they have anything to do with a micro inside?
Alan. |
8th Feb 2015, 11:05 pm | #3 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: St. Frajou, l'Isle en Dodon, Haute Garonne, France.(Previously: Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, UK.)
Posts: 3,184
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Re: Poor Sangean ATS 803A clone
Hi,
I've had the (Curry's) Matsui SW5000 version for many years without any problems, except that now it won't select FM unless I remove all the batteries, when it defaults to FM. If I select any of the AM bands, and then back to FM, it won't, unless I take the batteries out again. AM wise, there's no problem with reception. Cheers, Pete.
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"Hello?, Yes, I'm on the train, I might lose the signal soon as we're just going into a tunn..." |
9th Feb 2015, 11:13 am | #4 |
Nonode
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: 1966-1976 Coverack in Cornwall and Helston Cornwall. 1976-present Bristol/Bath area.
Posts: 2,967
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Re: Poor Sangean ATS 803A clone
I have got the slightly later Sangean incarnation badged as the Roberts R817, Gain wise on LWand MW is nothing to shout about plus it always sounds slightly distorted. Sensitivity is ok on most of the HF bands but is pretty deaf on the 11m or 26Mhz band. Its fairly sensitive on FM but there is always some background interference from the micro or LCD display even on stronger signals. These results are using its built in aerials and are rather poor when compared to the same type of receiver, of similiar vintage, from the Philips or Grundig stables.
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Simon BVWS member Last edited by Hybrid tellies; 9th Feb 2015 at 11:20 am. |
9th Feb 2015, 6:59 pm | #5 |
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Matlock, Derbyshire, UK.
Posts: 1,378
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Re: Poor Sangean ATS 803A clone
I have a Matsui MR4099 which used to lose its memory. It seems to work reasonably well when run on external 9V (no batteries) but sometimes goes for a run up the band.
It is accurate to within 1kHz up to 30MHz - very useful as a frequency reference. |
9th Feb 2015, 9:17 pm | #6 |
Rest in Peace
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Hexham, Northumberland, UK.
Posts: 2,234
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Re: Poor Sangean ATS 803A clone
I find that if you put the keylock on, this cuts the background hash on FM.
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