best HF receiver ever????

[prcguy]

I think the best receiver tested so far by the independent Sherwood Engineering lab is the Elecraft K3 with highest dynamic range in the presence of close spaced interference determining the pecking order.

On the Sherwood site you will find the Icom R9000, the 756 PROIII, WJ-1000 (TenTec RX-340) and others way down on the list. The Icom R9500 and AOR AR-7030 seem to rate very high.
prcguy

 

[Turbo68]

This is my list of hf receivers and are all excellent for monitoring aero & utilities and as for antennas i used on these radios Dressler/Rf Systems/Wellbrook.

Aor-7030
Drake-R8B
Icom-R71A
Icom-R75 Current
Icom-R9000
Icom-R9500 Current
Jrc Nrd-545
Kenwood-R5000
Lowe-HF225
Palstar-R30A Current

Regards Lino.

 

[k9rzz]

All aren't worth a hill of beans unless hooked up to a good antenna. It takes two to tango.

 

[Turbo68]

Thats exactly right if u havent got the right antenna u are not going to get anywhere on hf.

Regards Lino.

 

[broonzbane]

Here's one that hasn't been mentioned yet...

The venerable Hallicrafters SX-88. One is on sale at eBay right now. How much? If you have to ask you can't afford it:

HALLICRAFTERS SX-88 TIME MACHINE~RESTORED TO PERFECTION - eBay (item 110450151577 end time Nov-01-09 18:18:25 PST)

;-)

Bill
KB3KLQ

 

[eorange]

That's a beautifully restored radio. But I bet the $10K price goes more towards the restoration & nostalgia factor than its capabilities, compared to today's high-end rigs at the same prices.

In the scanner world...reminds me of the PRO-2006s that were going for $300+ a few years ago on eBay.

 

[raisindot]

That's a beautifully restored radio. But I bet the $10K price goes more towards the restoration & nostalgia factor than its capabilities, compared to today's high-end rigs at the same prices.

In the scanner world...reminds me of the PRO-2006s that were going for $300+ a few years ago on eBay.

One man's boat anchor is another man's $6K radio.

And I was one of the lucky ones to sell my Pro-2006 in the $300 range. Today, they're nearly a dime a dozen.

Jeff in Boston

 

[k9rzz]

If 'ever' includes today, then you'd probably have to consider the top shelf software defined radios.

FlexRadio Systems - Software Defined Radios ::: About->What is SDR?

There are some DXers posting some amazing loggings with some of these, like the Pegasus.

Don't know much about them myself, but certainly the wave of the future for top end receiving.

 

[prcguy]

The K3 is still on top of the list of all time receives including the new SDRs which the K3 is one of.

Even though its a table top/portable transceiver, with a few hundred $ in accys it will run from the same "Power SDR" software as the Flex 5000 and Perseus which gives you remote control, giant spectrum display and features like clicking on a spectrum analyzer blip and the radio instantly tunes there.
prcguy

If 'ever' includes today, then you'd probably have to consider the top shelf software defined radios.

FlexRadio Systems - Software Defined Radios ::: About->What is SDR?

There are some DXers posting some amazing loggings with some of these, like the Pegasus.

Don't know much about them myself, but certainly the wave of the future for top end receiving.

 

[zz0468]

I'm hearing some pretty amazing things about the K3, particularly from some of the big-gun DX'ers that are using them on DXpiditions. The receiver is nearly uncrunchable in the presence of really strong signals. It's quite possibly the most impressive HF receivere ever made, just looking at the performance specs and listening to people who actually use them.

But I think the thread is more about personal preference. For me, that would equate to my personal best... the ITT Mackay 3041A. It's simple to operate, doesn't have a whole lot of features, but has an exceptionally clean and quiet synthesizer, very low noise front end, and consistent performance across it's entire range, right down to 15 KHz. It's the only receiver I've ever used that's worth a damn down that low.

gack! This is an old thread! Receiver Beaver!? *eye roll*

 

[gcgrotz]

Just think, some of the radios mentioned weren't even available when this thread started! Like the K3. I know a guy here who has one and loves it. I'm not sure it qualifies as SDR just because it has dsp.

Some tests I've read say the Icom 9500 is possibly the best receiver ever. I guess I'll never find that out unless I win the lottery.

BTW, that SX-88 in the book "Shortwave Receivers Past and Present" third edition 1998 is listed as extremely scarce and $1000-$2500. So while $10k may be high, if it is museum quality it may not be too high. It looks like a beauty!

 

[broonzbane]

ANOTHER Halli SX-88 is up for sale!!!

On eBay:

Hallicrafters SX-88 Receiver and R-46B Speaker "RARE" - eBay (item 200402794809 end time Nov-15-09 21:00:06 PST)

This guy's only asking $8,500 and he's throwing in the speaker. The prices are falling like crazy!!!

Bill

KB3KLQ

 

[WayneJustice]

AN-URR-58 BesT Receiver

There is a better receiver than the R-390A. Squire Sanders built the AN/URR-58. Google it up and read all about it! 5 cents a copy!!

 

[mancow]

What? I didn't know you could use the same software as the Flex. What do you need to do that?

The K3 is still on top of the list of all time receives including the new SDRs which the K3 is one of.

Even though its a table top/portable transceiver, with a few hundred $ in accys it will run from the same "Power SDR" software as the Flex 5000 and Perseus which gives you remote control, giant spectrum display and features like clicking on a spectrum analyzer blip and the radio instantly tunes there.
prcguy

 

[questnz]

Lino, did you list them in any particular performance order or just receivers you used ?

 

[Turbo68]

Hi i do have others but at the end of the day if you havent got a decent antenna youre not going to get any where.The receivers that i listed have them all some are sold..

Regards Lino..

 

[questnz]

Lino, you missing the point. It is not what we have or used or the antenna, it is about "best HF receiver ever" Would you like elaborate on this, in order of preference or performance how would you rate those you used?

 

[prcguy]

There is a little more to it like you need a little accessory box called LP-PAN which takes the IF output of the K3 or many other rigs and gives you an IQ output to feed a computer with high end sound card.

When its all working you can see a signal pop up in the Power SDR spectrum analyzer, click a mouse on it and the K3 tunes to the new signal. It gives you most of the features of the Flex radio with added performance of the K3 and you can unplug the computer and operate the K3 as a regular radio. Unlike a Flex radio which is always tethered to some sort of computer.

Ever since I got the Elecraft P3 display which does spectrum analyzer and waterfall (simultaneously) and feeds any size computer monitor, I have not used the LP-PAN.
prcguy

What? I didn't know you could use the same software as the Flex. What do you need to do that?

 

[w2xq]

Wirelessly posted (Moto Droid Bionic: Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 4.1.2; en-us; DROID BIONIC Build/9.8.2O-72_VZW-22) AppleWebKit/534.30 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/534.30)

Too long to post here, perhaps my 800kb PDF "On the Table" would be of interest. It discusses radios owned since 1952. Get it from http://w2xq.com/bm-radio.html; the link is about 1/2-way down the page.

Back when, my longtime mainstay was the HQ-150... good for ~1400 stns in ~48 states and ~95 countries on the MW band.

Best antenna? A 1000' Beverage antenna running NE. A 3 ft 16-turn MW loop also served well.

Enjoy.

 

[K2KOH]

When used properly, the Icom R75 is a damned good SW receiver. I spent many hours using mine, which is now in storage because I can't put an SWL antenna.