I like my DX 394 even without mods, and I have not had any done S. I
suppose modifying is cheaper than spending $1000 or more for a radio S. I
think you will like it. Now, if you have a good antenna and the receiver is
grounded you should be all set to listen. Hopefully the ionosphere will
cooperate for you g.
V
"starman" wrote in message
...
john wrote:
Hi guys and gals. Pretty new to shortwave and I know its late to be
asking
but how many of you use a DX-394 communications receiver and what do you
think about it?
I paid $250 for mine on ebay (prolly too much) with a lot of mods done
to it
and got the super Zepp shortwave antwnna. Here are the mods!
1) SWITCHABLE I.F. FILTERS-A switch has been installed to the front
panel,
using the Noise blanker switch of the radio that allows listeners to
choose
between Wide or Narrow Bandwidths! The two I.F. Filters have been set up
on
a switch so that you can listen to the wide AM filter for casual, easy
listening or flip over to a narrow bandwidth for Dxing or for listening
to
weak signals on a crowded band! The Bandwidth of the narrow, outboard
filter
installed is a tight 3.5-4 KHZ, which is great for SSB and crowded SW
band
conditions.
2) The "Chuff Chuff" noise when fine tuning was stopped with a simple
mod.
3) Keyboard Beeps mod was done to stop the annoying Beeping.
4) Crosstalk Mod was done by adding components in the ceramic filter
circuit. This greatly reduces the problems from strong adjacent channel
interference or bleed thru from the filters. This narrows the bandwidth
by
adding more capacitors to the circuit around Q13 is the second part of
this
mod.
5) Weight added to Main tuning dial makes the radio feel like a "Real
Radio"
with a heavy flywheel dial. Approximately 4 oz. of lead was added to the
dial and helps the "Feel " of the dial.
6) RF Gain control mod provides better linearity when adjust gain of
radio.
This makes it much more flexible when tuning and listening to loud or
strong
SW signals. This mod had a big effect on the radio as well!
7) AGC mod done for a slower speed. This makes it easier to listen to on
AM
or Sideband. The original manufacturer had a very fast attack AGC speed.
Up
and down signals will not pump the audio sound unnatural now. In ham
lingo,
the AGC has been modified to compensate for fast QSB.
8) Audio hiss removed from audio circuit by adding more capacitors to
filter
out some of the higher audio frequencies. Thus, this gives the audio
more
punch and makes it easier to listen to. It also helps make up for the
cheap
built in speaker. An external, Good quality speaker is also recommended!
9)Using the frequency counter in my $3000 transceiver the USB and LSB
readouts have been adjusted on the DX-394 to show correct readout with
an
internal trimmer capacitor. Typically the frequency readout of the
DX-394
shows the center frequency rather than the actual frequency of the SSB
signal.
10)Audio Quality-Additional capacitors have been added to the audio
circuit
which give the radio real bass punch and make it sound like a real
communications receiver!
11)Hum Reduction-A 2200 uF capacitor is added to the power supply to
reduce
the hum heard with low audio gain commonly used with headphones. With
this
mod the hum disappears! Additional voltage regulation has been added to
the
power supply circuit to make the entire system more stable!
12) The top and bottom cases of the radio cabinet have been covered on
the
inside with conductive, aluminum tape that will reduce interference. RFI
produced from nearby broadcast stations, computers, TV's and computer
monitors is greatly reduced with this new mod. Birdies, spurious signals
and
heterodynes caused by these and other electronic devices is shielded out
by
this new aluminum tape's shielding.
Please let me know what you THINK!
Thanks for looking
Sounds like you did some nice mod's to your '394'. Are the details for
all of them available on the Net?
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