Also known as: Satellit 800, Satellit 800 Millennium, Tecsun HAM-2000
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The Grundig Satellit 800 Millennium is the budget classic: a $499 radio (shipped in 2000, sold through about 2005) that R.L. Drake designed — it’s based on the Drake SW8, built in China by Tecsun — and that carries genuine Drake DNA where it counts: a selectable-sideband synchronous detector rated “top of the heap” and the best audio of any late-era affordable tabletop.1 It’s long discontinued; the used market — eBay, estate sales, SWL classifieds — is where it lives, with asks around $300–550.
Key takeaways The most performance per used dollar of any classic here — with a QC lottery attached. Drake-designed sync and big-speaker audio that “blows away” contemporary portables; 100 kHz–30 MHz plus FM and VHF AIR; runs on D cells or AC. Below the big four on refinement, above them on dollars-per-performance. Used ~$300–550 (asks — verify sold listings); prefer 2003+ serials and ask about the 2L41 choke fix. No license to listen — ever. Where it ranks: best desktop shortwave receivers.
Overview
The Satellit 800 is what happened when Drake engineering met a $499 price target: three AM bandwidths (6.0/4.0/2.3 kHz), the celebrated sync detector, dual clocks, a huge display, and a big speaker whose audio reviewers said “blows away” the portables of its day.2 Physically it’s a giant — a tabletop/portable hybrid that runs on D cells or AC — and its coverage is broader than most classics: 100 kHz–30 MHz plus FM and the 118–137 MHz air band.
The honest half of the review is build quality. Reviewers (radiojayallen, N9EWO, MW Circle) uniformly call the receiver excellent for the money and uniformly dock the radio for QC: wobbly knobs, inconsistent fit and finish, synthesizer/digital noise on early units, and a noisy unfiltered wall-wart supply. That’s why it ranks below the Drake R8B-tier classics on refinement while beating all of them on dollars-per-performance — and why production vintage matters so much when buying (below).
Frame the hobby honestly too: the major Western broadcasters have left shortwave, and what remains — international broadcasters, time signals, utility/HF traffic, ham SSB, pirates — is quieter than the bands this radio was designed for. The classic advice is unchanged: a $20 wire antenna out a window improves reception more than a $200 radio upgrade.
Listening note: receiving is license-free everywhere in the US — no FCC anything, ever.
Bands, modes & features
- Coverage: 100 kHz–30 MHz + FM + 118–137 MHz AIR band.
- Modes: AM, SSB, and selectable-sideband sync AM (the Drake party trick).
- Selectivity: three AM bandwidths — 6.0/4.0/2.3 kHz.
- Extras: dual clocks, huge display, big-speaker audio.
- Power: D cells or AC (early wall-warts are noisy — see below).
Buying used: what to check
The Satellit 800’s checklist is half component-aging, half birth-lottery:1
- The 2L41 RF choke. The known killer: this choke on the PLL synthesizer board fails and the radio dies or stops tuning. The fix is documented; ask whether it’s been done.
- Production date — prefer 2003+ serials. Early units drew the QC lottery: wobbly knobs, fit/finish problems, synthesizer/digital noise, and the unfiltered wall-wart PSU. Ask for the date before bidding.
- Tuning encoder wear — tune slowly across a band and listen for skips.
- Battery-bay corrosion — it takes D cells; inspect the bay.
- Display segments and backlight — get a lit photo.
Asks run $300–550 (an observed $515 ask; boxed/NOS higher), but those are asking prices — condition and vintage swing real value a lot, so check eBay sold listings first. Serviceability is decent: the SW8 heritage means Drake-literate techs can work on it, with parts via donor units.
Used-market viability: good, with the lottery caveat. Plenty were sold, so supply is steady and prices stay reasonable; the SW8-derived design keeps Drake-literate techs in play, and the one killer fault (the 2L41 choke) has a documented fix. The variable isn’t age so much as birth date — which is why the production-date question does more work here than on any other classic.
GopherTrunk alternative
SDRs ended this product category — a ~$200 HF SDR out-receives the Satellit 800 and draws a waterfall besides — and the Satellit 800’s own builder, Tecsun, pivoted to the DSP portables that erased the low end. A used Satellit 800 today is a deliberate choice of room-filling audio, Drake sync, and a radio-shaped radio over performance-per-dollar. The modern route is an HF-capable SDR or an RTL-SDR in direct-sampling mode on a computer; GopherTrunk itself stays in its VHF/UHF scanner lane — the same listen-first philosophy, free.
Who it’s for
- Buy the Satellit 800 if you want Drake-grade sync and the best audio in the affordable-classic class, and you’ll hold out for a 2003+ unit with a known choke/encoder history. Find on eBay →
- Buy the Drake R8B instead if the budget stretches — it’s the real thing the 800 approximates.
- Tempted by its modern lookalike? Read our Eton Elite 750 review first — it imitates the 800’s looks, not its sync. Full rankings: best desktop shortwave receivers.
Sources
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Grundig Satellit 800 — radiojayallen — Drake design lineage, sync/audio verdict, QC criticisms, the 2L41 choke fault, and production-vintage guidance. ↩ ↩2
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Receiver review: Grundig Satellit 800 Millennium — Medium Wave Circle — performance standing versus the top-tier classics; specifications corroborated by the Universal Radio archive. ↩
Frequently asked questions
Is the Grundig Satellit 800 a real Drake?
Effectively yes — it was designed by R.L. Drake (based on the Drake SW8) for Lextronix/Etón and built in China by Tecsun (sold in Asia as the Tecsun HAM-2000). The Drake DNA shows in the part that matters: a selectable-sideband synchronous detector reviewers rated ‘top of the heap’.
How much is a used Satellit 800?
eBay asking prices run around $300–550, with boxed or new-old-stock units higher. Those are asks, not confirmed sales — and condition plus production vintage matter a lot (post-2003 units are preferred) — so check eBay sold listings before paying.
What goes wrong with the Satellit 800?
The known killer is the 2L41 RF choke on the PLL synthesizer board — when it fails the radio dies or won’t tune, and the fix is well documented. Beyond that: an early-production QC lottery (wobbly knobs, fit and finish, synthesizer noise, unfiltered wall-wart PSU), tuning-encoder wear, D-cell battery-bay corrosion, and display segments/backlight.
Why do people say to buy a 2003-or-later Satellit 800?
Early production suffered a genuine quality-control lottery — wobbly knobs, fit/finish issues, synthesizer and digital noise, and a noisy unfiltered wall-wart supply. Later serials are markedly better built, so ask the seller for the production date before bidding.
Do I need a license to listen with a Satellit 800?
No. Listening is license-free everywhere in the US — no FCC registration or paperwork, ever. Receivers like this never require anything.