I and others discussed several brands of low pass filters as possible solutions. The Kiwa 500 KHz cut off model is $120. Rejection of low frequency BCB stations is problematic. A broadcaster on 580 KHz is especially strong at my QTH. OTOH the Jackson Harbor converter kit is under $20.

The Palomar converter is available for IF outputs of either 3.5 or 4.0 MHz. I bought the later model which isn't ideal with a Flex due to lack of band pass filtering in that range. Some IF leakage can be heard and seen on the panadaptor.  I listen to longwave with my ham antenna which produces weak longwave signals that occasionally aren't strong enough to override the leakage. But it's NOT a huge problem.

In the 3.5 MHz ham band, where Flex filtering is excellent, IF artifacts are weak. Some can be detected on the panadaptor with the antenna removed but they would never be a problem even with the worst of antennas, such as a few feet of wire.  A VLF converter with output in the 80 meter ham band turns a Flex-5000 into a fabulous longwave receiver, with advanced features including customizable bandwidth, synchronous AM, great noise reduction and tracking notch filtering, and of course the panadaptor.   

I've discovered that a panadaptor is a useful accessory for BCB DXing. I can sometimes see a blip on 1521 KHz which is probably the Saudi powerhouse station. Audio from that station can't be heard in Missouri as I have to contend with 50 KW US broadcasters on 1520 kHz.  Around 170 KHz European AM broadcasters can easily be seen as panadaptor blips even when they can't be heard.       

    "Good dual band HT for someone who rarely uses one"

Same boat here. Their complexity kept me from buying a HT for 20+ years. My fave was the little ICOM IC2A, with its tuning wheels, from 30 years ago. So simple!

Just yesterday I ordered a VX3 dual bander from R&L ($185) mainly for tornado alerts. Liked the fact that it can also be used to monitor rail and air frequencies on trips. Tunes 500 kHz to 999 MHz!

It's credit card size and only puts out about 1.5 watts. I'm not sure it was exactly what I needed. Ordered the programming software and bigger whip too.
 

SWL2002, you are correct. My Flex-5000 is worthless below 530 kHz. i can't even hear local NDBs. So I use mine with an $89 Palomar VLF converter via the handy Flex converter port to hear down to 10 kHz while getting all PSDR features.

Here's a review I did on using a 5000 with a longwave converter:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/review/117564 

As for BCB reception, my 5000 works well. But for some reason it's not fully spec'd for below 1800 KHz. Perhaps it's prone to images from extremely strong local stations but I haven't had a problem. It picks up BCB DX just fine at my location. Nor have I heard complaints from other owners.

Jeesh! Another lame excuse about incompetent ham suppliers. Remotely hosted secure shopping carts are very inexpensive.

Here's the price sheet for a highly reliable system that I have experience with.
http://www.shopsite.com/ready-to-buy.html

There may still be a few free carts available. The free ones make money charging for upgraded features as stores grow. For most sellers, it's far more efficient to take orders via a cart system than by email or phone.  

No doubt the best east coast stations could make it across the Atlantic especially with some of the extreme weak signal modes... digital and QRSS. But I think current US experimental licenses specifically prohibit international contacts. Is Canada on the band? 

And a pink camo sniper rifle for lil' Susie's birthday:
http://www.ontargetgunsllc.com/uploads/3/0/2/6/3026097/4504148.jpg?436

When dad gives his 5-year old a firearm, it's an issue of rights and tradition. When he gives a BB gun, kept in "the corner," THAT's just plain moronic.

"Parents had left rifle in a corner next to boy's BB gun and didn't realize it still had a shell in it" Guess the 5-year old just meant to "shoot her eye out."


"can happen to any of us?"  My dad, who most definitely didn't shoe horses for a living, gave his kids gifts that included common sense. I eventually gave up asking him for a Red Ryder.

Bookmarked! 

Last year I endeavored to skim the early years of QST which League members can read on ARRL.org. I concluded that things weren't so different in those halcyon days "when all hams were gentlemen."

You find plenty of grousing about hams who don't QSL and those with wide signals, and there were the outspoken Spark Forever warriors in the 20s. And QST wasn't shy about printing the calls of offenders.

Main diff between then and now: Every op seemed to wear a coat and tie.

2SC2078

Also see: http://www.ohr.com/100block.jpg

You won't find much online either.

My beloved OHR100A's transmitter died several months ago while I was in contact with a DX station. It had some minor problems anyway so I didn't hesitate to send it back to Marshall Emm for a good alignment and repair. His repair tech was ill. A transistor went out. It took ages to get it back, but it works great now. Anything I can hear on my $2800 Flex-5000, I can hear on the OHR!

BTW, just received the DD-1 counter kit--still unbuilt-- and the 10-turn tuning pot which I definitely recommend if you use an outboard audio filter. My tests on the new pot show it tunes better than the stock single turn pot. So you get vastly more bandspread, precise tuning and no backlash. Works fabulously even with my Timewave set to 100Hz bandwidth!   

"heil icm mich"

Isn't that what Kennedy said at the wall in Berlin?

You gonna pay $500 for one? The CR-1 offers cuteness, and little more. From what's been posted and the YT videos, can you name anything it does well? I can't.

New problems keep cropping up: For example:
http://forums.radioreference.com/software-defined-radio/256366-new-sdr-commradio-cr-1-a-21.html

Commradio had been good about supplying bug fixes (I wouldn't characterize them as enhancements). But I haven't seen any new ones mentioned lately. Measured by posts on SWL boards, interest in the CR-1 has faded, along with its claims regarding longwave performance.

Commradio said it was targeting the ham market too. I've yet to see any test of the CR-1 in a major contest on a really good antenna and in an urban high-RF area.   

Hilarious: If 15 doesn't work... try 31!  What if 31 doesn't work???

Yep Ken, mostly just common sense. Too many hams are suckers for knobs, sliders, colored lights and meters. SIMPLICITY SHOULD BE A GOAL especially in a contest station. Ideally the only outboard boxes I'd want would be those controlling huge stacks of antennas.

I own some of those old Radio Shack switching units (wow, knobs!). I use the unit you show to switch my keyer between three radios.  Note that they can pick up RF.

As for the mixers and EQ dealies, they too can cause more problems than they cure, especially in stations running high power.

 "former 'Baywatch' star makes the fourth contestant to injure themselves on the ABC reality show. [Splash TV Show]

From her photo, perhaps her body wasn't properly "balanced" for diving

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/nciole-eggert-hospitalized-diving-injury-splash-article-1.1322737#ixzz2R1SKc8Ae