N9EWO Review :
Grundig "Satellit 800" / Tecsun "HAM-2000"
LW / MW / SW / FM / Aircraft Portable
Receiver
|
The discontinued and VERY LARGE
"Grundig Satellit 800" LW / MW / SW / FM / Aircraft Portable
Receiver. Was designed by R.L
Drake in the USA and built in China by Tecsun who sold it as the
"HAM-2000" in China and Asia. Circuit
based on the Drake
SW8 "port-a-top" receiver, with a number of improvements. Suffered from
quality control issues over it's entire life in production. One
major bug was with 2L41 RF Choke on the PLL Synthesizer PC board that
had a nasty habit to blow open (see text and photo below). In
our view is overall one of the best "Chinese made" SW
receivers to ever hit the market place (if not the best at the time
this report was complied) ! But as with
ANY receiver it has it's quirks as well. Be prepared to find a
regulated
(non switching) 9 VDC power supply at least 800 ma of current which are very hard to
come by pre-built. The included "floor wart" AC supply
(unregulated)
provides too much voltage even at full load which gives for excessive
cabinet heat, plus hum with
headphones at lower volume. (N9EWO
Photo)
N9EWO
Review : Grundig Satellit 800 (as Stock....No
Modifications)
Country of Manufacture: China
Approx. Serial Number of Test Sample #1: Not Documented
Approx. Serial Number of Test Sample #2: S80120119xx
Discontinued Receiver
In the
Tradition and Sprint of the Large REAL "European Made" Grundig's -
General Circuit as an Improved Drake SW8
The Grundig Satellit 800 is HUGE
monster portable at 20 7/8 long x 9 1/4 high (not including the handle)
x 8 1/2 deep (including front handles) inches. Weight (without
it's 8 D
size batteries or AC Adapter) is around 11 pounds, of course much more
with batteries installed). That makes it a tough set to lug around and
rules out any easy travel let alone being carried onto a airplane.
Thank goodness there is very nice fold down top handle provided and
works well. You don't have to worry about this set sliding around
when pushing the buttons. Thee are also 4 rubbery type feet on the
bottom that greatly helps here as well.
Circuit design is near identical of later
production of the "Drake
SW8" port-a-top receiver (not tested). However with a few
important
differences :
1. The audio stage is much improved along with separate Bass and Treble
controls
2. Large real mechanical "analog" signal strength meter with the Drake
style markings (it's unusually accurate too)
3. Actual "Tac Buttons" used instead of the "rubber" carbon contact
type on the Drake SW-8.
4. Much larger LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
5. F style antenna connector used for FM band
6. FM Stereo With Headphones (or via the rear mounted speaker jack,
with 2 appropriate speakers)
7. Internal LW / MW Loopstick antenna
Designed by R.L. Drake in the USA, manufactured by Tecsun in China.
Model was sold in China and Asia as the Tecsun HAM-2000.
Included Power
Supplies - Alternative "Pre-Built" Regulated Power Supply (Must Be
Modified) - High Current Consumption
When the Satellit 800 hit the
marketplace, a worldwide voltage "switching" AC Adapter was included.
Complaints quickly roared in that it created excessive Radio Frequency
interference. At least for North American samples, a change was made to
include
a unregulated analog transformer type "floor wart" adapter.
These receivers operate on nominal 9
VDC and require a good healthy 700 milliamps (ma) of total current for
proper operation. The later included UNREGULATED floor warts is rated
at 1 amp of current and even at full load give OVER voltage to the set
(around 11.5 to 12 volts meter tested at full load). So the receiver
internal voltage regulators must work harder with more "voltage burn
off" difference and this is in the form of excessive heat from these
regulators.
If one operates the Sat 800 for a
few hours using it's included AC adapter one will feel this excessive
heat on the top part of the cabinet just above the S-Meter. It's on the
warm side and any PC board is quite a ways from this point. But you get
the idea and excessive heat is never a good thing in any electronic
device.
Of course the solution for less
internal regulator heat is to just use a nice 9 VOLT REGULATED
linear-transformer type supply that is good for at least 700~800 ma of
current . Of course using any low cost switching type supply (or a
linear one that uses switching regulators) is not a good idea with any
Long-Medium-Short wave receiver !! That is unless you love
self-inflected interference.
