Agreed. I find my Drake R8B to be superior to the Orion's sub receiver
by a wide margin for SWL work. The Synchronous Detector is nothing short
of phenomenal. The radio does very well for Ham (SSB and CW) also...no,
not as good as the Orion's main receiver, but very good. Excellent
filter selections appropriate to mode are built in. For general HF
listening, this is the one to have, IMHO.
73,
Mike
NM7X
Date: Tue, 04 Apr 2006 10:20:36 -0700
From: AL7CR <al7cr@punakea.com>
Subject: Re: [TenTec] General coverage RX/XCVR suggestions?
Any version of the Drake R8 would fit your need perfectly. There is no
better SWL receiver available in my opinion and that of many others.
You will appreciate the synchronous AM reception for SW broadcast
listening too. I do not believe any of the rigs on your list have that
feature excepting perhaps the RX 320.
R8's can be purchased for $600 or so used and are still serviced by RL
Drake in Ohio. The boards are fairly accessible for user service and a
very complete service manual is available from Drake.
The three models of R8 recieved the highest ratings from Radio
Netherlands for years until they were discontinued in 2004. I have the
optional VHF board in mine which is a nice feature also. You can find
these on Ebay occasionally for approx. $100.
Thousands of SWL can't ALL be wrong ... I can tell you from experience
that a fine SWL RX and an hot ham rx are two different animals. The
Orion secondary reciever is pretty good for SWL but way too pricey for
this service alone.
My two cents.
Dean Shutt
AL7CR
Al Gulseth wrote:
OK folks,
I need some input here. I'm looking for a reasonably priced general coverage
rig (either receiver or transceiver). The intended uses would include both SW
BC and ham band listening, with good CW performance a must.
|