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Grundig Satellit 1400

Manufactured by Grundig, Fürth.

The Satellit 1400 was the successor of the Satellit 3000/3400 series; it looks like a younger brother, but has an LCD display instead of the LED frequency display. The technical leap is greater than it appears: With the Satellit 1400 and its big brother Satellit 2400, Grundig abandoned the principle of the turret tuner, which had been used in all sets of the Satellit series since their introduction.

Variants

  • Satellit 1400 Professional: black, no decorative ring around speaker grill
  • Satellite 1400 SL Professional: brown, decorative ring around speaker grill

Grundig Satellite 1400 SL Prof.

Technical data

Power supply

Dimensions

  • 410 x 270 x 145 mm, weight 5.7 kg

Accessories

Operation

With its 41 x 26 x 12 cm, the Grundig Satellt 1400 is considerably smaller than the 3000/3400, and with a weight of 5.5 kg, it is also significantly lighter. However, the portability of the set, which is equipped with a handle and two protective brackets, is limited. In the early eighties, world band receivers had to fit under the aeroplane seat or in the overhead compartment to be considered travel receivers…

The left half of the front panel is taken up by the loudspeaker grill, the headphone socket is embedded in the lower part. Below the large but clearly arranged coarse dial with broadcast bands marked in green are the switches for additional functions (PU mode, the squelch and AFC for FM operation), the LCD frequency display with an accuracy of 1 kHz and the S-meter, which, typical for Grundig, is not calibrated in S units but from 1 - 10.

Below are the controls for volume, bass and treble located; the outer ring of the tuning knob is used for coarse tuning and the inner ring for fine tuning. To the right you find the band selectors, the top knob selects LW, MW and FM, the knob below the shortwave ranges. Over the years, these rotary switches have proved to be less susceptible to faults than the pushbutton units used for years in the older sets, which get dirty from dust.

In the bottom row of controls from the left are the main switch, the switch for the tweeter, the dial illumination and the frequency counter, both of which can be switched off in battery mode to save power. Below the tuning knob are the RF gain control labelled as AGC/MGC, the switch and pitch control for the BFO. Unique to the Grundig Satellit 1400 - 3400 series is the fact, that the switch positions for LSB/USB are reversed in the shortwave bands 1 and 2-6….

The operation of the Grundig Satellit 1400 is even easier than with the Satellit 3400. Switch on at the bottom at the left, set the volume control to a low noise level. Then use the SW2-6 range switch to the right of the tuning knob and the SW2 band switch below it to select a shortwave band and rotate the tuning knob until 6155 kHz is displayed, then you can hear the Austrian Radio from Vienna.

The sound quality is good - excellent - for undisturbed stations. Situation becomes more difficult if an adjacent channel at 5 kHz channel spacing is also occupied, then an interference whistle is heard due to the width and the poor skirt of the IF filter. A narrow IF filter is missing, as is a notch filter, passband tuning and other features that clearly distinguish the Satellit 1400 Prof. from real semi-professional or professional sets. SSB reception is possible with the use of the BFO, stable ECSS or even radio teletype reception would be too much of an expectation for the radio. The analogue receiver uses a digital frequency counter only for the frequency display; there is no frequency memory or timer.

In summary, the Grundig Satellit 1400 is technically obsolete as a travel receiver, but it still does a good job as a secondary or entry level receiver. The FM performance seems to be above average and is better then on comparable Japanese receivers, especially in comparison with the Sony ICF-6800W, which was launched in the same time period. Since the Satellite 1400 does not have push-button switches, its reliability is generally quite good, even as a second-hand set.

Technical principle

Double conversion, frequency counter.

Components

The set is equipped with semiconductors.

Technical documentation

Development

Further information

en/satellit_1400.txt · Zuletzt geändert: 2021/05/02 22:22 von mb