N9EWO Review :
Grundig - eton - Satellit 750 Tecsun S-2000 Eton Elite 750 LW - MW - SW - FM - Aircraft Receiver |
The Grundig Satellit 750 (as
it's known in North America) was manufactured by Tecsun in China. It
was sold as the Tecsun S-2000 inside China. For the rest of this report
we will use "Satellit 750", but for the most part the text is valid for
the S-2000 as well. Oh yes, elsewhere in the world it's known as the eton "Satellit 750"..(whew).
One may wish to compare this model to the older Satellit 800 model (my
Sat 800 review can be seen here) . But unlike the elder e1 model,
Drake’s fingerprints are absent from this entry and it shows. No
synchronous detection, and a SSB mode that is lacking due to a too wide
of a "narrow" filter and poor AGC. The audio quality is most pleasant
for broadcast stations and overall is a most enjoyable larger portable.
However as we cover in the report below, the wobbly tuning knob and
almost useless S-Meter ruins the charm for me. It is certainly no
Satellit 800 or e1.
No Gap LW- MW- SW
Frequency Coverage
The 750's receive coverage is :
Long Wave : 100 to
519 kHz
Medium Wave : 520
to 1710 kHz
Shortwave : 1711
to 29999 kHz
FM Broadcast : 76
to 108 MHz
Aircraft : 118 to
137 MHz
The FM band limits are toggled in the “System Code Settings”menu .
Either as 76 to 108 MHz or as 87 to 108 MHz.
Strange Sized Package with a Cubby Hole In The Rear / Negative
Tip DC Input Polarity / Hum Using Included AC Adapter with Whip of
Indoor Antenna. Ergonomics OK / Reset Button
Approximate size of the 750 is
14.5 x 7 x 6 inches (length, height, depth). The approx. measured
weight without batteries was 5 lbs 6 oz (6 lbs 14 oz with batteries
installed).
At least in the case of the 750, a strange compartment is found in the
rear , right next to the battery compartment (with it’s own separate
lid). It’s internal size is approximately 2 1/4 x 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches.
The lid to this mystery cavity has a what looks to be a line cord cut
out in it ? It appears that somewhere in the design stage a internal AC
cord may have been in the works (or perhaps with other variations of
the model) ? In fact the Tecsun S-2000 version does appear to have a internal 230 v ac
supply. The Grundig
750 only uses a external wall wart via it's DC jack.
With the tested Grundig version (USA 117VAC), a UL listed unregulated
wall wart rated at 6 volt at 500 milliamp current rating was included.
It works properly, but as is the case with may of these power supplies
we heard hum induced with SW signals when the whip or a indoor antenna
was used. Once connected to a outdoor antenna this was not an issue. WARNING : The un-standard “negative tip” is being
used with the DC input jack.
Ergonomics are OK. The knobs are a bit tightly placed and are tiny for
a larger radio. So for anyone with larger fingers may have a problem
here. Memory entry and access are not the easiest either. Of course
there are no single touch buttons for memory access.
There is a nice handle that folds out of the way, a huge plus over the
e1. 4 stuck on rubber like protection pads are on the bottom to keep it
from sliding around. No tilt bail of any kind is to be found on the
750. One can take the "little pinky" finger and push in the speaker
grill (in the center) with no problem, so pretty thin plastic here
(that's right no metal speaker grill being used)
A reset button is located in the lower left hand corner of the tuning
knob. This is to help to get out of lockups (which did not occur during
testing). But can easily be selected by accident. Good news is that it
does not bother the clock or memory entries. One just has to renter the
“System Code Settings”.
Antenna Connections / Top Mounted MW Loop-stick Scrapes Cabinet
2 BNC connectors are located on the right side of the cabinet for
connection of FM and SW external antenna’s. Also a 500 ohm speaker
terminal for connection to SW high impedance antennas. There is a
switch next to these jacks to select between the whip and the external
jacks.
These of course are a bit un-standard for a SW set to use BNC type
antenna connectors. No adapters are included. This does allow for a
faster ”unplug and go” affair over the PL-259 variety.
On top of the set we find a 8 inch long 360 degree rotatable LW/MW
“loop-stick” antenna. As it’s rotated it “clicks”.
[Update : This click all but disappeared with only light use from new.
Again our test sample was a very early serial number]
We also found if the antenna is slightly pushed down at all
during rotation the bottom of the loop-stick case will scrape on the
top of the radio’s case.
