Anyboy have real-world experience with any of the PC-based receivers,
such as the Winradio 1500/3000 series and the ICOM PCR1000 ?

YES and NO. Yes to the Ten Tec RX-320 - though I haven't used it lately
and No to the two you referenced. I have heard some very good things
about several of the PC based radios. For one thing, you can get "front
ends" or "control programs" from multiple sources so if you don't like
the looks of one interface you can try another one. Some are / were
free. Others cost a bit but I don't really know of any that are over
priced.

Why don't you punch in one of those at the time, along with the word
review, and see what you come up with. I think they usually try to test
them under "real-world" conditions.

I have changed PC and monitor since using the RX320 and expect this
system is far too noisy (RF wise) for it. But I may try it sometime.
I'm keeping the unit, though it is not the 320D, because I don't expect
to have this computer forever. If you're going to get one now be sure
to try to get one that is easily upgraded (or already ready for) digital
reception.

Oh, One feature of some of the interfaces is you can "scan the spectrum"
(?) to see where the action is near your current frequency. With some
you can set the range you wish to scan. You can see the action on screen
and either move away from it for DXing or move right into it to see what
all the excitement is about! :-)

It *may* be a bit easier to decode some of the data that is transmitted
as well. If for no other reason, you're already connected to the computer.

Al

Markeau wrote:
Anyboy have real-world experience with any of the PC-based receivers,
such as the Winradio 1500/3000 series and the ICOM PCR1000 ?

Markeau schrieb:

Anyboy have real-world experience with any of the PC-based receivers,
such as the Winradio 1500/3000 series and the ICOM PCR1000

I have the PCR-1000.
On shortwave it is on par with the Sony ICF-2010 in sensitivity and
selectivity. It can not handle too strong signals on big antennas
without an additonal preselector (like the 2010). It is very stable on
frequency stability and the 1Hz tuning is superior to the 100Hz of the
2010 for SSB-listening wich I allways prefer for listening to broadcasts
under european conditions. Allthough there is no syncronous detection
there is no real difference in receiving capabilities under bad
conditions. The optional UT-106 DSP-unit works very fine on the
automatic multiple notch function. For the price thepcr-1000 is not too
bad for a wide-range receiver. It is nice to play with the programming
and decodimg features in conjunktion with RadioComm or Talk-PCR, MixWin,
etc... With a separate 12-volt battery and a (cheap Pentium-1) laptop
computer it is likely a portatop ;-) But it is far, far away from my
NRD-525... I use the PCR-1000 mostly for VHF/ UHF.

The Winradio 300/3000 series is playing in another league than the
pcr-1000 in in all aspects including price.

There are a couple of active Yahoo groups devoted to the Winradio series.
--

jhhaynes at earthlink dot net

"Markeau" wrote:

Anyboy have real-world experience with any of the PC-based receivers,
such as the Winradio 1500/3000 series and the ICOM PCR1000 ?

Not those, but as previously mentioned, the Ten-Tex RX-320 has a great
rep and probably is the most bang-for-the-buck available these days.

I have the Winradio G303i and it is spectacularly good. It's missing
a couple of features found on many radios but it (especially in the
"pro demodulator" variant) can't be beat.

The new G303e (external, USB or serial) should be as good or nearly as
good.

The G313i is supposed to be a leap of performance over the '303's but
it is double the price.

The rest of the Winradios are mediocre performers on HF -- much better
scanners. The PCR1000 is also lacking and has a couple of design
flaws that I, as a software engineer, find utterly unacceptable. (No
error checking on the messages and mere line noise can adjust the
alignment of the radio. Furthermore the message protocol is
proprietary but has been reverse-engineered. It is NOT CI-V.)


--
Eric F. Richards,
"Nature abhors a vacuum tube." -- Myron Glass,
often attributed to J. R. Pierce, Bell Labs, c. 1940

Since Al brought the RX320 up, I know of 2 places where there are
reviews, and there's even a Yahoo group for it:

http://www.anarc.org/naswa/issues/1298/equip1298.html

http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/rx320a.html

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RX320/

I would never try to compare the 320D to one of the Winradio G303
series. The DSP is much more elaborate in the Winradio than it is in the
TenTec, enabling a lot more features. It will run rings around the
PCR1000 and lower end Winradios, though, without doubt.

As a poster or two has commented, one nice thing about the RX320
that's not so evident in the Winradios is the number of control programs
available (some free); the Winradio uses a proprietary language that
makes it harder to develop that kind of flexibility.

