But, but, but, I thought that unpronounceable green thing was the incoming radio (Incoming Radio: Sttfaishen S10). It didn’t work out. Not only was the product description wrong (color and size), it just didn’t work well on weather band. So another radio will be welcomed into the arms of Goodwill Industries. Sigh.
So here is the next great hope:
Some of this comes from old memories, but I think it’s fairly accurate.
Back in the day I bought a nice emergency radio, a Kaito KA-600.
It had many features, including LW, MW, FM, SW and weather bands. It had FM RDS and weather alerts. It had one other feature, a non-slip rubberized coating that turned to goo after a couple of years. I cleaned it up the best I could and it went away.
Still on a name brand kick I got an Eton Solarlink FR360. It was just MW/FM and weather.
I don’t remember how well it performed. I accidentally left it out on my deck and after the rain, the radio never worked again.
Continue readingThere seems to be an influx of newer and even more powerful battery emergency radios on the market. This Sttfaishen S10 had a 20% off coupon with a final price of $31.99 on Amazon for a 20000 mAh battery charger, plus a Bluetooth speaker, shortwave radio and NOAA Weather Alert radio. It checks all the boxes.
I like the color (it also comes in orange), but the Amazon product listing shows two different green colors, the one above that I like and a darker green with black accents that’s less attractive. I hope the speaker is decent.
UPDATE: They shipped the darker green one.
This one definitely has the NOAA Alerts:
Shortwave coverage is limited to 2.3 – 23 MHz, but that’s par for the course with these radios, and shortwave is not essential in an emergency scenario.
What I found intriguing was this bit from the listing title: 15W Fast Charge. With a fast charger, this radio is going to charge twice as fast as usual! The product description suggests it also charges other devices faster.
The product listing does not have a weather resistant rating included.
While necessarily heavier than the Axyebi MD-107 because of the considerably greater battery capacity, it is amazingly small, only 3 x 4 x 2 inches, or 24 cubic inches, compared to the Axyebi at over 75 cu in.
UPDATE: The radio is huge, no matter what Amazon product listing or reviewers say. The Operator’s Guide says it’s 95 x 168 x 73 mm (3,74 x 6.61 x 2.87).
Wait a minute! I thought you just bought an emergency radio. Yes, I did. Someone will have the opportunity to get a great deal at the local Goodwill store. Nothing at all wrong with that radio. This one will I think suits me better.
Did anybody see what I did there in the title, “Weather Alert! Radio Arrives” instead of “Weather Alert Radio Arrives”? That’s because despite the Amazon product description having this text buried deep down, “NOAA weather alert radio,” this is no more a NOAA weather alert radio than a regular broadcast receiver tuned to a station that has weather reports. When the NOAA test tone goes off tomorrow, this radio won’t be listening for it.
Kudos to Amazon for getting the radio to me 2 days earlier than projected, and in the morning no less. $25.99 on sale with free Prime shipping. Note that AB-US-107Y in the product listing has changed to MD-107 on the package and in the manual. There is no brand on the box or manual, but “Axyebi” appears on a warranty sticker on the bottom of the radio and the Amazon product description.
So now to examine the question: how does the ATS25 Max Decoder compare with other portable radios on shortwave?
The rules are simple. An MLA-30+ amplified loop antenna will be connected to an A/B switch, which will in turn be connected to two radios. First you’ll hear the ATS25 Max Decoder and then you’ll hear another radio. I’ll try to keep the volume level the same. The recording will be made with an iPhone 13.
I live in central Virginia just about 400 miles from Toronto, Canada. One of my favorite testing stations is the commercial station CFRX whose mission is to broadcast to northern Canadian territories with little radio coverage. Time stations are good at various times of the day as well, WWV and CHU.
On the left is a BSCANE battery supply powering the MLA-30+ Biasing Tee that feeds a SONY ANS-34 Antenna / Video Tape Recorder switch (from a time when that made sense). The switch then feeds directly to the two radios, in this case a Qodosen DX-286 and of course the ATS25 upper right.
Here’s the wiring:
Testing is simple. Just pick a radio, flip a switch and make sure the other radio is muted. Take a video.
This is all done in an unscientific way. It just shows results with one type of antenna. It’s done at different times of the day and different frequencies. Shortwave conditions change from moment to moment. And one big issue is ambient noise from the electronics in my house. Your reception may vary. I should do this at a secluded spot, but it’s freezing outside.
Continue readingThis fellow popped up on Amazon, on sale for $25.99. It’s not my usual sweet spot for a radio with its analog tuning dial and no shortwave, but I have come to the conclusion that those two features aren’t important to me in an emergency radio. It’s set to arrive January 23.
The AXYEBI AB-US-107Y has the standard feature complement one expects in the genre:
It adds a compass.
Continue readingNormally 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.
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[robot emoji] symbol. Content comes most often from Microsoft Copilot, but may also come from Perplexity, ChatGPT, Duck.ai, Grok or Deep Seek.
