The Satellit 1400 SL Professional and the Satellit 2400 SL Stereo Professional is the same receiver basically, and differ mainly in that the S2400 is a stereo receiver and has an extra "box" on the right side for the extra two-way speaker (and Stereo reproduction for FM-Stereo broadcasts ,or when using the radio as an amplifier). The Satellit 2400 SL Stereo also has 6 FM station preset keys situated on top of unit beneath the large handle. The handle of the Satellit 2400 is much wider than for the Satellit 1400, and strongly resembles the handles of the older large Satellit's.
The Satellit 1400/2400SL were the first Satellit's to appear without the familiar turret-tuner mechanism for the SW-bands. The design was "military-look" with two carrying handles in front like their "big brother",the Grundig Satellit 3400. The Satellit 1400/2400 were considerably less expensive then the Satellit 3400 ,yet had many features catering to DX-enthusiast.
The Satellit 1400/2400SL Professional had a new backlit LCD frequency displays that used less electricity ,thus enabling the display to be kept on while operating the radio on batteries. Of the 17 controls on the front of the Satellit 1400 (20 for the Satellit 2400) ,several are multi- function. An important addition is the large two-part tuning wheel/gear ,with a Venier-Drive mechanism. This means the outer tuning wheel operates as a fine-tuning control to the inner tuning wheel , with a ratio of 1:5. Still, the inner large wheel needs 7 to 8 full turns to go from one end of a scale to the other. A large, analog tuning-scale with markings for broadcast bands and amateur bands makes for a nice general overview together with the digital LCD-display.
The antenna is the same solid 144cm/13 segment one found in the Satellit 3400. Only the SW-bands (2-6) has the double-conversion (doppelt-super) technology. Headphone socket (PL-norm). The treble speaker(s) can be switched off. Switchable AFC and muting for FM.
As for the connections on the back - they are as follows:
- External antennas ,one connection only. European standard TV-COAX (DIN 45 325S)
- Tape in/out
- Turntable
- Extra loadspeaker
- Power connections: 10-16Volt or 110/220Volt mains.
- Antenna trimmer control for SW 2-6
- Antenna attenuator (25dB)
An excerpt from "Stiftung Warentest" (A German "Consumer Report" Magazine)
Plus: (For SW 2-6): Excellent selectivity/sensivity, well suited/balanced tuning-controls. "As good as possible for a radio of this configuration". Excellent fine-tuning control. Telescopic antenna well matched. Excellent AM-band characteristics. Excellent LW/FM receiver capabilities. Good S-meter. Easy to read digital display in the dark. Only four screws needed to remove the back of radio.
Minus: Circumstantial operation on a whole. Bad selectivity/sensivity for SW1. Only SW1 showed an improvement when using an external antenna (SW2-6 would need a pre-selector). Cumbersome and unsatisfactory SSB-reception. To high placement of tuning controls tires the hand when operating. Main tuning wheel too hard to turn ,and to many turns needed to cover each band. Hard to see top part of digital display (numbers) when seated in normal position.
An excerpt from "Practical Wireless" , September 1981 (Electronics Magazine / U.K.)
Plusses:
- Grundig Satellit has a quality reputation ,the Satellit 1400 maintains that reputation.
- On VHF (FM) sensivity and selectivity were very good ,audio excellent - fully justifying the use of the tweeter.
- LW/MW performs well with adequate selectivity to separate stations at 9KHz intervals ,and with reasonable quality.
- On SW; selectivity is just about optimum for AM reception ,giving good results on speech/music.
- SSB/CW; (also check "Minuses" ,in a later paragraph) The Satellit 1400 does ,however , perform very creditably on these modes. The sensibly limited range of the clarifier control helps a lot.
Minuses:
- ON VHF the AFC (Automatic Frequency Control) is rather in-precise , but tuning stability is pretty good without it.
- ON LW/MW; A few birdies on LW during darkness hours.
- ON SW; For SSB/CW on Amateur Bands leaves something to be desired ,inevitably because the I.F.Bandwith is fixed.
General Information:
- The "FAST" control (Tuning-wheel) takes 8 turns to traverse the tuning scale ,and the "SLOW" control varies between 50KHz and 170KHz per revolution on the various H.F. Amateur Bands.