I knew that the antenna that came with it would only work for FM broadcast stations when I bought it so didn’t mind this fact.Once you get a better short-wave antenna, this is a feature-rich radio. It is a bit deaf but about appropriate for the price.

Update 14-May-24:Problem with noise from 5V battery charger was unique to one particular charger. Noise went away when I switched another one.Discovered the RF attenuator (ATT) function only works when in AM or FM mode, not for SSB. Manual covers this.Receiving more Ham stations on all bands now that the geomagnetic interference has abated a bit. Went from S8 noise floor to S4-S6, helps. Still getting S3-S4 background hiss, though. Strong (+500 watts) U.S. stations coming in fine, stable, very readable. Weaker DX from Europe & Australia getting smashed by noise floor. Wish noise reduction (NR) function covered these bands.Original ReviewFIVE STARS, EXCELLENT RADIO FOR A BARGAIN PRICE, works as advertised. Loaded with all kinds of features, many of which are customizable to one’s listening preferences. However …THIS IS NOT AN ENTRY LEVEL RECEIVER for the first-time shortwave / AM / FM listener comfortable with just a volume and tuning knob; this a Software Defined Radio (SDR), a whole new ballgame for receivers. If you’re not sure, simply print out a copy of the user manual using the link provided in the product description. It’s free and may save you $$$ and the hassle of returning a product not suited to your needs.THE TARGET AUDIENCE for this type of radio is primarily the shortwave / AM broadcast enthusiast but not so much for those interested in CB or Ham bands — there are other radios better-suited for that. That’s not to say this SDR does a bad job, it’s just not what it does best — I’ll explain why in a bit. The frequency range for this radio covers the AM-broadcast, FM, and HF shortwave band spectrum; no weather band, no aircraft band, police, or anything else. The general HF spectrum does include CB and all the Ham radio bands up to 10-meters with all the more popular modes (LSB, USB, CW, digital).WHAT’S IN THE BOX: Along with the radio, you get an instruction manual, some stick-on anti-skid feet, a USB charger cable, a Wi-Fi stub antenna, an 18” telescopic antenna (totally useless except for FM listening), and a little plastic pointer stick (a necessity for picking out things on the tiny touch screen).READ THE MANUAL. If this is your first SDR, it’s imperative you go over the included manual (The printed version is easier to read, plus lots of blank space for personal notes). Don’t try to do everything all at once, just stick to the basic functions & features until you get the hang of things. If you DO manage to screw up something, there’s a RESET feature in the SETUP menu.And now the review …FIT AND FORM: Solid clean design, aluminum case but front & back panels appear to be some other non-metallic material. Nice solid BNC-type antenna connector. Topside speaker, but where else are you gonna put it on such a small box? No external speaker connection but there is a headphone jack, maybe patch output into a separate audio amp for better sound quality. Plastic tuning / encoder knob seems fairly robust for constant use. You can set this thing just about anywhere, perfect on recliner chair arm, bedside table, or just on the pillow.AUDIO QUALITY: This is a small radio, excellent for situations where space is limited, like kitchen table, desk top, or bedside table. The audio quality is surprisingly good ,considering the small package; not boom-box / home-stereo quality, but decent enough for casual AM / FM listening. Perhaps even better with headphones, but I don’t have any for this particular jack.OPERATION / EASE-OF-USE: Menus are well laid out, logical and easy to navigate. May take a bit of practice for novice user, but you’ll get the hang of it with some practice. Because of the small display, you’re probably going to need reading glasses for some of the finer text.Tuning knob / encoder is multi-functional: normally selects frequency; a quick press brings up the volume setting, another push returns back to tuning; press and hold for a second and the BFO level appears, press again and you’re back to tuning. IMPORTANT: my radio was delivered with the tuning knob operating backwards, had to turn counter-clockwise to increase frequency, very unnatural! Not sweat. Go into the SETUP menu and you’ll find the encoder setting where this can be reversed.GENERAL RECEPTION:This radio does not do continuous tuning through the HF spectrum, you can only tune within the range of one of the predefined bands. For example: after selecting the 25M shortwave band, you can tune continuously -- but only within the range of that particular band; if you hit the top end of that range, the encoder automatically sets you back to the lower end. If you need continuous tuning from 50 KHz to 2 GHz), best to look for another type of radio (see the reasonably-priced Malihit DSP-1 mentioned below).All the bands work this way. So, if your favorite pirate radio station broadcast just outside the top end of the AM broadcast band (1.7 MHz), but not within the low end of the 160M Ham band (1.8 MHz), you'll probably won't be able to pick it up. Pirates avoid transmitting in the Ham and commercial bands because it attracts too much attention, especially from the FCC.FM: Just using the supplied telescopic antenna, I picked up a station at just about every frequency in the band; some clearer than others but all were intelligible. Talk shows were clear as a bell, classical music pretty decent from a tiny speaker. Good nighttime listening.AM BROADCAST: Excellent! No hash, sizzling or crackling noises, beats the pants off of C.Crane (a high-quality non-SDR AM radio). This is due to the use of Digital Noise Reduction (DNR) circuitry and software, all good SDR’s have this feature. Unfortunately, this DNR is available only for the AM mode and not SSB. That kinda of makes sense given the target audience is most likely interested in general shortwave and AM broadcast DXing.HAM BANDS: Unfortunately, we’re in the midst of the worst solar / geomagnetic storm in 30 yrs., so there’s not a lot of activity right now. Still, I was able to pick up some stations on every band. The problem is the high S7-S8 static noise level; strong stations (+S8) come in well enough, but hard to listen with all the background hash. I suspect most of this is due to the geomagnetic storms. But another issue is there’s no DNR in SSB mode. If I switch modes from SSB to AM, the audio is of course unintelligible — but the noise floor drops by 4-5 S-units. I tried this again this morning when I came across some hard-core Hams running old school AM transmitters on 80-meters. Switched to AM mode and they came in clear with minimal background hash.ANTENNAS: FM works well with just the provided telescopic antenna, everything else requires and external antenna for superior reception. I used an outside 12’ vertical connected to a 50-ohm coax via a ferrite core 3:1 impedance matching balun. There’s tons of stuff on the web about all kinds of antennas you can make. Using just random length of wire on the floor will work, but you’ll have to experiment. If you want to use a small coiled wire loop antenna, don’t waste money on purchasing an amplified antenna, you don’t need it, as this radio comes with a built-in selectable Low Noise Amplifier (LNA).ISSUES AND PET PEEVES:Incredibly tiny power switch on the back, gotta use your thumbnail to turn on the radio.Multi-function tuning / encoder knob lacks indentation for finger / thumb for rapid easy turning. If I can remove the knob, I think I’ll drill in an indentation using a 1/4” bit.Lots of interference when listening while USB charger attached. Not a big deal as battery provides +5 hrs of listening time (drops down to just 65%). Just plug in charger when radio not in use.OVERALL OPINION: If you want a nice SDR for general listening on a budget, this is it. There are lots of features I’ve yet to use (like the Wi-Fi connection), but it clearly meets my needs. This is a great low-cost knock-around radio suitable for travel, camping, hotels. Consider pairing with 5-volt usb power pack or solar-powered usb charger. If radio is lost, stolen or damaged, you’re not out of a lot of money.For Ham-oriented listeners, while this radio is adequate, you may want to consider something a step higher, one example is the Malahit DSP-1. The DSP-1 is pricier at $330, but covers virtually every frequency from 50 KHz to 2 GHz; more importantly, it has selectable digital noise reduction for SSB mode, indispensable for picking our weak DX stations and suppressing background noise.

