What’s the best HF non SDR Donglr radio under $500
Best HF Receiver
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ka3jjz
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Really? That question is about as wide as a barn door. Desktop or portable? Ham radio transceiver?
The HF Desktop market is gone; you are left with ham radio transceivers that often have a general coverage radio built in, or a high end portable such as the Tecsun H-501 or the Belka. There are wide band radios like the Icom R-8600 that can fill the bill if you can bump the budget.
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Mike
The HF Desktop market is gone; you are left with ham radio transceivers that often have a general coverage radio built in, or a high end portable such as the Tecsun H-501 or the Belka. There are wide band radios like the Icom R-8600 that can fill the bill if you can bump the budget.
Category:Receiver Reviews - The RadioReference Wiki
Mike
Probably a portable but would prefer a desktopReally? That question is about as wide as a barn door. Desktop or portable? Ham radio transceiver?
The HF Desktop market is gone; you are left with ham radio transceivers that often have a general coverage radio built in, or a high end portable such as the Tecsun H-501 or the Belka. There are wide band radios like the Icom R-8600 that can fill the bill if you can bump the budget.
Category:Receiver Reviews - The RadioReference Wiki
Mike
Does it need to be new from the factory or would a "previously owned" receiver/transceiver be considered?
Previously owned in good condition
Do eBay searches for a "Drake Receiver" and an "Icom Receiver". Let us know if anything looks appealing to you. A Google search on your pick(s) should yield additional information.
Among the tabletop receivers I have are a Drake R8B and Icom R-75, both of which are excellent receivers and were produced into the 2000's.
The R8B has the best audio and is a hot performer on the MW/AM broadcast band. It has an analog S-meter, synchronous AM mode, and has a relatively large footprint. The R8B has two predecessors, the R8 and R8A, which are essentially the same performance-wise. I also have an R8, which has an optical encoder. The optical encoder is more reliable than the mechanical encoder found on the R8A and R8B which reportedly have a higher failure rate.
I have had no issues with the R8B in over 20 years of ownership. The R8's internal power supply did fail.
The R75 is also a very sensitive receiver and has DSP. I find its audio a bit harsher, and prefer it for utility stations It is also noticeably smaller than the Drake.
You won't go wrong with either receiver. If interested, you can check reviews on Eham.net https://www.eham.net/
I also have a Japan Radio Co NRD-515 and NRD-525, and a Kenwood R-5000, all of which I would highly recommend. However, they are all older than the R8B and R-75. The NRD 515 was introduced in 1980 and discontinued in 1986, when the 525 was introduced. The R-5000 was discontinued in the late 90's.
The R8B has the best audio and is a hot performer on the MW/AM broadcast band. It has an analog S-meter, synchronous AM mode, and has a relatively large footprint. The R8B has two predecessors, the R8 and R8A, which are essentially the same performance-wise. I also have an R8, which has an optical encoder. The optical encoder is more reliable than the mechanical encoder found on the R8A and R8B which reportedly have a higher failure rate.
I have had no issues with the R8B in over 20 years of ownership. The R8's internal power supply did fail.
The R75 is also a very sensitive receiver and has DSP. I find its audio a bit harsher, and prefer it for utility stations It is also noticeably smaller than the Drake.
You won't go wrong with either receiver. If interested, you can check reviews on Eham.net https://www.eham.net/
I also have a Japan Radio Co NRD-515 and NRD-525, and a Kenwood R-5000, all of which I would highly recommend. However, they are all older than the R8B and R-75. The NRD 515 was introduced in 1980 and discontinued in 1986, when the 525 was introduced. The R-5000 was discontinued in the late 90's.
pjxii
Member
What are you looking to listen to, broadcast stations, utilities, hams SSB or CW...?
The R-5000 was *the* receiver of that era (late 80's - 90's), and was found in the shacks of many serious DX'ers. Just keep in mind that the R-5000 was introduced in 1987 and the oldest units are closing in on 40 years old. The R-5000 has a known issue with keyboard bounce, and the "dots" issue where the numerals in the display show up as dots. The "dots" issue is usually cured by replacing the internal memory back-up battery, which is soldered in. Also, figure that it has aging electrolytic capacitors that may need to be replaced.
