Your all time favorite HF radio?

[legis225]

1 Sony 2010 -digital
2 Panasonic 2200 -analogue

How about you?

 

[902]

Zenith Transoceanic 3000. Although you make a very strong argument with the Panasonic 2200.

 

[majoco]

You mean one that I own(ed), or one that I lust after? Portable or desktop?

My NRD515 knocks the spots off anything else that I have owned, but I tend to keep to older gear that I can fix myself if it goes wrong.

I lust after a nice Harris RF-590 - but I'd like to try before I buy!

 

[SCPD]

At the time acquisition, the Drake R-8.

Impossible to say now as the technology has changed so much.

 

[n0nhp]

None of the 15 or so receivers I have owned up to this point can hold a candle to the G33DDC Excalibur pro WinRadio.
I still turn on the Transoceanic and the IC-R1000 is on Global Tuners with dozens of users every day. For useability, clarity, and enjoyability the G33 is my favorite.

Bruce

 

[ridgescan]

OK my three favorites-the r71a because it is a diehard working beast, the Zenith Royal 3000-1, because it was my first serious shortwave given to me by my uncle in '71 and still works like new; and last but mostly, the old '54 Hallie sx-88 because I've had it since '88 and it is the ultimate HF comm receiver experience right down to the aroma of 20 tubes

 

[Token]

There are so many I enjoy the answer is probably impossible, but my favorite to turn the dial on is possibly a tie between my Hallicrafters SX-28 and my Hammarlund SP-600. Both of those jsut feel "right" when turning the dial, although for nostalgia it might be my Hallicrafters SX-99, as that was my first store bought radio.

In a portable it would probably be a tie between one of my Zenith Transoceanics, maybe the 3000, and the Hallicrafters TW-2000.

To use my undeniable favorite right now is my WinRadio Excalibur Pro G33DDC. I might have owned very slightly better (technically, and by a slim margin in some aspects only) radios, but none that bring so much performance and so many features in the same package. If I only had one radio today, had to get rid of all of the radios I have and only keep one, that would be it.

T!

 

[lep]

My favorite was the Collins R-390, turning the knob(s) could be a tiring exercise but the receiver was quite good.

 

[Rt169Radio]

The Drake R8A is sort of a favorite.

 

[ka3jjz]

Mine had to be the Drake R4B, especially with the outboard synthesizer (of which less than 2000 were ever made) that I got from the late Perry Ferrell (yes, of Gilfer Associates). At that time, Bill Frost was still with the service department, and he made that radio sing...Mike

 

[Arkmood]

Without question my Hallicrafters SX-28 Super Skyrider. Spent many hours listening to that push-pull audio...

 

[902]

OK my three favorites-the r71a because it is a diehard working beast, the Zenith Royal 3000-1, because it was my first serious shortwave given to me by my uncle in '71 and still works like new; and last but mostly, the old '54 Hallie sx-88 because I've had it since '88 and it is the ultimate HF comm receiver experience right down to the aroma of 20 tubes

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

 

[legis225]

Zenith Transoceanic 3000. Although you make a very strong argument with the Panasonic 2200.

I actually think my 2200 works better now than it did when I first got it. My first "serious" radio and the one I enjoy listening to the most.

AM reception is unparalleled. FM is world class. And I can just about hear everything off the whip that I can hear on my long wire that takes up over 100 feet in the backyard.

Sony 2010 did Sync right, and except for the new Tecsun nobody including Sony ever repeated sync (except maybe the Drake R 8).

 

[Arkmood]

Sony 2010 did Sync right, and except for the new Tecsun nobody including Sony ever repeated sync (except maybe the Drake R 8).

With my 2010 on one side of the station and the Drake R8 on the other, I always (reluctantly) turned to the Sony. The sync performed better, also the tone was more pleasing to me. The Drake while a super receiver, always had a muffled sound even when using the matching speaker, or any other speaker for that matter. Of course with the SX-28 as a reference point, the 2010 nor any other HF rig I've owned, ever came close to it in the audio department...

 

[ridgescan]

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

Thank you

 

[popnokick]

Knight Kit Star Roamer. Mowed lawns all summer of 1967 to save up to buy that kit. Building it taught me a lot about soldering, tubes, components, alignment and other radio-related skills. Learned also the importance of selectivity and sensitivity in a receiver. And actually used the Star Roamer as my first Novice ham station receiver. Finding my signal on the dial was a challenge, but I made several CW contacts with it. Most importantly, it got me started in ham radio and communications. Without the Star Roamer you would not be reading this post right now.
Built a 10 watt CW transmitter from plans in Electronics Illustrated. Uses a 50C5 tube and a pill bottle for winding the coils. Shocked the s**t out of myself when using a neon bulb to tune it up. Made several contacts with it until I got an ARRL OO and FCC Monitoring Station report saying my signal had been heard in the international shortwave band on 40M... 2nd harmonic. My dad noticed the letter from the FCC and said, "What's this?" I explained it was the transmitter I built. He asked me what I needed to make things work and I told him a better transmitter. He said, "Get in the car" and we drove into town to a radio shop (there were such things then). He bought me an Eico 720 CW transmitter on the spot.
I just found the Electronics Illustrated article again:
http://www.qsl.net/kb7tbt/manuals/Ham Help Manuals/ElectronicsIllustrated 10 Basic Designs.pdf

