RadioBanter - View Single Post - Eton (Grundig) S-350 drift.

June 23rd 04, 05:30 AM

(Joe Analssandrini) wrote in
om:

Dear Arthur,

ALL analog radios drift. Even the Hammarlund HQ-180 and others of its
class drifted to some extent! The very best analog radios, such as
that Hammarlund, however, will "hold" their settings for a long time,
sometimes even hours on SW, but even a "rock-steady" analog-tuned
radio will drift. This is the nature of the beast and is the reason
that I shall NEVER again buy ANY analog-tuned radio (unless, of
course, someone comes up with some "locking" feature that prevents
drift). So far, no one has been able to eliminate this drift entirely,
even in an expensive analog radio.

Here's an idea: use a digital frequency counter circuit, like the S-350 has,
but have a circuit that reads the value, and if it drifts without the user
touching the knob (you could tell by capacitance on the knob) have it correct
itself. You'd have to have a small motor drive to turn the mechanism.
Perhaps you could then have the lower-noise sound of an analog radio with the
non-drifting benefits of digitally tuned radios. Or, have an entirely analog
radio, except have a digital circuit to activate a motor and turn a variable
capacitor inside the radio.