Best bargain tabletop?

[modrachlan]

I've been listing to SWL for many years, and have usually had portables. I bought a Ten-Tec RX320 and Wellbrook ALA-1530 and I've been enjoying the heck out of it- for the first time I've been able to make some really fine catches.

But I don't want to to be tied to a computer interface all of the time. I have about $250 to spend and I've been looking at older tabletops like the Kenwood R-1000, Kenwood R-600 and Yaesu FRG-7.

I think I can best describe my goals with a brief anecdote: Just for fun I plugged my Icom RC-2 and was kinda blown away how the Wellbrook can deliver a lot of signals to even that little radio. Of course, it's not copyable because it's only got one AM bandwidth. So I'm looking for a basic receiver with enough flexibility to copy military and air traffic, numbers stations, hams, VOLMET, etc.

Am I considering the right receivers, or there is something else? I am a little handy with a soldering iron if need be, though I have never aligned a tuner before, and I'm more interested in listening than fixing.

Thanks.

 

[SCPD]

2 radios that come to mind in that price range on the used market.

dx-394
frg-100

You will not be tied to a screen and both radios can be heavily modded.

I would personally suggest you get a SDR and forget about the tabletops but don't know if that is an option for you. For $250 you can get a really good sdr from here. A few of us on the board own this SDR and i like it alot

AFEDRI SDR-Net description

Good luck
Mike

 

[SCPD]

Yeah your best value is a SDR. You can find a Softrock SDR for around $100 on EBay or from HAM classifieds.

The SDR-IQ is another good one. The one Mike suggested seems to be slightly better than the SDR-IQ.

There isn't as much money to be made with shortwave table top receivers these days so your best bet is to buy used.

Grundig Satellit 800
Icom R71a, R-75
Kenwood R5000
JRC NRD-525/535/545
Drake R8/R8A/R8B

"Seeing" the HF spectrum (or even a portion of it) is very handy if you are trying to "find" signals. If you are just listening to known, fixed services then a used desktop receiver is just fine.

You might want to keep an eye on the CR-1.

CommRadio Store

There's an on-going thread in the SDR forum on this site.

 

[modrachlan]

I appreciate the input, guys. I'll add those to my research list.

 

[ka3jjz]

You can start your research right in our wiki - more specifically our HF Gateway. These 2 articles have links to tons of reviews...

Category:Receiver Reviews - The RadioReference Wiki

Software Defined Radios - The RadioReference Wiki

HTH...Mike

 

[majoco]

I've had a Kenwood R2000 since new in the '80's and it's never put a foot wrong. Sensitivity is up there with my NRD515 and WinRadio G303e - the filters are the original and maybe a bit lacking in shape factor - but hey, you can pick them up from EPay for US$350 or so.

 

[RadioDaze]

If you can find a ham transceiver with general coverage that someone is selling because it won't transmit but still receives, you could get a lot of features and decent performance for a good price.

 

[ratboy]

A used ham transceiver is a nice way to go. When I wanted/needed (I live next to one of the busiest roads in the country, and the truckers were killing me) a better receiver than my Yaesu FRG-8800, I ended up with an Icom 735 transceiver. Vastly superior to the 8800, except in one category, reliability. It had bad solder joints galore. After about 5 years, I ended up selling it and buying a Kenwood TS-450SAT, and that was a great radio. I now have a TS-850SAT that is very nice, along with a bunch of others. If you want to go to one of the old Kenwood receivers, IMHO, the R1000 is a better radio in almost every way than the R2000.

 

[modrachlan]

A used ham transceiver is a nice way to go. When I wanted/needed (I live next to one of the busiest roads in the country, and the truckers were killing me) a better receiver than my Yaesu FRG-8800, I ended up with an Icom 735 transceiver. Vastly superior to the 8800, except in one category, reliability. It had bad solder joints galore. After about 5 years, I ended up selling it and buying a Kenwood TS-450SAT, and that was a great radio. I now have a TS-850SAT that is very nice, along with a bunch of others. If you want to go to one of the old Kenwood receivers, IMHO, the R1000 is a better radio in almost every way than the R2000.

Thanks for these ideas, guys. I hadn't considered a transceiver before. Interesting.

I had read the R-1000 was a better radio. I actually owned an R-2000 for about six months and just never could quite hear what I wanted to.

So, update time, I went for a Soft66LC4- the deal was too good to pass up- $80 plus $10 shipping from Japan. I've been playing with it and WinRAD for the first time today. I'm having a hard time tuning even the most basic BCB stations. I think I grasp the basic idea, but, for instance, just trying to tune for reference sake to WWV at 5000, I can't set the bandwidth and center frequency to save my life. I have it set to 5000khz in AM mode and it sounds pretty wonky, like it's always just off to the side one way or the other. If anybody has any tips about tuning these things. I would sure appreciate it.

 

[ka3jjz]

We cover stuff about SDRs here...

Software Defined Radio - The RadioReference.com Forums

GL...Mike

 

[modrachlan]

Headed that way now... much obliged.