Drake Receivers
 

The sync works better on the B rev. I'm not sure why you would want the
E rev since it has some restrictions on the frequency range.

We did a shoot out once (multiple radios tested at the same
location/antenna.). The Drake sync doesn't work as well as the AR7030
on weak signals, otherwise it's pretty good. The sync not that big of a
deal, and used Drake R8's are half the price of the AR7030+. If you
ever operate in the field, I'd suggest the AR7030 as it is much more
compact. The Drake is big due to the number of buttons on the panel.
The 7030 uses a menus approach that reduces the number of buttons, but
some people just can't handle it.



Steve Rabinowitz wrote:
Been looking to buy a Drake receiver on Ebay, which one is the most
recommended, the R-8, R-8A, R-8B or R-8E. Thanks.

Drake Receivers
 

In my experience the R8B's sync detector is a definite step up from
that of the 7030+, even though the latter is very good. I think the
R8B's sync detector is probably the best one available in a consumer
grade receiver. Others may see it differently, but there's my two
cents. I do like the way you have both automatic and manual settings
for the sync on the 7030+, and it's neat to watch the receiver retune
itself with the sync detector auto mode. Still, if we're only talking
about the ability to make weak, messy signals intelligible, the R8B
wins.

Steve

Drake Receivers
 

And here,I buy most of my old beat up Radios over yonder at the Goodwill
store.But,it all works out ok because I flirt with them wimmins over
yonder too.One "certain woman" wanted to "see" more than the law
allows,,,,,, I was almosttttttt persuadedddddd,,,,,,,,,
cuhulin

Drake Receivers
 

Get a Drake or a Ten-Tec,,, Dont mess around with that other sissy
kidstuff.
cuhulin

Drake Receivers
 

Drake Receivers
 

The 7030 sync is a bit more versitile that that on the R8B. You can
even do DSB reception, or any mixture of LSB and USB. It's hard to
explain unless you have used one. However, the Drake gives you more
bang for the buck, especially with the weak dollar.

We did the test during the day, which is pretty difficult for
shortwave. The nice thing about the 7030 sync is it never growled
during extreme fading.



wrote:
In my experience the R8B's sync detector is a definite step up from
that of the 7030+, even though the latter is very good. I think the
R8B's sync detector is probably the best one available in a consumer
grade receiver. Others may see it differently, but there's my two
cents. I do like the way you have both automatic and manual settings
for the sync on the 7030+, and it's neat to watch the receiver retune
itself with the sync detector auto mode. Still, if we're only talking
about the ability to make weak, messy signals intelligible, the R8B
wins.

Steve

Drake Receivers
 

You must have been testing the R8 or R8A against the 7030.
The R8B's sync detector is the best available outside of a Sherwood and it's
performance and flexibility is simply superb.
It will lock onto a deep fade like a bulldog to a burglar and NEVER looses
lock or growls.
It will even lock onto the signal if it is offset by the passband control,
something the 7030 can't do.
I had the opportunity to put the Drake alongside the 7030 for over a month.
See my article at:
http://www.dxing.info/equipment/aor_...r8a_plimmer.dx
--
John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8 & ERGO software
Sony 7600D GE SRIII
BW XCR 30, Braun T1000, Sangean 818 & 803A.
GE circa 50's radiogram
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop
http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

wrote in message
ups.com...
The 7030 sync is a bit more versitile that that on the R8B. You can
even do DSB reception, or any mixture of LSB and USB. It's hard to
explain unless you have used one. However, the Drake gives you more
bang for the buck, especially with the weak dollar.

We did the test during the day, which is pretty difficult for
shortwave. The nice thing about the 7030 sync is it never growled
during extreme fading.



wrote:
In my experience the R8B's sync detector is a definite step up from
that of the 7030+, even though the latter is very good. I think the
R8B's sync detector is probably the best one available in a consumer
grade receiver. Others may see it differently, but there's my two
cents. I do like the way you have both automatic and manual settings
for the sync on the 7030+, and it's neat to watch the receiver retune
itself with the sync detector auto mode. Still, if we're only talking
about the ability to make weak, messy signals intelligible, the R8B
wins.

Steve

Drake Receivers
 

Actually, using the passband shift is essential to the operation of the
7030. Well whatever, I'm not going to get involved in these
discussions where people defend their hardware as they never end. We
did the shootout and the conclusions were pretty clear.
Incidentally, it was the 7030+NB, not that it should make a difference.


