Hey everyone, I just wanted to know what your opinions are on these two
radios? I recently found an old shortwave radio of my dads and have
become interested in these types of radios. I would like to get a new
one for home but also for when I travel. These are the two I have
narrowed my search down to but am having a difficult time making a
decision between them. Could anyone give me some advice, reviews and
recommendations?
Thanks all,
L

wrote:
Could anyone give me some advice, reviews and
recommendations?

Here's the Radio Netherlands review of the Sangean ATS 505:

http://www.radionetherlands.nl/featu...rs/ats505.html

Reviews of both are he
http://www.radiointel.com/reviews.htm

Be aware that the Eton E5 gobbles batteries even when turned off. I own one and typically have to recharge the batteries after 2 months of non-use. My E5 also came with a power adapter that generates interference on shortwave bands. Other than those issues, I am happy with my E5.

I have an ATS-505 as well, but I have much less usage experience with it. It is larger than I expected and I find the sound that its speaker makes to be unpleasant for some reason.

weatherall wrote:

Be aware that the Eton E5 gobbles batteries even when turned off. I
own one and typically have to recharge the batteries after 2 months of
non-use.


I believe the self discharge rate on some NiMh batteries may be as high
as one percent a day. If so, the radio isn't at fault..




mike

weatherall wrote:
Wrote:
Hey everyone, I just wanted to know what your opinions are on these two
radios? I recently found an old shortwave radio of my dads and have
become interested in these types of radios. I would like to get a new
one for home but also for when I travel. These are the two I have
narrowed my search down to but am having a difficult time making a
decision between them. Could anyone give me some advice, reviews and
recommendations?
Thanks all,
L

Reviews of both are he
http://www.radiointel.com/reviews.htm

Be aware that the Eton E5 gobbles batteries even when turned off. I
own one and typically have to recharge the batteries after 2 months of
non-use. My E5 also came with a power adapter that generates
interference on shortwave bands. Other than those issues, I am happy
with my E5.


If you left the batteries on a shelf they would discharge too. What
makes you think the radio is somehow causing a drain.

I have yet to find a wall-wart power supply that didn't generate noise.
The one that came with my Sony 2010 did. Just keep using those nimh
batteries, but charge them in a separate wall mounted charger.




I have an ATS-505 as well, but I have much less usage experience with
it. It is larger than I expected and I find the sound that its speaker
makes to be unpleasant for some reason.




--
weatherall

I use the same type of rechargeable batteries in my Eton E5 and my Sony ICF SW7600GR:

* batteries acquired at the same time
* charged in the same standalone charger
* swapped between the radios to factor out bad batteries

Side by side, rechargeable batteries last longer in the SW7600GR than in the E5. Even if I use the SW7600GR more in a particular time period, the E5 will still end up with depleted batteries first.

Now, let me tell you what I haven't yet tried. I don't know how accurate the battery level sensors are in these two radios. An excellent experiment would be: when the E5 shows that the batteries are too low, take them out and put them into the SW7600GR. Attempt to power on the Sony and see if I can get more life out of them before that radio declares them too low.

On Fri, 14 Jul 2006 04:23:07 +0000, weatherall
wrote:

My E5 also came with a power adapter that generates
interference on shortwave bands. Other than those issues, I am happy
with my E5.

Eton is aware of this problem and has been mailing replacement
adapters. You have to call them to get one. I received mine a few
weeks ago, and there is a marked decrease in interference - a big
improvement.

Thanks for the reply - I got my replacement in the past few days, and I am pleased with the reduction (although not an elimination) of interference when receiving shortwave frequencies.