Another
issue that makes it very desirable to use a regulated supply is the
fact the internal audio amplifiers normally do not see any of the
filtered current from the lower voltage internal regulators inside the
receiver. It's just the raw voltage off right off the external DC jack.
So one can hear a background hum especially with headphones in use.
Have verified this and it drives me crazy. Using a regulated power
supply will eliminate this. However finding a Pre-Built Transformer type Regulated type
power supply
(9 VDC at say 800 ma) are near impossible to come by anymore. We
developed a modification from a Pre-Built one that worked well, but these are now
discontinued (have a peek here)
, [one may just be able to still unearth a sample if you look around
??]. Any
owner who wishes to make this right will probably have to build one now
that is electronic handy ?? Nearly everything Pre-Built today are of a
switching type supply and you do DO NOT want any of these !!
Excellent
Ergonomics - Poky Tuning Knob Speed and Mechanical Encoder- Super Long
Telescopic Antenna
We found the Satellit 800's
ergonomics to be first rate. Direct Keyboard entry works well and
the user uses the "."
as the enter button (if you don't care to wait for the 3 second timer).
Buttons are laid out properly , not close together and lack any wobble.
Are also constructed of the desirable hard plastic type (none of the
dreaded soft plastic / rubber variety which break down faster).
Knobs are actually metal, so be it they are of a push on variety.
Tuning encoder is a mechanical type. With very early samples there was
excessive wobble and play with the main tuning knob. A bearing was
added and completely corrected this issue. Mind you one will rarely see
a sample without this bearing as it was fixed shortly after production
started (but they do exist).
The tuning knob normally
tunes in 50 Hz steps. When it's rotated quickly in the LW / MW and SW
bands this is stepped up to 100 Hz. For SSB tuning this is good. But
using for MW / SW Broadcast band scanning it's "very poky" going.
Thankfully there are slewing Up-Down buttons provided which allow 5 kHz
steps in the Short Wave broadcasting bands (10 or 9 kHz in the Medium
Wave band).
A "super long" 57 inch (yes that is not a typo) telescopic antenna is
used on the Satellit 800. A nice touch even if the provided detents are
not always where one wishes it. If you are not in those detents the
antenna flops over like dead fish. Sadly many antenna's on the Sat 800
used market are damaged from misuse and abuse (so a question to ask to
any seller
of a used sample).
There is a internal loopstick antenna for the Long Wave and Medium
Wave bands. Not that it's of any real length, but works quite well for
what it is (not for DX'ing performance). Good news is this internal
loopstick is completely disconnected with the rear selector switch. So
connecting an external loop is no problem with the Satellit 800 via
it's rear SO-239 antenna jack or 500 ohm connections.
Every Type Of Tuning -
70 Memory Channels - No Way to VFO Scan (only Memory Scan) - "ATT" Icon on
LCD AWOL On Some Samples
Every Tuning method is
provided on the Satellit 800 (with one exception).
- Direct Key Board Entry
- Knob Tuning
- Up / Down Slewing Buttons
- 70 Memory Presets (with Scan lockouts)
- 13 SWBC Band Presets
- Timer (2 event)
- Memory Channel Scanning
While there is Auto "Memory Channel" scanning provided (with lockouts),
there is no way to just scan up and down the bands (VFO). 70 "Tunable"
memory channels are provided and store frequency, mode, bandwidth, AGC,
attenuator and Sync Detector operation. Memories are in a strange 7
blocks of 10 channels each. You can only scan a block of 10 memories at
a time.
There is a electronically switched 20 db attenuator provided, but with
it's excellent dynamic range was not required at the testing location
and antenna's. A bug that happens to many samples is the ATT icon on
the LCD is AWOL (missing) when engaged. We are not aware of any fix to
this minor issue.
HUGE LCD
Display - Dismal Backlighting
LCD measures a whopping 6 3/4 by 2
3/4 inches. This is of course much larger than the Drake SW8's LCD Even
with no contrast adjustment, it's excellent with dark high contrast and
can be viewed at different angles. Green LED backlighting for the LCD
and the S-Meter are provided and can be switched off during battery
operation. Good thing too as the backlighting is a HUGE battery pig
adding up to a good 200 ma addition to the current draw. When on
batteries this is a requirement.
