Best HF receiver for HF newbie but scanner addict?

[1nt3rc3pt0r]

I've been scanning the public action bands for about 10 years with an old AOR handheld. When it finally gave in I bought an icom handheld because the darn thing was built like a tank. In late 2006 I got a Uniden 396 and was surprised to discover how much having a digital receiver opened up the airwaves and delivered so much more to listen to. Then of course, the next step was to get a Pro 2096 with a discriminator tap to find even more communications.

I'd like to try HF listening and am looking for something new or used under $600, but I honestly don't know enough to make a good decision on make or model. But I'm guessing I would use it like a scanner, searching for spontaneous communication rather than listening to standardized broadcasting stations.

Preferences:

Since I enjoy the "behinds the scenes" and oddities of scanner listening, like hearing the camera crews at a pro basketball game or security at a big town event, I'm guessing I would be doing most of my on air monitoring time decoding utility messages and things of that nature rather than scheduled, formal broadcasts like VOA (there's certainly nothing wrong with that, it's just not my biggest interest).

I would like something with computer control, something which would scan a frequency range, and one that would also scan a set of memories. I would also prefer something with a LED readout so if I did discover something I would know the exact frequency.

My antenna choice and placement will be limited since I live in an apartment, so I don't think I'll need a really sensitive receiver, unless that's all that will pull in the signals with a weak antenna. I live on the outskirts of a small to medium sized city, so overloading shouldn't be a problem. There's no major power sources nearby, and few inside my apartment excluding the computers.

Thanks in advance and I appreciate everyone's help. I hope I gave you enough information. I also have one question:

Does a HF receiver need a discriminator tap to decode utility and other messages, or is the circuitry such that it doesn't need it?

Thanks again.

[carmelof]

Get an Icom-R75 hf receiver & the performance is ecellent with the right antenna.

Regrds Lino.

[rwl48]

The Icom R-75 is a nice receiver. But do your homework before you buy any thing. http://www.radioreference.com/forums...ad.php?t=34848

[ratboy]

Originally Posted by 1nt3rc3pt0r

I've been scanning the public action bands for about 10 years with an old AOR handheld. When it finally gave in I bought an icom handheld because the darn thing was built like a tank. In late 2006 I got a Uniden 396 and was surprised to discover how much having a digital receiver opened up the airwaves and delivered so much more to listen to. Then of course, the next step was to get a Pro 2096 with a discriminator tap to find even more communications.

I'd like to try HF listening and am looking for something new or used under $600, but I honestly don't know enough to make a good decision on make or model. But I'm guessing I would use it like a scanner, searching for spontaneous communication rather than listening to standardized broadcasting stations.

Preferences:

Since I enjoy the "behinds the scenes" and oddities of scanner listening, like hearing the camera crews at a pro basketball game or security at a big town event, I'm guessing I would be doing most of my on air monitoring time decoding utility messages and things of that nature rather than scheduled, formal broadcasts like VOA (there's certainly nothing wrong with that, it's just not my biggest interest).

I would like something with computer control, something which would scan a frequency range, and one that would also scan a set of memories. I would also prefer something with a LED readout so if I did discover something I would know the exact frequency.

My antenna choice and placement will be limited since I live in an apartment, so I don't think I'll need a really sensitive receiver, unless that's all that will pull in the signals with a weak antenna. I live on the outskirts of a small to medium sized city, so overloading shouldn't be a problem. There's no major power sources nearby, and few inside my apartment excluding the computers.

Thanks in advance and I appreciate everyone's help. I hope I gave you enough information. I also have one question:

Does a HF receiver need a discriminator tap to decode utility and other messages, or is the circuitry such that it doesn't need it?

Thanks again.

I'll try to answer your post one question at a time.

There are many used receivers out there in your price range. There are a lot of them that don't have optimium filters (This means good ones) for utility listening. But there are a lot of good ones that work great for Utes.

Some of them are:

Icom R71A-Make sure it has the PBT knob on it, some don't. Don't buy one that doesn't have it.
Icom R75 - great receiver for the money, new or used.
Kenwood R5000, nice audio.
JRC NRD-525, I've had one for like 20 years, but I have owned all of the above at one time or another.


Then you have the ham transceivers, literally dozens of different models:

Kenwood TS-430, 440, 450 and some other related ones
Icom IC 735, 751, and a lot more.
Yaesu FT-757GX and others.

