I have used the replacement AR-DV1 (radio) and power supply (PS) for several hours today. The radio is running much cooler, and the PS is not burning my hand. For those of you who don't know the story, read my post #263 above. Now the radio is working somewhat better. This is also with the new firmware 1505G. The radio seems to be running quite well.
For those of you who want an all-mode radio with a lot of digital modes, this radio may be for you. If you have lots of NXDN and DMR in your area, you may want to consider the radio. The MW/HF/VHF/UHF sensitivity is pretty good. The MW/SW broadcast receive quality is pretty good, the WBFM broadcast quality is pretty good, and the analog/digital sound is pretty good. If you don't know yet, I have posted a video on YouTube of this radio scanning through analog/P25/NXDN stations here in Los Angeles.
All the above said, however, this will probably be my last, or one of my last, posts as a beta tester for this radio. This radio is certainly a novel idea, and I applaud AOR as the first one on the block (so to speak) to give all of us an all-mode radio. But a lot of the technology is old. There is no trunking, the memory is arranged in banks, and there are a total of 2000 memories. Twenty years ago, this might really peak my interest.
But I now have scanners with virtually unlimited memory, trunking, and DMR, HP, or object oriented scanning that make "banks" pretty obsolete for me. I prefer the new x36HPs for their features, but whether you like the 96XTs, the 36HPs, or the GRE/Whistler object-oriented memory, it is certainly far advanced from "bank" scanning of the past. And of course, so is the "trunking."
Probably 75% of the scanning that I do involves trunked systems. I probably have at least 5000 channels/TGs programmed into my Uniden 996XT/P2, and more in my 436HP/536HPs. So for me, the "bank" concept is going backwards. No trunking is also going backwards. For MW/SW/HF, I use SDRs like the Perseus and ELAD FDM-S2. And now I play with RTL dongles, FCDP+, AirSpy, and SDRPlay, all with a lot of neat software, not the least, which is DSD+.
Some of you may ask, "Steve, if these things like no trunking and banks were show stoppers for you, why did you even consider buying the AR-DV1?" Good question. Well, I am always good for a new radio, and I said, what the heck, it sounds really interesting. BUT, now that I have been fiddling around with banks and no trunking for the last week or two using the AR-DV1, I realize just how far the new scanners have come in their features. I thought I might be interested, but there is no going back in time.
And once a CW guy like me gets used to 10-20 Hz bandwidth on my Perseus, ELAD, or when operating CW, my FLEX-5000, no wideband receiver will ever come close.
So my final, or one of my final comments, about the AR-DV1 is that it seems to have possibilities, and for some of you looking for a wideband all-mode (including digital modes) receiver, this radio may be worth your consideration. But for my purposes, it is not what I want. For me, fortunately, the $1200 is not so much the issue. The issue is more about "time."
What time I do have for radio, I want to be using the most up-to-date scanners available for scanning, and learning more about the features of SDRs and software like DSD+ 1.7, which I can use together with SDR-Console, and monitor NXDN, DMR, and lots of other stuff from remote receivers across the world. For HF and SW, I have much better radios.
Since I do speak Japanese, and since I have established a personal relationship (not business) with Taka at AOR, I will be glad to help facilitate any issues that you may have with the radio or upcoming firmware. Of course, I will continue to monitor and post on these AR-DV1 related threads, but no longer as a beta-tester or potential buyer of the radio.
