Professional HF Receivers

[pjxii]

For years I've always wanted something even higher end than a top Drake or JRC consumer receiver. The Rohde and Schwarz EK070 or any Telefunken E-1xxx receiver was always on my "want to own one day" list. I never got one but my Cubic CDR-3250 satisfied my fix. I am not in a position to attach a really long signal grabbing antenna yet, but understand that these things are designed to just not overload. Harris, Racal and Watkins-Johnson have such a great reputation, too.

Just curious for anyone who owns a Prof RX, despite the lack of notch filter and PB tuning, do you feel it gives you what you wanted or expected? The Cubic shines in audio quality, just amazing how clear it makes speech on all signals with the limited antenna I do have compared to the Lowe HF-225E. Of course, I'm referring to the older stand-alone radios, not SDRs which they've all changed over to.

 

[hardsuit]

pjxii - then why not try the Alinco DJ-R8T, Its about $500 and its 150 - 30000Khz. Dual VFO .

 

[pjxii]

pjxii - then why not try the Alinco DJ-R8T, Its about $500 and its 150 - 30000Khz. Dual VFO .

Thanks, hardsuit, I've heard good things about the Alinco. What I'm actually asking is about whether DXers who bought what's considered a premium receiver like the Cubic, Racal 6790 WJ8718 etc got what they were expecting or hoping for. I sure did.

 

[dlwtrunked]

For years I've always wanted something even higher end than a top Drake or JRC consumer receiver. The Rohde and Schwarz EK070 or any Telefunken E-1xxx receiver was always on my "want to own one day" list. I never got one but my Cubic CDR-3250 satisfied my fix. I am not in a position to attach a really long signal grabbing antenna yet, but understand that these things are designed to just not overload. Harris, Racal and Watkins-Johnson have such a great reputation, too.

Just curious for anyone who owns a Prof RX, despite the lack of notch filter and PB tuning, do you feel it gives you what you wanted or expected? The Cubic shines in audio quality, just amazing how clear it makes speech on all signals with the limited antenna I do have compared to the Lowe HF-225E. Of course, I'm referring to the older stand-alone radios, not SDRs which they've all changed over to.

I have an ICOM R9500 which might qualify. But I would probably trade it for two R8600s. There is only so much one can do to make a radio" better".

 

[prcguy]

I owned a Harris RF-590 and a 590A with phase matched crystal filters plus an older Racal but I forget the model, a Cubic that I also forget the model but it was long and skinny with a black face, LED frequency readout and lever switches for frequency selection, plus others I forget.

Turns out modern amateur transceivers like my Elecraft K3 and KX3, Icom 7610 and my new Icom R8600 have better specs than just about all the high end premium receivers made in the 70s through the early 2000's. A K3 will pick out and hear a signal that a Harris or Racal or WJ or Cubic cannot. The only thing a Harris 590 will do better than an Icom R8600 is its glorious wide band audio on a good AM broadcast station.

However I do admire and appreciate the engineering and build quality of a premium VLF/HF receiver made in the US or UK and do enjoy using them.

 

[pjxii]

I owned a Harris RF-590 and a 590A with phase matched crystal filters plus an older Racal but I forget the model, a Cubic that I also forget the model but it was long and skinny with a black face, LED frequency readout and lever switches for frequency selection, plus others I forget.

Turns out modern amateur transceivers like my Elecraft K3 and KX3, Icom 7610 and my new Icom R8600 have better specs than just about all the high end premium receivers made in the 70s through the early 2000's. A K3 will pick out and hear a signal that a Harris or Racal or WJ or Cubic cannot. The only thing a Harris 590 will do better than an Icom R8600 is its glorious wide band audio on a good AM broadcast station.

However I do admire and appreciate the engineering and build quality of a premium VLF/HF receiver made in the US or UK and do enjoy using them.

