[Elecraft] The KX3 as a shortwave broadcast receiver

[Jim Brown]

On 7/15/2013 6:41 PM, gteague wrote:
> great review! i read most every review and article you post.

Those looking for a broadcast receiver would do well to look at the 
Tecsun product line, imported by the same folks who import Kaito. There 
are a dozen or so models ranging in cost from about $45 to about $100. 
About half of them are DSP radios using a Silicon Labs chip, and yield 
excellent performance on both AM and FM. Most of them cover LW (below 
the AM broadcast band), all of them cover "short wave" broadcast bands, 
and a few cover the part of the VHF spectrum used by aircraft.  A few 
models have detectors for SSB. AM bandwidth is switchable to provide 
audio bandwidth in several steps between 1 kHz and 6 kHz.

I have three radios using the Silicon Labs chips -- a $100 Sony 
(discontinued, selling for $500 used if you can find them), a Tecsun 380 
($45), and an Insignia FM-only HD radio sold by Best Buy ($50). The RF 
performance can only be described as amazing.  Here in the Santa Cruz 
mountains, I wanted to hear KQED from San Francisco, with a mountain 
between us. With a long Yagi pointed at it, KQED was noisy on both my 
Technics ST9030 and Carver TX11B, but nearly full quieting on all three 
DSP radios. More impressive, the Technics and Carver heard full quieting 
signals from 1,000 W stations 50 miles away on 91.5 and 91.9, and 
nothing but noise on 91.7.  All three DSP radios hear a station on 91.7 
nearly full quieting from near San Luis Obispo, and off the back of the 
Yagi!

The Tecsun and Insignia radios run on AA batteries or a wall wart, can 
be connected to an external antenna with a clip lead, and have a 
headphone output that can feed a high quality audio system.  .BTW -- I 
also own three of the GE Super Radio III, which is one of the best AM 
broadcast receivers around. It was designed by a consortium of broadcast 
engineers in the 70s, when they were trying to "save AM." It has a 10 
kHz notch filter, and the IF bandwidth is switchable to >20 kHz. It's 
been out of production since the marketing turkeys who bought the RCA 
name bought the division of GE that made it, but the original GE Super 
Radio is still around on the auction sites.

Very thorough engineering reviews (and a lot of other great material)  
by Brian Beezley, K6STI, of the Technics, Carver, and Sony receivers can 
be found at http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/index.html

73, Jim K9YC