That would be a very cool thing. I did some checking around for good high Q
tuning caps, and with the exception of Palstar (he builds his own high
quality caps), nobody seems to make them. That analog tuning dial with a
small digital display would be pretty cool looking, somethink like the Bruel
and Kjaar? (excuse my spelling) test equipment, or the Sansui 919 AM/FM
tuner.

donut wrote in message
...
"Pete KE9OA" wrote in
:

That's the amazing thing about this design; it does have that tube
like sound. As far as performance, we are talking about 18 tube
performance, not 6 or 7 tube performance. I do understand your
doubts, but I think that you will be pleasantly surprised.

I had a 28 tube radio - Collins R-392. My Radio Shack DX-440 (Sangean
803A)
easily equalled it in performance on MW.

I'm a bit of a weirdo, so bear with me. I want a huge analog slide rule
dial with a small digital counter embedded in the center. In other words,
I
like to tune analog, but want digital accuracy. I hate digital stepped
tuning, which is why I no longer use the DX-440.

I like knobs. You can grasp a knob and turn it. I hate sliders.

You should see my HF receivers.................I use variable frequency BFO
injection for that reason.

I want 2-4-6-8-10 filters.

I like the idea of a rotating ferrite bar for casual listening, but want
an
antenna in jack as well.

Definitely

Sync detection is great.

That could be on the horizon, as an add-on. The 2nd I.F. chip that I plan
on using (TDA1572) has a buffered, 50 Ohm I.F. output, just for this reason.
The reason that I haven't considered Sync detection right now, is because I
have haven't yet been able to locate a source of the chips. It seems that
these devices are either on allocation to the large radio manufacturers, or
they are discontinued, and those same radio manufacturers have made lifetime
buys of the remaining stock.

Pete

How about a backlit dial that is continually lighted.

How about a dial pointer that continously changes color, based on signal
strength? If I could find a steady, fairly priced source of good tuning
capacitors (ceramic standoff types), I would go this route. Actually, I
will go with 1kHz tuning steps; this gives a pretty good "analog" feel on
the MW band. I am also thinking about having the radio set up for 9 and 10
kHz steps, but for the 9kHz steps, I would need to also have the unit set up
for the European bandplan. I guess it wouldn't be too hard for our software
guy; he is pretty good.

Pete