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April 23rd 06, 06:47 AM posted to rec.radio.shortwave

In article . com,
wrote:

DeWayne wrote:
I have a Drake R8 and an AOR LA-380 desktop loop antenna. MW seems ok with
this setup, but I am wondering if I could get noticeably better MW with the
Eton E1 and this antenna.

I have the original Drake R-8 & the Eton E-1. I only use my R-8 for
longwave beacon DX now. The Eton E1 has a better sync detector, not
only as far as locking on a faint signal, but also it sometimes seems
to reduce adjacent interference and slightly improve sensitivity, using
the 6 kHz or 4 kHz filters. It also has a slight effect sometimes on
electrical noise. If I don't bother to adjust the passband tuning, the
2.3 kHz filter splits off stations better with sync off, but with
slight reduction in volume. If the SYNC is used in 2.3 kHz, adjusting
the passband tuning seems more necessary for sharper selectivity. The
SYNC even locks on to signals under sideband splash.

Last October I got audio from 28 MW trans-Atlantics on the E1, using
only the tiny un-amplified Radio shack loop as my antenna. Plus
detected several dozen weak carriers. They seemed weaker & harder to
detect on the R-8, using an amplified loop. Maybe I forgot something
that made the comparison unfair. On selectivity comparisons, I got
pretty good audio separation from stations as close as 180Hz on the R8,
using the 1.8 kHz filter, & 120 Hz on the E1, using the 2.3 kHz filter.

Of course most signals aren't faint & buried in splash, so I guess
usually you may hear no difference. Some people will say real radios
don't run on internal batteries, but with the E1 using rechargeable
batteries, I can reduce noise if it is coming in more through the power
lines than the air. The E1 image rejection of greater than 90 db
surpasses many expensive tabletop models.

My R-8 is rather elderly by now & maybe needs a tune-up? But they are
both great radios. Make some comparisons on the weak signals mostly
buried under adjacent interference & you may or may not notice a
difference. George (MN)

You will need a hefty battery such as a car battery but there is a 12V
DC connector on the back panel of the R8. Using a battery on the R8
might make the comparison more fair by lowering the noise floor.

But aside from AC power raising the noise floor the E1 has an improved
sync detector over the R8.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

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