Margaret von Busenhalter-Butt wrote:


Hi Mark!

How does the Harris 550 perform on MW BCB? Is it better than a Drake
R8/8A/8B ?

Thanks,

Margaret


I'm not really interested in MW Dx, so I'm not the best person to answer this question.

There is some attenuation on the MW frequencies - If you'd like I can look up how much and what frequency it starts at when I get home.

Otherwise, the AFC and coherent AGC work on MW.

Coherent AGC takes the AGC reading through a 500hz filter regardless of what filter you're listening through.

It also has 126 or 130db of dynamic range. (Haven't read the manual in a couple years.)

I almost always listen in sideband mode because the AFC and Coherent AGC don't work in other modes. Coherent AGC won't work without AFC.

For RTTY decoding, I got better results with the AFC turned off.

One of the things I like about the Harris is the filters are kind of wide - but they have a good shape factor, so audio quality is good, but selectivity has never been a problem. On AM & CW you can choose between 500, 6khz and if you enjoy listening to
hets in the background, 16khz. On Sideband it's always 3.2khz.

The 550 comes equipped for ISB reception too. (Both sidebands with one coming through the internal speaker, and the other on terminals on the rear.)

Let me know if you'd like me to check specs for MW attenuation or dynamic range.

Regards,

Mark