just wondering i don't own a drake r8, r8a or r8b, but i am thinking of
purchasing an r8 or r8a. does anyone use this radio for dxing NDB's and
how does it perform on longwave. i'm also reading alot about the r75 as
a pure dx radio, especially with the mods, but it seems the drake never
gets the heads up vs the r75 as a pure dxer. it also seems that the
drake is the better BCB listening radio due to its better audio. i
would love to hear from someone who owns both. and has compared them in
this respect.

thx, john

john wrote:
just wondering i don't own a drake r8, r8a or r8b, but i am thinking of
purchasing an r8 or r8a. does anyone use this radio for dxing NDB's and
how does it perform on longwave. i'm also reading alot about the r75 as
a pure dx radio, especially with the mods, but it seems the drake never
gets the heads up vs the r75 as a pure dxer. it also seems that the
drake is the better BCB listening radio due to its better audio. i
would love to hear from someone who owns both. and has compared them in
this respect.

thx, john

Passport tested the R-75 with the Kiwa Mods;

review said the " Hi Fi" Kiwa mod is the one to get..

Review gives it 4 1/2 stars ( Cost $599 + $35 for Audio upgrade)

Japan radio NDR-545SE also gets 4 1/2 stars ( Cost $ 1,899.00 )

( interesting review below)

http://www.dobe.com/wts/funk/AOR7030vR8A.html

Much depends on how deep your pocket is;

- and what kind of antenna you can set up..

wrote:

john wrote:
just wondering i don't own a drake r8, r8a or r8b, but i am thinking of
purchasing an r8 or r8a. does anyone use this radio for dxing NDB's and
how does it perform on longwave. i'm also reading alot about the r75 as
a pure dx radio, especially with the mods, but it seems the drake never
gets the heads up vs the r75 as a pure dxer. it also seems that the
drake is the better BCB listening radio due to its better audio. i
would love to hear from someone who owns both. and has compared them in
this respect.

thx, john

Passport tested the R-75 with the Kiwa Mods;

review said the " Hi Fi" Kiwa mod is the one to get..

Review gives it 4 1/2 stars ( Cost $599 + $35 for Audio upgrade)

Japan radio NDR-545SE also gets 4 1/2 stars ( Cost $ 1,899.00 )

( interesting review below)

http://www.dobe.com/wts/funk/AOR7030vR8A.html

Much depends on how deep your pocket is;

- and what kind of antenna you can set up..

Looking back through my editions of Passport I see that The Drake R8 series
always seemed to get 5 stars, no mods needed.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Drake R7, R8, R8A and R8B

In article . com,
"john" wrote:

just wondering i don't own a drake r8, r8a or r8b, but i am thinking
of purchasing an r8 or r8a. does anyone use this radio for dxing
NDB's and how does it perform on longwave. i'm also reading alot
about the r75 as a pure dx radio, especially with the mods, but it
seems the drake never gets the heads up vs the r75 as a pure dxer. it
also seems that the drake is the better BCB listening radio due to
its better audio. i would love to hear from someone who owns both.
and has compared them in this respect.

The Drake R8 series are good all round radios. They have all the
essential features for quality broadcast listening, Dxing, utilities,
SSB ham reception.

The R75 makes an excellent door stop to the radio room.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

Telamon wrote:
In article . com,
"john" wrote:

just wondering i don't own a drake r8, r8a or r8b, but i am thinking
of purchasing an r8 or r8a. does anyone use this radio for dxing
NDB's and how does it perform on longwave. i'm also reading alot
about the r75 as a pure dx radio, especially with the mods, but it
seems the drake never gets the heads up vs the r75 as a pure dxer. it
also seems that the drake is the better BCB listening radio due to
its better audio. i would love to hear from someone who owns both.
and has compared them in this respect.

The Drake R8 series are good all round radios. They have all the
essential features for quality broadcast listening, Dxing, utilities,
SSB ham reception.

The R75 makes an excellent door stop to the radio room.


dxace and telmon,

exactly my feeling - the drakes come with everything you need - i have
a palstar and many people say the palstar's deep audio and low noise
floor is similiar to the drakes - if thats the case i'm going with an
r8a - also do not like the idea of sending out my radio for mods right
after i purchase it new - seems it should have all the goodies already.
have you guy personally used the r75?
--
Telamon
Ventura, California

I have owned all the Drake R8 series and like to do a bit of NDB beacon
DXing as well. The R8 series narrow filter of 500 Hz is not quite narrow
enough where the beacons are crowded together, so the Icom R75 is likely to
be a better bet, albeit after a lot of expensive mods and additional pricey
filters.

