Grundig Satellit 500 Shortwave AM FM Radio Receiver ***GREAT CLASSIC UNIT***

Description

Over the years, the Grundig Company has made a name for itself among radio enthusiasts for its quality of products.  Its world band receivers are considered some of the best products made and Grundig has quite a corporate heritage in making receivers that are sensitive, dependable, and nice to look at and listen to.  This Satellit 500 was manufactured in Portugal from 1989 through 1992 using Grundig engineering facilities and upholds the strong traditions of the Grundig line of products.  The Satellit 500 has become a collector's receiver and good radios like this often still trade for nearly new value among enthusiasts if they are in exceptional condition.
This Satellit 500 is used and in average cosmetic condition.  We have sold a few of these Satellit 500's over the years and this particular unit does show signs of prior ownership as is common for this radio.  Please look at the various pictures at the top of this listing to confirm cosmetic condition and use the pictures to supplement the Ebay description.
The radio works well and has great sensitivity.  Often one or both of the dial lamps fails to illuminate or perhaps there is another issue that may have surfaced now that the radio is about 30 years old.   No such issues were found with our testing.  The Satellit 500 radio is a nice ensemble and comes with:
Grundig AC adapter (120 or 240 VAC)
antenna connector to utilize an external antenna
copy of the user manual
copy of the service notes
general review information as found on the Radio Boy website (no longer online)
Passport to World Band Radio review 1992
WRTH (World Radio and Television Handbook) review 1990
Satellit 500 Whitepaper review
Grundig Radio Boy's info regarding FAQ on the Satellit 500
EEB (Electronic Equipment Bank) catalog page copy 1993
Gilfer Shortwave catalog page copy 1991
WRTH advertisement 1990
CD which contains 115MB of various documents found above such as manuals, advertisements, reviews, service information, plus general information on shortwave listening and enjoyment of the shortwave hobby.  Many of these documents are no longer available online or from another source.  We do not sell this CD and the contents are given freely to the new owner of this radio.
The Satellit 500 works with an AC adapter or batteries and the adapter is supplied with this unit....batteries are not supplied.
Everything about the Satellit 500 seems to have been well thought out.  First of all, the radio picks up virtually all of the usual broadcast frequencies.  Users in Europe and other areas will enjoy reception on the longwave band, even though this band is not a commercial broadcast band here in North America.  Then just above the LW band, listeners will be able to pick up the full range of AM frequencies.  If you like to listen to local or regional broadcasts, news, sports, weather or talk shows, then this radio will allow you to get good reception on this band of frequencies.
The next frequencies above the AM band are the 160 meter amateur radio band, the frequencies for marine communications (ship to ship / ship to shore), the 80 meter amateur radio band and then the tropical band. On the marine and amateur radio bands, you can hear transmissions in International Morse Code or on SSB (lower or upper sideband).  The 500 offers the user the ability to decode sideband transmissions which is great for casual listening or for emergency communications.  On the tropical bands, the listener can tune in to music from the "tropics"... stations broadcasting from Latin America, South America or the Caribbean.  Some of these broadcasts are exotic sounding and are of special interest to listeners who enjoy Latin music.
Just above the tropical band is the heart of world band radio broadcasts.  It is here that the listener will enjoy transmissions literally from all over the world.  The Satellit 500 really shines in this area as it will allow the user to pick up broadcasts with ease from both the high power and low power stations from dozens of countries.  What is important for Americans is that these broadcasters often include programs in English so that the listener is treated to a wide range of programs from all parts of the globe.  Each day, we tune into a variety of programs like music from Greece and Cuba, cooking and recipes from Romania, cultural information from China Radio, and language lessons for Chinese.
In any given week, we listen to a variety of foreign broadcasters in English and get news from around the world.  If you like a more balanced perspective in the news, you really need to tune into shortwave.  If you think that the mainstream media in this country gives news, well once you get past the entertainment news, you rarely have but a few minutes of actual news.  On shortwave, you will get the slant from that particular station and country, but at least you hear it and can get a different perspective.  We especially enjoy getting news from domestic shortwave broadcasts as this news is either later reported on by the mainstream media or totally neglected by them.  This information has been valuable to help us be better informed citizens and make informed decisions regarding our personal lives.
