RadioBanter - Winradio g303i

"RonH" wrote:

I'm getting back into the hobby with a strong interest in AM DXing. How does
the g303i fit into the perfomance spectrum between a Grundig 800 and the
Drake 8b. Have these PC receivers attained a performance yet that brings
them up to the level of a serious machine like the Drake.

Ron

The g303i is an amazing radio, and is one of the two best "bang for
buck" radios you'll ever find. (The other I'm thinking of is the
RX320D, which is half the price and less than that in performance.)

Winradio's first offerings were, not to put too fine a point on it,
awful. But the g303i is a software-defined radio and the amount of
control it has is incredible. If you go with the 303i, get the
pro demodulator. The continuously variable bandwidth is absolutely
worth it, in my opinion.

The Grundig '800 takes a good design, implements it poorly, and then
puts it in a huge box full of empty space. Do you really need a
"portable" that is bigger than your microwave?

The R-8B, as you will find, has its fanatical supporters here. It is
a good radio, and will give you a notch filter and passband tuning;
the WR doesn't have the former and the latter is non-trivial to work
with.

If there ever is a point when you'll be using the radio separately
from your computer, the R8-B is the way to go, of the choices you
present.

However, if your computer is where you plan to listen, the 303i is a
superb receiver. Be sure that you check system requirements, though:
you need a free PCI slot and a free line-in on a sound card that can
function full-duplex. You do need a lot of CPU performance to run it.
What you get in turn is truly continuous bandwidth -- unheard of in
almost every other radio, including IF-DSPs, A lot of control over
everything that happens in the IF, and a bunch of graphical displays
about the state of the signal you are getting. You also get
continuous updates to the software as they become available (excluding
the pro demodulator itself, which is a plug-in to the main radio
software).

I can't speak for its ultimate rejection, though; it's probably my
only radio that hasn't been through the Overload Hell Torture Test.

Obviously I like it! I'd take it over an R8-B, but they aim to
different customers.

--
Eric F. Richards,
"This book reads like a headache on paper."
http://www.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/readi...one/index.html