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

Bob Miller wrote:


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).


While it may not have a sync detector, the AM detector is a correct
implementation of ECSS. (No, I'm not talking about using SSB mode.)

craigm


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

On Wed, 19 Apr 2006 12:08:43 -0500, craigm
wrote:

Bob Miller wrote:


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).


While it may not have a sync detector, the AM detector is a correct
implementation of ECSS. (No, I'm not talking about using SSB mode.)

craigm

One of my few complaints about the 525 receiver is distant AM signals
fade in and out, and I understand a sync detector will alleviate that.
bob


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

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.


Good choice. And I'm sure you'll find it a significant upgrade from
your Panasonic RF-3100. If you're looking to chase the weak DX, then a
JRC receiver is hard to beat.

junius

I am VERY pleased with my 525. It is the flagship of my collection...



"junius" wrote in message
ups.com...

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.


Good choice. And I'm sure you'll find it a significant upgrade from
your Panasonic RF-3100. If you're looking to chase the weak DX, then a
JRC receiver is hard to beat.

junius

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

In article ,
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.

Snip

Congratulations on the purchase. Let us know how you like NRD-525 and
what stations you pick up on it.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

For One and All,

Any truth to the claim that the NRD-525
is a very good AM/MW DX Radio ?

iwtk ~ RHF

On 20 Apr 2006 00:53:29 -0700, "RHF"
wrote:

For One and All,

Any truth to the claim that the NRD-525
is a very good AM/MW DX Radio ?

iwtk ~ RHF
.
I understand the stock audio is muffled somewhat.

David wrote:
On 20 Apr 2006 00:53:29 -0700, "RHF"
wrote:

For One and All,

Any truth to the claim that the NRD-525
is a very good AM/MW DX Radio ?

iwtk ~ RHF
.
I understand the stock audio is muffled somewhat.

For those interested, Kiwa offers an audio upgrade for the NRD-525:

http://www.kiwa.com/NRD525.html