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Author Topic: What are you listening with?  (Read 125876 times)

NB4T

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RE: What are you listening with?
« Reply #75 on: September 28, 2019, 06:42:38 PM »

 My Drake SPR-4 works as good now as when I bought it many years ago. Can't beat Drake quality.  NB4T
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N8FVJ

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RE: What are you listening with?
« Reply #76 on: October 17, 2019, 02:29:02 AM »

I use a National NC-57, National NC-125 and a Tucsun PL-310ET now.
UPDATE: Sold the radios above and have better performance from a 1938 17 tube Midwest console radio. Use a loop antenna on US AM broadcast bands.
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UTESWL

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Re: What are you listening with?
« Reply #77 on: October 29, 2019, 02:22:07 PM »

SDRPlay RSP-1a SDR, laptop and W6LVP magnetic loop antenna.
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N7FAE

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Re: What are you listening with?
« Reply #78 on: October 29, 2019, 02:37:53 PM »

SWL has always been my main activity.
Current Radios I am using (dependent upon frequency of interest & time of day):
#1 ICOM IC-9100 with 45' End Fed/magnetic Balun (Great RX, all the 'Knobs' I need hi)
#2 ICOM IC-751A, same Ant, (sometimes, beats them all)
#3 AOR AR5001D SDR with Broadband Vertical (Excellent LW & MW, but have to 'drill down' in too many menus too often)

73's Leonard, N7FAE :)
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K4PIH

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Re: What are you listening with?
« Reply #79 on: February 18, 2020, 05:45:51 PM »

Yaesu FRG 7700. Also an old Zenith trans-oceanic and a Lafayette HA230. Got an Icom R71 in the works.
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K7FD

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Re: What are you listening with?
« Reply #80 on: February 18, 2020, 09:41:27 PM »

IC-R70, IC-R8600, and R30C

John WPE7COH
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HFCRUSR

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Re: RE: What are you listening with?
« Reply #81 on: February 19, 2020, 09:00:14 PM »

My trusty Icom r71a is my main RXer, with my r75 alongside it now at my listening desk-and my old buddy SX-88 has recently been moved to bedside for the day's end DXs because, as you pointed out, there aint no sub for the tubes when it comes to distant or eerie stuff which are good things for crappin' out time :o
Since this post in 2014 I should update. Main receiver at the desk is now an Icom R8600 I bought in August 2018 after my R71A took a crap. SX-88 still running very well at one side of the bed, matter of fact it's running right now on 5085 WTWW for some exercise. At the other end of the bed sits my Realistic DX-160 which I run every single night to fall asleep to music on either 920MW out of Ceres, Ca. or 930MW out of Ogden, Utah.
My R75 is in the living room at the Lazy-Boy. That one and the SX-88 both use the 100' endfed wire up 40'. The DX-160 and the R8600 both use the Wellbrook ALA1530s loop up 50'.
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Not a ham, but an avid hobbyist in HF world. All things, short of transmit happen in this shack.

ALPARD

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Re: What are you listening with?
« Reply #82 on: March 20, 2020, 02:13:27 PM »

Recently picked up this Lafayette HE-40. When powered on first time, it exploded with smoke and burn smell.  I spent a couple of days to repair it.  It was getting really tricky at times due to having non isolating transformer, and it was keep burning more parts.

But managed to sort everything out in the end, replacing a few parts.  It is now working quite nice, and have been enjoying some SWLing for a change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVELeCs2N48

The S meter doesn't work when BFO is switched on. Not sure if it is like that originally or something is a miss with this radio. It works fine in AM mode with the BFO off.
« Last Edit: March 20, 2020, 02:15:53 PM by ALPARD »
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VR2AX

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Re: What are you listening with?
« Reply #83 on: March 20, 2020, 02:31:39 PM »

The S meter is likely a design issue. My Heathkit RA-1 also has no S meter function when the BFO is switched on. That is now awaiting a rebuild.