First of all, there's a big learning curve, but that's most of the fun. It 2orks, works well, and will be even better once I get the hank of it all. I already set the volume knobs to work correctly. After just one day of light use, the connection for the bluetooth antenna came off. And when switching on, off, and between channels, there is a very loud popping sound even with volume turned all the way down. I returned. BE AWARE, I HAVE AN ICOM IC-R6 THAT PULLS IN A LOT MORE STATIONS, MUCH MORE CLEARLY THAN THESE ATS 25 RADIOS. AND IM USING A SIGNAL STUFF, SIGNAL STICK ANTENNA ON THE ICOM.

The firmware shipped on the ATS25-AMP is a hybrid version of V.16 and is not available for download.Updating to a later version is therefore at the user’s risk.The ATS25-AMP is not officially supported by the Harduino firmware, mainly due to the points below.- The ATS25-AMP DIGI Decoder may not function correctly at low battery voltages.A possible workaround is to add a low power 5V boost circuit such as a charge pump to power the Digi Decoder circuitry.- The ATS25-AMP may show backlight flickering and/or reboots at low battery voltages.This is the case for most of the ATS25 receivers, apart from the ATS25 Max Decoder.The Max Decoder uses a high power 5V boost converter feeding the 3V3 on-board regulator.Note: At battery voltages greater than 3V3, the nominal performance of the ATS25-AMP appears to acceptable and therefore provided the battery is topped up, it should operate as expected.

The first thing I tested was FM, then AM, then SSB. SSB works good. Easy to navigate around. The tuning knob is reversed. Turning right is supposed to increase the selection frequency, volume, etc. but it decreases and turning left increases. I did not find a way to reverse this. The older version was correct and this version is beta I think. The touch screen appears to be resistive not capacitive so hard to use fingers as have to press hard. It does come with a stylus but if you don't use it then it will be hard to navigate around. I give this A for effort overall.

I picked this up as a fun desk item and I am glad I did. It's actually a great radio with a ton of functionality. I use it all the time now and have not run into any issues. Charging is fast and the battery life feels good. Having the option to hook up an external antenna opens up all kinds of possibility. A great little tool for the money.

just what i said before fun toy picks up alot kinda forced me to learn a bunch of terms

reordering in the hope it was a random dead device.Replaced unit actually works as intended possibly the first unit had a few falls along the way. Switched frequency bands without issue, had to figure out a few menu steps but good with the interface now.