best HF receiver ever????
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majoco
Stirrer
There's receivers out there costing megabucks for the military and 'other' agencies that we ain't never heard of or never likely to until something better comes along to take their places and they will swamp the marketplace with the redundant oldies. Just like the R390's in fact.
But when it comes to the crunch, the 'best' radio is the one I'm using at the moment, and the "bestest" one is the one I'll buy next to replace it....hmmmm
But when it comes to the crunch, the 'best' radio is the one I'm using at the moment, and the "bestest" one is the one I'll buy next to replace it....hmmmm
I've hand my hands on many receives. from tube based to modern SDR's and still by far, the best reciever i ever owned and used was the winradio 1000i - i still own it, sitting in a long dead isa machine. hoping some day i can make it work again. simply it could pull out signals were other receivers were deaf, or would loose the signal in qrm or noise, it had an amazingly low noise floor..and would go from DC-dailight (0.5-1300 MHz) which for 1979 was amazing ... just an awsum peace of gear.
my heart belongs to my old Hammarlund hq-140X - though not the best receiver best receiver ever made, it was darn good, and so much fun to use.
respectable receivers i've had my hands on and were great performers in no special order,
collins r390
hammarlund sp-600 i
icom c-r9000
icom R71A
kenwood ts-830 (this is a transever but has good rx ssb and cw only)
portables
SONY 2010
Sangean 803A/Radio Shack DX 440
id use any of the above in a heartbeat but, like most things, they ahve there own good and bad points.
respectable note here is the current batch of RTL-SDR dongles and upconverters (yep have my fovorites there too) , and all there variants out there.. defiantly up there in the fun factor, flexibility, and usability as well depending on how you roll your own setup....and frankly i think that is likely to bring more people into the hobby then a good old boatancor or table receiver
The Collins R390 is probably the best on your list. The new Icom R8600 test data just got posted on the Sherwood Engineering site and its the best receive only box ever tested on that site. Well above the Collins R390, Icom R9000, R9500 and any other modern receiver we would be familiar with.
prcguy
prcguy
I've hand my hands on many receives. from tube based to modern SDR's and still by far, the best reciever i ever owned and used was the winradio 1000i - i still own it, sitting in a long dead isa machine. hoping some day i can make it work again. simply it could pull out signals were other receivers were deaf, or would loose the signal in qrm or noise, it had an amazingly low noise floor..and would go from DC-dailight (0.5-1300 MHz) which for 1979 was amazing ... just an awsum peace of gear.
my heart belongs to my old Hammarlund hq-140X - though not the best receiver best receiver ever made, it was darn good, and so much fun to use.
respectable receivers i've had my hands on and were great performers in no special order,
collins r390
hammarlund sp-600 i
icom c-r9000
icom R71A
kenwood ts-830 (this is a transever but has good rx ssb and cw only)
portables
SONY 2010
Sangean 803A/Radio Shack DX 440
id use any of the above in a heartbeat but, like most things, they ahve there own good and bad points.
respectable note here is the current batch of RTL-SDR dongles and upconverters (yep have my fovorites there too) , and all there variants out there.. defiantly up there in the fun factor, flexibility, and usability as well depending on how you roll your own setup....and frankly i think that is likely to bring more people into the hobby then a good old boatancor or table receiver
ridgescan
Member
Risking redundancy here but what the heck. I feel I'm one of the luckiest guys around when it comes to having the "best" receivers out there, based upon the fact that each of these four are "iconic" in their own right.
My '54 Hallicrafters SX-88, Icom R71a, Icom R75, and Realistic DX-160. Each offers its own set of attributes and abilities. Combined, they offer me much diversity in receiving enjoyment. All four are "legendary" in their own ways to many radio nuts including me. And they all get well-used and much enjoyed pretty much daily.
I really am a lucky guy!
My '54 Hallicrafters SX-88, Icom R71a, Icom R75, and Realistic DX-160. Each offers its own set of attributes and abilities. Combined, they offer me much diversity in receiving enjoyment. All four are "legendary" in their own ways to many radio nuts including me. And they all get well-used and much enjoyed pretty much daily.
I really am a lucky guy!
ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
I think you'll find that, among the many hobby folk I've bumped into over the years, that the Watkins Johnsons are among the finest receivers ever. Of course you pay big bucks for a radio like that, but the 8711 series is constantly in that mix as one of the best...Mike
i' was always a fan of the sp-600 over the R390 but i think it more an ergonomics thing..
