On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 00:37:19 GMT, Monroe wrote:

My thanks to all for your comments. The HF transceiver path looked
better and better (not so much for AM Rx as DX seeking). In the
pursuit of this, a notice passed my way of someone selling a NRD-525
in excellent condition. Discussed this with the seller (an active
comm's hobbiest) and this led to my purchase of the unit. Look
forward to this long overdue, major upgrade.

Put up a good antenna and you'll be all set. The 525 takes either a
high impedance wire or a 50 ohm coax feed; actually, you can attach
both and switch between the two. Good dx-ing...

bob
k5qwg



On Wed, 19 Apr 2006 16:15:16 GMT, Bob Miller
wrote:

On Wed, 19 Apr 2006 02:09:15 GMT, Monroe wrote:

Looking to upgrade from a Panasonic RF-3100. Just got off of an
"exiciting" ebay excursion for an older Kenwood R-5000 and have been
considering a R-75 w/ DSP from Universal. Something that has always
been gnawing at me was the use of an HF transceiver for shortwaver
reception. There is routinely a large inventory of used HF receivers
available about my area; mostly HF nets/clubs and the like. Actual
HF/shortwave/comm's receivers are hard to come by here.

Are any of these used receivers notable in performance/feature set for
shortwave reception?

thanks

HF transceivers work fine for shortwave reception, and the older ones
typically may be just as cheap or cheaper than similar
receiver-only's. They do lack the sync detector, if that is important
to you. Also, make sure they have an AM filter of 6 khz or more for AM
listening -- a 2 or 3 khz SSB filter isn't wide enough for decent AM
sound fidelity.

Otherwise, for tabletop receivers, the Japan Radio Company models are
pretty damned good; I have a 525 that's held up well and has a good
feature set (altho' it lacks the sync detector).

If you can locate it, the book "More Radio Receiver -- Chance or
Choice" by Rainer Lichte, or his earlier book, "Radio Receiver --
Chance or Choice" are excellent references about receivers sold during
the last 40 years or so.

bob
k5qwg