HFU HF Underground
Technical Topics => Equipment => Topic started by: RST111 on April 14, 2017, 0515 UTC
-
Life got in the way, and I put my radios away for a while. Last month I dug them out of mothballs and started up the hobby again. I'm enjoying it and was thinking of investing in a new (or higher capability used) receiver.
Right now I'm using my 10+ year old Icom IC-R75 which works great, but was thinking of upgrading. What's a good upper-mid range HF receiver? Used is definitely an option because looking around I haven't seen many new radios :-( I mostly listen to ham and SW, but I poke around the frequencies and will log utilities, decode RTTY, etc. Also, I've gotten spoiled with the DSP in the R75. It would be difficult for me to bring myself to get a radio without it. There are a lot of phone signals that would be unintelligible to me except for the DSP noise reduction.
I was looking at used JRC NDR-545s. I'm also thinking of waiting for the new Icom receiver. I'm open to SDRs, but don't know much about them. I have a $20 USB SDR that I've been playing with, but I don't know much about the Airspy / SDRPlay and up level receivers.
Any suggestions?
-
If interested in sdr, I have been running an RSP2 and with the SDRuno software to run it, I feel it can't be beaten in the price to capabilities sector. Be warned, SDRuno takes some time reading the manual and the cookbook to get it sorted. The R75 is a worthy rig, I'd keep it and get a sdr for the display and digital mode decoding - where sdr's really show their worth. A JRC545 is a worthy rig also, but their cost is high and they lack the capabilities of sdr's such as the RSP2, Airspy, etc. If one has the funds, a higher performance sdr such as Perseus or Winradio might be in order, but you still can't beat the price of an RSP2. A RTL sdr is interesting but the lack of dynamic range on hf in direct sampling mode, as well as the aliasing issues where signals appear on frequencies they do not originate on prevents me from recomending one for shortwave use, however they can be and are used there.
I'd like a R75 or R71 to go with my sdr rigs, it's nice to have something with a simple tuning knob and frequency display to just scroll through a band, for voice mode work where you don't need or care for a panadaptor display.
-
I've got an NRD 545, and while it is a great radio, for the same money you could get a high end SDR like the netSDR from RF Space, which I also have, and use much more than the NRD 545. Coupled with great software like SdrDx, it's a powerful radio. If you can't hear it with the netSDR and SdrDx, you can't hear it, period.
If you want a lower cost SDR, consider the AFEDRI. I have one as well, and for all the SDRs currently on the market, it probably provides the best bang for the buck on HF and MW. Especially if you get the dual channel version, which allows you do to phasing in software (again via SdrDx), which is a big plus if you are into MW DX. I mostly use the AFEDI on LW now for my nightly DGPS recordings, it also gets use for Europirates on 48 meters as I have the beverage connected to it (which I also use on DGPS, just with a LP filter that blocks MW and above).
-
RST111,
I also recommend purchasing an SDR.
If I were you, I'd take a look at the Elad FM-S3, which should be available soon :
http://swling.com/blog/2017/02/the-new-elad-fdm-s3-sdr-screenshot-of-the-entire-fm-broadcast-band/ (http://swling.com/blog/2017/02/the-new-elad-fdm-s3-sdr-screenshot-of-the-entire-fm-broadcast-band/)
I own an Elad FM-S2, which works great. The people at Elad are very supportive and friendly.
Whatever you decide, welcome back. There are many here, including myself, who have returned to the hobby.
HFUnderground is the best place to be. Join us in chat sometime.
JC
-
Thanks all for the advice. Looks like I'll be researching SDRs!
-
I decided to order the AFEDRI; I didn't get the dual channel, but I got the HF/VHF version because I do Rx (mainly scanners) in VHF as well. I would have gotten the Elad FM-S2, but since there is an S3 on the way, I decided to wait.
My plan is to use that for now, and then when the new Icom R8600 and Elad FM-S3 come out to take a look at those along with the RFSpace offerings.
Thanks again for all the suggestions!
-
Congrats on the purchase. You may want to take a look at the SdrDx program, which has AFEDRI support: http://fyngyrz.com/?p=915
-
Great RST!
I hope you'll enjoy it.