I just ordered this shortwave radio on Aliexpress for $22.72 with free shipping about ten minutes ago, since then I notice the price went up and is now $25.25! Anyway, they promote it as a "camping radio" due to its included internal rechargeable battery which is supposed last 6 to 8 hours per charge. It receives AM,LW,SW,SSB and curiously also says it has "FM stereo" yet it only has one speaker!
Anyway, it wasn't even what I was looking for, but it seemed a good deal and I could use a shortwave receiver, the one I have really isn't worth a crap.. not saying that this one will be any better at this price point but worth a gamble I think. The detachable antenna is included, and it's battery.
Not sure how to link to it but it's called a:
ATS 20+ Radio Receiver High Sensitivity Portable Small World Band Digital Receiver for Outdoor Camping Home
Feature:
1. Global Broadcasting: World band digital receiver is an FM stereo, AM,LW,SW,SSB world band receiver, suitable for global FM broadcast reception.
2. Multiple Channels: Radio receiver uses sound bandwidth filters 0.5, 1, 1.2, 2.2, 3 and 4Khz; 22 commercial and amateur radio frequency bands are pre configured.
3. High Sensitivity: FM AM world band receiver adopts multiple conversion and DSP digital demodulation technology, which greatly improves the sensitivity of radio.
4. Portable and Light Weight: Radio receiver's lightweight and sturdy components and unique and exquisite design maximize portability. Easy to use with large tuning knobs and volume knobs.
5. Stable Performance: The radio receiver is made of aluminum alloy, which is sturdy and durable. The PCB retains the for si4735 package. Users can replace the chip by themselves and the software is compatible.
6. Applicable: FM AM world band receiver suitable for outdoor camping and listening to radio music in the kitchen are necessary for participating in parades and family life.
Specification:
Item Type: Radio Receiver
Material: Metal, PCB
Model: ATS 20+
Screen: 0.96 inch
Charging Interface: Type C
Speaker: 8ohm 1.5W
Battery Type: 800mAh Lithium Ion Battery (Built In)
Supported Frequency Bands: FM, AM (MW and (LSB and USB)
Band:
(FM_BAND_TYPE, 8400, 10800, 10430, 10),
(LW_BAND_TYPE, 100, 510, 300, 1)
[MW_BAND_TYPE, 520, 1720, 810, 10],
(SW_BAND_TYPE, 1720, 3500, 1900, 1), // 160 m/524.9ft
(SW_BAND_TYΡΕ, 3500, 4500, 3700, 1], // 80 m/262.5ft
(SW_BAND_TYPE, 4500, 5500, 4850, 5),
[SW_BAND_TYΡΕ, 5500, 6300, 6000, 5),
(SW_BAND_TYPE, 6300, 7800, 7050, 5}, // 40 m/131.2ft
(SW_BAND_TYPE, 7800, 10000, 9600, 5),
(SW_BAND_TYPE, 10000, 11000, 10100, 1), // 30 m/98.4ft
[SW_BAND_TYΡΕ, 11000, 12500, 11940, 5),
(SW_BAND_TYPE, 12500, 13900, 13600, 5),
(SW_BAND_TYPΕ, 13900, 14500, 14270, 1). // 20 m/65.6ft
(SW_BAND_TYPE, 14500, 15900, 15300, 5),
(SW_BAND_TYPE, 15900, 17900, 17600, 5),
(SW_BAND_TYPE, 17900, 18300, 18100, 1), // 17 m/55.8ft
[SW_BAND_TYPE, 18300, 21900, 21200, 13. // 15 m/49.2ft
(SW_BAND_TYPE, 21900, 26200, 24940, 1), // 12 m/39.4ft
[SW_BAND_TYPE, 26200, 27900, 27500, 1], // CB Band (11m/36.1ft)
(SW_BAND_TYPE, 27900, 30000, 28400, 133, 10 m/32.8ft
Oh I forgot to ask, in the specifications shown for each band they all give various distance measurements like for example " // 15 m/49.2ft" What does that mean?
It also mentioned "Users can replace the chip by themselves and the software is compatible."
Why would you replace it?
@mark Aha! That makes sense, thank you! Can you explain the meter/foot references in many of the band specifications?
For example with some bands show:
(SW_BAND_TYPE, 1720, 3500, 1900, 1), // 160 m/524.9ft
Well, 1720 Khz is in the 160 meter (wavelength) band, which is 524 feet when converted. You have to take the specs with a grain of salt, particularly on AliExpress.