John Plimmer wrote:
You must have been testing the R8 or R8A against the 7030.
The R8B's sync detector is the best available outside of a Sherwood and it's
performance and flexibility is simply superb.
It will lock onto a deep fade like a bulldog to a burglar and NEVER looses
lock or growls.
It will even lock onto the signal if it is offset by the passband control,
something the 7030 can't do.
I had the opportunity to put the Drake alongside the 7030 for over a month.
See my article at:
http://www.dxing.info/equipment/aor_...r8a_plimmer.dx
--
John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8 & ERGO software
Sony 7600D GE SRIII
BW XCR 30, Braun T1000, Sangean 818 & 803A.
GE circa 50's radiogram
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop
http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

wrote in message
ups.com...
The 7030 sync is a bit more versitile that that on the R8B. You can
even do DSB reception, or any mixture of LSB and USB. It's hard to
explain unless you have used one. However, the Drake gives you more
bang for the buck, especially with the weak dollar.

We did the test during the day, which is pretty difficult for
shortwave. The nice thing about the 7030 sync is it never growled
during extreme fading.



wrote:
In my experience the R8B's sync detector is a definite step up from
that of the 7030+, even though the latter is very good. I think the
R8B's sync detector is probably the best one available in a consumer
grade receiver. Others may see it differently, but there's my two
cents. I do like the way you have both automatic and manual settings
for the sync on the 7030+, and it's neat to watch the receiver retune
itself with the sync detector auto mode. Still, if we're only talking
about the ability to make weak, messy signals intelligible, the R8B
wins.

Steve

Drake Receivers
 

In article R_4of.4765$Kk7.1619@trndny05, HFguy
wrote:

The sync' detector on my R8B never growls during an extreme fade. It
stays locked. It also does DSB in addition to LSB or USB.

wrote:
The 7030 sync is a bit more versitile that that on the R8B. You can
even do DSB reception, or any mixture of LSB and USB. It's hard to
explain unless you have used one. However, the Drake gives you more
bang for the buck, especially with the weak dollar.

We did the test during the day, which is pretty difficult for
shortwave. The nice thing about the 7030 sync is it never growled
during extreme fading.

I see someone else wrote the above and responding to the comment that
the 7030+ sync is more flexible than the Drake R8B is wrong. The Drake
has selectable sideband sync and the 7030+ does not have this function.
Both radios have sync and you can adjust the passband on both but only
the Drake can sync to one sideband or the other. The result is the
blocking is better on the Drake since you can move the passband and
select the side band with the least interference.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

Drake Receivers
 

Yes, HF Guy and Telemon, you guys hit the nail on the head. The sync on
the R8B is the best.

Steve

Drake Receivers
 

Sync detector Drake R8B Radios.
cuhulin

Drake Receivers
 

On 15 Dec 2005 16:25:25 -0800, wrote:

Yes, HF Guy and Telemon, you guys hit the nail on the head. The sync on
the R8B is the best.

Steve

The SW2 has a good one too.

Drake Receivers
 

David wrote:
On 15 Dec 2005 16:25:25 -0800, wrote:


Yes, HF Guy and Telemon, you guys hit the nail on the head. The sync on
the R8B is the best.

Steve


The SW2 has a good one too.


The SW8 was the first Drake to have the SSB (selectable side-band) sync'
detector which was later used on the SW2 and R8B. The DSB (double
side-band) sync' on the original R8 did not stay locked as well as the
'B' version. I don't know about the R8-'A' DSB sync' since I never had
that model.

Drake Receivers
 

In my previous post,I had meant to add, www.devilfinder.com Sync
detector Drake R8B Radios

I guess I had forgot to add instead of subtract.
cuhulin

Drake Receivers
 

In article ,
Telamon wrote:
In article R_4of.4765$Kk7.1619@trndny05, HFguy
wrote:

The sync' detector on my R8B never growls during an extreme fade. It
stays locked. It also does DSB in addition to LSB or USB.

wrote:
The 7030 sync is a bit more versitile that that on the R8B. You can
even do DSB reception, or any mixture of LSB and USB. It's hard to
explain unless you have used one. However, the Drake gives you more
bang for the buck, especially with the weak dollar.

We did the test during the day, which is pretty difficult for
shortwave. The nice thing about the 7030 sync is it never growled
during extreme fading.