Lafayettes were marketed in the 60s in a London store in off-Soho, I think in Lisle Street, named GW Radio or similar. They mostly sold ex-WW2 surplus gear.
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ALPARD

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Re: What are you listening with?
« Reply #84 on: March 20, 2020, 02:41:16 PM »

Thanks for your info. Good luck with your rebuilding the RA-1.
I find this HE-40 is a good receiver,  dynamic and sensitive,  fun to listen about the bands with just a piece of wire in the attic. Very simple design with only 4 tubes.
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VK3ZT

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Re: What are you listening with?
« Reply #85 on: March 23, 2020, 08:26:37 PM »

I am listening with a Palstar R30A through a Palstar SP30A audiophile communications speaker.  The antennas are two Par Endfed SWL antennas.  One run West - East and the other North - South which can be interchanged via a RF coax switch on the bench.  I love the old nostalgia looks and feel and driving the radio.  I blame this on too many years of driving PC's.  PC's have their use at work, though not for me when it comes to kicking back and listening to MW and SW AM broadcast stations.

I use the WRTH handbook to line up my list of stations to listen to for a night time and MW during the day and of an early evening.

I must be getting old as I fine TV too busy and information overload.  It is the closest to reading a book where one has to use your imagination and picture where cites, towns and countries are, instead of being flooded with images.

I also own a Ten-Tec Orion II for ham use.  Though my goto radio is the Palstar R30A for listening.

Warm regards,

Paul.
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ALPARD

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Re: What are you listening with?
« Reply #86 on: March 31, 2020, 04:17:40 AM »

I have been getting all the news just from SW broadcast stations for a few year now.
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VK6IS

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Re: What are you listening with?
« Reply #87 on: April 11, 2020, 11:01:52 PM »

finally managed to get another dipole up & working,
and once the 80m & 40m ham bands were checked .. nothing heard @ 0500z

then moved the TS680s to 15Mhz then 16Mhz then 17Mhz .. Chinese stations everywhere.
- - nothing else, but at least in English Language .. loads of them  :o
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ALPARD

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Re: What are you listening with?
« Reply #88 on: April 20, 2020, 02:28:50 AM »

Yeah, the BCL SW bands are booming recently.  One really must be aware the time of SWLing and the bands to tune about.
There will be not very much, if one tunes about 49m, 41m during the day. They come up live and busy from 5pm onwards to late nights.  Day time bands are 16m, 19m bands.

But 9Mhz 31m and 11Mhz, they are active most of time during days. Come evenings, there are stations every space in the tuning scale.

I find more non English language service on SW, and it bugs me at times. I don't understand what they are talking about.
Why everyone on earth use just one language = English? It would be more communicative :D or is it maybe too much to ask to SW BC stations?
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N8YX

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Re: What are you listening with?
« Reply #89 on: April 22, 2020, 08:34:03 AM »

Since replying to this thread some time back I managed to snag an NRD-515 and a NDH-515 memory module. First item of business is to check both out, then see which filters are fitted in the receiver and add a few if required. A couple other mods are in the works for both units then it's onto the operating desk, to be paired with an FT-901DM and associated accessories as my upper HF (24-30MHz) operating position.

Another operating position - either in a rack or on an extra desk - is being planned. This will have a Mackay Marine 30301A, a 3030AR and a Tektronix TM-506 mainframe which houses two DAC RCW-320Ts and an SC-502 (or pair of SC-501s). The 320Ts are lab-grade audio processors and I'll connect them to the receiver's Line Out terminals, then route their outputs to a stereo audio amplifier. The scopes can be used as RTTY tuning indicators or to examine the recovered/filtered audio.

The 3030AR came with a RTTY filter, which is currently in the 3031A. I'm going to put it in the original unit then build a LSB filter for the 3031A. That, or buy a 3041A if I can ever find one.

Will make for an interesting Ute monitoring station when done.
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