As I read the book and followed the history of this ambitious line of radios, the pride of German engineering which went into them became evident. To try to get up to speed on what the excitement was all about I bought a copy of Thomas Baier’s chronicle of the Satellit line, “Grundig Satellit – All Models In Word And Picture” (available through Universal). Many are really too big to be considered portables and actually are better as large table top sets, but they all operate on batteries or AC power and have built-in antennas and handles so they can be carried around and taken outdoors and so are technically portable. I happen to belong to a small group of radio enthusiasts…yes you could call them fanatics… who have embraced the Grundig Satellit’s as among their favorite SW portable receivers ever made. Interestingly I never saw too many Grundig or other European radios, and perhaps when I did I somehow didn’t lock into them as I would more familiar US and later Japanese manufacturers. Although I admire the Satellit 800 for what it does well (which is considerable) this radio has nothing at all to do with the original European Grundig company which marketed many high quality audio products, and its famous “Satellit” range of radios (“Satellit” is the proper spelling) beginning with the Satellit 205 introduced in 1964 through the model 700 which ceased production in 1996. The Grundig Satellit 800 does not spring from the European heritage of Max Grundig…only the name is the same. A semi-technical, nostalgic step back in timeĪs a lifelong radio hobbyist and professional, I have had the opportunity to check out many types of consumer radios, from the tube sets of the 40′s and 50′s through transistorized radios from the late 50′s and 60′s up through the present day offerings from China.
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