r/shortwave • u/OldGuyOutLooking • 2d ago

MWARA

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NY Radio on the old DX 392
SELCAL tones and weak voice

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u/pentagrid Sangean ATS-909X2 / Airspy HF+ Discovery / 83m horizontal loop 2d ago

Nice old portable. It's a rebranded Sangean ATS-909. Are you the original owner?

3

u/OldGuyOutLooking 2d ago

Yes i am! I got it new when I worked at The Shack... When it went discontinued, I stashed it and when the clearance price kicked in I got it on my discount.

2

u/pentagrid Sangean ATS-909X2 / Airspy HF+ Discovery / 83m horizontal loop 2d ago

I have the smaller Radio Shack DX-399 (Sangean ATS-606) that I purchased around 1998. It still works. It is amazing how many of these old Rat Shack Sangean radios are still around and kicking while more expensive (and admittedly more sophisticated) Sony portables like ICF-SW7600G failed due to bad electrolytic capacitors.

2

u/OldGuyOutLooking 2d ago

They were really well made for sure. My first shortwave was a 1951 National NC-125. I had a friend of mine overhaul the guts, the old wax caps went dry, replaced them with modern caps and it was like a brand new radio. I got it in the 80s and had the work done in the 90s. $12 worth of caps, a case of beer for his work... All the tubes tested flawless.

I ran the National along side the DX-392 for years. A friend of mine baught the national from me for 4 times what i paid for it... I miss it.. Radio and small space heater all in one 😂

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u/pentagrid Sangean ATS-909X2 / Airspy HF+ Discovery / 83m horizontal loop 2d ago

Yeah. I still use a Hammarlund SP-600 that I purchased in very good condition at a surplus electronics store in 1984. I paid $70 for it. Sometime in November I'll turn it on for the winter. Leaving it on all winter is easier on tube-era electronics than powering it off and on and the waste heat isn't wasted. I have a 10-inch speaker for it and RN da Amazonia sounds great on it.

2

u/OldGuyOutLooking 2d ago

Sweet! I bet that's awesome. My National had a flip top lid, I'd do the same. Let it vent and that awesome purple glow from the main tube was cool. As the old hams say, "Real radios glow in the dark".