Has anyone compared the analog audio to other radios or scanners? I have heard from one guy that his DV1 sounds mushy compared to an R8500 or R7000 on regular analog FM.
AOR AR-DV1
- Thread starter SCPD
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Rich,
In the one day I used the AR DV1 before bringing it back to AOR, the analog FM was OK, but not as good as the BCD996P2 or WS1065 that I have been listening to the last couple of hours, and not as good as my R8500, which I should actually use more than I have recently.
Thanks Steve, that's kind of what I thought...
BamaScan
Member
Here are some improvements I think need to be made.
1) Remove the clock. Way to small to see. I don't even program it.
2) larger numbers on the screen. The screen could be used to maximize everything. Lots of dead screen space.
3) no mobile bracket ? Did come with screw holes just no bracket. Odd.
4) no 12 dc volt power cord in box.
5) Manuel talks about computer control of radio, but no program out there yet.
6) key pad colors. Yellow is green. Red is off and orange is green. Should be easy to fix with an update.
7) no way to change main color of screen. Your stuck with the default color.
8) up and down keys should be able to put the radio in scan with s long press. The arrow keys could seve 2 purpose.
9) the auto mode does work when you turn the big knob and search. The audio is not as loud as when it is in the correct mode you set yourself.
10) slow scan speed. I only have 35 channels programmed in and it is slow. I can count to 25 by the time it scans 35.
11) Get the motottrbo noise out departments that use a tone of motottrbo it's useless to monitor them.
12) p25 has an odd high pitch noise when it's not s real strong signal.
13) my biggest problem. The yellow or orange screen that locks up when I power the unit on. I have to unplug unit and leave unplugged for about 3 minniutes for it to work right.
Will I keep it ??
YES.
I just think they rushed it to the market to quick. Hopefully they can get it fixed with updates.
Not having 2 antenna ports is no big deal to me. Get an adapter if you won't 2. True you should get 2 for the cost of the radio. Heck you should get 5.
Overall layout of radio is great. Just software issues right now.
1) Remove the clock. Way to small to see. I don't even program it.
2) larger numbers on the screen. The screen could be used to maximize everything. Lots of dead screen space.
3) no mobile bracket ? Did come with screw holes just no bracket. Odd.
4) no 12 dc volt power cord in box.
5) Manuel talks about computer control of radio, but no program out there yet.
6) key pad colors. Yellow is green. Red is off and orange is green. Should be easy to fix with an update.
7) no way to change main color of screen. Your stuck with the default color.
8) up and down keys should be able to put the radio in scan with s long press. The arrow keys could seve 2 purpose.
9) the auto mode does work when you turn the big knob and search. The audio is not as loud as when it is in the correct mode you set yourself.
10) slow scan speed. I only have 35 channels programmed in and it is slow. I can count to 25 by the time it scans 35.
11) Get the motottrbo noise out departments that use a tone of motottrbo it's useless to monitor them.
12) p25 has an odd high pitch noise when it's not s real strong signal.
13) my biggest problem. The yellow or orange screen that locks up when I power the unit on. I have to unplug unit and leave unplugged for about 3 minniutes for it to work right.
Will I keep it ??
YES.
I just think they rushed it to the market to quick. Hopefully they can get it fixed with updates.
Not having 2 antenna ports is no big deal to me. Get an adapter if you won't 2. True you should get 2 for the cost of the radio. Heck you should get 5.
Overall layout of radio is great. Just software issues right now.
BamaScan,
I presume you have read my comments about the radio and speaking with Taka at AOR on other related threads. Please e-mail Taka at: info@aorusa.com He wants this feedback and wish list from actual users of the radio. If you like, I can copy your posted list above and forward it to Taka at AOR.
Regards
I presume you have read my comments about the radio and speaking with Taka at AOR on other related threads. Please e-mail Taka at: info@aorusa.com He wants this feedback and wish list from actual users of the radio. If you like, I can copy your posted list above and forward it to Taka at AOR.
Regards
BamaScan
I have found the same issues as you have above, especially 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Sorry to ask a dumb question, but can you really add an adapter to make 2 or more antenna inputs that will be useful. Won't they interfere with each other coming from the same connector within the unit? I really have never tried it.
I have found the same issues as you have above, especially 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Sorry to ask a dumb question, but can you really add an adapter to make 2 or more antenna inputs that will be useful. Won't they interfere with each other coming from the same connector within the unit? I really have never tried it.
I am going to have to call Taka again. Most of the time I can not enter frequencies or tags into the memory, the letter, number, and enter key work sometimes, most of the times they don't. I have entered data many times into scanners. Seems like there is something wrong with the key entry board.
As I posted on another related thread, I met with Taka again at AOR, took the scanner back at his request to at least wait for an update on firmware. As it is now, at least for me, it is not useable. I can enter frequencies and manually tune, but the radio acts funny when trying to enter any data into the memory or do any searches.
This radio is going in its box and will wait for update firmware. Hopefully will be better. Again, I only took the radio back with the understanding that I can return it after firmware update if not working properly to my satisfaction. I will at least do that.
