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#1
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Just got a new old radio...SX-190
An Allied SX-190. This radio, while not quite the best thing out
there, was pretty darn good for 1970's vintage, and had some nice features - HAS some nice features - that helped the DX. Just got me one in really nice shape. Clean as a whistle, sensitive, and everything works. The guy who sold it to me did some of the mods on it to sweeten the thing up, and it sounds great. It doesn't have all the modern bells and whistles, but it has decent selectivity with its mechanical filters, tunes easily and accurately to within 0.5 kHz (try that with almost any other consumer-grade analogue RX) and it sounds clean and clear with its matching speaker. Overloads a little bit on 31 meters, and maybe on 41 and 49. Easily resolved by putting the AF Gain all the way up and using the RF gain for volume control. Just listened to VOA Botswana relay on 9885, BBC from Cyprus on 12035 sandwiched between VoRs powerhouses 5 kHz up and down, and a bunch of other good stuff. Hams sound like they're in the room with me. This thing is FUN, and is a real pip :-) Bruce Jensen |
#2
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Just got a new old radio...SX-190
On Mar 26, 1:15*am, bpnjensen wrote:
An Allied SX-190. *This radio, while not quite the best thing out there, was pretty darn good for 1970's vintage, and had some nice features - HAS some nice features - that helped the DX. Just got me one in really nice shape. *Clean as a whistle, sensitive, and everything works. *The guy who sold it to me did some of the mods on it to sweeten the thing up, and it sounds great. *It doesn't have all the modern bells and whistles, but it has decent selectivity with its mechanical filters, tunes easily and accurately to within 0.5 kHz (try that with almost any other consumer-grade analogue RX) and it sounds clean and clear with its matching speaker. Overloads a little bit on 31 meters, and maybe on 41 and 49. *Easily resolved by putting the AF Gain all the way up and using the RF gain for volume control. Just listened to VOA Botswana relay on 9885, BBC from Cyprus on 12035 sandwiched between VoRs powerhouses 5 kHz up and down, and a bunch of other good stuff. *Hams sound like they're in the room with me. This thing is FUN, and is a real pip :-) Bruce Jensen Does it have optional crystals for full SW coverage? |
#3
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Just got a new old radio...SX-190
On Mar 25, 10:20*pm, wrote:
On Mar 26, 1:15*am, bpnjensen wrote: An Allied SX-190. *This radio, while not quite the best thing out there, was pretty darn good for 1970's vintage, and had some nice features - HAS some nice features - that helped the DX. Just got me one in really nice shape. *Clean as a whistle, sensitive, and everything works. *The guy who sold it to me did some of the mods on it to sweeten the thing up, and it sounds great. *It doesn't have all the modern bells and whistles, but it has decent selectivity with its mechanical filters, tunes easily and accurately to within 0.5 kHz (try that with almost any other consumer-grade analogue RX) and it sounds clean and clear with its matching speaker. Overloads a little bit on 31 meters, and maybe on 41 and 49. *Easily resolved by putting the AF Gain all the way up and using the RF gain for volume control. Just listened to VOA Botswana relay on 9885, BBC from Cyprus on 12035 sandwiched between VoRs powerhouses 5 kHz up and down, and a bunch of other good stuff. *Hams sound like they're in the room with me. This thing is FUN, and is a real pip :-) Bruce Jensen *Does it have optional crystals for full SW coverage? It only has the stock - including the two ham bands 20m and 80m that puzzle some folks (why not 13 and 60 for SWL?) but it has the spaces for two additional, and I think I know some companies out there that can make custom crystals for the radio. I expect that I will try to get some for 60m and for 13.5 - 14 MHz. Since each one requires the addition of an internal cap, these may be it for awhile - or maybe I'll get fancy and come up with an easy system for plugging crystals in and out with a variable cap so I can get other bands. We'll see. I still need to perfect my cornball antenna system. |
#4
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Just got a new old radio...SX-190
bpnjensen wrote:
It only has the stock - including the two ham bands 20m and 80m that puzzle some folks (why not 13 and 60 for SWL?) but it has the spaces for two additional, and I think I know some companies out there that can make custom crystals for the radio. I expect that I will try to get some for 60m and for 13.5 - 14 MHz. Since each one requires the addition of an internal cap, these may be it for awhile - or maybe I'll get fancy and come up with an easy system for plugging crystals in and out with a variable cap so I can get other bands. We'll see. I still need to perfect my cornball antenna system. ICM in Oklahoma still makes them. |
#5
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Just got a new old radio...SX-190
