I am new to short wave radio and would like to know what is the
difference in buying a Sony 2010 radio for around $500 as compared to
an AOR AR-7030+ for $1600. Money is not the object, listening ability
is. I am hooked on listening to talk radio and thoroughly enjoy
learning about world events.

As the price difference would imply, the AOR AR-7030 is quite a different
radio from the ICF-2010.

If you are only interested in listening to broadcast, AM, shortwave( is this
what you mean by "talk radio"), then the 2010 may be amply suitable for this
purpose.

On the other hand, if you want, and can, put up a decent antenna or two, and
chase more exotic (DX) and utility type stuff, then the AR-7030 is the more
capable radio, as I understand. (The ICF2010 doesn't do too bad in this
regard either!).

Mark.


"aristotle" wrote in message
om...
I am new to short wave radio and would like to know what is the
difference in buying a Sony 2010 radio for around $500 as compared to
an AOR AR-7030+ for $1600. Money is not the object, listening ability
is. I am hooked on listening to talk radio and thoroughly enjoy
learning about world events.

I have no first hand info on this unit. (I was thinking it was a
scanner.) :-) But you may want to read a review at
http://www.ticon.net/~n9ewo/ar7030.html before deciding on this unit.
There seems to have been a tuning knob problem and some cheap parts used.
Al

================

Mark wrote:

As the price difference would imply, the AOR AR-7030 is quite a different
radio from the ICF-2010.

If you are only interested in listening to broadcast, AM, shortwave( is this
what you mean by "talk radio"), then the 2010 may be amply suitable for this
purpose.

On the other hand, if you want, and can, put up a decent antenna or two, and
chase more exotic (DX) and utility type stuff, then the AR-7030 is the more
capable radio, as I understand. (The ICF2010 doesn't do too bad in this
regard either!).

Mark.


"aristotle" wrote in message
om...

I am new to short wave radio and would like to know what is the
difference in buying a Sony 2010 radio for around $500 as compared to
an AOR AR-7030+ for $1600. Money is not the object, listening ability
is. I am hooked on listening to talk radio and thoroughly enjoy
learning about world events.

Al Patrick wrote:
I have no first hand info on this unit. (I was thinking it was a
scanner.) :-) But you may want to read a review at
http://www.ticon.net/~n9ewo/ar7030.html before deciding on this unit.
There seems to have been a tuning knob problem and some cheap parts used.
Al

================


I've had a 7030+ for a few years.

The flip side of the "review" you provided a link to is AOR is
exceptionally good about getting back to owners who have problems, and
they've updated the design to replace parts with reliability issues.

The build quality on the 7030 is actually quite good, and as far as I
know, Bournes has a reputation for quality encoders - it's just AOR
apparently got stuck with some bad ones.

Later versions of the firmware for the radio have addressed the
keybounce problems on the and keys.

My primary complaint about the 7030+ is the standard filters were "too
wide" or "too narrow" for my tastes. I added a couple of milspec
filters better suited to my preferences, and now I get beautiful audio
with great selectivity. It's very close to what I get from my Harris.

A strong point of the 7030 is it's practical to run one from nimh
battery packs for transportable use. Much more convenient than hauling
the 6790/gm I used to use for camping.

aristotle schrieb:

I am new to short wave radio and would like to know what is the
difference in buying a Sony 2010 radio for around $500 as compared to
an AOR AR-7030+ for $1600. Money is not the object, listening ability
is. I am hooked on listening to talk radio and thoroughly enjoy
learning about world events.