Oh, and as to digital decoding; the 320 is quite capable of handling
digital sigs (i.e. PSK31, FAX, SSTV, RTTY, ALE, ect) with the right
software. Your main headache would be limiting the noise from the PC,
which is a consideration no matter if it's your 320, a scanner, ham
radio, ect....mine has let me hear some nice DX with rather modest antennas.

Have fun! 73s Mike


Markeau wrote:
Anyboy have real-world experience with any of the PC-based receivers,
such as the Winradio 1500/3000 series and the ICOM PCR1000 ?

michael agner wrote:

Oh, and as to digital decoding; the 320 is quite capable of handling
digital sigs (i.e. PSK31, FAX, SSTV, RTTY, ALE, ect) with the right
software. Your main headache would be limiting the noise from the PC,
which is a consideration no matter if it's your 320, a scanner, ham
radio, ect....mine has let me hear some nice DX with rather modest
antennas.


I don't get any interference from the computer at all. The 320 is
about four feet away from the monitor. Maybe I lucked out on the
shielding in this setup. It's an HP 2.something gigahertz box.

Best radio up to twice it's cost range. Mind you, that 303i has been
on my mind more frequently in the last few months.



mike

On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 20:38:04 -0500, michael agner
wrote:

Since Al brought the RX320 up, I know of 2 places where there are
reviews, and there's even a Yahoo group for it:

http://www.anarc.org/naswa/issues/1298/equip1298.html

http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/rx320a.html

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RX320/

I would never try to compare the 320D to one of the Winradio G303
series. The DSP is much more elaborate in the Winradio than it is in the
TenTec, enabling a lot more features. It will run rings around the
PCR1000 and lower end Winradios, though, without doubt.

As a poster or two has commented, one nice thing about the RX320
that's not so evident in the Winradios is the number of control programs
available (some free); the Winradio uses a proprietary language that
makes it harder to develop that kind of flexibility.

I may have to respectfully differ he Winradio makes it
extremely easy to develop software for their radios, by publishing API
together with example source codes:
http://www.winradio.com/home/developer.htm

They also provide many free "plugins" together with an
open-architecture for developing third-party plugins:
http://xrs.winradio.com

And they also provide excellent and free Basic-like programming
language called RadioBasic: http://www.rbasic.com

And they also have a site dedicated to Linux support (also with free
source codes): http://www.linradio.com

As far as I know this kind of extensive support is unparalleled with
any other radio manufacturer.

However, you are right saying that there are not that many third party
programs available - but I believe the reason is that the WinRadio
software is free and so damn good that there is not much need for any
third party software. But the tools are surely there if you want the
trouble.

Just my 2c worth... :-)

John

On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 17:29:23 -0700, Eric F. Richards
wrote:

"Markeau" wrote:

Anyboy have real-world experience with any of the PC-based receivers,
such as the Winradio 1500/3000 series and the ICOM PCR1000 ?

Not those, but as previously mentioned, the Ten-Tex RX-320 has a great
rep and probably is the most bang-for-the-buck available these days.

I have the Winradio G303i and it is spectacularly good. It's missing
a couple of features found on many radios but it (especially in the
"pro demodulator" variant) can't be beat.

The new G303e (external, USB or serial) should be as good or nearly as
good.

The G313i is supposed to be a leap of performance over the '303's but
it is double the price.

I bought the G313i and never looked back. Considering the performance
and the features, I'd go as far as say that this is currently the best
HF radio on the market. (Not just in terms of PC radios - *any* HF
radios.) The G303 is also fantastic, but the G313 is still a class
higher.

John

Point taken, John. However, I think it's important to point out that
all the examples you mention utilize source codes that are 'flavors' of
Winradio's own - admittedly open sourced - language. I erred when I
referred to this as proprietary.
TenTec also freely publishes their control codes, and with that, there
are almost 2 dozen control programs, for DOS, Windows and even one or
two Linux programs. The only platform I don't know of any RX320 support
for is the Mac - I wonder why? Maybe because of a difference in how a
RS232 port is defined?
Intersting nonetheless....73s Mike

John Newman wrote:


I may have to respectfully differ he Winradio makes it
extremely easy to develop software for their radios, by publishing API
together with example source codes:
http://www.winradio.com/home/developer.htm

They also provide many free "plugins" together with an
open-architecture for developing third-party plugins:
http://xrs.winradio.com

And they also provide excellent and free Basic-like programming
language called RadioBasic: http://www.rbasic.com

And they also have a site dedicated to Linux support (also with free
source codes): http://www.linradio.com

As far as I know this kind of extensive support is unparalleled with
any other radio manufacturer.