Downside to the backlighting is it's greatly lacking in brightness.
Works OK say in a totally dark room, but is of little help in anything
but. It is very evenly lit however.
Ah yes, we can't forget to cover the weird LSB and USB LCD icon
markings. USB appears as LI , not anything disconcerting just strange.
Sensitivity - AGC
Adjustment
MW / SW Sensitivity is as good as any
portable, if not even as compared to many tabletops (external antenna).
Whip sensitivity lacks a bit but is not bad at all. Dynamic range is
decent, we never experienced overloading at any time (even on 49 meters
at night). FM broadcast is decent as well. Selectivity is good.
There is a a FAST and SLOW AGC adjustment and works just as with the
SW8 (decay rates properly chosen and work fine).
3 Excellent IF
Filters - Excellent Synchronous Detector - SSB Dead On
Unheard of with most
portables, there are THREE "Metal Cased" IF bandwidth filters (11
element ??) provided for the LW / MW and SW bands. Those bandwidths are
around 6.0,
4.0 and 2.3 KHz (the 6.0 and 4.0 slightly wider than
advertised). These are all independent of mode too. All work extremely
well and the 2.3 Khz filter allowing the SSB mode to work to near
tabletop performance. We did feel like the receiver would have
greatly benefited with a super wide (like 10 to 12 kHz) IF filter when
conditions warrant. As it is, we felt the AM mode audio quality
potential was
squashed a bit (muffled) with widest being limited around 6 kHz.
Good news is with the excellent Synchronous Detector (which holds lock
with the weakest of signals), one can off tune slightly with the "Sync
On" and enhance the high end frequency response.
SSB
mode reception is right up there with the best tabletops. Also the
frequency display was dead on accurate with the test sample. Something
not noted for MOST portables.
Audio Quality
While Very Good and Clean , Is Not Up to the LARGE "GERMAN MADE"
Grundig Set's of the Past
General audio quality is very good. The separate Bass and Treble
controls allow for decent sound from it's internal 4 inch speaker. One
is not going to experience the "Deep Rich Bass" response as compared to
the Large
German Manufactured Grundig sets of the past (say like with the Satellit
3400). No...it's going to disappoint for that kind of audio.
When headphones were used we detected a minor but disconcerting
amount
of microprocessor hash a low or idle audio situations. Also if you use
the included unregulated AC adapter, one will hear some hum with
headphone use at lower volumes. Neither of these gremlins are
detectable using the speaker.
Grundig
Satellit 800's excellent "Drake Style" mechanical S-Meter. Not only is
it accurate but the white background with a black pointer makes for
easy viewing. However as with the main LCD it's backlighting
could have been much brighter. The weakly lit LED's used don't cut it
except in / near total darkness. (N9EWO
Photo)
Audio Line
Out Extremely Clean (but slightly anemic level) - Rear Panel
There are two color marked Phono
(RCA) jacks provided on the rear panel for fixed line level audio
output. These are of proper level and are IC amplifier buffered.
However with any radio station that has weak audio, it can be a bit
anemic. Overall the line output is just fine and supports FM Stereo.
External connections provided on the real panel are : A standard female
SO-239 for SW and LW / MW (50 ohms) antenna. Spring terminals for 500
ohm LW/MW/SW antenna. A separate female F-Type for FM broadcast and/ or
Aircraft Band antenna (sorry the Airband was not tested for this
report). 1/4 inch headphone style jack for a pair of external speakers
(not tested). 9vdc power input (approx 800 ma current, plug 2.1 x 5.5
mm size). Two slide switches : SHORTWAVE ANT SELECT and FM / AIR
ANTENNA SELECT.
Satellit
800's rear panel was properly designed with the required input and
output jacks. SO-239 antenna connector (F fitting for FMBC/AIR) that
also
functions for the MW band minus the internal loopstick (great for use
with loops). 2 RCA (Phono) jacks for fixed audio line outputs are IC
"op-amp" buffered and clean. The 1/4 inch STEREO "Speaker" phone jack
is for
connection of TWO small "stereo" speakers (not tested). (N9EWO
Photo Edit)
Chronic Dirty Antenna Switches !