First off, these are very different rigs in many regards. The Sony is a
portable in the sense of having antennas of its own and being battery
operated if necessary, even though it's a bit large by today's
standards. (Look at the tiny ICF-SW07 for comparison, or a "7600" class
receiver.) It also can be considered rather user friendly with many
separate controls. It's not really suited for *big* antennas, the static
discharges may kill a front-end FET particularly in older models. Its
synch detector is pretty good but a bit clumsy to operate by today's
standards; 100 Hz steps are not ideal for SSB reception. The AOR is more
than 10 years newer (remember the '2010 was introduced in 1985!) and,
while being small enough to be lugged around, is the kind of rig that
needs a decent outdoor antenna (and can take one even in areas with high
signal levels) - or rather at least two, one for shortwave and a MW loop
- and is therefore more suited for a fixed position in the shack. The
operation with few buttons on the receiver itself and many uniform ones
on the remote control (really not ideal for night-time listening, they
all feel the same) may not suit everyone. When purchasing the AOR, I'd
recommend the PLUS version which comes with a very good 4 kHz filter and
an optical encoder. In the US, a Drake R8B might be a better deal
currently, it's also closer to a traditional "one button, one function"
concept. The strengths of the AOR are its flexibility in terms of IF
filter upgrades (with the optional filter board and a sufficient amount
of ca$h you can install a filter park for virtually any situation), its
excellent strong signal handling and the excellent synchronous detector
which is very low in distortion (along with an AF stage of similarly
high quality). It's just too bad I found out this kind of rig doesn't
fit my usage pattern *after* purchasing one. (You can't put it next to
your pillow and drag it anywhere, operation in the dark - or by blind
people, for that matter - is rather limited, also I missed tuning in 5
kHz steps for broadcast stations.)

If you're new to all this, I would not recommend getting something as
specialized as a tabletop as first receiver, instead a relatively
well-performing and user-friendly portable (possible coupled with some
kind of external speaker if sound is not too exciting on the built-in
one, good phones are virtually a must in any case) should be a better
choice. It's important to learn about the pitfalls of shortwave
reception to appreciate the virtues of better receivers. The 2010 should
be a pretty good starter's rig if money is no object (it's just that
they've been out of production for a while, but getting it sold again at
a good price should not be a big problem if you decide to upgrade to
something better), it's still considered a good portable broadcast DX
rig today. For a tabletop setup with optimum listening quality (again,
with money being no object), I'd suggest an AR7030 or comparable rx with
455 kHz IF out (on MW loop plus some outdoor SW antenna) coupled with a
Sherwood SE-3 Mk III synch detector (AFAIK, the best money can buy) and
a hi-fi amp and speakers. BTW, I'd gather every kind of information
about SWLing, receivers and antennas before actually buying stuff.

Stephan
--
Meine Andere Seite: http://stephan.win31.de/
PC#6: i440BX, 1xP3-500E, 512 MiB, 18+80 GB, R9k AGP 64 MiB, 110W
This is a SCSI-inside, Legacy-plus, TCPA-free computer
Mail to From: not read, see homepg. | Real gelesene Mailadr. s. Homep.

Stephan Grossklass wrote:

aristotle schrieb:

I am new to short wave radio and would like to know what is the
difference in buying a Sony 2010 radio for around $500 as compared to
an AOR AR-7030+ for $1600. Money is not the object, listening ability
is. I am hooked on listening to talk radio and thoroughly enjoy
learning about world events.

First off, these are very different rigs in many regards. The Sony is a
portable in the sense of having antennas of its own and being battery
operated if necessary, even though it's a bit large by today's
standards. (Look at the tiny ICF-SW07 for comparison, or a "7600" class
receiver.) It also can be considered rather user friendly with many
separate controls. It's not really suited for *big* antennas, the static
discharges may kill a front-end FET particularly in older models. Its
synch detector is pretty good but a bit clumsy to operate by today's
standards; 100 Hz steps are not ideal for SSB reception. The AOR is more
than 10 years newer (remember the '2010 was introduced in 1985!) and,
while being small enough to be lugged around, is the kind of rig that
needs a decent outdoor antenna (and can take one even in areas with high
signal levels)

The 7030 does have a switch setting for use with a whip antenna - though obviously a larger antenna is better. (I now use a 3 meter whip with a 30db avantek preamp for portable operation with mine - need to dial in some attenuation for lower frequencies,
but it works quite well.)

- or rather at least two, one for shortwave and a MW loop
- and is therefore more suited for a fixed position in the shack. The
operation with few buttons on the receiver itself and many uniform ones
on the remote control (really not ideal for night-time listening, they
all feel the same) may not suit everyone. When purchasing the AOR, I'd
recommend the PLUS version which comes with a very good 4 kHz filter and
an optical encoder. In the US, a Drake R8B might be a better deal
currently, it's also closer to a traditional "one button, one function"
concept.

I agree the Drake as it comes from the factory gives more bang for the buck for stationary use. This is largely because I like the standard filters that come with the Drake better than the ones AOR chose.