I see someone else wrote the above and responding to the comment that
the 7030+ sync is more flexible than the Drake R8B is wrong. The Drake
has selectable sideband sync and the 7030+ does not have this function.
Both radios have sync and you can adjust the passband on both but only
the Drake can sync to one sideband or the other. The result is the
blocking is better on the Drake since you can move the passband and
select the side band with the least interference.

So, what's the acoustic difference between using 1) an image reject
mixer and a broad IF filter and 2) using any sort of product detector
and a narrower IF filter?

A sideband is a sideband. If the unwanted sideband is xx dB down
from the desired signal, does it matter how it's done?

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

Drake Receivers
 

Mark Zenier wrote:
In article ,
Telamon wrote:

In article R_4of.4765$Kk7.1619@trndny05, HFguy
wrote:


The sync' detector on my R8B never growls during an extreme fade. It
stays locked. It also does DSB in addition to LSB or USB.

wrote:

The 7030 sync is a bit more versitile that that on the R8B. You can
even do DSB reception, or any mixture of LSB and USB. It's hard to
explain unless you have used one. However, the Drake gives you more
bang for the buck, especially with the weak dollar.

We did the test during the day, which is pretty difficult for
shortwave. The nice thing about the 7030 sync is it never growled
during extreme fading.

I see someone else wrote the above and responding to the comment that
the 7030+ sync is more flexible than the Drake R8B is wrong. The Drake
has selectable sideband sync and the 7030+ does not have this function.
Both radios have sync and you can adjust the passband on both but only
the Drake can sync to one sideband or the other. The result is the
blocking is better on the Drake since you can move the passband and
select the side band with the least interference.


So, what's the acoustic difference between using 1) an image reject
mixer and a broad IF filter and 2) using any sort of product detector
and a narrower IF filter?

A sideband is a sideband. If the unwanted sideband is xx dB down
from the desired signal, does it matter how it's done?

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

A good selectable sideband sync' detector uses phase cancellation of the
opposite sideband which is more effective than just using a narrow
filter and/or passband tuning. The audio is also better when you don't
have to use a narrow filter.

Drake Receivers
 

HF Guy - That makes sense. ~ RHF

Drake Receivers
 

On Fri, 16 Dec 2005 22:46:30 GMT, (Mark Zenier)
wrote:

In article ,
Telamon wrote:
In article R_4of.4765$Kk7.1619@trndny05, HFguy
wrote:

The sync' detector on my R8B never growls during an extreme fade. It
stays locked. It also does DSB in addition to LSB or USB.

wrote:
The 7030 sync is a bit more versitile that that on the R8B. You can
even do DSB reception, or any mixture of LSB and USB. It's hard to
explain unless you have used one. However, the Drake gives you more
bang for the buck, especially with the weak dollar.

We did the test during the day, which is pretty difficult for
shortwave. The nice thing about the 7030 sync is it never growled
during extreme fading.

I see someone else wrote the above and responding to the comment that
the 7030+ sync is more flexible than the Drake R8B is wrong. The Drake
has selectable sideband sync and the 7030+ does not have this function.
Both radios have sync and you can adjust the passband on both but only
the Drake can sync to one sideband or the other. The result is the
blocking is better on the Drake since you can move the passband and
select the side band with the least interference.

So, what's the acoustic difference between using 1) an image reject
mixer and a broad IF filter and 2) using any sort of product detector
and a narrower IF filter?

going to depend upon where the AGC signal is developed.

The bind with a broad IF filter that is upwind of AGC generation is
you can develop AGC from signals in the passband that are ignored by
the product detector, and effectively reduce receiver performance. You
almost always want a narrow IF filter upwind of AGC generation to
avoid that problem.

A sideband is a sideband. If the unwanted sideband is xx dB down
from the desired signal, does it matter how it's done?

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

Drake Receivers
 

Kind of what I think too,narrow filter.
cuhulin

Drake Receivers
 

In article ,
Telamon wrote:
In article ,
(Mark Zenier) wrote:

In article
,
Telamon wrote:
In article R_4of.4765$Kk7.1619@trndny05, HFguy
wrote:

The sync' detector on my R8B never growls during an extreme fade. It
stays locked. It also does DSB in addition to LSB or USB.

wrote:
The 7030 sync is a bit more versitile that that on the R8B. You can
even do DSB reception, or any mixture of LSB and USB. It's hard to
explain unless you have used one. However, the Drake gives you more
bang for the buck, especially with the weak dollar.

