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.
Midday MW / FM band scan
Finally some of the snow melted from the location patio where I run my midday band scan. The temperature is 38°F (3°C). Oh the things I do for radio.
Normally my daytime MW scan is done using the radio’s internal ferrite antenna with the radio pointed northwest. Ferrite bar antennas are directional, resulting in lower noise, but no reception off to the side. In my location most stations are along the northwest/southeast direction. I use one direction to make comparisons between radios simpler; however the ATS25 does not have an internal ferrite antenna, so I must resort to the telescopic. This handicaps the radio by increasing noise, compensated by the fact that it’s not directional.
FM testing is convenient because every click of the tuning knob (encoder) is a potential station thanks to the 200 kHz channel spacing, compatible with ITU Region 2 (the Qodosen is my only other radio with 200 kHz spacing). Then the region is set, the FM spacing is automatically set.
Here are the results and they are disappointing. The FM results were so bad that I went out for a second day and waved the radio around in the air trying to find a station (and I got a few more). It just didn’t approach anything anywhere near its price range (and yes, the antenna switch was set to FM), not even the $10 XHDATA D-219. MW is among the worst. That is perhaps not surprising for a radio with a BNC antenna connector, suggesting that it’s really designed for an external antenna.
One important result in this test is that the radio is extremely difficult to operate in bright daylight. Carry a small tent or something. There is a display brightness setting (if you could find it in the bright daylight), but it’s not enough.
Decoding CW
I tried this shortly after getting the radio and there was this one letter “T” and “22 wpm.” The new Version 4.2 manual was a great help, but I just couldn’t get it to work. The manual said to tune the station, select CW, set the volume control around 45 and then fine tune the radio so that the red line on the waterfall display was centered on the signal — only I couldn’t get the waterfall display. Tapping on the signal strength meter is supposed to cycle it through modes, one of which was the waterfall. I saw this before when I first got the radio, but I hadn’t seen it since the firmware update.
I went to the settings and found the place where one sets their device (the firmware handles many models). It was set to “Generic.” After setting it to ATS25max-Decder the radio rebooted, and when it rebooted, the waterfall display was visible.
Gilles Letourneau of the OfficialSWLChannel (YouTube and Facebook) suggested the ARRL’s Morse Code practice site, W1AW in Newington, Connecticut, a distance of about 400 miles. I consulted their schedule and settled on the frequency of 3581.5 kHz at 10 PM Eastern Time. The signal was good, although with some hiss in the background.
It took some tinkering to get beyond a few stray “T” “E” and “#” characters (I think it was trying to say “TEST #”) but I finally got it to work. The setting of the volume and pitch are critical. This video shows my best result.
SSB
I don’t listen to SSB much, so I’m pretty clumsy at it. I wrote a long review of my other SSB capable radios, SSB! My first shot at SSB on ATS25 Max Decoder was awkward. The radio does receive SSB, but I stumbled around a lot just trying to find a station. Normally SSB stations around 7200 kHz are what’s heard here.
There was confusion about settings. There are three buttons, USB, LSB and BFO. The MODE button switches to a screen where LSB, AM and USB can be selected. Then there is a BFO button on the main screen that switches to a display where adjustments can be made to clarify the signal.
The results weren’t exciting. I found a channel, 7255 kHz, with some SSB traffic using my Tecsun PL-990 and the telescopic antenna. The ATS25 Max Decoder with an MLA 30+ received the same station. The frustrating thing is that ham transmissions are often brief, so brief that they’re gone before the frequency or BFO can be adjusted.
MLA-30+
The SMA to BNC adapter from Amazon arrived, so now the MLA-30+ can plug in. It’s rather convenient compared to that floppy telescopic antenna. I got good results with the MLA-30+ in my CW testing.
Shortwave Performance
Until I get my outdoor antenna up again, I have to test with the MLA-30+ magnetic loop antenna setup downstairs near a window. It’s not in the best location, but comparisons will be valid.
My initial impression is that SW performance is good. It will need a lot more testing, so that’s left for another article.
Conclusion
The ATS25 Max Decoder is a remarkable product. It brings capabilities, like CW decoding, that I’ve never seen before. One can see that a great deal of thought went into the design of this radio. Many things make sense. My initial impression that it was a tinkerer’s radio was confirmed. The version 4.2 manual helps a great deal. Shortwave performance seems decent.
But on the negative side, there is a moderate learning curve. As an FM or MW radio with the supplied telescopic antenna, it’s very poor. Coupled with a screen that can’t handle bright daylight competition, this is definitely not a radio I would ever take on a trip.
Also, I wouldn’t recommend the Max Decoder variant when there is a Max Decoder II version that adds a low noise amplifier and a high impedance antenna input. I mean, if you’re going for the latest glittery thing, then get the latest thing.
I’ll be spending more time with this radio. I will say that the more I understand it, the more I like it.