I have used some of the best of the modern (IC chip) ham and swl gear for receivers and I think it all sucks big time. Its noisy and distorted, look at the specs, 1 watt at 10% distortion, and that is just the audio amp!
For the old gear, it depends on what you want. Some of the old stuff would go broad as a barn door, with push pull direct coupled 6L6 output audio tubes, and sounds fantastic! You cant tell what frequency you are listening to, but it sounds great. The NC300-303 are good, the R390 is good, the SX17 or SX28 are good, the Scott SLRM is very good, with its magic eye tube as an S meter. The boatanchor receivers all have their good and bad points, but most are better then the noisy distorted modern solid state crap. I don't know about an SWL receiver, but for a HAM receiver, the R390/R390a was the best one I had before the homebrew. Its noisy and does not like to band hop, but with outboard audio, it sounds and works well on AM. I got tired of the commercial crap and home brewed a few tube type HI FI AM receivers, and they work so well I sold off all the other receivers. My favorite vintage receivers were the R390/390a, the SX 17, the Scott SLRM, and the NC300/303. The R390 and NC300 need outboard audio to sound good, the others you had no good frequency readout. The NC300/303 are still reasonable in price. The Collins S line receivers have promise, with outboard audio, and good AM detector, and a good IF filter, the 75s1 might be a good receiver as they are reasonable in price, accurate and stable, and a small light box. They look cool also! Brett N2DTS > Daniel, > > I have a suggestion that you might ponder. Save the boat > anchor for the transmitter, something like a Johnson Ranger. > For the receiver consider a more modern Icom R-75 general > coverage receiver. I own one of these, and with appropriate > filters, these are absolutely excellent on AM, and are all > mode as well. The Kiwa folks have a whole array of > modifications too that enhance overal reception with an > emphasis on SW AM broadcast reception. You might get a used > R-75 for $350, and add another hundred or so later for the Kiwa mods. > > I also have an RCA AR-88, and Hammerlund SP-600 receiver. > These are very nice, but since getting the Icom, I put the > RCA on the shelf, and I only on occasion turn on the > Super-Pro. The mechanical filters in the ICOM, offset > passband tuning, synchronous AM detector, Noise Blanker, and > DSP all stand out over my two boatanchors. That said, the > super pro has superior audio, and sensitivity. When the band > is noisy, and crowded, I use the Icom. The RCA is sort of in > between, but it too has good qualities (except it weighs a > hundred pounds!). > > Regards, > Jim > WD5JKO > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: Daniel Hileman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Discussion of AM Radio in the > Amateur Service <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, September 29, 2006 10:48:22 AM > Subject: Re: [AMRadio] Best Boatanchor > > > Hi Guys, > > Thanks for all the suggestions...there are LOTS of > favorites for sure. I guess I have a little thinking and > investigating to do. Thanks for all the input...now it's time > to start the homework! > > Thanks and 73, > Daniel N9WX > > > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > AMRadio mailing list > List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio > Partner Website: http://www.amfone.net > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html > Post: mailto:[email protected] > ______________________________________________________________ AMRadio mailing list List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio Partner Website: http://www.amfone.net Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html Post: mailto:[email protected]
