Nice description of the radio and its usage Al.

"Albert P. Belle Isle" wrote:

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 15:16:09 GMT, "Rick" wrote:

I have a chacne to purchase one of these receivers and was wondering if
anyone here know anyting about them.
Anyone ever use one?
I did a search on he internet, but haven't found much info.

Thanks

Rick,

I have an R-3030A (among other receivers) and it's extremely good at
what it was designed for - which is NOT broadcast listening.

It was designed to be computer-controlled for surveillance
applications involving banks of them in racks.

The "A" suffix denotes what's often called "the CIA model."

The filter options are - for my uses - better than either those of the
3030 or the R2411 version. You can use 0.5, 1.0, 3.2 or 6.0kHz BW on
any mode - CW, USB, LSB, FM or AM. The control interface in the A's is
dual, independent RS-422s which is readily applicable to PC-control -
unlike the other options in the 3030 family. Simple AC power connector
- no Mil-Std barrel connector like the R2411.

I leave it parked on channels that only occasionally produce
interesting stuff in digital modes. Each receiver feeds one of the
stereo channels in a PC soundcard, and I have Hoka's Code300-32 open
decoder windows on each.

French military circuits using 400Hz-shift ARQ-E3 mode are one
application at which it excels with its 500Hz crystal filters - much
better than having to open up to the 1000Hz filter that's the only
alternative to a too-narrow 300Hz filter on other receivers.

I often leave it on overnight with one receiver on 518kHz feeding an
FEC decoder for NAVTEX broiadcasts and the other receiver on 8414.5kHz
feeding a GMDSS/DSC decoder with a text filter to pick out maritime
distress calls.

In fact, the following GMDSS packet arived just a few minutes ago over
the right-hand receiver in the 3030A:

FORMAT SPECIFIER: DISTRESS CALL
SELF IDENTIFICATION: 636010660 Liberia
DISTRESS NATU UNDESIGNATED DISTRESS
DISTRESS COORDINATES: NW LATITUDE 38 deg 6 min NORTH
LONGITUDE 9 deg 38 min WEST
TIME UTC: 1 : 57
TELECOMMAND: J3E telephone
EOS
CHECK SUM OK
DECODED AT: 8:57:49 PM 11/7/2003

(The ship is the Liberian-registered bulk carrier Torm Pacific - call
sign ELUF4 and owned by Eastern Light Shipping - at a GPS
auto-position located in the Atlantic, about 70nm SW of Lisbon,
Portugal.)

The 3030A receivers are rock stable - you just dial in what you want
and leave them there. Their internal frequency standard takes much
less time from turn-on to stability than the one in my Harris R-2368
(Navy version RF-590)

While it has a decent sound for SSB voice and AM broadcasts, the 3030A
is not as pleasant a sound as my Harris, which in turn is no
competition for my Ten-Tec RX340s (or even the little RX320s).

One of the 3030 family's quirks that is fine for feeding decoders but
not so fine for long hours of human listening is an AGC that just has
a hang time (selectable) but no decay. In some conditions, it results
in a harsh sound that is tiring for extended listening.

The worst such condition is when tuning across a band of frequencies
hunting for weak signals in high noise. If you have a decent broadcast
signal and park on it, it sounds pretty good.

If you believe that radio equipment can have something akin to sex
appeal, the Cubics have it in spades.

The construction is totally modular, and you can swap these
individually shielded modules with their counterparts in the other
receiver as a quick way to trouble shoot. (The modules have diagnostic
output fault LEDs on their edges.)

This is REAL Mil-Spec stuff that makes the Harris look like some ham
receiver with armor bolted onto it. The difference in quality of
little things like even the rack handles is readily apparent. The
yellow LED displays are better over a wider range of lighting
conditions than most any other displays I've seen. Easy on the eyes.

You do have to hit the keypads decisively and straight-on, but you
quickly develop "Cubic key-fingers."

It's a nifty box that I'd really hate to part with - but if I only had
one receiver for everything, including a lot of SWL broadcast
listening, it'd probably not be a 3030A.

Good listening,
Al
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Location: 42N39, 71W09 (Near Boston, MA)
HF Antennas: 65ft TFD, 45ft T2FD, 28ft vertical, 65ft doublet
HF Receivers: Ten-Tec RX340, RX320, Harris R2368, Cubic R3030A
Decoders: Code300-32, Universal M-8000, PK-232MBX/DSP
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