[HBR] THE BEST receiver

[rob]

Ok folks,
Thanks for the information.
I was not looking for a specific rig as much as I was looking for a 
specific technology.
The reason for asking YOU guys, the members of this list was that you 
all have one reason or another
to want to build HBR rigs and many of you are technicians with radio 
background.


I am not comparing rigs as BEST because it has ALL bands or all modes.
Money is not an issue.

I specificly am interested in learning what is the best  40 meter CW  
circuit to pull weak
signals out of the noise using a modest 40 meter dipole antenna.

I live in the mountains .... at the bottom of a canyon... so I want to 
know how to do better than what I
have now.... which is storebought... KENWOOD TS570... which does not 
impress me at all.


One response I got said :

Tubes generate NO internal noise, as ALL "PN" junctions do, thus tubes ARE
quieter in the noise-floor department.

So that would encourage me to lean toward tube circuits.

Then this advice confused me a bit:
He said that the Drake will bring signals out of the mud that the best DSP would not.
Is the Drake 2b a superhet or what?
I want to know what kind of circuit is the best.. not a rig model to buy.
Then in the YOU WANT NEW he said something but I don't know what at all.
Sorry it went over my head.... but I did not find anything in that section that said anything that I could buy
from mouser. 
Can this be specified as parts numbers for me to get?
 If it costs $500 for something.... can you say what?

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You want old...

For CW My hands down favorite is Drake 2B 2BQ combo.
Good RF preselector.
Stable.
Q-mult(regeneration at 50KC IF) will bring signals out of the mud that the
best DSP would be hard pressed to deal with.
Look hard, they still turn up for < $100

For SSB on ham bands. Hallicrafters SX-117 with product detector blows
away 75A4. Probably spend $150 after a lot of looking

You want new?

Good RF preselector.
Stable LO, buy one of those analog devices based kits.
switching mixer (4 or 8 pole SPST solid state switch)
24 bit 96kHz sound card
linrad software (it's free, search linrad with google)
Set you back about $500 if you already have the computer.
You can watch moonbounce CW with linrad and a modest antenna-front end.

73
-Bob
AH7I
=================================================================================================================
Every design and technology is a compromise - a trade-off. Maximizing
some things results in reductions in others. What's "best" depends on
what tradeoffs *you* prefer.

For example, it is possible to build very sensitive receivers - 0.1 microvolt 
or better for 10 dB signal-to-noise ratio. But such sensitivity is usually 
attained at the cost of dynamic range. And on 7 MHz, with most antennas, that 
much sensitivity is wasted
because the background noise picked up by the antenna is much greater than 
0.1
microvolt.  
AH7I
=================================================================================================================
Take a look at Direct conversioon phasing receivers. There is 
a ton of info on the net. Google KKB7