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October 3rd 03, 07:12 AM

In article ,
(Miles Mitchell) wrote:

Telamon wrote in message

...
In article ,
(Miles Mitchell) wrote:

Does anyone have a Drake R8,A,B. and compared it to a Ten Tec Rx
340 with all variables being the same, I would be grateful for
some opinions as I am considering the 340 in the future to
replace the venerable Drake.

I own an R8B and RX340. They are radios with different abilities
and I would not consider one an upgrade to the other. The mode of
signal, conditions and whether I'm band scanning or not determine
which radio I listen to at any one time. I not a person to write
long reviews so if you can be more specific in what you want to do
with the radio it would help.

I have my Drake R8 hooked up to a Sherwood Se-3 sync and use it
specifically for sw dxing, I would run the 340 through the sync as
well, I was wondering if I would be any further ahead in copying weak
signals considering the variability of the filters, agc, and the
general flexability of the radio compared to the Drake.

I can¹t comment on the Sherwood but going from a R8 to a 340 will be an
improvement in the weak signal ability. The DSP filters and selectable
sync would give the 340 a good edge on the R8.

Depending on conditions the R8B or the 340 can do better but not by
much. Since the R8B is more sensitive I would say it generally has the
edge.

Some examples. I live on the west coast so daytime signals are few and
very weak in the clear the R8B has the edge with better sensitivity.
Evenings 49, 31, 25, 22, 19 meter bands chock full of strong signals the
340 will do better with a weak signal in between the power houses due to
the sharp filtering.

Trolling for weak SSB signals like pirates the 340 has ISB mode and with
headphones on one ear has LSB the other USB. You can¹t do that with the
Drake.

The 340 has wider filters than the R8B and can sound better because of
that wider response. The narrower filters for SSB 4 kHz also offer
better clarity for voice and I would expect superior digital mode
response.

The one operationally weak function the 340 has is that its sync will
loose lock on rapid and deep fading signals. If you are gong to buy a
340 I suggest an antenna with a wide aperture to help mitigate this. The
340 will sync on weak signals without a problem it is only the
combination of rapid and deep fading that it will loose lock on.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

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