David Toepfer ) writes:
Any help with suggesting a good kW linear that would preserve a hi-fidelity signal would be appreciated as well. It was before my time, but I don't think anyone used linears much for AM. Yes, it could be done, but I don't think it was done much. What they'd do is take the exciter, and put it in CW mode (maybe pulling the modulator tubes to decrease current drain and strain on the power supply) and feed it into a high level stage that was plate modulated. And of course, there was a really hefty plate modulator to go with it. Michael VE2BVW |
I like and use Valiant I's. I have 2 of them and they sounds quite nice,
via the ER audio mods. One can have a Valiant for the same price as asked for a Ranger. Rangers are horribly overrated! The extra 100 watts out of the Valiant helps, too!! The DX-100 is a nice classic rig, if found in suitable condition (read: wiring condition and corrosion). The VF-1 design VFO in the DX-100 may be quite problematic, too. But, they do sound good, don't they? Receiver wise? Yes, the SX-28 sounds nice but conditions require better spectrum control. I use either a 75A4 or a National NC-303. Heck, an SX-100 is quite fine, too. Or how about an HQ-170AC? Not general coverage.. but can be had for a song and really work fine! But, like Ford's and Chevy's, what we have here is what you like, personally.. de K3HVG |
I like and use Valiant I's. I have 2 of them and they sounds quite nice,
via the ER audio mods. One can have a Valiant for the same price as asked for a Ranger. Rangers are horribly overrated! The extra 100 watts out of the Valiant helps, too!! The DX-100 is a nice classic rig, if found in suitable condition (read: wiring condition and corrosion). The VF-1 design VFO in the DX-100 may be quite problematic, too. But, they do sound good, don't they? Receiver wise? Yes, the SX-28 sounds nice but conditions require better spectrum control. I use either a 75A4 or a National NC-303. Heck, an SX-100 is quite fine, too. Or how about an HQ-170AC? Not general coverage.. but can be had for a song and really work fine! But, like Ford's and Chevy's, what we have here is what you like, personally.. de K3HVG |
On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 06:22:09 -0500, K3HVG sent into
the ether: I like and use Valiant I's. I have 2 of them and they sounds quite nice, via the ER audio mods. One can have a Valiant for the same price as asked for a Ranger. Rangers are horribly overrated! The extra 100 watts out of the Valiant helps, too!! The DX-100 is a nice classic rig, if found in suitable condition (read: wiring condition and corrosion). The VF-1 design VFO in the DX-100 may be quite problematic, too. But, they do sound good, don't they? Receiver wise? Yes, the SX-28 sounds nice but conditions require better spectrum control. I use either a 75A4 or a National NC-303. Heck, an SX-100 is quite fine, too. Or how about an HQ-170AC? Not general coverage.. but can be had for a song and really work fine! But, like Ford's and Chevy's, what we have here is what you like, personally.. de K3HVG I like my B&W 5100-B. Although it doesn't do topband, it sounds great, without having to mod the audio. My second choice is my Ranger with a slight mod to match it to my voice range. It's been so long since I did the mod I would have to dig out the manual and look at it for the marked changes. Course the Ranger sound is heard better through the Johnson Desk :} Dan www.outdoorfrontiers.com REMOVE left x for direct e-mail reply |
On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 06:22:09 -0500, K3HVG sent into
the ether: I like and use Valiant I's. I have 2 of them and they sounds quite nice, via the ER audio mods. One can have a Valiant for the same price as asked for a Ranger. Rangers are horribly overrated! The extra 100 watts out of the Valiant helps, too!! The DX-100 is a nice classic rig, if found in suitable condition (read: wiring condition and corrosion). The VF-1 design VFO in the DX-100 may be quite problematic, too. But, they do sound good, don't they? Receiver wise? Yes, the SX-28 sounds nice but conditions require better spectrum control. I use either a 75A4 or a National NC-303. Heck, an SX-100 is quite fine, too. Or how about an HQ-170AC? Not general coverage.. but can be had for a song and really work fine! But, like Ford's and Chevy's, what we have here is what you like, personally.. de K3HVG I like my B&W 5100-B. Although it doesn't do topband, it sounds great, without having to mod the audio. My second choice is my Ranger with a slight mod to match it to my voice range. It's been so long since I did the mod I would have to dig out the manual and look at it for the marked changes. Course the Ranger sound is heard better through the Johnson Desk :} Dan www.outdoorfrontiers.com REMOVE left x for direct e-mail reply |
Hi,
I own a SX-28A, which is similar to the 28. A fine looking old radio, somewhat difficult to work on. Stable, but lacking in sens and selectivity when compared to the other radios you mentioned. Remember the SX28 and 28A were designed in the 30s. I also own both an R390 and an R390A. If you want the ultimate in AM performance, either of these beauties will do it for you. I perfer the R390 because it tunes more smoothly and overall has a smoother feel. On the air performance is similar in both, and of course both have the famous mechanical dial. I also own a SP-600 JX-17. Very fun radio, smooth tuning, but crowded dial and not easy to interpolate the received frequency. Fine for tuning the SW broadcast bands, not so fine for Ham bands. Regards, Bob On 25 Oct 2003 06:33:19 -0700, (David Toepfer) wrote: In the future I would like to set up an AM station for the low bands (just 160m, 80m, and 40m) and am doing some research as to what equipment I should be looking for. I am looking to choose a good quality Receiver and Transmitter to