HFU HF Underground
Technical Topics => Equipment => Topic started by: ThaDood on September 07, 2020, 1741 UTC
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He does it again this year. Not techie with spec's, but decent 'layman's terms' to share with anyone wanting an AM / FM portable today, https://radiojayallen.com/2020/09/07/am-fm-mega-shootout-2020-updates/
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I'd place the Sony ICF-38 a lot higher than Jay Allen did. It's a very good AM performer. Mine will bring in every station my GE Superadios bring in, although not all of the DX stations are as readable.
I would also have rated the GE Superadio III a lot higher than the Sangean HDR-16.
I hate to say it, because I like Sangean radios generally, but the HDR-16 is useless for MW DX, as its LED readout is noisy on MW -- whereas a lot of SRIII's were definite DX machines. Mine is. It matches my GE SR2.... with SRIII's of course, YMMV, depending on factory run.
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The SRIII is my nicest sounding portable but it does have a problem with touchy tuning at the high end of the AM band.
Don't know whether it is a very slight mechanical backlash that is unnoticeable at the low end of the scale but more pronounced at the more
compressed high end of the scale or if it is a varactor tuning issue.
Otherwise a hot performer on AM DX and probably deserves more than 3 stars.
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The SRIII is my nicest sounding portable but it does have a problem with touchy tuning at the high end of the AM band.
Don't know whether it is a very slight mechanical backlash that is unnoticeable at the low end of the scale but more pronounced at the more
compressed high end of the scale or if it is a varactor tuning issue.
Otherwise a hot performer on AM DX and probably deserves more than 3 stars.
My SRIII is also touchy between around 1300 and 1600 or so. I think it's the way the varactor tunes, plus the mechanical backlash of the dial string set-up. I zero in carefully when tuning that range...
Some SRIIIs were quite good, and if you got a good SRIII you got a great performer.
Only drawback on mine is a bit of overload in two spots on the dial, seems to mostly dissipate at night, except near 1360, but I live with it...