dave wrote:
bpnjensen wrote: It only has the stock - including the two ham bands 20m and 80m that puzzle some folks (why not 13 and 60 for SWL?) but it has the spaces for two additional, and I think I know some companies out there that can make custom crystals for the radio. I expect that I will try to get some for 60m and for 13.5 - 14 MHz. Since each one requires the addition of an internal cap, these may be it for awhile - or maybe I'll get fancy and come up with an easy system for plugging crystals in and out with a variable cap so I can get other bands. We'll see. I still need to perfect my cornball antenna system. ICM in Oklahoma still makes them. http://www.icmfg.com/ |
#6
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Just got a new old radio...SX-190
"dave" wrote in message ... bpnjensen wrote: It only has the stock - including the two ham bands 20m and 80m that puzzle some folks (why not 13 and 60 for SWL?) but it has the spaces for two additional, and I think I know some companies out there that can make custom crystals for the radio. I expect that I will try to get some for 60m and for 13.5 - 14 MHz. Since each one requires the addition of an internal cap, these may be it for awhile - or maybe I'll get fancy and come up with an easy system for plugging crystals in and out with a variable cap so I can get other bands. We'll see. I still need to perfect my cornball antenna system. ICM in Oklahoma still makes them. You could always buy or build a VFO (or a stable signal generator) and mark the frequencies you need to set it to for each band |
#7
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Just got a new old radio...SX-190
Sounds like a nice Radio.Enjoy.
cuhulin |
#8
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Just got a new old radio...SX-190
On Mar 26, 7:09*am, "Brenda Ann"
wrote: "dave" wrote in message ... bpnjensen wrote: It only has the stock - including the two ham bands 20m and 80m that puzzle some folks (why not 13 and 60 for SWL?) but it has the spaces for two additional, and I think I know some companies out there that can make custom crystals for the radio. *I expect that I will try to get some for 60m and for 13.5 - 14 MHz. *Since each one requires the addition of an internal cap, these may be it for awhile - or maybe I'll get fancy and come up with an easy system for plugging crystals in and out with a variable cap so I can get other bands. *We'll see. I still need to perfect my cornball antenna system. ICM in Oklahoma still makes them. You could always buy or build a VFO (or a stable signal generator) and mark the frequencies you need to set it to for each band Interesting idea?? If I did this, would it be connected directly to the crystal socket? The radio has an internal VFO, but it comes after each crystal. Bruce |
#9
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Just got a new old radio...SX-190
On 3/26/10 24:29 , bpnjensen wrote:
It only has the stock - including the two ham bands 20m and 80m that puzzle some folks (why not 13 and 60 for SWL?) but it has the spaces for two additional, and I think I know some companies out there that can make custom crystals for the radio. I expect that I will try to get some for 60m and for 13.5 - 14 MHz. Since each one requires the addition of an internal cap, these may be it for awhile - or maybe I'll get fancy and come up with an easy system for plugging crystals in and out with a variable cap so I can get other bands. We'll see. I still need to perfect my cornball antenna system. On the subject of crystals. I have a bunch of them laying around. 3956.0 1989.0 4145.0 2118.0 3975.0 3994.5 3895.0 7115.0 3865.0 3995.0 7145.0 3885.0 3905.8 3930.0 3855.0 Image he https://download.yousendit.com/RmNBck8rd0E5eFd4dnc9PQ If you can use them, a reasonable offer takes any or all. p |
#10
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Just got a new old radio...SX-190
On 3/26/10 24:15 , bpnjensen wrote:
An Allied SX-190. This radio, while not quite the best thing out there, was pretty darn good for 1970's vintage, and had some nice features - HAS some nice features - that helped the DX. Just got me one in really nice shape. Clean as a whistle, sensitive, and everything works. The guy who sold it to me did some of the mods on it to sweeten the thing up, and it sounds great. It doesn't have all the modern bells and whistles, but it has decent selectivity with its mechanical filters, tunes easily and accurately to within 0.5 kHz (try that with almost any other consumer-grade analogue RX) and it sounds clean and clear with its matching speaker. Overloads a little bit on 31 meters, and maybe on 41 and 49. Easily resolved by putting the AF Gain all the way up and using the RF gain for volume control. Just listened to VOA Botswana relay on 9885, BBC from Cyprus on 12035 sandwiched between VoRs powerhouses 5 kHz up and down, and a bunch of other good stuff. Hams sound like they're in the room with me. This thing is FUN, and is a real pip :-) Bruce Jensen Nice. I always liked that one. Never could quite put a deal together on one. Great find. |