I'm glad you're having a bit more luck BamaScan. Hope others who bought the radio will chime in. Not worth the hassle.
As I posted on another related thread, I met with Taka again at AOR, took the scanner back at his request to at least wait for an update on firmware. As it is now, at least for me, it is not useable. I can enter frequencies and manually tune, but the radio acts funny when trying to enter any data into the memory or do any searches.
This radio is going in its box and will wait for update firmware. Hopefully will be better. Again, I only took the radio back with the understanding that I can return it after firmware update if not working properly to my satisfaction. I will at least do that.
I'm glad you're having a bit more luck BamaScan. Hope others who bought the radio will chime in. Not worth the hassle.
I had an email in late April from a gent in AOR Japan who said:
Clearly they should waited and in particular, should have had some beta testers - particularly outside Japan - well before this. Did they rush it's release for Dayton??
Well, at least they seem to be listening now, and many thanks to sshermanmd for initiating the contact and running with this.
Clearly they should waited and in particular, should have had some beta testers - particularly outside Japan - well before this. Did they rush it's release for Dayton??
Well, at least they seem to be listening now, and many thanks to sshermanmd for initiating the contact and running with this.
FrankNY
Member
If you wanted to use a single antenna, you could use something like the AOR SA7000 Super wide band base aerial system that I mentioned earlier in this thread. Another choice would be a wideband discone antenna, most of which provide coverage from about 25 MHz up to about 1.3 GHz or higher. Diamond Antenna makes a nice discone, known as the D130NJ. Here's a link to it on the Scanner Master site.
D130NJ Diamond Super Discone Antenna
And here are some other choices in a single-antenna solution.
Rooftop Wide-Band Antennas for Police Scanner Radios | ScannerMaster.com
To properly utilize multiple antennas with the single input jack provided on the AR-DV1 receiver, the correct approach would be to use a low-loss high-isolation switch.
Here's a list of such products at Universal Radio.
Antenna Switches
Personally, I usually just manually disconnect one antenna and then connect another, but that is getting a bit tiresome for me and I just may start using a switch one of these days. It's something to which I would have to give careful though, given that I have more antennas than radios.
One other approach, and this applies only when one's needs are limited, is to use a high-quality filter between the antenna and the radio. For example, I use an AOR ABF128 with my Alinco DJ-X11K wideband portable radio for airband monitoring with very good results.
ABF128 | ACCESSORIES | AOR U.S.A., INC. Authority On Radio Communications
Frank.
P.S. Yes, you should use your IC-R8500 more often! I have one and love it. It replaced an IC-R7000 that I had purchased years earlier.
PPS. It wasn't a dumb question. Only I am allowed to ask dumb questions.
BamaScan
Member
Just called AOR directly on the phone and talked to Taka. His English a little rough at times. I made him aware of the problems I found and was glad to see him take interest in my issues. I asked him to get an account set up here on RR and he said they will. They are planning to do an update in a couple of weeks to address the problems. I thanked him for his effort to take on a big project and wished him luck. So hold on everyone. It will get better.
Glad to know there are dedicated beta testers. I strongly suspect hardware issues or underpowered CPU and not enough memory, the AOR-DV2 will probably address a lot of those issues.
Are you actually able to use the radio for what you wanted or too many issues as is?
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- Dec 19, 2002
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They should add a 2.5 kHz step-size. It is standard for some VHF channeling here in US. Pain not having it.
Hello,
It is mentioned that the receiver does not support USB serial yet, but I wonder. The user guide mentions installing a USB driver and a configuration menu item to set the baudrate.
It would be interesting if an owner could try installing the USB driver, and use a terminal program, like PuTTY, to see if the receiver responds. A couple of simple commands to try when the receiver is on are:
VR<cr>
VER<cr>
RF<cr>
ARF<cr>
where <cr> is the enter key. The letters must be in upper case.
73 Eric
It is mentioned that the receiver does not support USB serial yet, but I wonder. The user guide mentions installing a USB driver and a configuration menu item to set the baudrate.
It would be interesting if an owner could try installing the USB driver, and use a terminal program, like PuTTY, to see if the receiver responds. A couple of simple commands to try when the receiver is on are:
VR<cr>
VER<cr>
RF<cr>
ARF<cr>
where <cr> is the enter key. The letters must be in upper case.
73 Eric
slicerwizard
Member
Are you suggesting that Motorola's proprietary Type I and Type II trunking is in scanners because Motorola provided a license? How is 3600 bps trunking legally included, but TRBO trunking can't be?
Did you follow that time?
Can the AR-DV1 receive a NexEdge 4800 trunked voice channel?
NXDN4800 uses 6.25kHz and can be received
NXDN9600 uses 12.5kHz and can NOT be received
There may be plans for 12.5kHz/NXDN9600 support in a future firmware upgrade.