Also we found one spot in rotation with the test sample where it seemed
to be a dropout (bad connection) and a small pop was heard from the
speaker. But this was not of any real issue here. The LW and MW bands
do have a separate "external" antenna jack located on the loop
(untested).
Low Grade Whip Antenna
Whip antenna has a large plastic tip and pulls out fairly hard. Takes a
pretty good pull to get the swivel part out at the bottom. As we first
pulled it out of the box for testing, the very top two sections of the
antenna bent.
The antenna does swivel and rotate. But as with the eton e1, it has a
tendency to flop around like a dead fish on it’s own weight. It’s not
as bad as the e1's antenna, but in that direction.
Wobbly Tuning Knob With “Rubberized” Paint / Buttons OK / LCD
Display-Contrast-Lightning / Real Old Style S-Meter But Over Reads and
Recessed.
The “push on” style tuning knob is on the larger side , It has a finger
spinner hole (it does not rotate), also appears to be some added weight
installed. It spins most freely too without any hesitation. However ,
just as it was with the early Sat 800's,
we have a nasty amount to play that makes one wonder if it is a tuning
knob or a joystick ?? This makes the set MUCH less appealing.
This sour trait existed to the end of production in late 2017.
With the black ring on the knob we were thinking, “a neat rubber grip
track around the outer side of the knob”. Not so fast.......as
it turned out to be nothing more than some of that Chinese “Rubber
Feeling” paint in use here. Of course it has the potential to wear away
with use or even worse get sticky. [UPDATE : With newer samples, the
knob style was changed and no longer used this paint].
The 750 has a real mechanical s-meter. Readings appears way too
generous on MW and SW. On FM it’s either full scale or nothing, so even
worse here. So it’s not very useful after all. Also it’s very dimly lit
(only one dim LED) and is recessed back in to make it almost useless
for me. It’s not easy to see in any event.
LCD contrast is good as long as you view in from the top. Looking at it
straight on it’s weak. General main LCD brightness is OK, but could be
a bit brighter and more evenly lit. There is only one brightness level.
You are able to toggle the LCD backlighting for continuous operation.
However it does not remember this setting, so you have to push and hold
the light/snooze button for a second every time you turn it on to make
the display backlighting stay on all the time in use (other wise it’s a
3 second timed thing when a knob or button is pressed).
Alarms / Sleep Modes / Snooze
Sleep mode is provided and is selected as it should with it’s own
button. Has no forced on selection. It can be set for 01, 05, 10, 15,
30, 45, 60 ,75, 90, or 120 minutes.
2 timers/alarms are featured. You have the choice to have either radio
or buzzer (it’s really a beeper). The off time are the same selections
as the sleep timer above. LCD icons provide the status of both of
these. When the radio is turned off the clock is displayed where the
frequency was and the alarm times are displayed were the clock display
normally is (it toggles back and forth showing both “on” times).
Additionally there is a 10 minute snooze function.
Dual "Up Conversion" / IF Bandwidth Filters / No Synchronous
Detection
Dual Up Conversion scheme is used. The
first IF is at 55.845 MHz and the second at 455 kHz.
Two IF bandwidth filters are provided. Narrow is good for crowed SW
bands. But the “wide” filter will be a problem allowing heterodynes to be
heard when the going gets ruff. But gives for great audio when signals
will allow it (and I always like having a selection of a wider filter).
Other problem is with the Wide filter, one needs to tune off the actual
frequency for it to sound centered. This is a engineering bug with
circuitry around the IF filter (from reading reports elsewhere it appears it was never fixed either).
There is a LCD icon for indication to what filter is in use. The memory
channels even store the filter information. Alas, no synchronous
detection to be found.
No Strange Noises / Great Image Rejection / Some Cuffing But No
Muting / Tuning Methods - Steps / 1000 Memory Channels / Lock Is For
Dial Only / ATS on FM, LW, MW
Receiver is clean with no strange spurious noises or groans. Image
rejection is decent too. None noticed in testing. There is some
chuffing when tuning , but lacks any muting nasties.
