MStep
Member
Some of the advertising for the AOR AR-DV1 shows a photo of a "prototype" or possibly a special version of the receiver, that may have been used as a sample product when the radio was first introduced. This image is still being used in some of the current advertising for the DV1.
What is striking are the midnight-black volume and squelch controls, along with a matching turning knob. Above the tuning knob, it appears that the "Up" and "Down" are a beautiful translucent blue. From all the information that I could gather, there were only two or three versions of this DV1 made, possibly as sample pieces, prior to the actual production run.
This should not be construed as taking anything away from the current production version of the DV1's with it's bluish-green or grayish control knobs (sorry guys, but I am partially color-blind) --- besides being a great receiver, it is really nicely designed.
The big surprise in the attached image of this "mystery version" of the DV1 appears in the stenciling of control functions printed on the front panel of the radio. It's pretty close the production run version except for one variation---- above the (F)unction key is the word "Scope" !!!
Yes, triple exclamation marks are in order here. Did the engineers originally plan on incorporating a "Scope" function--- perhaps a spectrum scope, into the DV1? Was the idea abandoned, or perhaps never finalized, and is the function still lurking somewhere within the DV1? Perhaps an undocumented key-press sequence might reveal either that or other "secrets", still waiting to be uncovered, within the DV1.
There are probably only one or two engineers in Japan who truly know the full workings of the DV1. But it's fun to speculate on what's really hiding "under the hood"--- I guess we will have to wait for upcoming firmware updates to reveal some of those capabilities.
What is striking are the midnight-black volume and squelch controls, along with a matching turning knob. Above the tuning knob, it appears that the "Up" and "Down" are a beautiful translucent blue. From all the information that I could gather, there were only two or three versions of this DV1 made, possibly as sample pieces, prior to the actual production run.
This should not be construed as taking anything away from the current production version of the DV1's with it's bluish-green or grayish control knobs (sorry guys, but I am partially color-blind) --- besides being a great receiver, it is really nicely designed.
The big surprise in the attached image of this "mystery version" of the DV1 appears in the stenciling of control functions printed on the front panel of the radio. It's pretty close the production run version except for one variation---- above the (F)unction key is the word "Scope" !!!
Yes, triple exclamation marks are in order here. Did the engineers originally plan on incorporating a "Scope" function--- perhaps a spectrum scope, into the DV1? Was the idea abandoned, or perhaps never finalized, and is the function still lurking somewhere within the DV1? Perhaps an undocumented key-press sequence might reveal either that or other "secrets", still waiting to be uncovered, within the DV1.
There are probably only one or two engineers in Japan who truly know the full workings of the DV1. But it's fun to speculate on what's really hiding "under the hood"--- I guess we will have to wait for upcoming firmware updates to reveal some of those capabilities.