[Premium-Rx] Help choosing HF receiver

[Arthur Delibert]

Although not on your list, I would suggest the Ten-Tec RX340.  I have been using one for several years and find it extremely capable.  (I had also tried the AR-7030, NRD-545, etc., but when I run them side-by-side with the 340, the 340 is the winner.)  The SSB audio quality is excellent, bandwidths are extremely flexible, and ergonomics are thoughtfully designed.  It's surprisingly light-weight and has a smaller footprint on the desk than most other professional receivers.

There are two drawbacks.  First, the close-in dynamic range is poor.  In practice, this is rarely a problem, especially in the tropical bands.  It could be a real problem in the ham bands, where strong signals can pop up anywhere, any time.  Second, the synchronous AM doesn't hold lock as well as some consumer receivers; this can be remedied with the Sherwood Engineering SE-3 synchronous detector.

I suggest you try to find John Wilson's review of the 340 in the October 2001 Short Wave Magazine.  He gives a much better feel for the radio than does Larry Magne's review in Passport.  For example, Magne criticizes the 340 because not all bandwidths are available in all modes; that could be a real limitation, but Wilson explains that in practice, for the synch detector the bandwidth must be at least 4 kHz (not a problem is you're using the Sherwood SE-3, in which case  you can use any BW), and for ISB the bandwidth is fixed at 3.2 kHz.  Otherwise, all BWs are available in all modes.

Regards,
Art Delibert, KB3FJO


________________________________
From: premium-rx-bounces at mailman.qth.net <premium-rx-bounces at mailman.qth.net> on behalf of Enrique Fernandez García via Premium-Rx <premium-rx at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, July 1, 2023 4:34 PM
To: premium-rx at mailman.qth.net <premium-rx at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [Premium-Rx] Help choosing HF receiver

Dear group,

After having some conventional receivers, Drakes, Lowe, AOR and a Winradio SDR I have decided to make a step further and geting a professional receiver, although I had already got a Racal 1772 and for my taste it was quite noisy.

I would be very pleased if the members of this forum could indicate me in the right direction and throw some light in which receiver to choose since I am a bit confused in this aspect.

I am mainly interested in voice signals, not digital modes, mainly BCB and SWL, digging tropical band stations out of the mud so audio recovery and audio in general is quite important.

After surfing the web and readind on eham and in forums, I have in mind these receivers (in no special order):

 -Racal 3791, but it is said that the audio is not as pleasant as the RA 3701.
 -Racal 3701, on the contrary of the DSP version RA3791 is an analogic IF design  and as indicated before its sound is ways better but it does not have the additional independent IF BW options
- R&S EK895, with the quasi-continuous tuning fitted.
- WJ 8711A
- Cubic CDR-3280

 Any help and thoughts are very wellcomed. Any other receiver apart from the above?

 Thanks in advance
 Regards
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