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Reviews For: SuperSCAF by AFTRONICS

Category: Filters, Audio: (DSP and others)

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Review Summary For : SuperSCAF by AFTRONICS
Reviews: 1MSRP: unknown
Description:
The SuperSCAF made by AFTRONICS is an versatile audio bandpass filter. The upper and lower frequencies are selectable by thumbwheel switches between 100Hz and 4kHz. It has a "filter in/out" switch and a 1/4" phones connector which takes over the audio signal. This filter has a power supply inside and needs 110Vac.
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0015
DH5AK Rating: 2018-12-16
Does a very fine job! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The AFTRONICS SuperSCAF is one of three audio filters I own. I have been looking quite a while for this filter and bought it very cheap. These filters are sold for some 100,- USD.

This filter uses two different ICs which belong to the family of switched audio capacitor filters. One IC has the task of the lowpass filter, the other has the task of the highpass filter. Both filters have high orders and therefore quite steep edges! The frequencies for both of these filters are selected by thumbwheel switches.

This filter has an internal mains supply for 110V as the filter ICs need a negative supply voltage too. I live in DL and we have 230V here. So I exchanged the original mains transformer, which had no 230V tap, for a matching one. This is not complicated.

The filter itself does a VERY fine job, no ringing when you set the filter edges very close, just very low noise level and absolutely NO audiable artesfacts as with many or most DSP-filters.

One disadvantage are the thumbwheel switches for setting the upper and lower frequency edges. One may feel a bit uncomfortable with this kind of selecting the frequencies. However, when using this filter for CW, I have a preferred frequency I like most to listen to dits and dahs. So I do NOT change the settings of this filter REALLY often. When using it for RTTY or PSK31 it is about the same. I watch the spectrum display or use my ears and set the filter that it matches the needs - but I do NOT set the filter again and again and again. So the thumbwheel switches are not THAT awkward than one may think. These ARDUINO-freaks may add an incremental knob here but I think this effort is not really neccssary.

I love this filter as it performance is excellent and in many cases (CW, data modes, SSB) by far superior than these modern DSP-filters.

There is a "sister product" for this filter named "Smart Filter" which was made by MSC. This filter uses the same chipset but does not use the thumbwheel switches. The Samrt Filter has the same audio performance but is a bit more versatile through is PERFECT user interface. I wrote a review of this one as well here at eham.

All in all, if you look for an audio filter and you see one of these in the web or on a swap meeting, you can buy it without risk. However, these filters are really rare!
Sometimes these filters do not work properly in the first try, as there are a few electrolytic capacitors dried out due to their age. These filters are really OLD! But with half an hour of work and a set of a few fresh electrolytics they come to life again - you can be sure!

73 de Andy DH5AK