WheatBoy wrote:
Anybody who can expand on just the SSB performance of the 1103 against
the Sony 7600GR? I'd like a little portable for mainly listening to 80/40-
meter ham bands.
My DX398 is insensitive off the whip and my B45 is okay but tunes in 5khz
increments,
fine tuning is touchy and seems to drift somewhat. Are the Sony or Degen
any better??

I don't really care about FM or SWBC that much. Besides SSB, I'd use it for
MW stations.

Thanks..

Most small portables are not ideal for ssb because the controls are
small and not as well designed as those found on a good table top.
Most portables are designed first to catch MW, SW and FM broadcast
signals and only secondarily to offer some capability with ssb signals.
Consequently the fine adjustments needed to resolve ssb signals can
take a little fiddling to bring in a good signal. From personal
experience the DE1103 will catch a good number of signals in the
160-80-40 meter bands. The narrow filter really is a bit wide for ssb,
so in one of those unusual times when the bands are crowded you will
find signals crowding one another. Once the bfo wheel is set then it
only needs to be tweaked for signals that are not on whole khz
frequencies. Signals come in quite clearly and are easily understood.

The Sony 7600 also uses a bfo wheel, but only has one filter and I
suspect it will perform similarly to the DE1103 on ssb.

You may want to read the reviews on Radiointel.com for details on both
radios.

If you don't mind stepping up several hundred dollars in price for a
larger portable radio the Eton E1 will probably perform close to what
you could get from a decent tabletop set on ssb. It has an amazing
number of features. Also look at the Grundig Satellit 800. Again, see
the reviews on Radiointel for details.

In article . com,
"John S." wrote:

WheatBoy wrote:
Anybody who can expand on just the SSB performance of the 1103 against
the Sony 7600GR? I'd like a little portable for mainly listening to 80/40-
meter ham bands.
My DX398 is insensitive off the whip and my B45 is okay but tunes in 5khz
increments,
fine tuning is touchy and seems to drift somewhat. Are the Sony or Degen
any better??

I don't really care about FM or SWBC that much. Besides SSB, I'd use it for
MW stations.

Thanks..

Most small portables are not ideal for ssb because the controls are
small and not as well designed as those found on a good table top.
Most portables are designed first to catch MW, SW and FM broadcast
signals and only secondarily to offer some capability with ssb signals.
Consequently the fine adjustments needed to resolve ssb signals can
take a little fiddling to bring in a good signal. From personal
experience the DE1103 will catch a good number of signals in the
160-80-40 meter bands. The narrow filter really is a bit wide for ssb,
so in one of those unusual times when the bands are crowded you will
find signals crowding one another. Once the bfo wheel is set then it
only needs to be tweaked for signals that are not on whole khz
frequencies. Signals come in quite clearly and are easily understood.

The Sony 7600 also uses a bfo wheel, but only has one filter and I
suspect it will perform similarly to the DE1103 on ssb.

You may want to read the reviews on Radiointel.com for details on both
radios.

If you don't mind stepping up several hundred dollars in price for a
larger portable radio the Eton E1 will probably perform close to what
you could get from a decent tabletop set on ssb. It has an amazing
number of features. Also look at the Grundig Satellit 800. Again, see
the reviews on Radiointel for details.

SSB on the Drake SW8 is very impressive, though the radio (which is no
longer made) is a bit hefty and somewhat expensive ($400-600).