First off you have to get rid of the R75's attenuation below the HF band -
for this you will have to get Kiwa to do the mods.
Then you will have to add the narrower roofing filter and add the 250 Hz CW
filter.

After spending all that extra you should have quite a mean NDB beacon DX
machine.

A mean DX machine for CW beacons and value for money at $1500 is the Icom
746Pro as it is digital with a 32 bit processor and infinitely variable
filters. Like all the Icoms though, you will have to remove the LF/MW
attenuation though.

--
John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8 & ERGO software
Sony 7600D, GE SRIII, Redsun RP2100
BW XCR 30, Sangean 803A.
GE circa 50's radiogram
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop, PAORDT Roelof mini-whip
http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

"john" wrote in message
ups.com...

Telamon wrote:
In article . com,
"john" wrote:

just wondering i don't own a drake r8, r8a or r8b, but i am thinking
of purchasing an r8 or r8a. does anyone use this radio for dxing
NDB's and how does it perform on longwave. i'm also reading alot
about the r75 as a pure dx radio, especially with the mods, but it
seems the drake never gets the heads up vs the r75 as a pure dxer. it
also seems that the drake is the better BCB listening radio due to
its better audio. i would love to hear from someone who owns both.
and has compared them in this respect.

The Drake R8 series are good all round radios. They have all the
essential features for quality broadcast listening, Dxing, utilities,
SSB ham reception.

The R75 makes an excellent door stop to the radio room.


dxace and telmon,

exactly my feeling - the drakes come with everything you need - i have
a palstar and many people say the palstar's deep audio and low noise
floor is similiar to the drakes - if thats the case i'm going with an
r8a - also do not like the idea of sending out my radio for mods right
after i purchase it new - seems it should have all the goodies already.
have you guy personally used the r75?
--
Telamon
Ventura, California

In article . com,
"john" wrote:

Telamon wrote:
In article . com,
"john" wrote:

just wondering i don't own a drake r8, r8a or r8b, but i am thinking
of purchasing an r8 or r8a. does anyone use this radio for dxing
NDB's and how does it perform on longwave. i'm also reading alot
about the r75 as a pure dx radio, especially with the mods, but it
seems the drake never gets the heads up vs the r75 as a pure dxer. it
also seems that the drake is the better BCB listening radio due to
its better audio. i would love to hear from someone who owns both.
and has compared them in this respect.

The Drake R8 series are good all round radios. They have all the
essential features for quality broadcast listening, Dxing, utilities,
SSB ham reception.

The R75 makes an excellent door stop to the radio room.


dxace and telmon,

exactly my feeling - the drakes come with everything you need - i have
a palstar and many people say the palstar's deep audio and low noise
floor is similiar to the drakes - if thats the case i'm going with an
r8a - also do not like the idea of sending out my radio for mods right
after i purchase it new - seems it should have all the goodies already.
have you guy personally used the r75?

Nope.

Some people like the radio. You can modify it and its an OK radio to
listen to the broadcasters on but the claim to fame is Dxing using SSB.

You can probably buy a used one with all the modifications already
installed.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

john wrote:

Telamon wrote:
In article . com,
"john" wrote:

just wondering i don't own a drake r8, r8a or r8b, but i am thinking
of purchasing an r8 or r8a. does anyone use this radio for dxing
NDB's and how does it perform on longwave. i'm also reading alot
about the r75 as a pure dx radio, especially with the mods, but it
seems the drake never gets the heads up vs the r75 as a pure dxer. it
also seems that the drake is the better BCB listening radio due to
its better audio. i would love to hear from someone who owns both.
and has compared them in this respect.

The Drake R8 series are good all round radios. They have all the
essential features for quality broadcast listening, Dxing, utilities,
SSB ham reception.

The R75 makes an excellent door stop to the radio room.


dxace and telmon,

exactly my feeling - the drakes come with everything you need - i have
a palstar and many people say the palstar's deep audio and low noise
floor is similiar to the drakes - if thats the case i'm going with an
r8a - also do not like the idea of sending out my radio for mods right
after i purchase it new - seems it should have all the goodies already.
have you guy personally used the r75?

I had the opportunity to use a Kiwa modified R75 for about 5-6 hours sometime
back, side-to-side with the Drakes. I wasn't impressed. Neither was the new
owner who sold it on and purchased a Drake.