We did the test during the day, which is pretty difficult for
shortwave. The nice thing about the 7030 sync is it never growled
during extreme fading.

I see someone else wrote the above and responding to the comment that
the 7030+ sync is more flexible than the Drake R8B is wrong. The Drake
has selectable sideband sync and the 7030+ does not have this function.
Both radios have sync and you can adjust the passband on both but only
the Drake can sync to one sideband or the other. The result is the
blocking is better on the Drake since you can move the passband and
select the side band with the least interference.

So, what's the acoustic difference between using 1) an image reject
mixer and a broad IF filter and 2) using any sort of product detector
and a narrower IF filter?

A sideband is a sideband. If the unwanted sideband is xx dB down
from the desired signal, does it matter how it's done?

The Drake blocks better because you can sync to the side band opposite
interference and additionally you can move the bandpass control to that
same sideband. The 7030+ demodulates and syncs to both sidebands and you
can only move the passband control.

But what happens when you set the 7030+ to a narrow bandwidth, to only
cover the desired sideband? Does it sound better or worse than a R8[XYZ]
set to a wider bandwidth and using the "I/Q"/"Phased"/"Image reject"
mixer to cancel out the undesired sideband?

As I understand it, an I/Q mixer typically is good for only about 40 dB
of rejection. Is that better than the skirts on a good narrow filter?

(I could have used another 40 dB this morning. The BBC at 16:30 on
7160 was getting stepped on by some other signal. Probably something
in India on the greyline. So I used 3915 kHz, except that some of
the local ragchewers were s9+30 about 10 kHz up, and the 6 kHz filter
in my R-1000 couldn't cut it).

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

Drake Receivers
 

In article ,
(Mark Zenier) wrote:

In article
,
Telamon wrote:
In article ,
(Mark Zenier) wrote:

In article
,
Telamon wrote:
In article R_4of.4765$Kk7.1619@trndny05, HFguy
wrote:

The sync' detector on my R8B never growls during an extreme fade. It
stays locked. It also does DSB in addition to LSB or USB.

wrote:
The 7030 sync is a bit more versitile that that on the R8B. You can
even do DSB reception, or any mixture of LSB and USB. It's hard to
explain unless you have used one. However, the Drake gives you more
bang for the buck, especially with the weak dollar.

We did the test during the day, which is pretty difficult for
shortwave. The nice thing about the 7030 sync is it never growled
during extreme fading.

I see someone else wrote the above and responding to the comment that
the 7030+ sync is more flexible than the Drake R8B is wrong. The Drake
has selectable sideband sync and the 7030+ does not have this function.
Both radios have sync and you can adjust the passband on both but only
the Drake can sync to one sideband or the other. The result is the
blocking is better on the Drake since you can move the passband and
select the side band with the least interference.

So, what's the acoustic difference between using 1) an image reject
mixer and a broad IF filter and 2) using any sort of product detector
and a narrower IF filter?

A sideband is a sideband. If the unwanted sideband is xx dB down
from the desired signal, does it matter how it's done?

The Drake blocks better because you can sync to the side band opposite
interference and additionally you can move the bandpass control to that
same sideband. The 7030+ demodulates and syncs to both sidebands and you
can only move the passband control.

But what happens when you set the 7030+ to a narrow bandwidth, to only
cover the desired sideband? Does it sound better or worse than a R8[XYZ]
set to a wider bandwidth and using the "I/Q"/"Phased"/"Image reject"
mixer to cancel out the undesired sideband?

As I understand it, an I/Q mixer typically is good for only about 40 dB
of rejection. Is that better than the skirts on a good narrow filter?

(I could have used another 40 dB this morning. The BBC at 16:30 on
7160 was getting stepped on by some other signal. Probably something
in India on the greyline. So I used 3915 kHz, except that some of
the local ragchewers were s9+30 about 10 kHz up, and the 6 kHz filter
in my R-1000 couldn't cut it).

Moving the passband does not work as well as the side band selectable
sync.

To get away from interference the first step is moving the passband
control. If that is not enough I re-center the passband control and then
select the side band away from the interference.

I usually move the passband control for a higher tonal range on the
non-interfered with sideband.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California