start with and stay with. I don't have the space for a BoatAnchor collention right now, but would like to set myself up with a station with nice hi-quality audio for AM work. I am not looking to DX with them or contest with them. Just looking to do some high quality domestic AM work. To start I am looking for a good receiver, preferably with really good fidelity for AM. From what I have been reading everywhere it seems that the Hallicrafters SX-28 is the receiver to have if you are looking for good sound. People say it has good frequency stability. I was wondering how you would compare it on these points as well as selectivity and sensitivity with these other receivers which seem to be quite fine as well: Collins R-390 Collins 51J-4 Collins 75A-4 Hammarlund SP-600 Or does anyone have any others to suggest as well? Also, I am completely in the dark as far as transmitters go for the same kind of work. I am likewise looking for good high fidelity witr good frequency stability AM. But I don't know where to go (or is building your own rack the best way to go for this kind of work?) The transmitter I have come across for hi-fidelity AM work seems to be the Johnson Ranger and Johnson Ranger II (not sure what is the difference between them) Or is the Valiant or Viking better? But I am sure there are others out there as well. Any help with suggesting a good kW linear that would preserve a hi-fidelity signal would be appreciated as well. Are there any other things I should be considering as well that I have missed asking because of my relative newness to this area? This is a long term project and I am just in the information gathering phases right now. Any help would be appreciated. 73 dt . |
wrote:
the SX28 and 28A were designed in the 30s. I also own both an R390 and an R390A. If you want the ultimate in AM performance, either of these beauties will do it for you. I perfer the R390 because it tunes more smoothly and overall has a smoother feel. On the air performance is similar in both, and of course both have the famous mechanical dial. The RF performance on these radios cannot be beat. In my office at work I have a Watkins-Johnson HF system that cost the government a few tens of thousands of dollars and directly digitizes the IF for digital filtering and demodulation. The R-390A is better at pulling weak signals out of the trash (although the panadaptor display on the Watkins-Johnson is hard to beat). The problem with the R390 is that the audio quality just stinks. Great for DXing, not good for casual shortwave listening. The filters ring like mad and the distortion on the output stage is way too high for my taste. There are some aftermarket AF decks for these but they don't solve the real problems. But, my god, they pull stuff out of nowhere. And once they are warmed up, they are stable enough to stay tuned on a RTTY station for weeks. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
wrote:
the SX28 and 28A were designed in the 30s. I also own both an R390 and an R390A. If you want the ultimate in AM performance, either of these beauties will do it for you. I perfer the R390 because it tunes more smoothly and overall has a smoother feel. On the air performance is similar in both, and of course both have the famous mechanical dial. The RF performance on these radios cannot be beat. In my office at work I have a Watkins-Johnson HF system that cost the government a few tens of thousands of dollars and directly digitizes the IF for digital filtering and demodulation. The R-390A is better at pulling weak signals out of the trash (although the panadaptor display on the Watkins-Johnson is hard to beat). The problem with the R390 is that the audio quality just stinks. Great for DXing, not good for casual shortwave listening. The filters ring like mad and the distortion on the output stage is way too high for my taste. There are some aftermarket AF decks for these but they don't solve the real problems. But, my god, they pull stuff out of nowhere. And once they are warmed up, they are stable enough to stay tuned on a RTTY station for weeks. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
Scott Dorsey wrote:
wrote: the SX28 and 28A were designed in the 30s. I also own both an R390 and an R390A. If you want the ultimate in AM performance, either of these beauties will do it for you. I perfer the R390 because it tunes more smoothly and overall has a smoother feel. On the air performance is similar in both, and of course both have the famous mechanical dial. The RF performance on these radios cannot be beat. In my office at work I have a Watkins-Johnson HF system that cost the government a few tens of thousands of dollars and directly digitizes the IF for digital filtering and demodulation. The R-390A is better at pulling weak signals out of the trash (although the panadaptor display on the Watkins-Johnson is hard to beat). The problem with the R390 is that the audio quality just stinks. Great for DXing, not good for casual shortwave listening. The filters ring like mad and the distortion on the output stage is way too high for my taste. There are some aftermarket AF decks for these but they don't solve the real problems. But, my god, they pull stuff out of nowhere. And once they are warmed up, they are stable enough to stay tuned on a RTTY station for weeks. I throw my lot in with Scott on the R-390/R-390A for stability and sensitivity. It's all technology that I understand, but it sure is a lot like magic. I don't have the reservations about fidelity and distortion that he does: they sound about as good as my Yaesu FRG-100 and my Icom PCR-1000. Anyone who wants to give (or lend) me a recent-model WJ receiver is welcome to do so; I'll happily do A/B comparisons for a year or two. -- Mike Andrews, once WN5EGO, and hoping to be W5EGO Tired old sysadmin |
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