Grundig Satellit 750 Radio
By: The w0rkm0nk3ys
When we were approached about doing a review on the Satellit 750, the heart of my inner-geek swelled in anticipation! We were already in the process of looking for a solid radio for an upgrade in basic emergency preparedness and to use as our go-to receiver in base camp. This was going to be fun!
Our previous model was a simple Radio-Shack hand-held which we still own, and is now part of the Equipment when we go out on trails. We were searching for a radio which would provide us an upgrade in both power and versatility.
When we received the unit, the first thing which made an impression was the size of the box- We
thought it was going to be completely unreasonable to bring with us the way we pack. Turns out
that impression was only partially correct- the unit IS large-ish, but smaller than expected after
removing the packing.
Upon setting our eyes on the Satellit 750, it was impressive looking- tons of buttons, dials and meters.
That of course made the geek inside squeal with joy. When I picked it up, the radio was lighter
than I expected. The case is made of plastic, so you can’t really drop it from any distance, but fairly
rugged nonetheless.
We were in preparation for a trip to Eastern’ California’s Alabama Hills near Lone Pine when we got
the radio, so we were excited to try it out- Alabama Hills is famous for it’s Hollywood connections,
but it also seemed to be in a decent spot for radio since it’s fairly close to both China Lake and
Edwards AF Base.
I took a look first at the instruction manual and um, it was minimal to say the least. HEY COMPANIES
OUT THERE- It only does your business GOOD to pay someone to truly explain how to get the most from
your products- it only increases customer satisfaction. Moving on...
Firing up the unit for the first time involved first packing it with it’s required D-size batteries. You do
this from a basic pressure latch on the back of the radio. Once it was ready to go I hit the red power
button and we were up and running.
With the Satellit 750, You will get complete coverage of all long wave, medium wave and shortwave frequencies as well as FM (stereo to the earphone jack). Plus the Satellit 750 also receives the VHF aeronautical band (117-137 MHz). Your shortwave coverage includes the reception of the single sideband (SSB) mode allowing the reception of ham radio operators, as well as maritime and shortwave aeronautical stations.
You can select either wide or narrow selectivity to reduce co-channel interference. You can tune your
favorite stations by the conventional tuning knob, quic k keypad entry of via the 1000 memories.
The radio features both an Earphone jack and a Line-out jack. Long distance AM band reception is
possible because of the built-in rotatable, directional ferrite antenna. External antennas may also be
attached and are highly recommended. There are multiple options here. With a decent antenna you can
really pick up broadcasts from a long distance- other countries easily. There is even a 5V USB
outlet for MP3 or mobile phone charging- sweet!
First I tried the basics- AM/FM. The Satellit 750 works well on
AM, and even better when you use the rotatable loop loop. The
AM audio is really good for it’s price point. Our location didn’t
give us a ton of FM options, but what we got was clear and
reasonably powerful.
Next I was on to Shortwave. For broadcast listening I used mostly
the wide filter, only switching once in a while to narrow. Overall the sound
quality is very good. We were quite pleased, and it exceeded our expectations. Reception using even a basic antenna is impressive- with a simple whip antenna we were able to receive broadcasts from Mexico, Russia, Cuba, and across the Nation here at home.
The memory page system was a bit confusing to operate at first, and I had to sort of fumble my way around for a minute before I got the hang of it, however it was nothing horrible.
Another great feature- If your basic entertainment includes MP3 based audio, you are in luck- using Single-Side Band we connected our MP3 player and listed to pod-casts & music often during the trip. For us this was great since we’re always looking to reduce the number of items we have to concern ourselves about taking with us.
So let’s recap the main points:
PROS
-
Performs really well - especially with an antenna
-
Tons of features & presets
-
Audio quality very good
CONS
-
Page memory system slightly confusing to operate at first
-
Instruction manual not great
-
? - We can’t come up with a third true negative point =-)
CONCLUSION
Four of Five Stars. This radio very successfully straddles the cost line between high end desktop models, and original-idea portables. It is the best mix between the two we have seen so far. The Satellit 750 is definitely the best ‘Jack of all Trades’ radio for the price, especially when an external antenna is used.
4.0 of 5 Stars
-w0rkm0nk3ys
GEAR
During this next adventure we have a crap-load of gear to take a look at for you:
GoPro Hero3 Black Edition
First, we get our Geek on with the GoPro Hero3 Black Edition. Our destinations and planned activities will make a perfect setting to run the Camera & gear through their paces- we can't wait!
Next, we'll be testing out a new tool in our kit- the Fiskars X7 Hatchet. Fairly-important as we're not taking any wood with us and we'll need to rely on dead/downed fuel.
Fiskars X7
Our final (and definitely most relaxing) reviews will be to help address one of the major needs of anyone who camps- a reasonably restful base to recuperate on after your day in the wilderness- in other words, mattresses.
Canyon Combo SUV Quickbed
This time around we're taking a look at both the Coleman Canyon Airbed Combo, as well as the Coleman SUV Quickbed.
Will this gear stand up to the test of Crater Lake, the Umpqua National Forest, and The WorkMonkeys?
Stay tuned & find out!
What's Next:
Life. Unpaved.
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