Beyond the transmissions heard on the main shortwave bands, the user will find the upper amateur radio frequencies in the 20, 15 and 10 meter bands, Citizens Band frequencies, and finally FM broadcasts.  The FM on this radio sounds fabulous and the radio is able to pull in stereo signals from a wide surrounding area.  We live in a remote part of central Penna that is void of many high powered stations and the available lower power stations are located quite a distance away.  And yet, this Satellit 500 snags even some of the weaker stations along the reception fringe.
Grundig has not shorted this receiver on features.  The user expect to find a well organized radio that makes sense when in use.  The radio is rectangular and the folks at Grundig have placed the volume, tone and tuning knobs within the cabinet confines so that nothing protrudes.  This gives the radio a stylish look that is not common in this day of rapid consumer product offerings.  We especially like the analog knobs for tuning as opposed to only push buttons and Grundig has designed the radio for the best of both worlds.  Even the handle folds out for use and then neatly folds back into the top and out of sight when not needed curving to match the contours of the radio.
The Satellit 500 is a feature heavy radio that gives the gadget guru a lot of time to explore.  Here are some of the features that you will expect to find on this radio:
·
Built in Ni-Cad battery charger
·
Battery meter
·
2 Bandwidths (6.8 / 3.8)
·
FM stereo / mono
·
Synchronous detector
·
Tuning options:
Tuning knob
Slew key
Auto-search (FM)
Auto-scan (AM)
Direct keying-in of frequencies and SW metre-bands, (LW/MW/SW frequencies can be entered in kHz or MHz, FM in MHz only)
40 broadcaster/156 frequency ROM table.
User programmable presets
Manual or automatic ROM/memory scan
SW metre-band skip
·
42 Station Memories - stores mode, bandwidth and mono/stereo where appropriate, with 4 character user input alphanumeric name assignment
·
Dial illumination
·
S-meter
·
Local / DX switch (prevents powerful stations from overloading the radio)
·
Separate bass / treble controls
·
2 Clocks with 24 hour
·
Sleep timer
·
Recording and speaker outputs
·
External antenna input
·
Wavebands:
FM: 87.5-108 MHz, tuning steps 25 KHz.
LW 148-353 KHz, modes: Synchronous AM/USB/LSB; tuning steps 10 or 9 KHz (scan), 1 KHz (manual tuning), 100 Hz (manual SSB/Synch fine tuning).   Bandwidth.  Automatic/Manual Gain Control.
MW 513-1611 KHz, modes: Synchronous AM/USB/LSB; tuning steps 9 KHz (switchable to 10 KHz for use in the USA) (scan), 1 KHz (manual tuning), 100 Hz (manual SSB/Synch fine tuning). Bandwidth. Automatic/Manual Gain Control.
SW 1612-30000 KHz, modes: Synchronous AM/USB/LSB; tuning steps 5 KHz (scan, within metre bands only, including amateur bands), 1 KHz (manual tuning), 100 Hz (manual SSB/Synch fine tuning). Bandwidth. Automatic/Manual Gain Control.
If you would like to read more about the Satellit 500, you may find some review info here where the Satellit 500 earns a 4.9 out of 5.0:
https://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/525
(copy and paste this link in your internet browser)
Please use the Ebay shipping calculator to determine your shipping cost.  This cost includes proper packing materials for safe delivery and insurance cost against damage or loss.
Those buyers living outside the USA are also welcome to purchase from us.  We have shipped to 105 countries during the past 22 years on Ebay and we are happy to ship virtually anywhere in the world.  You may use the shipping calculator to determine your shipping cost.
Please keep in mind that this cost does not include any import, customs, or VAT fees.  If you are uncertain of these costs, we ask you to check with your local post office prior to making a purchase from us.  Thank you!
Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to look at our Ebay items!