On Nov 25, 6:01 pm, wrote:
snip
The above data is supposed to indicate which of your dream receivers
will get you that ultimate DX catch above all other receivers. In
practice, life is different: one of my pals had a SDR-1000 and I
didn't notice his logs reflect anything much better than other
fella's. A top DXer John Bryant used a Eton E1 on a DXpedition to
Easter Island and logged some of the best catches I have ever seen.
See:http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/easter_island_2007.dx
I have a pal who insists on DXing with an ancient battered Yaesu FRG-7
and i would rate his fantastic logs and high quality recordings
amongst the very best in the world, yet the FRG-7 is actually a very
poor receiver from a poor front end and sloppy bad filters point of
view. A few years ago a DXer won the prestigious Danish DC Club annual
contest with an equally modest receiver, a Yaesu FRG-7000.
A lot of my co DXer's are now using SDR-IQ's and achieving amazing
results, whilst the top rated AOR 7030 lads don't seem to be getting
much in the way of spectacular catches lately.
So what's the motto of this story; just this, don't worry about
receiver specs just concentrate on going on a decent DXpedition to a
good radio spot and make sure you get a decent antenna up.
Have fun and good DX
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.
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro Mk II, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop, PAORDT Roelof mini-whiphttp://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx
I take some heat from my local SWL brotherhood because of my
unwillingness to "upgrade"
to a better receiver. I have been using a R2000 since the early 1980s.
And it is true that
Kenwood might choke on mu modifications, but after babysitting a
AOR7030+ for 9 months,
having a R8B for 2 months, and I still own a R390 and a R392 but
because of their odd
tunning, separate MHz(Mc) and KHz(Kc), and the fact that only a body
builder would enjoy
trying to rapidly tune from one frequency to another they seldom get
used by me. Both are
loaned out to people who value the precision and whom I know will take
good care of them.
At my location, and, if you think about it, at all locations, the
background noise or noise floor
sets the limit on what you can receive. The 7030+ and R8B have much
nicer features, but
the 7030+'s menuing system was really designed by a very demented 3rd
grader, but anything
I could receive on any of the better receivers, I could hear on a
stock R2000. True, better filters
and better audio and better noise filters make some signals better.
Don't get me wrong, I would sell my left n^^ for a 7030+ or R8B, but
for day to day listening,
the better receivers are like a limo compared to our Escort. Both do
the job, is the increased
ride worth the increased price.
There has been a one time power failure during December for 18 hours
and the AOR really
was impressive. But even then I couldn't find a signal that the AOR
received that the R2000
couldn't. It is true the better choice of filters makes the AOR more
fun during extremely quiet
RF conditions. But sadly it just isn't RF quiet enough for the better
receivers to win.
I accept that in wonderful, mythical (or is it mystical?), Greyland
the better receivers may well
receive signals that my lowly R2000 can't. But until I win the
lottery, not likely since I don't buy
tickets, I have to put up with the RF noise that I have.
Instead of "wasting" money on a "better" receiver, I have decided to
tackle the RF noise our
own home generates. For less then $200 and way too many hours in
research and work,
I can't tell the difference when the meter is pulled.
Picking the correct antenna, feeding it correctly, getting rid of,, or
suppressing RF noise sources
can make every day listening as rewarding as a trip to the country.
If you like the stock PAORDT mini-antenna, you might want to take a
look at the Kongsfjord
web page, http://www.kongsfjord.no/,
http://www.kongsfjord.no/dl/
Antennas/Simplified%20Complementary%20Push-Pull%20Output%20Active
%20Whip%20Antennas.pdf.
Dallas Lankford has made some serious changes that greatly improve the
PARDT IMD performance.
I have an unusual situation in that I have 2 MW stations that drive
most active antennas nuts.
Dallas's active antennas are the only ones that survive my harsh RF
environment..
Terry