I have no issues with my 1990 vintage R-5000, which I bought used. As far as I know, it was never serviced. Mine came from Universal Radio, which unfortunately closed several years ago.
Try to buy only from a reputable seller and ask a lot of questions. A reputable seller will disclose any issues the radio has, and if any service has been performed on the unit.
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He does need to bump the budget and his allowed answers. Picking "the best" when you have eliminated most of "the best" makes picking hard. And in this case, *some* of us see 4 categories: inexpensive portables that some think are good (but we disagree)*, SDRs around $200 which are very good, and expensive receivers or transceivers that are quite a bit more expensive.Really? That question is about as wide as a barn door. Desktop or portable? Ham radio transceiver?
The HF Desktop market is gone; you are left with ham radio transceivers that often have a general coverage radio built in, or a high end portable such as the Tecsun H-501 or the Belka. There are wide band radios like the Icom R-8600 that can fill the bill if you can bump the budget.
Category:Receiver Reviews - The RadioReference Wiki
Mike
* Footnote: If their were actually good "best" cheap radios, there would not be expensive ones.
If you get a good SW receiver, ground it well and I have found that a good isolation transformer for the radio to plug into will reduce AC line current noise. Sometimes a little, and sometimes a lot. Shielding the AC line plug wire going into the radio helps, too.
Seems like a lot of excess work to do, but with all the electronic and electrical noise in most homes now, one has to experiment to get rid of excess hash to get that signal from Antarctica...
Seems like a lot of excess work to do, but with all the electronic and electrical noise in most homes now, one has to experiment to get rid of excess hash to get that signal from Antarctica...
The R-8600 would require the OP to quadruple his budget, though there are new HF transceivers that are cheaper. Even a used R-8600 would be well above the OP's $500 budget.
IMHO, $500 is sufficient to score a good older tabletop receiver that was top of the line in its day. Properly aligned, they are hard to beat even today.
K0WWX
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I agree that the receivers being mentioned are still competitive with newer models, and that if you take your time looking that $500 is easily enough to get any of the Kenwoods (1000/2000/5000) and Icoms (R70/R71/R75). However, it is probably not enough to get a JRC receiver (515/525/535/545) in good condition. It's not not nearly enough to get a Drake R7 and probably just barely enough to get a well kept Drake R8.
That's why I recommended the R-5000 as perhaps the best available desktop choice for the OP's budget based on my own experience, but the Icoms are also well worth a look.
Agreed, the R-5000 is a good one to consider, as is the R-1000 and R-2000. The R-1000 appears to be especially reliable, per reviews on Eham.
A Drake R8B in good condition will usually fetch more than $500, as will the R8A. The R8 used to come in at or under $500, but it's been years since I've checked prices.
As for theJRC receivers, I paid $800 for my 515 about 7 or 8 years ago. I forget what I paid for the 525, which came from Universal Radio.
The Drake R7 is a grail receiver for many - no idea what these go for, but they seem to be fairly rare.
Also agree with your recommendation on the Icom R70/71/75. The R71 had a quirk with the back-up battery. If it failed, the receiver's operating software would be lost, requiring it to be re-programmed by Icom.
Squeeze the wallet a bit more and grab a used Icom R30 for under $700. To give you an idea of the valuation over time, I purchased a used Icom R30 in 2020 for $400. For a RX comparison, the selectivity and sensitivity are improved over a Kenwood D74 amateur portable that offers HF receive as well. Of course, the R30 is a dedicated receiver.
Where are you seeing a R-30 for under 700 bucks? Just curious.
The R-30 is a handheld receiver and the OP is looking for a desktop. $700 for a used R-30 would be the deal of the century.
Eh ya that would almost make me go after it and I don't need it. I've got enough to receive on around here but.....
I know early on he said:
but to be honest an R-30 would put most the others mentioned to shame capability wise.
Kenwood R5000 what a great receiver...! are they going for $500 or less? if they are get one , I had one another dumb move on my part selling it like my AOR AR5000 .... 73,s Marcy
