Fast1eddie
Member
Hello, I'm looking for feedback from anyone who has experience using any of the AOR SDU's...been looking at them and watching the used market.
Thanks,
Ed
Thanks,
Ed
Anyone using AOR Spectrum Display Units??
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I had a SDU-5600 for a short period of time. I returned it. It looks pretty but it's slow and yields very poor results if you're looking for weak signals. I would check out an RFSpace SDR-14; it's computer based but less expensive and yields amazing results. As a matter of fact mine is going on the market for sale soon as I just don't use it enough to justify keeping it. The website for the SDR-14 is http://www.rfspace.com .
Scott,
I agree with you on the AOR SDU's, I had a 5500 and sold it for the same reasons as you indicated on the 5600. I now use the Atlantic units that come up on Ebay every now and then. I am curious about the SDR-14, does it cover any range, let's say from 100 to 900 MHz or is it limited to the HF range?
Thx
I agree with you on the AOR SDU's, I had a 5500 and sold it for the same reasons as you indicated on the 5600. I now use the Atlantic units that come up on Ebay every now and then. I am curious about the SDR-14, does it cover any range, let's say from 100 to 900 MHz or is it limited to the HF range?
Thx
As a standalone receiver, it covers 100 KHz to 30 MHz, and can display the entire range, or portions of it at the same time. To listen to it, you can display up to 190 KHz wide at any given time, and click on viewed signals to demodulate them. Audio is passed to the PC via the USB cable.
As a panadapter/spectrum display unit, it can display anything the accompanying receiver is capable of receiving, either as a simple panadapter taking in a 10.7 MHz IF output (it shows 10.7 MHz as the center frequency and you can tune the radio to a displayed signal) or as a more sophisticated display/controller of either the AOR AR5000 or Icom IC8500. When used with either radio it will display the actual frequencies in use and allow the user to click on a signal to tune the receiver directly to it. It is incredibly fast.
In the HF range, you can view amateur radio spectrum and actually see the CW characters as they are sent, an indication of how fast this device is. I suppose there is a downside as it's PC based but it offers some amazing features when used in conjunction with the 5000 or 8500, and allows for the unattended recording of any 190 KHz bandwidth (either standalone or in conjunction with these receivers) for later playback and demodulation of any signal within the 190 KHz wide area.
I'm not familiar with the Atlantics, but at one point I had an Avcom SDM-42A which worked very nicely.
Edit: "PC Based" is probably a poor choice of words. It is a quality piece of hardware that works in conjunction with software to act in the manner outlined above. It won't work without a PC obviously.
As a panadapter/spectrum display unit, it can display anything the accompanying receiver is capable of receiving, either as a simple panadapter taking in a 10.7 MHz IF output (it shows 10.7 MHz as the center frequency and you can tune the radio to a displayed signal) or as a more sophisticated display/controller of either the AOR AR5000 or Icom IC8500. When used with either radio it will display the actual frequencies in use and allow the user to click on a signal to tune the receiver directly to it. It is incredibly fast.
In the HF range, you can view amateur radio spectrum and actually see the CW characters as they are sent, an indication of how fast this device is. I suppose there is a downside as it's PC based but it offers some amazing features when used in conjunction with the 5000 or 8500, and allows for the unattended recording of any 190 KHz bandwidth (either standalone or in conjunction with these receivers) for later playback and demodulation of any signal within the 190 KHz wide area.
I'm not familiar with the Atlantics, but at one point I had an Avcom SDM-42A which worked very nicely.
Edit: "PC Based" is probably a poor choice of words. It is a quality piece of hardware that works in conjunction with software to act in the manner outlined above. It won't work without a PC obviously.
DSmith3
Member
Interesting conversation. What are the applications for this type of equipment. Is used as a sophisticated scout frequency counter?
It's pretty much my non-technical description as outlined above. Check www.rfspace.com if you want more specific details regarding the SDR-14, and www.moetronix.com for the SpectraVue software used with it.
DSmith3 said:
have a look at these to get the picture:
http://www.pacificsites.com/~brooke/PI.shtml
http://www2.tek.com/cmswpt/tidetails.lotr?ct=TI&cs=Application+Note&ci=2827&lc=EN
the scout works as a nearfield tool, with a spectrum analyzer you work on any signal
here http://www.uhf-satcom.com/ they use it to id satellite transponders by their noise floor
regards
S
Fast1eddie said:
too expensive to me: there are cheaper or better options for that money
I use spectrum displays fed by the IF out of both AOR8600 and Icom8500 and currently own:
- RFSpace SDR14
- HP8922 test set, including spectrum analyzer function
- cheap Promax TV level meter
here you can find some notes http://www.tarapippo.net/specan/specan.html
at the end of the day the best value is probably the cheap Promax, as long as you don't need a waterfall and can get an upconverter to move the 10.7MHz out to the range covered by the instrument
S
DSmith3
Member
SO FRIGGIN COOL!! I want one of these. This is how I would use one, so maybe you guys could make recommendations.
I would use it mobile to pick up signals for my Ham, and Scanners in areas where the frequencies are not known. The Scanners open search mode is supposed to accomplish this task, but it rarely does. Suggestions?
I would use it mobile to pick up signals for my Ham, and Scanners in areas where the frequencies are not known. The Scanners open search mode is supposed to accomplish this task, but it rarely does. Suggestions?
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