No, not some shiny new toy from AliExpress, but something from the “old days.” The Sangean ATS-909 is an analog radio first introduced in 1996, available until roughly 2011 when the DSP-based ATS-909X was introduced . Read more at The Radio Museum. It’s quite respected still.
The ATS-909 was originally priced at $250 retail, which would be the equivalent, with inflation, of about $512 today in 2025. I snagged this one for $65 plus shipping from an eBay seller with 100% satisfaction. The photos show it in very good cosmetic condition (likely because it was stored in its original case). It doesn’t include a manual, power adapter nor the Sangean ANT-60 external antenna originally included. The manual was trivial to find online. The radio uses 4 AA batteries.
A quick visual scan of the controls suggests the receiver will be intuitive to operate.
What I want to explore is how some of the respected analog radios of the past compare to the radios of today, and in particular last radios like the Grundig G4000A, the Tecsun PL-660 and the Sangean
The following table was assisted by Microsoft Copilot.
📊 Radio Comparison: G4000A vs PL-660 vs ATS-909
| Feature | Grundig G4000A | Tecsun PL-660 | Sangean ATS-909 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bands | LW / MW / SW / FM | LW / MW / SW / FM / Air | LW / MW / SW / FM |
| SW Coverage | 1711–29999 kHz | 1711–29999 kHz | 1711–29999 kHz |
| SSB Support | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (with BFO) | ✅ Yes |
| Sync Detection | ❌ No | ✅ Yes (AM-Sync with LSB/USB) | ❌ No |
| AIR Band | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| FM RDS | ❌ No | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Memory Presets | 40 | 2000 | 307 |
| External Antenna Jack | ✅ 3.5 mm | ✅ 3.5 mm | ✅ 3.5 mm |
| Battery Type | 4 × AA | 4 × AA | 4 × AA |
| Audio Output | Mono speaker / stereo headphone | Mono speaker / stereo headphone | Mono speaker / stereo headphone |
| Notable Strengths | Clean analog interface, good SSB | Sync-AM, air band, massive memory | Excellent dynamic range, RDS on FM |
| Size | 7.75″ x 4.5″ x 1.25″ | 7.36″ x 4.5″ x 1.3″ | 8.25 x 5″ x 1.5″ |
A persistent problem with the Sangean ATS-909 back in the day was a scratchy or failing speaker. Earphone output was fine. Users often hooked up an external speaker, or just used headphones. We’ll see what I get.
It should arrive August 8.
The ATS-909 will really shine with a large external antenna connected, compared to other radios that overload. The SSB reception may be the best of your portable radios.
I had two of them and replaced the audio capacitors with the Kiwa kit that was available at the time. The second radio eventually lost audio on the internal speaker as well. That was the one that didn’t have the Kiwa kit.
I sold the radio with the Kiwa kit and gave the second one away at my local radio club.