Daniel J. Morlan schrieb:

I have a Grundig Satellit 800 coming my way, and some of my fellow ham radio
friends are trying to convince me that I've made some kind of mistake.

Oh, it's not that bad (its internals are based on the Drake SW8). It's
just rather big and bulky and used to have its share of QC issues (maybe
buying refurb'd from Universal is still better today, haven't kept track
of that).

The AOR 7030 is darnedably expensive, but I did have a question as to
performance characteristics and enhancements. Is there a shortwave radio
superior to the AOR 7030? Just for curiositie's sake, is there such a radio
that IS more superior, if money were no object?

Oh yes, there is. It might set you back by a couple 10000 bucks though.
(I'm thinking of equipment like a DASA E1800A.) A R&S EK895 (maybe
EB200) or WJ HF-1000 (still not cheap) would probably also do,
particularly when we're talking about digital modes and real tough DX.

Or is there one superior in
quality that is actually less expensive?

Good q. Its main competitor in the US is likely to be the Drake R8B,
which uses a fairly different concept (triple IF with low 3rd IF to
employ high-quality LC filters, of which the thing has quite a complete
set stock). An NRD-545 is a good bit dearer still, but features IF-level
DSP.
The strong points of the '7030 are its strong-signal handling (it's not
hyper-sensitive in return), the good audio and synch detector and the
flexibility in terms of filters. (Phase noise is very low, too.)
Additionally its fairly small size makes it attractive for DXpedition
use. As for minuses, its operation, while quite well thought out within
its limits, is nothing for you if you prefer "one button, one function"
layouts à la JRC. You see, the best receiver can only be the best
receiver *for YOU*; it certainly doesn't hurt to try a few before
buying.

BTW, as a ham you might also be interested in various transceivers.

Is there perhaps a website that has a fairly independent review of these
radios, and makes comparisons?

In terms of strong signal handling and phase noise, this might be
helpful:
http://www.sherweng.com/table.html

Stephan

PS: What about your antenna situation? I had to find out the hard way
that the best receiver is of limited use without a good antenna.
Actually a good antenna and listening experience tend to be more
important in catching good DX than the receiver itself. (Primitive
example: A $150 portable can beat a $1000 tabletop hands down in AMBCB
reception just because of its easily rotatable built-in ferrit rod when
the tabletop uses a fixed and possibly even rather omnidirectional wire
antenna which as an E-field antenna would also catch more local noise.
Add a tunable AM loop to the game, and things start looking entirely
different.)
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