AOR ARD25 digital decoder

[chuckinnc]

Has anyone ever used one of these, they are made for any receiver/scanner with a 10.7 IF output like the
AOR8600,5000, Icom7500. Universal radio has these for $399, if it would add digital decoding to my AR5000 receiver then I may spring for it. The ar5000 covers from 5khz to 2600mhz so there is alot of area to search but I can't find anything about the decoder.

 

[KC1UA]

I owned one and sold it with an Icom IC-R8500 some time ago. They work, but honestly not overwhelmingly well. I found that they had a very "tinny" sound to them and that turning the volume on it up past 10 o'clock or so blew you out of the room...very short throw in the pot on the volume control apparently. Also, passing analog audio through the box was useless. If I tuned across a P25 signal I simply turned the volume on the 8500 down and the volume on the ARD25 up.

I agree that it's nice to have a quality receiver to use for P25 reception, but in my opinion the ARD25 is not worth it for the price. If it was $200 instead of $400, definitely. It would be nice if AOR would figure out a way to retrofit their 5000's with the P25 board they now offer for the AR8600, AR5001, etc.