I have acquired an original AR3000 (NOT the "A" version)
I was expecting to have to replace the lithium battery...but it was OK!!!
The AR3000 was initially completely deaf on HF (100 KHz - 30 MHz)....but this was because the HF pre-amp had been switched off. There was NO mention of the HF pre-amp in the AR3000 manual and only a few brief comments on the internet...but enough for me to figure out that I needed to move both internal switches to the ON position...and the HF band then came to life
On VHF Airband the radio is OK...and only a few dB's below my other stuff... I compared it with my ham stuff and an Icom R20 and it worked OK.
But on VHF 136 - 175 MHz, the AR3000 is about 10-15dB below my other stuff, especially on 144-148 MHz. I was expecting the AR3000 to be, say, 5dB less sensitive than my ham stuff and my Icom R20....but not 10-15dB down. The AR3000 VHF RX sensitivity is transformed when I use an external 10-20dB pre-amp.
I checked out an AR3000A service manual (I could not find a AR3000 SM) and the alignment details stated that sensitivity at 128.9 MHz should be at least -6dBu for 12dB SINAD....which is 0.5uV or -113dBm...so my other radio stuff is about 10dB better than the official specs....but real world specs are usually better than the official worst case specs (in my experience).
I don't think that there is any VHF 136 - 175 MHz internal pre-amp that I can switch on....and VHF airband seems to be OK..so maybe the AR3000's band pass filters for VHF 136 - 175 MHz are out of alignment??
Any views on the VHF 136 - 175 MHz RX sensitivity of an original AR3000? How should an AR3000 compare with an Icom R20 and an AR5000 on VHF. Is an AR3000 noticeably deafer or are the BPF's on my AR3000 out of alignment?
I was expecting to have to replace the lithium battery...but it was OK!!!
The AR3000 was initially completely deaf on HF (100 KHz - 30 MHz)....but this was because the HF pre-amp had been switched off. There was NO mention of the HF pre-amp in the AR3000 manual and only a few brief comments on the internet...but enough for me to figure out that I needed to move both internal switches to the ON position...and the HF band then came to life
On VHF Airband the radio is OK...and only a few dB's below my other stuff... I compared it with my ham stuff and an Icom R20 and it worked OK.
But on VHF 136 - 175 MHz, the AR3000 is about 10-15dB below my other stuff, especially on 144-148 MHz. I was expecting the AR3000 to be, say, 5dB less sensitive than my ham stuff and my Icom R20....but not 10-15dB down. The AR3000 VHF RX sensitivity is transformed when I use an external 10-20dB pre-amp.
I checked out an AR3000A service manual (I could not find a AR3000 SM) and the alignment details stated that sensitivity at 128.9 MHz should be at least -6dBu for 12dB SINAD....which is 0.5uV or -113dBm...so my other radio stuff is about 10dB better than the official specs....but real world specs are usually better than the official worst case specs (in my experience).
I don't think that there is any VHF 136 - 175 MHz internal pre-amp that I can switch on....and VHF airband seems to be OK..so maybe the AR3000's band pass filters for VHF 136 - 175 MHz are out of alignment??
Any views on the VHF 136 - 175 MHz RX sensitivity of an original AR3000? How should an AR3000 compare with an Icom R20 and an AR5000 on VHF. Is an AR3000 noticeably deafer or are the BPF's on my AR3000 out of alignment?
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