I have a newly released HF SDR reciever on the way called an airspy HF+ that looks extremely promising both on paper and from the buzz i am hearing on IRC from those that ahve gotten one,.
its not exactly DC to Daylight as it goes to 9khz-31mgz and then has a gap and covers vhf... here is the really interesting things though, on HF it supposedly has 0.02uV sensitivity.(truly i didn't mistype) iip3 at full gain of +15db., dynamic rage of 110db, selectivity 150DB, 120 dB Image rejection, had synchronous am detection,.and supposedly can handle +10dbm on the input without overloading.
its got a mixer for the if with a topology that is new to me, using something called a polyphase harmonic rejection mixer which basically takes 16 different phased mixed signals then sums them to create the I and Q which is then sent to the ADC's
It doens't seem to be available in the usa yet, usa distributor has them on pre-order,,so got mine shipped from china where its manufactured and should arrive Tuesday or Wednesday if all goes well... seems to have cleared customs,.
i'll run i though its paces in my lab and see if its any place close to the specs they claim. I've been talking to folks on IRC that have gotten there hands on one and it seems like the real deal, so i am cautiously hopeful.
. ... we shall see. ...but if this is what i clams to be ... holy crap!
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Id love to play with a HF1000A, or its military version cousins... just never had the opportunity.
ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
If you consider past desktops in this question, you need to put the various NRD radios from Japan Radio Company (JRC) as well as the very last desktops RL Drake put out - specifically the R8 and R8B, with the R8A just slightly behind (reportedly - I've never used one - the sync detection doesn't perform as well as the R8's).
The JRCs are well known in the utility DXing field as well as SWBC; interestingly the company, if memory serves, was building receivers for the maritime industry. I didn't particularly care for the audio quality, but I was biased; I had a Drake R7A (the predecessor to the R8) which has spectacular audio. Also a fine receiver in its own right, if a bit prone to drifting issues.
Mike
The JRCs are well known in the utility DXing field as well as SWBC; interestingly the company, if memory serves, was building receivers for the maritime industry. I didn't particularly care for the audio quality, but I was biased; I had a Drake R7A (the predecessor to the R8) which has spectacular audio. Also a fine receiver in its own right, if a bit prone to drifting issues.
Mike
I had a Hammarlund SP-600 JX17 at one time and it was fun but I don't consider it a high performance receiver by todays standards. I think the R390 has better specs and stability. The 390 is also a heck of a lot newer design than the SP-600 series.
I've also played with a WJ HF-1000 and at the time is was very impressive. But the Icom R8600 does a lot more and easier and covers a lot more frequency range for less $$.
prcguy
I've also played with a WJ HF-1000 and at the time is was very impressive. But the Icom R8600 does a lot more and easier and covers a lot more frequency range for less $$.
prcguy
lol, i'm not gonna get into the sp-600 vs r390 which is better conversation ... that is something that has been going on before i was born, and will still be argued long after i am gone.
It's not my favorite portable but of all the portables I've owned the DX-398 (Sangean 909) is the best portable for the money. No bugs like the newer 909X. Terrific on MW, even without an external loop. Great DXer on Longwave. Great SSB and SW performance, although you need a wire antenna (even an indoor wire will do). FM is great, also has RDS.
Not my favorite because it's a bit of a battery hog and doesn't sound the best, either on speaker or headphones, except on SSB where it sounds pretty good.
But opinions on receivers are a dime a dozen. The best receiver is the one you have that you enjoy using. Even old multiband transistors can make for a fun listening experience. If it's not fun, then what's the point?
Not my favorite because it's a bit of a battery hog and doesn't sound the best, either on speaker or headphones, except on SSB where it sounds pretty good.
But opinions on receivers are a dime a dozen. The best receiver is the one you have that you enjoy using. Even old multiband transistors can make for a fun listening experience. If it's not fun, then what's the point?
The title of this thread is "Best HF Receiver ever" and many of the models recently mentioned just don't rate for that. I used to subscribe to a "Premium Receiver" group that discussed high performance, high end receivers and things like the WJ-1000 or Harris RF-590, Rohde & Schwarz and maybe some JRC models are mentioned but nothing by Yaesu, Kenwood, Radio Shack, Sangean and the like. You would get laughed of the list for bringing them up.
Unfortunately not that many people get to experience a truly high end receiver so for most of us it might be that Yaesu or Sangean that sets the bar for you. That doesn't mean they should rate in the best ever arena.
prcguy
Unfortunately not that many people get to experience a truly high end receiver so for most of us it might be that Yaesu or Sangean that sets the bar for you. That doesn't mean they should rate in the best ever arena.
prcguy
Hi prcguy,
True, but that is what makes the journey that much more fun, and threads like this interesting. May we all have the chance to experience the best, and also remember the joys of that first signal distant signal we were barley able to copy over the crappiest of radios. And... hopefully ... share the experiences.
