DXer's Notebook #18
For release on Sat, 01 Feb 2003
By David Braun, dcbraun@comcast.net
A few more comments on the Daytime DX topic…
DAYTIME DX
Rick Dau : Best daytime skip logging for me EVER happened on 1/29/1990, when I was still living with my folks on their farm west of Oakland, Iowa (which is due east of the Omaha/Council Bluffs area). Snagged KKOB-770 at 1215 CLT underneath KUOM, but still in well enough to be readable. I think Albuquerque is about 900 miles (as the crow flies) from Council Bluffs. Truly a remarkable reception, one for which, until very recently, I had a QSL card. The engineer at KKOB may have been just as amazed as I was that I could get them right smack in the middle of the day at that distance.
Paul Swearingen : I'd forgotten my reception of KRVN-880 at around 11 am at the 29 Palms beverage site, about 25 miles east of 29 Palms, CA, in the heart of the Mojave Desert. This would have been in early January in the mid '80's. KOA-850 and KKOB-770 were other catches at about the same time.
RECEIVERS
I received a letter from Gordon Anderson of Huber Heights, Ohio that will lead us into our next topic:
I have a topic I would like to see covered again in DX’er’s Notebook. I don’t know how soon I may purchase, but I would be curious on what portable receivers the group may be using and would recommend. I would be hoping for something good on AM, maybe LW, and SW with SSB capabilities. It would also be interesting to see group comments on other receivers. Even used receivers that would still be easy to get information and parts for repair. I have seen the reviews in the Passport to World Band Radio book, and of the few receivers I have seen myself and other reports, I can’t agree with their reviews, which leaves me to doubt the reviews of the other receivers. Comments please!
To add some comments of my own, my present receiver is a Drake R8. I like it quite well, and do wonder how I might repair it if anything major would go wrong. I bought it used several years ago, after a comparison with the R8A and R8B. I liked the R8 for it being a slightly more sensitive receiver, better S meter tracking, and better tuning and passband controls. I found that the R8B had better AGC action, audio quality and synch detector, but seemed to be more vulnerable to internal mixing from strong local stations. Also, the R8A and R8B had software issues, one being where the VHF converter was not turned off when receiving HF. I wonder if this problem was ever fixed. A check of this with a unit equipped with a VHF converter and near a weather service transmitter (if on 162.55 MHz), the weather would be heard around 19.45 MHz on HF. I also found poor sensitivity below 100 kHz on the R8B.
Some years ago I had owned a Drake R7. What I like about it was a better front end to handle strong local signals, able to receive well below 100 kHz, and an IF notch, versus the audio Notch of the R8 series. The disadvantage of the R7 was the poor AGC and audio.
I thought it would be a good time to have an updated review on receivers. Thanks for the comments.
db - Well, I’ll start by saying that I think most DXers who have experienced it would say the Sony 2010 would be the best portable choice. Which leads to the following recently on the listserv:
David Hochfelder : This is from Glenn Hauser's DX Listening Digest: SONY ICF-2010 R.I.P. We are writing today regarding your backorder for the Sony ICF-2010. We have just received notification from Sony that the ICF-2010 has been discontinued. We were previously assured that this item would be available until March 31st and that there would be additional production. However, Sony has changed their mind and has elected not to produce any more units. We regrettably have had to cancel your backorder. If you paid by check, a refund check will be mailed very soon. If you ordered using a credit card, you card was never billed. Please feel free to call us toll-free at 1-800-431-3939 to discuss alternate choices. Thank you for your understanding.
Rick Robinson : That's sad news but not unexpected. It was discontinued outside the US several years ago.
IIRC, my 2010 is almost all plated through technology, parts with metal leads that are inserted into holes in printed circuit boards then soldered, and there are little if any surface mount components. Surface mount components are tiny compared to plated through components, cheaper, easier to install on boards and result in a much smaller radio. My Sony 7600GR is almost all SMT parts and is tiny compared to the 2010. Just the packaging of a receiver the size of the 2010 is expensive compared to the 7600GR. The 2010 is nearing 20 years old and I would imagine some of the molds and test fixtures are beginning to show their age. I wish Sony had made a case for the 2010, my only complaint about the radio.
I know from building QRP (low power) ham radio gear, traditional plated through components particularly some integrated circuits, are becoming more difficult to obtain. There are still plenty of traditional type parts like capacitors and resistors, but the more specialized integrated circuits are beginning to be offered only in surface mount packages. Look through a Maxxim catalog to see how few of their new ICs are available in plated through packages.
Now lets hope Sony will offer a replacement receiver with a tuning knob, synchronous AM, SSB/CW, 10Hz readout, wide and narrow filters, maybe even DSP in a package half the size of the 2010. It could happen.
db – So, where does that leave us? The 2010 is discontinued, the Radio Shack DX-398 has met a similar fate (and I have a lot of messages on the 398 saved on my system, if there is any interest in discussing this radio), what’s left? First, I wanted to include this summary of those two radios that was written last fall when the 398 was being discontinued, then next time we’ll take a look at what is being said about other receivers:
David Hochfelder : Thanks to all the folks who told us that Radio Shack was discontinuing the '398. I had already bought one this past spring to give my folks this Christmas; it had been on sale for $149. Too bad I didn't wait. I couldn't resist getting another last night for $99. The adapter that works with it was like another $10 or thereabouts. It also comes with a decent carrying case.
I asked the salesman why they're discontinuing it, and he said that they're phasing in the Grundigs to replace them. He also told me that he has only sold FOUR shortwave radios in the past year, and that his impression was that other salespeople had comparable numbers.
I have been working most evenings till fairly late, so I only gave the DX-398 about an hour's worth of a shakedown on MW last night. In comparison with my ICF-2010, it is a solid performer, but it is of course not equal to the '2010. Then again, it's 2/7 of the '2010's price. The DX-398 was able to haul in the Chicago clears adjacent to my local 50kW NYC clears with no trouble. Lack of a sync detector gives more splatter, and I didn't try switching to sideband to see if that helped.
On other channels, the '398 compared well to the '2010 when both were used with the internal ferrite antenna. The '398 has decent sensitivity and selectivity, and because it's smaller it's much easier to rotate for nulling and hearing different stations on the same channel. When I compared their performance with my Kiwa Pocket Loop, the difference was bigger, the '2010 being better. The '2010 also has slightly better audio. I don't do much if any FM DXing, but the RDS function on the '398 could come in handy for that purpose. I haven't yet tried it out on SW; that may be tonight's activity. I think that the country names it gives the preset memory channels will annoy me on SW; it labels WWV on 10MHz, for instance, Australia. Also, the user's manual booklet gives list of shortwave stations you can pick up with it; the list is in many cases wildly optimistic and/or inaccurate. I don't think that Tahiti, for example, is within the ability of the DX-398.
The bottom line: if you're looking for an inexpensive way to start MW DXing, you probably can't do any better than picking up the DX-398 at its current price. I estimate roughly that it can pick up 75% or more of what I've heard on my '2010. It is also compact and light enough to be a good travel radio, and it comes with an alarm function so you can use it as a travel alarm as well. As a matter of fact, that's what I plan to do with mine; it's much more portable than the '2010.
If people on the lists want, I'll come up with a more detailed comparison of the two rigs. But for now, go buy it.