I have owned all the Drake R8 series and like to do a bit of NDB beacon
DXing as well. The R8 series narrow filter of 500 Hz is not quite narrow
enough where the beacons are crowded together, so the Icom R75 is likely to
be a better bet, albeit after a lot of expensive mods and additional pricey
filters.

First off you have to get rid of the R75's attenuation below the HF band -
for this you will have to get Kiwa to do the mods.
Then you will have to add the narrower roofing filter and add the 250 Hz CW
filter.

After spending all that extra you should have quite a mean NDB beacon DX
machine.

A mean DX machine for CW beacons and value for money at $1500 is the Icom
746Pro as it is digital with a 32 bit processor and infinitely variable
filters. Like all the Icoms though, you will have to remove the LF/MW
attenuation though.

--
John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8 & ERGO software
Sony 7600D, GE SRIII, Redsun RP2100
BW XCR 30, Sangean 803A.
GE circa 50's radiogram
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop, PAORDT Roelof mini-whip
http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

"john" wrote in message
ups.com...

Telamon wrote:
In article . com,
"john" wrote:

just wondering i don't own a drake r8, r8a or r8b, but i am thinking
of purchasing an r8 or r8a. does anyone use this radio for dxing
NDB's and how does it perform on longwave. i'm also reading alot
about the r75 as a pure dx radio, especially with the mods, but it
seems the drake never gets the heads up vs the r75 as a pure dxer. it
also seems that the drake is the better BCB listening radio due to
its better audio. i would love to hear from someone who owns both.
and has compared them in this respect.

The Drake R8 series are good all round radios. They have all the
essential features for quality broadcast listening, Dxing, utilities,
SSB ham reception.

The R75 makes an excellent door stop to the radio room.


dxace and telmon,

exactly my feeling - the drakes come with everything you need - i have
a palstar and many people say the palstar's deep audio and low noise
floor is similiar to the drakes - if thats the case i'm going with an
r8a - also do not like the idea of sending out my radio for mods right
after i purchase it new - seems it should have all the goodies already.
have you guy personally used the r75?
--
Telamon
Ventura, California