With
the 800's old age these days, the two rear slide type antenna switches
(left one for SW and the smaller one for FM) will likely become (or
already have) intermittent. Even more likely to happen if these are not
worked once in awhile (yep, just like with all Lowe receivers). Not to
fret as this is a easy fix with a bit of SAFE contact cleaner (Deoxit
D-5 recommended). BUT NOT SO FAST ! The real pain to get the back cover
off (6 rear and 3 bottom screws. Getting it back on is even more of a
changeling feat. The top of rear cover has a hinge arrangement with two
claw type latches. Latch the rear cover from the top and swing it back
down. The balanced speaker terminal strip will want to get in the way
(so you may irk out a few $#@!* !). PLEASE NOTE : One needs to do this carefully to avoid case damage ! So don't be in a hurry !!
One might say , "Why should you have to do this, just spray right into the switch with the back cover on ?".
That would have been nice and works with Lowe receivers this way,
however there are dust covers on both switches and prevents one from
doing it that way here. You MUST remove the rear cover and these dust
covers to access and clean the switches PROPERLY. IMPORTANT :
Be sure the dust covers are replaced as shown in the photo below. The
FM cover has a very slight bend in it and must be kept this way so not
to bind with the SW switch cover in operation.
The Sat 800's two rear slide antenna switches are very prone of getting dirty / corroded contacts.
Dust covers MUST be replaced as shown above. The FM switch cover has a very slight bend
in it and must be kept this way so not to bind with
the SW switch cover in operation. (N9EWO Photo)
I will NOT be held responsible for any info that is listed here
ALL DONE AT YOUR OWN RISK ! |
Why Do So Many Satellit 800's Fail ?? - RF Choke
2L41
When
we attempted to use a new Satellit 800 sample near the end of it's
production run, only minutes after power up we heard a "pop"
and it went dead. Turns out this is a very common bug with the Satellit
800 near to the end of production. More times than not is caused by a
under-rated 1 mH RF choke on the PLL Synthesizer board that blows open
(2L41). Of course this is not the only reason why a sample
fails, but is the first item to check.
A "MAJOR BUG" that can plague the
Satellit
800 is with the 2L41 RF Choke
(1 mH value) on the PLL Synthesizer PC board. It has a NASTY habit to
blow open. Of course when it opens the receiver does dead. This
was corrected in VERY late production samples (version 4 of the PLL
board) , but from our information most have the old "underrated"
smaller choke !! (John C.
Photo)
Clearly the Best "Larger" Chinese Portable Manufactured to Date in Our
Testing
Many would say that the Eton E1 would
be the number 1 larger portable ever made (R.L. Drake's last designed
receiver made in India with Tecsun parts). I greatly dispute that and
you can read my report on the e1 here. The E1 had many bugs
including general audio quality that was plagued with so much spurious
microprocessor junk mixed it gave one "brain pain" and eyes water in
short order (MW / SW). Oh yes we can't forget the sticky cabinet
syndrome and major failure issues of the LCD display with the E1 !!
The Tecsun manufactured 'Satellit 800" is a stellar portable provided
it's not a very early sample (before the tuning knob bearing was added)
, plus any issues with the "2L41" RF Choke (text / photo as above) has
been taken care of if required. Now, if it equals or surpasses the
classic Sony
ICF-2010 (ICF-2001D) is a difficult one to answer. We feel that depends
on what function ?? For example, the Sony's audio recovery is rated
better in our book with it's nice W-I-D-E AM stock filter, plus it's
still "top of the heap" Synchronous Detector. Of course the SSB
performance winner goes to the Satellit 800 easy.
Some may ask how it compares to the later Grundig Satellit 750 / Eton Elite 750 (Tecsun
S-2000), well it's not even in the same ball park in our view !
Dave N9EWO
© N9EWO, all
rights reserved
Ver 2.9
Discontinued Receiver
Links
(Subject To Change Without Notice) :
RADIOJAYALLEN Review on the Satellit 800
Eham Grundig Satellit 800 Reviews
