"Jay" wrote in message
. ..
You have to realize that all analog radios drift somewhat. Some say the
S-350 drifts more than most, but it is my belief that the main reason for
this is that you can SEE the drift on the digital display. I own several
analog radios (GE SRIII, Zenith Trans-Oceanics (tube and transistor) and
several small portables and find that they ALL drift audibly under some
conditions. Drift seems to be most the higher you go in frequency, so on
the
GE SRIII, I don't notice any drift at the low end of the dial but there is
drift I can hear at the high end of the dial. If I can hear the drift
enough
to have to retune it I can only imagine that, if the radio were equipped
with a digital readout, it would be on the order of 10 to 20 KHz near the
top of the am band.

On shortwave drift is noticeable to an even greater degree. On my
Trans-Oceanics (all well esteemed radios), if I tune to the BBC at 15190
when the set is first tuned in, I can hear the frequency drift during the
first 10 to 15 minutes of operation and when I retune slightly, the signal
comes back in.

The S-350 was designed to give a lot of performance for the money, and I
don't think anyone can deny it surely does. Also, recent production (I
think
the date of manufacture starting around April of 2003) has a small change
to
help minimize drift when the radio is kept plugged into the AC by keeping
one critical IC at operating temperature. I don't use mine plugged in,
though, and I still find the drift is within the first few minutes of
operation. A small amount of drift is normal, and generally I think the
whole drift issue has been blown way out of proportion.

Just my two cent's worth!



I have an S350 and I totally agree with the above assessment. I've been
listening to shortwave since the early 1970's, so, I've used a number of
analogically-tuned radios in my time. People like me who have are generally
not fazed or surprised by a bit of drift like that. It's expected. Since the
350 has both an analog tuner AND a seemingly very accurate digital frequency
readout, the drifting is just more obvious because of it. Retuning was
always expected and even part of the fun in the old days. Just retune it
occasionally when you have to, and enjoy the great performance of this
radio. It's hard to beat for the price. Just as an example, a couple of
summers ago, I returned three Sat-800's because I wasn't satisfied with
them. But, I'm not letting go of this S350. I absolutely love it! I find
digitally-tuned radios boring, and I hate scanning through the bands with
those things.
Pete

"Pete" wrote in message
gers.com...



I have an S350 and I totally agree with the above assessment. I've been
listening to shortwave since the early 1970's, so, I've used a number of
analogically-tuned radios in my time. People like me who have are
generally
not fazed or surprised by a bit of drift like that. It's expected. Since
the
350 has both an analog tuner AND a seemingly very accurate digital
frequency
readout, the drifting is just more obvious because of it. Retuning was
always expected and even part of the fun in the old days. Just retune it
occasionally when you have to, and enjoy the great performance of this
radio. It's hard to beat for the price. Just as an example, a couple of
summers ago, I returned three Sat-800's because I wasn't satisfied with
them. But, I'm not letting go of this S350. I absolutely love it! I find
digitally-tuned radios boring, and I hate scanning through the bands with
those things.
Pete


BTW, to add to my own post above, I should mention that my S350 has the
updated power-on switch, like the later Tecsun version. I don't know if that
means it drifts less than earlier models, since I've never had one of those.
Pete

Yes, that is what I have. An updated S350 . But, despite being
plugged in at all times to to 120VAC outlet it still drifts enormously.
I keep a record of frequency displayed over an extended period (several
weeks) versus approximate ambient temperature.Tuning dial is
untouched. At one point it went down a full ... 59 KHz(!!!) from the
original setting. Again,this is
NOT a mechanical drift and is definetely NOT normal. I have a tube
based Grundig type 4570U/stereo table receiver. Though it doesn't posess
a digital frequency readout ,it dosn't seem to drift anywhere near like
a brand spanking S350 does.
BTW both of my Drakes, the R-7 and TR-7 seem to have a relatively
'innocent drift' due to humidity changes ,not temperature variations
affecting the VFO. Drake used to carry a modification kit to cure
that problem,but it was not very serious-1 to 2 Khz in the most extreme
cases. I can live with that. Nobody is perfect.

Arthur Pozner wrote:
Drake used to carry a modification kit to cure
that problem,but it was not very serious-1 to 2 Khz in the most extreme
cases. I can live with that. Nobody is perfect.

Some are pretty close though...My Kenwood TS-830 using the external PLL
VFO-230 is ultra stable. I mean, you could tune in a ssb station and
listen for MONTHS at a time, and not hear drift. There is also no warmup
drift on that VFO. But the internal L/C VFO in that radio does move a
bit with temp changes. But!, it's VERY linear...If you can keep the temp
stable, the radio will be also. Pretty much the same for my IC-706, as
long as it's in the house, or any fairly stable temp, you won't notice
any drift. You are right about one thing...The drift is thermal, not
mechanical. All l/c type VFO's are prone. The better ones use temp
compensating caps to increase stability. MK
--
http://web.wt.net/~nm5k

"Arthur Pozner" wrote in message
...
Yes, that is what I have. An updated S350 . But, despite being
plugged in at all times to to 120VAC outlet it still drifts enormously.
I keep a record of frequency displayed over an extended period (several
weeks) versus approximate ambient temperature.Tuning dial is
untouched. At one point it went down a full ... 59 KHz(!!!) from the
original setting. Again,this is
NOT a mechanical drift and is definetely NOT normal. I have a tube
based Grundig type 4570U/stereo table receiver. Though it doesn't posess
a digital frequency readout ,it dosn't seem to drift anywhere near like
a brand spanking S350 does.
BTW both of my Drakes, the R-7 and TR-7 seem to have a relatively
'innocent drift' due to humidity changes ,not temperature variations
affecting the VFO. Drake used to carry a modification kit to cure
that problem,but it was not very serious-1 to 2 Khz in the most extreme
cases. I can live with that. Nobody is perfect.


You can't really compare a $100 portable like the S350 to radios like
Drakes, and others that people mention in this thread.
Pete

What kind of variable capacitor is used for the main tuning? I found the
one in the Panasonic RF-2800/2900 was the cause for most of it's
drifting. Does the S-350 have a tuned front-end?


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