True, but that is what makes the journey that much more fun, and threads like this interesting. May we all have the chance to experience the best, and also remember the joys of that first signal distant signal we were barley able to copy over the crappiest of radios. And... hopefully ... share the experiences.
Yes, Rohde&Schwartz makes some amazing radios. Like their ESMD model.
https://www.rohde-schwarz.com/us/product/esmd-productstartpage_63493-9558.html
It comes in three versions:
8 Khz to 3.6 Ghz
20 Khz to 26.5 Ghz
20 Mhz to 40 Ghz.
Around $60,000. .. There's a discussion about this radio on RR. https://forums.radioreference.com/h...7355-have-spare-60-000-usd-laying-around.html
Token
Member
I am thinking that possibly your memory of this is a bit clouded by time.
I have owned several WR1000i's, in fact I still have one operational, in a working computer, and a second in a bag. This receiver is what made me switch from Mac to PC back in 1997, I wanted a WR1000i but they would not work with a Mac.
Since then, and today, I have owned many pieces of WinRadio gear, the WR1000i, the WR-1550i and e, the WR-3550e, a few different G303/305/315's, the G31DDCe, G33DDCe, and I have used the G35DDCi and G39DDCe. I like WinRadio products, and the WR1000i was what set the hook.
However the WR1000i was/is really a ho-hum radio, particularly in regards to HF performance.
Yes, it is wide banded (the US version was cell blocked), and yes it is "all mode" (all mode in this case being AM, FMN, FMW, and SSB), but the filter selection is abysmal. It does NOT have discrete USB/LSB, but rather has a BFO. The BFO Offset control is in the upper right corner of the GUI. It does not have a specific CW mode, rather you just use the SSB setting, with its relatively wide filters. It has a single filter it uses for the AM and SSB selections, and of course that means for CW also, but at 6 kHz width (at the 6 dB points) that is VERY wide for SSB, and a positive Grand Canyon for CW.
You are right, it is pretty low noise, particularly on HF, but that is not because of excellent LO design or low phase noise, rather it is a result of fairly mundane sensitivity.
It was not much of an HF receiver, but it was a fair to good VHF/UHF scanner.
For its day it was ground breaking in features and capability, with OK (but not great) performance. It suffered many of the same issues that other DC to daylight rigs had, poor selectivity, intermod (although not horrible in this aspect), so-so dynamic range, and such. It was a "jack of all trades, master of none".
Also, not sure what you mean by "DC-dailight (0.5-1300 MHz) which for 1979 was amazing" For 1979 this would have indeed been amazing, but the WR1000i came out in 1996, and by that time there were several receivers with similar or wider operating ranges. For example the Icom R8500 came out the same year, much wider bandwidth and better performance in almost every way, of course at a higher price point. Several wideband AOR models were also out.
Of the many receivers I have owned, and do own, from tubes to SDRs, I would not place the WR1000i in the top 10, probably not in the top 20. For the day it was incredibly versatile, it showed the way radio could possibly go, and it was fun. But it was not particularly good. Not that it was horrible, just not great either. I will say it changed the way I looked at radio though, accepting for the first time that hobby radio could possibly be better without knobs and large receivers.
T!
majoco
Stirrer
To throw in my 10c worth - is there really a single radio that satisfies all requirements? IMHO the answer is no. The best option is a selection to cover the particular point of interest - if only one radio fits that particular item, then fine get that one radio, then select from the herd to cover another requirement. That's why we often have quite a few radios to cover what we need to to do. I use my WinRadio G33 to keep an eye on a particular band then use an NRD 515 or a G303 or another to pick out the single frequency to listen to - some receivers have better SSB charactistics, some are better at digging weak signals out of the mud - you pays your money and you takes your choice! I don't care for the "DC to daylight" varieties, there must be a compromise somewhere unless there's actually two or more receivers in one box - thereby losing flexibility. I have a couple of scanners and a venerable R7000 for the V/UHF stuff that do the job just fine.
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For as popular as the RACAL receivers are, no mention of the 6790/GM?
The Racal 6790s are very popular and lots of them hit the surplus market in the 90s with very fair prices. Its a very good receiver, but nowhere near the current top of the line, whatever that is.
prcguy
prcguy
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