Wow, this says a lot about the '8600! The general consensus does seem to be that its terrific in every way, and I'm really glad to see that Icom is still making dedicated receivers and improving them with each model. Very wideband seems to be the way they're all going (at least AOR was previously, do they still make receivers?) which is probably more sensical as opposed to a dedicated HF that stops coverage at 30 MHz. I'd probably never tune it much higher than 18 MHz but that is just my listening habit.

Did you read Dan Robinson's review and comparisons and do you agree with him? He's well known for his mil-spec receiver collection.

https://swling.com/blog/tag/icom-ic-r8600-review/

 

[prcguy]

I've read Dan Robinson's review before and agree. However, he is only interested in short wave AM reception, and some radios will have better sounding detected AM audio than the R8600, which is no slouch there. Where the R8600 will whip all others butts is picking out a weak SSB or CW signal on ham radio field day with tons of high power signals very close spaced either side of the weak signal. This is where the Icom 8600 and the new breed of ham transceivers excel and will overtake the "premium" Harris, WJ, Drake, JRC, Mckay, etc receivers.

Wow, this says a lot about the '8600! The general consensus does seem to be that its terrific in every way, and I'm really glad to see that Icom is still making dedicated receivers and improving them with each model. Very wideband seems to be the way they're all going (at least AOR was previously, do they still make receivers?) which is probably more sensical as opposed to a dedicated HF that stops coverage at 30 MHz. I'd probably never tune it much higher than 18 MHz but that is just my listening habit.

Did you read Dan Robinson's review and comparisons and do you agree with him? He's well known for his mil-spec receiver collection.

https://swling.com/blog/tag/icom-ic-r8600-review/

 

[ka3aaa]

I am partial to AOR myself and secondly a receiver is only as good as the antenna that is attached to it.

 

[zz0468]

I've got a Watkins Johnson 8716, and an ITT Mackay 3041. Both are devoid of features, and very high on performance and audio quality. Love 'em!

 

[majoco]

I have a Debeg 7313 marine receiver which is a rebadged Skanti R5000 - devoid of bells and whistles, USB and AM only but has a good preselector to keep the nasties out. Just as sensitive as my NRD515 and much better AM audio thanks to a broad passband - no filter!

 

[mbott]

For years I've always wanted something even higher end than a top Drake or JRC consumer receiver. The Rohde and Schwarz EK070 or any Telefunken E-1xxx receiver was always on my "want to own one day" list. I never got one but my Cubic CDR-3250 satisfied my fix. <snip>

I've thought that I would always try and have at least one radio that was more "high-end". When the JRC NRD-535D came available at Universal, I had been watching for the pricing on the R8600 to break a bit.

But the more I thought about it, the R8600 was just too much for my needs. Since I rarely get above 30mHz (my nose starts to bleed), there would be a lot of capability I would not use with it. The NRD-535D has met my needs with great results. And now, the Icom R71A is proving to be quite capable too. Obviously, I don't have one of the others to compare against, but I find it hard to believe that they could be that more effective than the JRC or Icom. If I'm wrong, I'll remain happy in my ignorance.

--
Mike

 

[iMONITOR]

Consider ICOM's IC-7300 for forget the fact that it's a transceiver!

 

[radiostationx]

Consider any HF tranciever, you will probably find that in future you will want to upgrade, there is a bigger market for a secondhand tranciever in comparison to rx only.
Trancievers are better value for money also, for decades the big 4 manufacturers have been ripping listeners off..they give you less in an rx,well they throw in a feeble internal psu & sell you it at roughly the same price as a txcr and smile while they are taking your cash.
There are some bargains out there, TS870S,TS570D, IC746, IC756 (all flavours),FT1000mpac, etc, lovely radios.

 

[k7ng]

Consider ICOM's IC-7300 for forget the fact that it's a transceiver!

+1 !

 

[mbott]

Consider ICOM's IC-7300 for forget the fact that it's a transceiver!

I've already tested the water on this.

--
Mike

 

[zz0468]

+1 !

If someone is going to do that, make it a K3.