Any modern receiver or transceiver listed above will have a digital readout, LCD, LED, or Flourescent.

What kind of messages are you going to be decoding? Some need a discriminator tap, most don't. It depends on the mode, and the decoder type.

[elk2370bruce]

Agreed! Spend some time and a little bit of cash on a decent antenna. A lousy set of ears can make even the best receiver sound like crap. A good homebrew long wire antenna will run you less than 25 bucks. Building your own wire antenna does not require a PhD from MIT and is fun to do.

[ka3jjz]

Folks, let get it straight here - there's no such thing as a discriminator on a receiver that does only HF. The equivalent is a detector. And most of the better radios have a 'line out' or similar that serves the purpose, restricted only by just how sensitive your soundcard really is.

While you research receivers, get a copy of Passport to World Band Radio (available from LOTS of places, including Universal radio of Ohio...) and read the reviews linked in our receiver reviews wiki. I can't stress enough the importance of doing your homework before you buy something.

Digital decoding is a very specialized animal. There's a fair amount of software out there for this, but keep in mind that there are lots of digital signals you will not be able to decode. That's a fact. The best place to find logs, to get some idea of what others are seeing, is the UDXF (or Utility DXers Forum) on Yahoo groups. This is one place where logs found in places like MT or PopComm are not as helpful as you might think, due to the lead times between submitting a log and it getting published. It could be as much as 2-3 months. Online lists like the UDXF are far and away better for accuracy.

There's another topic that needs to be understood, at least at the basic level. Signals are not on every band, all the time. Daylight and darkness patterns, along with solar activity and even seasonal variations, play a big role here. In general, tuning below 9 mhz or so at night, higher in the day (up to about 18 mhz or so) will be the rule. What I am describing here is the concept of propagation - and we have a few sites linked in our wiki for that, too.

Now as to antennas -- we have a forum for that. Start asking questions there - lots of folks there to give you a hand. 73 Mike

[ka3jjz]

Now as to links...

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index...ceiver_Reviews
TONS of places to read up on receivers

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/HF_Propagation
Read the preamble - go to that AE4RV site.

http://www.chace-ortiz.org/umc/software.html
LOTS of software choices, some free, others not

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/udxf/
The Utility DXers forum on Yahoo

Many digital stations use modes NOT known to hams. Ham related software is fine for things like FAX, and NAVTEX, but it's a bit trickier with the non-ham digital modes. Many like MultiPSK (which is ham related, but it just so happens that some numbers stations have been running PSK variants that MultiPSK can decode) and SkySweeper (the first is free, the 2nd costs, but not that much...). In fact several DXers I know keep a few packages on hand for doing different decoding, or applying different schemes for analysis.

73 Mike

[bluefox2163]

try a satelite 750 reciever its pretty good for under $300 dollars very sensitive on all bands,and an exellent antenna I just bought is the emp for $169 from universal radio the thing works great inside my apartment a little expensive but worth it

[ka3jjz]

The reviews on the 750 have been less than glowing. You might want to look around and see whether its shortcomings will affect you. Take a look at the recent MT review to start, and I think there have been a few comments here as well 73 Mike

[w0fg]

The OP mentioned computer control as a feature he sought. The models that pop to mind that are fully computer controlled are the ICOM PCR-1500 and the TenTec RX-320D.

[sfreiman]

The Icom IC-R75 combined with Ham Radio Deluxe software is a great combo.

[sfreiman]

Originally Posted by bluefox2163

try a satelite 750 reciever its pretty good for under $300 dollars very sensitive on all bands,and an exellent antenna I just bought is the emp for $169 from universal radio the thing works great inside my apartment a little expensive but worth it

I second this opinion of the EMF antenna. I get a lot of noise, but not the antenna's fault, I am just in a terrible location for noise. My $169 EMF works much better than my very expensive DX500. If you are in an area less noisey, I'm sure the EMF could work well for you.

[ratboy]

Another thing is you need to understand that scanning HF is a totally different thing than scanning higher freqs. First thing is that, except in the winter months, there is a lot of static crashes from lightning that will make hands off scanning almost impossible. What you can do is use the PC software to click through freqs and manually stop it when you hear something.

HF is an entirely different animal than VHF and up scanning.