@artisan-radio take them with a grain of salt eh?yeah, well, I usually don't really know what the specs mean when I read them anyway. I just figured it worth $22 with it's robust construction. I don't really get the software aspects of it nor what the chip it says is user-replaceable even does. I do know it's a radio at least.
So the foot/meter reference is the measurement of the wave itself. Cool, but why they show any m/ft references only on some? For example (SW_BAND_TYPE, 4500, 5500, 4850, 5), and others there's no meter foot mentioned.
Doesn't matter really, It's a cheap world radio and it remains to be seen how it performs. I was just curious what those specs meant.
A lot of these sellers don't know what they're selling. And even if they do, their understanding of English is suspect.
This radio and similar ones at that price point probably use a single, inexpensive radio chip or integrated circuit for reception. That IC is controlled with software, and flashed into memory (firmware).
I know that there are more expensive versions of that radio on the market, and they probably use better receiver chips. They may have made the chip they're using replaceable, or upgradable, and they're saying that the firmware built into the radio would be compatible with those better chips. Who knows if that is true or not.
In a sense, these radios are SDR's, with non changeable, built-in software, as opposed to controlling them externally with a computer.
Well it is changeable in the sense that the chip in it is programmable, and it's also it user friendly to change the chip.
I'm certainly not expecting much for $20, but for that $20 it appears to offer a lot by being a rechargeable world band radio with up to 9 hours of play per charge, presuming it performs and sounds half decent. - and if that turns out to be the case, then I'll consider the radio a bargain. -- But of course, as always, you get what you pay for.
You know, if you got $20 burning a hole in your pocket you ought to pick one of these up. Evidently this same model has been around for years and is well known, reviewers were calling them a bargain for $40 five years ago! I snagged mine for $22 but since seen them as low as $19. What I most like is that it's own speaker sounds good, loud, bold and clear, and that it's USB rechargeable and the battery seems to last forever! I mostly only just use it to listen to Coast To Coast AM (the program) from midnight to 5 - which is nuts, but I have explored the shortwave and side bands and pick up plenty of stations - and I've only used the little whip that came with it, even for my local AM stations and it seems to pick up well. I haven't bothered with the programmable upgrades available now, but probably eventually will because it supposed to make the tuning process a lot easier. Info is out there all over the place but here's a posting from the Radio Reference forums about a year where this guy upgraded his: https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/ats-20plus.478774/
You search the "ATS-210+" and you'll find all kinds of reviews going years back. This one here is from from a few months ago on if it's really worth all the hype it was getting in 2025:
A question. I've been looking for a small, inexpensive radio with RDS. I looked at AliExpress & the ATS mini is supposed to have it. Does yours?
@artisan-radio I just spent about 20 minutes going to several FM stations, and yes there's something being displayed but it's like it's not all coming in, you have to wait for more letters like your playing wheel of fortune and half to guess what the phrase is.. I'm not sure but I think it was trying to display the artist name, but I couldn't make sense of it. It would be something different on every station but could decipher what they said - so maybe that's something the flash updates fixes, but for me the RDS was super buggy but it was there.
It took me about 5 minutes figuring out how to get it back on 1290AM so it'll be ready at midnight. I was getting so frustrated but finally got it tuned back in.. still don't know how to work this damn thing but I like it.
This is a short. I notice on his it's showing a stationary "Classics" in the RDS line, on mine letters kept moving and changing and is not nearly as legible as his which you can actually read it.
https://youtube.com/shorts/sBCNcmEt61g?si=d-J6NVfaRABL2Gn3
@artisan-radio I don't know about cheap but here's one of the cheaper ones with RDS
https://www.radioworld.ca/product/san-dt800yl/dt-800yl-am-fm-rds-rechargeable-weather-alert-pocket-radio
Amazon has for a bit less but Amazon doesn't allow copy and paste.
Why is having the RDS feature of concern?
Because my radio station generates RDS, actually RDBS, which is the North American version.
I also do voice tracking, so it's not super important, but the voice tracking is at the end of the song, while RDS lets you see what is playing during the song.
The RDS carrier is much weaker than the main one that carries the music, so if you're at any distance from the station, and its' signal isn't rock solid, then you'll get the random errors you're seeing on the display.
I may just get that US$20 receiver (it's C$30 from AliExpress in Canada). Artisan Radio's signal throughout my home is solid enough so that RDS comes through nice and clean. In the car, you have to be maybe 100-150 feet away from the antenna to get it cleanly (at least where there's no line of sight).