Normally I wouldn’t be concerned that a radio is a couple of years old, or even 10 years old in case of the Tecsun PL-880, but these ATS radios seem to become obsolete overnight. If I had known better, I would have bought the Decoder II variant particularly because of its low noise amplifier.
My ATS25 Max Decoder — Voyage of Discovery (updated) article left a list of things to try out. And while I’m posting a 2025 review of a 2023 radio, it’s good that I was able to update the firmware to Ver. 4.2 Beta from June 8 of 2024.
This article continues the voyage of discovery and provides initial testing results.
I’m getting the impression that this is a tinkerers radio designed for ham radio operators primarily. (Update: the developer said in a video exactly that.)
All sorts of interesting stops appeared along the way, even a firmware upgrade!
I’m interested in this radio for a few reasons. It’s a very different form factor from what I’m used to. It has a metal box and coaxial antenna input that might make it more immune to local noise. It has a waterfall display, and finally it can decode some transmissions (FT4 and FT8) I have no access to.
My ATS25 Max Decoder arrived from AliExpress one day early at a time when snow has everything backed up ( extra points for that). The store, POTOLAB, seems to be out of the shortwave radio receiver business this week, and looking for other sources finds that the price has dropped $20.
The first impressions are based on version 4.17 Beta of the firmware. In my next article, this gets updated to version 4.2 AIR Beta.
Warning
I also found something one has to watch out for at AliExpress, misleading product descriptions. I found what was described as an ATS25 Max Decoder for $37.47 with free shipping, but the product photo was of the cheaper ATS20. The buyer will likely get ripped off.
Unboxing
Feel free to leave a comment if you think unboxing photos are a waste of time. I have my own doubts.
A few years back I bought a Tecsun PL-380 that had a thermometer. That was my go to travel radio and the thermometer was convenient. I missed this feature when I traded in the PL-380 on a PL-330. Since then, I’ve accumulated 7 radios (that I know of) that display temperature.
Last night I wondered what the temperature was at a spot in my house and I dragged out an XHDATA D-109. The reading seemed a bit low, which led me to wonder about the accuracy of radio thermometers in general, so I gathered all my radios with the feature, plus a kitchen cooking thermometer that supposedly covers -40 to 482° F, and tested them.
I did two tests, one indoors and one outdoors.
Back Row: XHDATA D-109, D608-WB. HanRongDa HRD-757 Front Row: XHDATA D-109 (only 1 shown), Sihuadon R-108, XHDATA D-109WB.
I purchased my Sangean ANT-60 in 2011, 13 years ago. In the intervening years I’ve gotten other similar reel antennas included with shortwave radios I bought.
They’re all about the same except for one very important characteristic — how easy the antenna is to reel in. Some of them stick, and reeling the antenna back in is tedious and frustrating. The ANT-60 works pretty smoothly — and a tiny bit of silicone lubricant makes it perfect.
The antenna terminates in a 3.5 mm phone jack, the almost universal connector for portable shortwave radios. For radios with no antenna jack, the ANT-60 comes with an adaptor that clips onto the end of the telescopic antenna.
The ANT-60 also comes with a short strap and a clip suitable for attaching the end to a tree limb or something else convenient.
It’s a piece of wire with a phone plug rolled up in a reel. This isn’t rocket science, but this model works the best. If mine ever got lost or finally broke, I’d buy this model again.
I made a new year’s resolution to put up an outdoor antenna in 2025 and this article will chronicle the progress.
Previously I had an MLA-30+ on a balcony, but it was in an inconvenient location for where I really wanted to listen to radio, so I took it down. I have a 20-foot wire up a tree, but I have to go outside to connect to it, and the weather is turning cold. I don’t want to stumble down the sloping outdoor stairs to get to it in the dark and it’s not any fun in the rain.
So, the general plan is to put up a straight long wire antenna from a tree to the house, around 25 feet long. There will be an earth ground and a 9:1 balun for impedance matching, plus a lightning arrester. Shielded cable will run from the balun to a window where I’ll use one of those under window antenna strips to get in inside. Everything will be shielded between the wire and a connected radio.
This article will be updated with progress. Maybe it will get finished before the ATS-25 MAX Decoder radio arrives.
Post 1, January 2, 2025
First thing I did was to take inventory, and I decided I didn’t have enough wire for the antenna, so I ordered some from Amazon (nothing on local Ace Hardware website);
I decided on 20 gauge wire for no particular reason, except it didn’t seem too big and didn’t seem too small.
The second question is whether to use a BALUN, an impedance matching transformer. One typically uses a 9:1 BALUN matching a long wire to 50 ohm coaxial cable. The problem here is whether the portable shortwave radios I use have 50 ohm inputs. This question will be resolved by experimenting with my current wire up a tree antenna to see whether the antenna works better with or without. That signal strength value on the display will finally be good for something. I’ll also try several radios to see if that makes a difference.
The third question is whether to really add a lightning arrester. I have one, but it will be a little awkward in my design, and I don’t intend to leave radios plugged into the antenna when I’m not using them.
The last piece of equipment I will probably get is a spring. The tree is pretty strong, but it still might sway in a strong wind and I don’t want to snap the antenna.
Post 1, January 6, 2025
Slow going on the project. The middle Atlantic states are buried in snow and it’s 34 degrees and raining right now. The antenna wire is slated for delivery today although I have my doubts.
Post 2, January 9, 2025
The wire arrived. I put together my test rig for the BALUN. The “radio side” will be the same:
F-type window/door jumper strip
F to SMA adapter
M-M SMA adapter
SMA cable 10 ft.
SMA to phone plug patch cable
Outdoors with BALUN from Antenna and Ground:
Jumper lead with clips to antenna and ground leads
BALUN
SO-239 to F adapter
Outdoors without BALUN from Antenna and Ground:
Jumper lead with clips to antenna and ground leads
I’m just thinking about what’s next for this blog.
Blog or Die! was founded in 1995, 30 years ago this month, as a personal blog covering, as the masthead says:
Thoughts and commentary on politics, technology, travel, religion and current events.
Content has evolved over the years. Commentary on religion has gotten its own site. Politics and current events moved to a series a sites (check out the Blog Roll on the right side of the page that includes other sites of mine) when they seemed to be taking over. While I still travel, I’m not really a travel writer. I like photography, but I write about that in a local Facebook group. My writing on technology has primarily narrowed to the topic of radio.
What I have learned is that website readers and YouTube channel viewers like content to stay on a topic and not wander around. While there is a worldwide readership for content about radios, there is not one for “what Kevin thinks about stuff.” It is unfortunate that a blog that has settled on the radio topic has a title that is so generic, but that’s life and I don’t intend to change it. Anyway, I get far more views on social media (as many as a million a month) than I get on the blog anyway. I’m a moderator of the Tesla FSD Supervised group on Facebook and participate in a dozen more.
I’m not sure how the radio topic will evolve in 2025. At this point I’ve completed my first giveaway. I have more radios already than I can share the love with, so I don’t anticipate buying many more after the ATS-25 MAX Decoder, and so new radio reviews will be few and far between. My personal view is that both cheap radios and very high end radios are both a waste of money for someone like me. Right now I’m considering more radio reception report and how-to content for this blog. I have a new year’s resolution to put up an outdoor antenna, and I’ll document that process.
I hope all my readers will have a healthy and prosperous new year.