 

[parnass]

Very cool. The Knight Kit Star Roamer was my first receiver, too. I built it under the supervision of my uncle in 1964. That didn't stop me from touching exposed 117 VAC wiring inside the radio and getting one heck of a shock.

The colorful slide rule dial markings were fascinating, but looked better than the radio actually performed. Still, the Star Roamer provided hours of entertainment. It was later joined by a Hallicrafters SX-140 and Hammarlund HQ170C.

Thanks for posting.

 

[legis225]

Anyone like sdr radios? What is a good but inexpensive one?

 

[Token]

Anyone like sdr radios? What is a good but inexpensive one?

If you notice in my post I said my favorite to use, and if I could only have one radio, it would be my WinRADIO Excalibur Pro G33DDC, and that is an SDR. Although my main listening desk has about 15 SW receivers at it 7 of them are SDR’s, and those 7 are used more than any of my traditional radios. Yes, I like SDR’s a lot. Although I have had, and still have, some great traditional radios SDR’s are what I use most.

Inexpensive SDR’s are a compromise. There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. So you can get surprisingly good performance at a modest price in SDR’s, but you really do get what you pay for and so you will always have to give up features / performance with price. There are many SDR’s on the market today, dozens, so no way to describe them all, but I will hit a few of the ones I have used and have first hand knowledge of.

The cheapest way to get an SDR is with a DVB-T dongle, this is generally less than $25 shipped. The R820T will give you a native tuning range from about 25 MHz to about 1700 MHz. Of course that range does not cover SW. Adding an upconverter, such as the Ham-it-up will add the entire MW/HF range for about $75 more dollars. The Ham-it-up itself is under $50, but it comes as a bare PC board, so you need to mount it in a box. The software to use with this setup is SDR#. However, this entire lash-up, Dongle, Ham-it-up, and SDR#, is really not a plug and play situation. Many people have had trouble getting it all working properly, but once it is working it is an acceptable performer for casual listening, better and with more features than any portable, for a portable price.

The venerable old SoftRock Ensemble II RX is a killer deal as a native HF SDR. You can get one and have it operating (put it in a box and have a power supply) for under $120 USD, well under $100 if you build it yourself. However this is not a plug and play radio. It is sold as a kit, but you can get the board pre-built. In this later case then all you have to do is mount it in a box and provide a power supply. For me the preferred software for this radio is HDSDR, while not horribly difficult to set up this is, again, not quite plug and play.

Moving up in cost from that you get into the “complete” SDR’s, meaning you don’t have to finish them before you can use them.

One of the nicer combinations of feature set and price is the AFEDRI SDR-Net (one of the only SDR’s I will talk about that I do not own or have not owned in the past, but I have used one). For about $250 you get an SDR that is complete and with good features. It can be used with several popular SDR GUI’s, including SDR#, SDR-Radio Console, and HDSDR. It is not quite plug and play and some users have had minor issues getting the software running. Since there is no such thing as a free lunch it does NOT perform as well as some SDR’s with similar features, but it is the best combination of features and performance I have used below $400.

Going above this price point you get into some very good gear, but it is no longer what I would put in the “inexpensive” range. In general from this price point up the SDRs are very easy to set up and get running, and generally very stable.

The SDR-IQ is about $500, and while limited bandwidth by today’s standards it is very stable, very well supported, and very easy to set up. The WinRADIO G31DDC Excalibur is about $900 and is, in my opinion, the best under $1300 SDR on the market. The QS-1R Quicksilver comes in at about $900, and is good with some nice features, but you really need to add some pieces, and cost, before you get a great radio. The Microtelecom Perseus SDR is a very good performer and can be found between $1000 and $1200. While I consider the G31DDC Excalibur to be a better radio the Perseus is supported by more third party software.

Above the ~$1200 point you get into the very good and very full featured SDRs. In the hobby market and for listening of all types the best performing of these, in my opinion, is the WinRADIO G33DDC Excalibur Pro, the price varies a bit but is generally between $1600 and $1900. The RFSpace NetSDR (I also do not own one of these, but have used one) is a very good device, starting in price, with no options, at about $1500, loaded with options it can run nearly $3000. And things just get better in this price range and up, but that is far from the “inexpensive” you asked about

T!

 

[RattusNor]

Hammarlund HQ-180A