The strengths of the AOR are its flexibility in terms of IF
filter upgrades (with the optional filter board and a sufficient amount
of ca$h you can install a filter park for virtually any situation), its
excellent strong signal handling and the excellent synchronous detector
which is very low in distortion (along with an AF stage of similarly
high quality). It's just too bad I found out this kind of rig doesn't
fit my usage pattern *after* purchasing one. (You can't put it next to
your pillow and drag it anywhere, operation in the dark - or by blind
people, for that matter - is rather limited, also I missed tuning in 5
kHz steps for broadcast stations.)


If you couldn't add filters to the 7030+, I'd probably have sold mine.

After a while you get used to operating it in the dark, though a small red led flashlight helps.


If you're new to all this, I would not recommend getting something as
specialized as a tabletop as first receiver, instead a relatively
well-performing and user-friendly portable (possible coupled with some
kind of external speaker if sound is not too exciting on the built-in
one, good phones are virtually a must in any case) should be a better
choice. It's important to learn about the pitfalls of shortwave
reception to appreciate the virtues of better receivers. The 2010 should
be a pretty good starter's rig if money is no object (it's just that
they've been out of production for a while, but getting it sold again at
a good price should not be a big problem if you decide to upgrade to
something better), it's still considered a good portable broadcast DX
rig today. For a tabletop setup with optimum listening quality (again,
with money being no object), I'd suggest an AR7030 or comparable rx with
455 kHz IF out (on MW loop plus some outdoor SW antenna) coupled with a
Sherwood SE-3 Mk III synch detector (AFAIK, the best money can buy) and
a hi-fi amp and speakers. BTW, I'd gather every kind of information
about SWLing, receivers and antennas before actually buying stuff.


Personally, I think table tops are a good choice for some beginners - it really depends how they plan to use them. In any case, I think it's important for beginners to start with a radio that's good enough to be happy with for a while.

Regards,

Mark


Stephan
--
Meine Andere Seite: http://stephan.win31.de/
PC#6: i440BX, 1xP3-500E, 512 MiB, 18+80 GB, R9k AGP 64 MiB, 110W
This is a SCSI-inside, Legacy-plus, TCPA-free computer
Mail to From: not read, see homepg. | Real gelesene Mailadr. s. Homep.

You may consider the Icom R75, which, if you are willing to spend five
hundred bucks for the 2010, I'd suggest, since it goes for about the same
price. I do own this particular receiver so I am partial, but very pleased.
Check it out he http://www.hamradio.com Use the search feature to find
the particular model. Also, if you are interested, you can search ebay and
such for used table-top receivers such as the Drake R8 series. Good luck.


Brian

I am wondering what kind of antenna / antennas are you willing to or can
put up ? That would figure in heavily in your choice IMHO.

73, Ken

aristotle wrote in message
om...
I am new to short wave radio and would like to know what is the
difference in buying a Sony 2010 radio for around $500 as compared to
an AOR AR-7030+ for $1600. Money is not the object, listening ability
is. I am hooked on listening to talk radio and thoroughly enjoy
learning about world events.

The 2010 was discontinued in late 2002.

I saw a new-in-box 2010 go for $800 on eBay about a month ago.

"Dan" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 23:29:37 GMT, "Brian"
wrote:

You may consider the Icom R75, which, if you are willing to spend five
hundred bucks for the 2010, I'd suggest, since it goes for about the same
price.

I was wondering about this. Is the 2010 still available new?
Because $500 is *way* too much for a used one. They routinely go on
eBay for $200 - $300, maybe $350 for a really minty one with box,
manuals, etc.

Dan

"mike0219116" ) writes:
The 2010 was discontinued in late 2002.

I saw a new-in-box 2010 go for $800 on eBay about a month ago.

But that would seem to reflect at the very least getting caught up in an
auction, and likely someone who specifically wants one. If you want a
specific receiver, then you don't have much choice but to pay what the
market demands. But if someone is just looking for function, surely
there are many choices nowadays.

Michael

"Dan" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 23:29:37 GMT, "Brian"
wrote:

You may consider the Icom R75, which, if you are willing to spend five
hundred bucks for the 2010, I'd suggest, since it goes for about the same
price.

I was wondering about this. Is the 2010 still available new?
Because $500 is *way* too much for a used one. They routinely go on
eBay for $200 - $300, maybe $350 for a really minty one with box,
manuals, etc.

Dan