Please read my earlier post today on the "Dayton, OH: AOR to demonstrate their new AR-DV1 Multi-Mode Digital Receiver" thread for my latest meeting with Taka. Met again with Taka a couple of days ago again at AOR. Brought one of my 536HPs over for him to use for as long as he wants (details in post on the "AOR to demonstrate ...." thread.).
Been using the radio quite a bit on MW and HF as well. With a simple MFJ preselector, provides excellent performance. Can listen to AM stations in Arizona on 620 and 660 Khz from my home in Los Angeles, despite KFI AM Radio on 640 Khz with a plus 3 dBm input to my antenna from their antenna 2 miles away. So the radio front end seems pretty good. Also, the VHF sensitivity is very good on the radio. See my other post about the discriminator out on the auxiliary jack on the back of the radio.
Waiting for the new firmware. Will keep you updated.
Been using the radio quite a bit on MW and HF as well. With a simple MFJ preselector, provides excellent performance. Can listen to AM stations in Arizona on 620 and 660 Khz from my home in Los Angeles, despite KFI AM Radio on 640 Khz with a plus 3 dBm input to my antenna from their antenna 2 miles away. So the radio front end seems pretty good. Also, the VHF sensitivity is very good on the radio. See my other post about the discriminator out on the auxiliary jack on the back of the radio.
Waiting for the new firmware. Will keep you updated.
Steve,
Thanks for taking the lead with this, it's appreciated. One thing there has not been a lot of discussion on is the analog performance of this receiver, so what you're describing is encouraging.
Does this receiver in fact decode CTCSS and DCS subaudible tones as received when searching analog signals, and then display them somewhere on the screen. I thought the specs mentioned that it had the capability but I've seen or heard nothing that supports this claim.
Thanks.
Thanks for taking the lead with this, it's appreciated. One thing there has not been a lot of discussion on is the analog performance of this receiver, so what you're describing is encouraging.
Does this receiver in fact decode CTCSS and DCS subaudible tones as received when searching analog signals, and then display them somewhere on the screen. I thought the specs mentioned that it had the capability but I've seen or heard nothing that supports this claim.
Thanks.
Scott,
Your question and a post by, I believe Rich N9JIG, about analog audio quality just spurred me to do a comparison with one of my 536HPs, and IC-R20, and my ICOM R8500 for the past half hour or so. Unfortunatly, the analog quality on the AR-DV1, although OK, is not what I would quite expect from a receiver at this price level. In fact, my 536HP sounds better, and the R20 and R8500 sound quite a bit better. The quality is OK, but the audio seems a bit weak.
In fact, I reported good VHF sensitivity, but that was based on a few Wx stations. Because the search/scan is so slow, I have not really used these functions. Now in the last 30 minutes comparing some of my stronger VHF and UHF analog stations on all the receivers/scanners above, the sensitivity of the AR-DV1 does not seem that good. For example, several conventional analog stations on the LA Cities systems (ie Downey, Huntington Park, Whittier, South Gate ... PD) are always 5 bars on my 536HP and S9 plus on my receivers with an outdoor 2/440 vertical. On the AR-DV1, they are weaker, not nearly as strong as I would expect for how close they are.
Here I go doing some actual comparisons, and I don't like what I now see and hear. To answer your question Scott, no I do not see any CTCSS and DCS tones displayed, and all of these stations mentioned are using these tones. They readily appear in search mode on my 536HP.
Probably not what you want to hear, and not what I want to report. I hope a few others with this new receiver will report their findings and hopefully, tell me I must be nuts, because theirs are working great. But that's the news from Los Angeles this morning before I head out for the day.
Your question and a post by, I believe Rich N9JIG, about analog audio quality just spurred me to do a comparison with one of my 536HPs, and IC-R20, and my ICOM R8500 for the past half hour or so. Unfortunatly, the analog quality on the AR-DV1, although OK, is not what I would quite expect from a receiver at this price level. In fact, my 536HP sounds better, and the R20 and R8500 sound quite a bit better. The quality is OK, but the audio seems a bit weak.
In fact, I reported good VHF sensitivity, but that was based on a few Wx stations. Because the search/scan is so slow, I have not really used these functions. Now in the last 30 minutes comparing some of my stronger VHF and UHF analog stations on all the receivers/scanners above, the sensitivity of the AR-DV1 does not seem that good. For example, several conventional analog stations on the LA Cities systems (ie Downey, Huntington Park, Whittier, South Gate ... PD) are always 5 bars on my 536HP and S9 plus on my receivers with an outdoor 2/440 vertical. On the AR-DV1, they are weaker, not nearly as strong as I would expect for how close they are.
Here I go doing some actual comparisons, and I don't like what I now see and hear. To answer your question Scott, no I do not see any CTCSS and DCS tones displayed, and all of these stations mentioned are using these tones. They readily appear in search mode on my 536HP.
Probably not what you want to hear, and not what I want to report. I hope a few others with this new receiver will report their findings and hopefully, tell me I must be nuts, because theirs are working great. But that's the news from Los Angeles this morning before I head out for the day.
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