Tuning Steps With Knob | FM | MW | SW | AIR | SSB |
FAST | .1 Mhz | 9 or 10 Khz | 5 Khz | .025 Mhz | 5 Khz |
SLOW | .01 Mhz | 1 Khz | 1 Khz | .001 Mhz | 1 Khz |
Slewing Button “UP-DOWN” Steps | FM | MW | SW | AIR | SSB |
FAST | 1 Mhz | 100 Khz | 100 Khz | .1 Mhz | 100 Khz |
SLOW | .1 Mhz | 9 or 10 Khz | 5 Khz | .025 Mhz | 5 Khz |
The 750 has just about every tuning method available. Of course there the direct access keyboard. The enter button is not required to be used in most cases. Just key in the frequency in kHz and BOOM it pops in, no other buttons prior to the direct entry are needed either . If you wish to enter say just 6 MHz. Hit the 6 and the enter key and 6000 kHz is there. Does not get much easier here. NOTE : If the frequency is below 3000 KHz, after the frequency entry then press the ENTER key (left pointing arrow below the 9 key) will be required.
There are 1000 total memory channels. These are banked in 2 chunks and
the how the pages are configured depends how the “System Code Settings”
are configured (to the owners desires). These are not the easiest to
enter or access however.
10 Pages, each with 50 memories
20 Pages, each with 25 memories
25 Pages, each with 20 memories
50 Pages, each with 10 memories
You can scan up and down the band stopping at a channel for 5 seconds
and then it continues on (just like on a car radio).You can also do the same scanning method with memory channels as
well. It works well too and is most useful for lazy band scanning. (UPDATE : Memory channel scanning is reported not to function in the AIR band (not verified).
ATS feature is usable on LW, MW or FM bands and is stored in Page 0
(P0).
Great Audio Quality With Separate Bass and Treble and a Beefy
Speaker, But with a couple of Bug’s.
The 700's audio is a aural treat with it’s beefy sized speaker and
separate Bass and Treble controls. It does sound nice and if one can
use the "Wide" filter for a given SW or MW station, then it becomes
very nice indeed.
But it’s not all wine and roses. First with very strong stations on SW
or MW, there is a noticeable amount of distortion the creeps in.
Adjusting the RF Gain control helped to reduce this, but this was never
a 100% cure all. We were never able to put a handle on what was going
on here, but it appears that a AGC bug may be the issue here (that is
maybe running out of steam) ??
Next, MW and SW sounds a shade on the dull side. It doesn’t have the
sparkle on the high frequency end in the audio even with the Treble on
at full. FM band doesn’t have this restricted sound.
Great SW Sensitivity / Average MW and FM / Aircraft Band a
Disappointment / Dynamic Range
Respectable.
Sensitivity on SW was very good or better. Whip antenna or external
antenna. Dynamic range was equally good as well, never launching into
overload in the testing period [Update : Has
been reported that Dynamic Range varies with any given sample, not
verified].
On MW sensitivity is good, but not to any way above average levels. The
top mounted 360 degree rotatable LW/MW “loop-stick” antenna certainly
helps with reduction of local interference or with other stations (has
a good null factor), but as far as a “hot to trot” DX machine on MW, it
was simply is not there with our test unit.
We also found the hand placement can make operation of the MW
loop-stick a bit daunting. Sometimes (but not always) once the user
moves the hand away, the null point changes. Touching the loop only at
the ends seemed to help here.
FM is in a similar boat. Sensitivity is only at a average level, and we
found the FM in the Degen DE1121 to out perform the 750 for FM sensitivity.
The real downer with sensitivity on the 750 lies with the Aircraft
band. It was a total disappointment not even being able to pull in the
local “ATIS” station on 128.250 MHz. This is perfectly receivable on
the worst of receivers here for Aircraft (Yaesu VX-2R Amateur handheld
on a short rubber antenna), and not a peep from the 750.....nothing.
There is a all mode squelch. It works well enough, but it reminds one
of a cheap CB radio out of the 1970's the way it performs.
Separate USB-LSB Modes...But...../ Stability OK / Manual ECSS
The 750 has separate LSB and USB selections. However we were able to
tune USB signals in LSB and USB in LSB mode. Mind you it was a bit
easier to tune when the proper mode did match the radio setting. But
being we have a SSB BFO marked knob, this really tells the story here.
(Update : The wider “Narrow” filter is not as narrow as a normal
SSB mode filter would be. From
looking at the block diagram, there is indeed the use of real offset
oscillators in the BFO. So the start
of the poor showing with SSB performance must be with the IF filter
used ?)
