AR-2515

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NESN

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Saw an online ad for a AR-2515 for $35.00. Has the power cord but that's about it. The guy says he wants to sell it cause he can't figure it out.
I have zero experience with AOR scanners but I thought this might be good for shortwave listening. I remember back in the late 80's early 90's hearing that AOR scanners were a bear to program, but were the bomb for listening.
OK, is this a good price without the programming disks or any other accessories? Is this even worth it with all the newer gear out there now? Will I be able to program it without the software or is there somewhere I might find it?

Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated.
 

dkf435

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The AR-2515 does not have a RS-232 interface the rear header was for a box that communicated with the CPU and had the interface in it. Your best bet is if you wanted an AOR with a RS232 interface is to get a AR-3000 or newer.

David Kb7uns
 

dkf435

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Found the ad, does not look bad old 2002 upgraded to the 2515. I would grab it for listening but unless you have the BFO-1 you will not have SSB receive.

The AC adapter is worth $20

David Kb7uns
 

KF6FFW

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Correction

"The AR-2515 does not have a RS-232 interface the rear header was for a box that communicated with the CPU and had the interface in it."

The above statement from another user of this thread is incorrect.

In fact, the header connector at the rear panel of the AR-2515 receiver is standard RS-232. The original cable as supplied by ACE Communications was a straight through ribbon cable and header connector for the receiver end and a standard DB-25 for the PC end.

Any Terminal type program can be used to communicate with the receiver. No additional black box "interface" is required.

The AR-2515 receiver and the PC communicate asynchronously via an RS-232C interface at 300, 1200, or 9600 baud, with 8 Data Bits, No Parity, and 1 Stop Bit.

The signals used are as follows:

SIGNAL PIN
TRANSMITTED DATA(TXD) 2
RECEIVED DATA(RXD) 3
CLEAR TO SEND (CTS) 5
SIGNAL GROUND 7
Where:
TXD - Data transfer path from PC to AR-2515 receiver
RXD - Data transfer path from AR-2515 receiver to PC
CTS - Data enabling signal line from AR-2515 receiver to PC.
 

dkf435

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Well that information on the AR2515 was on the Javiation AOR UK site years ago, had no reason to believe it to be wrong, I wonder what else ACE did on the inside to make their AR2515 have RS232 and the UK model did not?.

All my early AR3000 radios along with the software, interface cables came from the $300 at the time, Gary Gesmundo wrote the software.

David
 

MrRadio

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I purchased a new AR-2515 around 1989.

It was pretty slick and scanned (for it's time) very fast. I think up to 100cps. I wasn't crazy about the bank setup though it was better than the 4 banks of 100 channels in the AR-3000.

I ended up returning it though, as for some reason it would not always receive several local PD UHF freqs (tower less than 10 miles away) that all my other scanners did.

Never got to the point of trying the software.

IIRC, I think I paid $795.00 and about $30 for the BFO-1
 

MrRadio

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Looking back in my books, I found a couple corrections.

The scan speed was 36 channels per second and I paid $695.00.
 

dkf435

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Found a copy of the AR-2515 manual and it had an addendum at the back from ACE detailing the commands and the protocol and how the radio sorted the frequencies to help speed scanning so it was a work in progress

I got the first AR3000 around 1992-1993 and it was about $950 shipped along with the software for $300 and the software was so simple but you could do sweeps and it would log time and hits and the control cable would enable the recorder to record and Gesmundo later came out with a ctcss tone and dtmf decoder that worked off the parallel port and it would log everything and print it out.

David
 

kc2eeb

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Hi!
Glad to find this thread. I just purchased a BFO-1 from Universal-Radio with no other information.
The only connection apparent on the unit is for DC power in but there is no information on the unit for voltage or polarity. As for using it, my best guess would be to turn it on and place it in proximity to the antenna and couple it that way. Would you possibly have any information on this? I am not using it with a AOR 2515.
 

johnmblack

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BFO-1

So it was you! I was going to buy it but got sidetracked and waited a few days.....

I have an AR2515 that I got for $25, and it needed some work on the LCD to make it readable. Now it's my favorite aircraft scanner.

I didn't see anything in the manual about the existence of the BFO-1, so perhaps it was introduced later. There is no jack on the back to support it (like an IF in) so your guess about placing it close to the radio you want to use it with is probably as good as anything.

What is the IF frequency of the radio you want to use this with?

John KB5AG
 

kc2eeb

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BFO-1

So it was you! I was going to buy it but got sidetracked and waited a few days.....

I have an AR2515 that I got for $25, and it needed some work on the LCD to make it readable. Now it's my favorite aircraft scanner.

I didn't see anything in the manual about the existence of the BFO-1, so perhaps it was introduced later. There is no jack on the back to support it (like an IF in) so your guess about placing it close to the radio you want to use it with is probably as good as anything.

What is the IF frequency of the radio you want to use this with?

John KB5AG
Yes, it was me, guilty as charged. The best conclusion I can come to, after reading about Ace Communications involvement with the 2515, is to open it up and take a look inside. It’s odd that the output socket looks like a DC power input jack makes me think that the “proximity” coupling idea is valid and maybe the oscillator output is leaked onto the DC power cable? Maybe? The housing is all metal which would seem to be a shield. I will open it up and take pictures and post them. I didn’t have a particular radio in mind but I have a Zeinth 1000 and 3000 as a start. All the best! Pat KC2EEB
 

johnmblack

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Interesting. I will be looking forward to your pictures. AOR has made a lot of weird stuff over the years, so perhaps between the two of us we can figure it out. The 2515 does work on HF from 5mhz up, but it sure wouldn't be my first choice for an HF radio.

John
 

kc2eeb

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Mystery solved, almost. So, there is an internal battery. The battery connector came apart, so I'll replace that.
The only output is the socket that looks like it's for a battery adapter, obviously not. Will post when I have it working.
'73 de KC2EEB
 

johnmblack

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ah....I wonder if the socket is for an adapter, if you don't use the internal battery. But let us know, when you get some action out of the thing!

John KB5AG
 

kc2eeb

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So, I put a battery in and turned it on. Led lights. The ground position on the output jack is at chassis/battery ground. The center pin of the connector shows about 22 mv AC on initial contact with the DMM probe (11Meg. input impedance) and goes to 0 in about 1 second. I'm trying to avoid removing the circuit board from the case since the knobs are obviously calibrated to a frequency null, coarse and fine. Taking it to work tomorrow and see what the 'scope says.
 

kc2eeb

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OK, got it on the 'scope. It works and is obviously meant to be use with a 455KHz IF. Level in dBm (600 Ohms) is approx. -30 to -15 dBm if
I can trust the Fluke 289 which only is rated up to 100KHz, so I wouldn't depend on those dBm figures. It is a usable BFO.
 

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