However, as I don't do any NDB DXing, John Plimmer may be quite correct about
the narrower filter issue re the R75 vs. R8x.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Drake R7, R8, R8A and R8B

I swear by, not at, Drake receivers©

"john" wrote in message
ups.com...
just wondering i don't own a drake r8, r8a or r8b, but i am thinking of
purchasing an r8 or r8a. does anyone use this radio for dxing NDB's and
how does it perform on longwave. i'm also reading alot about the r75 as
a pure dx radio, especially with the mods, but it seems the drake never
gets the heads up vs the r75 as a pure dxer. it also seems that the
drake is the better BCB listening radio due to its better audio. i
would love to hear from someone who owns both. and has compared them in
this respect.

thx, john


Hiya... I have an R75 with all the Kiwa mods. Even without the Kiwa mods,
the R75 is a decent radio for program listening. Don't let anyone tell you
otherwise. The criticisms of the R75's audio are really overstated. I've
found that the Kiwa audio mod helps out a bit, but it isn't a tremendous
improvement. You'll no doubt get Drake fans spewing out all kinds garbage
about the R75 "making a good door stop", but the absurd and inflammatory
nature of their statements are their own indictment. They don't like the
idea of a $500.00 dollar radio outperforming one that they paid $1,800.00
for. I've also used each and every one of the R8 series radios. They are
not... I repeat... NOT as good for DX'ing as is the R75. That isn't brand
loyalty, that is a fact. The R8's with their warm audio and ssb selectable
sycn is absolutely superlative for program listening. BUT.... That doesn't
mean that the R75 is a bad radio for program listening. It's adequate to
good. And... Once again... You don't need the friggin mods. When I really
want to dress up the audio from my R75, I run it through my PC's sound card.
I have a five point surround sound speaker set up with a full software
equalizer and effects package. If I use ssb ecss tuning to listen to a
weak or messy broadcast signal with my R75 or with any other radio, I run it
through my sound card and use my software mixer/effects to make it sound as
full and robust as if it was is AM mode. I have a number of mixer/effects
presets that I have set up just for that exact purpose. Not to mention, if
you get a broadcast that is too muffled or too tinny or has too much mid
range, all you have to do is more a few sliders on the mixer and viola... A
comfortable broadcast to listen to. So... I can get my R75 to sound great
for broadcast, but I cant get the R8 to perform for DX'ing like the R75.

Michael

Michael wrote:
"but I cant get the R8 to perform for DX'ing like the R75."

An R8 may not perform up to a R75, but the R8A/B will outperform it.
Some of the top DXer's in the world use R8A/B's

--
John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8 & ERGO software
Sony 7600D, GE SRIII, Redsun RP2100
BW XCR 30, Sangean 803A.
GE circa 50's radiogram
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop, PAORDT Roelof mini-whip
http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

"Michael" wrote in message
...

"john" wrote in message
ups.com...
just wondering i don't own a drake r8, r8a or r8b, but i am thinking of
purchasing an r8 or r8a. does anyone use this radio for dxing NDB's and
how does it perform on longwave. i'm also reading alot about the r75 as
a pure dx radio, especially with the mods, but it seems the drake never
gets the heads up vs the r75 as a pure dxer. it also seems that the
drake is the better BCB listening radio due to its better audio. i
would love to hear from someone who owns both. and has compared them in
this respect.

thx, john


Hiya... I have an R75 with all the Kiwa mods. Even without the Kiwa mods,
the R75 is a decent radio for program listening. Don't let anyone tell
you otherwise. The criticisms of the R75's audio are really overstated.
I've found that the Kiwa audio mod helps out a bit, but it isn't a
tremendous improvement. You'll no doubt get Drake fans spewing out all
kinds garbage about the R75 "making a good door stop", but the absurd and
inflammatory nature of their statements are their own indictment. They
don't like the idea of a $500.00 dollar radio outperforming one that they
paid $1,800.00 for. I've also used each and every one of the R8 series
radios. They are not... I repeat... NOT as good for DX'ing as is the R75.
That isn't brand loyalty, that is a fact. The R8's with their warm audio
and ssb selectable sycn is absolutely superlative for program listening.
BUT.... That doesn't mean that the R75 is a bad radio for program
listening. It's adequate to good. And... Once again... You don't need
the friggin mods. When I really want to dress up the audio from my R75,
I run it through my PC's sound card. I have a five point surround sound
speaker set up with a full software equalizer and effects package. If I
use ssb ecss tuning to listen to a weak or messy broadcast signal with my
R75 or with any other radio, I run it through my sound card and use my
software mixer/effects to make it sound as full and robust as if it was is
AM mode. I have a number of mixer/effects presets that I have set up just
for that exact purpose. Not to mention, if you get a broadcast that is
too muffled or too tinny or has too much mid range, all you have to do is
more a few sliders on the mixer and viola... A comfortable broadcast to
listen to. So... I can get my R75 to sound great for broadcast, but I
cant get the R8 to perform for DX'ing like the R75.

Michael