Mind you the stability all around is good. But for another reason the
SSB quality lacking is with the sound of it. A bit of warble and the
AGC seems too fast to proper SSB (so one hears nasty pumping). Again
the narrow filter is a bit too wide for serious SSB use.
We tried manual ECSS with little success. It was difficult to keep any
station in sync for any length of time, and was hard to tune using that
BFO control. Forget it.
Long Time To Change Batteries Before Reset / Memories Not
Battery Backed ?? / No 12 kHz output for DRM as Planned / Owners Manual
Printed In Light Gray Ink
Due to time frame issues with the sample loaner , we were unable to
test if the memories are battery backed up ?
But we did leave the set up unplugged for a good 12 hour time frame,
and the clock and memories were was still storing all. The LCD fades
out in about 2 hours from the screen, but is retaining the clock
counting. Again was unable to see how long the clock went before it
died (and would be a tough one to unearth as the display dies in a few
hours, but the clock is really still counting. No way to tell when the
clock actually dies.)
A 12 kHz output for DRM (for connection to a computer) that was given
as a feature in eton’s pre-production ads. This is one jack that was
not found on the test sample. So appears this went MIA before actual
production. UPDATE : Most Tecsun S-2000 versions of this receiver do
have this jack installed (not tested).
The skimpy multi-language owners manual’s text is printed using "light
gray" ink. This makes for ruff reading. It also barely gives enough
information on how to use the receiver.
Nice Try - But No Cigar / Quality Control Non-Existent ?
Just looking at a picture of the Grundig Satellit 750 , makes for some real excitement. However , in my hands only for a short time the enthusiasm was quickly squashed (for me anyway). It's not all bad, it sounds great on broadcast stations and general performance is OK. But with the lousy SSB performance , wobbly tuning knob, poor S-Meter and the lack of a Sync Detection mode , I will take a pass on this one. From reading reports / other reviews around the internet it suffered greatly from variable quality control issues. The Satellit 750 was discontinued in late 2017.
Returned in mid 2020 as the "Eton Elite 750"
Dave N9EWO
© N9EWO
Ver. 5.5
Is the new "Eton Elite 750" variant improved (appears NOT !) |
The later marked variant "Eton Elite 750"
that was released in late August 2020 was said to be identical to the
old Grundig Satellit 750/Tecsun S-2000. Joseph Bolus checks in with
comments to a new Eton Elite 750 sample he purchased in August 2020 and
had
no disconcerting wobbly main tuning knob. Plus he discovered
a way to make the ATS to work on the Short Wave bands. We have to
wonder
IF the WIDE IF filter issue has been cleared up (where one needs to
tune off the actual frequency a couple of kHz for it to sound centered)
? Still does not compare to the old Satellit 800 for performance (see my review here), but the real question is "has the set been improved from the old model for quality control" ? It appears NOT as we read on Amazon (click here) with buyer comments and has the same old quality control issues ! As of me typing this update text we have no plans retesting this model due to budget restraints. So please keep in mind that we have not verified any of the information below. "Caveat Emptor" (buyer beware) ! Dave N9EWO "ATS now works on Shortwave, and it works in a very similar fashion to the Tecsun PL-880 ATS: It scans all 14 International bands and skips over the Ham bands. Found stations are stored to Page 00, and that page automatically expands from 50 memory slots for FM and MW to 100 for Shortwave. This enhancement is not documented; and the front panel of the radio doesn’t indicate that ATS is functional for shortwave. But all you have to do to activate it is press the SW button once to switch to SW, and then long-press the SW button for 5 seconds." "The knobs are all metal and feel silky smooth. No wobbling on the main tuning knob. The SSB mode is stable and clear. The narrow filter seems to be “narrower” when in SSB mode, but I have no way of verifying that. But the noise reduction and the clarity seem to be more in line with at 3.5 to 4 khz filter. Zero beat is possible for AM stations, but still very difficult to use for ECSS." "The rest of the review I would agree with (no changes, still 2 bandwidth filters being used ?): The Wide filter on MW seems too wide. When on SW, it seems to have steep skirts which helps. The S-Meter is too recessed and is poorly lit. There is no bail, but I purchased some rubber feet extenders for it from Amazon, and they work well." "Bottom line: This radio is not identical to the Grundig 750 / Tecsun S-2000. I have been very happy with my Elite 750. The radio costs about $150 more than the previous models and perhaps some of that additional money went into quality control ?" Joseph Bolus |