There are lots of receiver schematics floating around the internet. I'm just sayin'. Some are very simple (but still lots of fun) and some are high-performance. Listening to them is almost as much fun as building them.
Why don't you check the specs on professional communications equipment and know what you are talking about before you start shooting your mouth off about things you have no knowledge about. Here is a list of my equipment: SGC SG-2020 - ham rig, but max 2.7Khz filter and no AM SGC SG-2000 PowerTalk - comercial land/marine/air radio - 2.7 Khz filters SGC SG-2000 Standard - comercial land/marine/air radio - 2.7 Khz filters TW-100 - comerical/military land/marine raido - 2.7 Khz filters - no AM RX Icom ic-m700 - comercial marine radio - 2.7 Khz filters - no AM RX Then of course while not general coverage my old FT-101B does get broadcasts on 40 and 30 meters, but only has 2.7Khz and 500hz filters. You will note the above comerical radios were designed as high end 2 way communications gear. They are very good at their job, which is 2-way communications quality audio. They are not so good on broadcast which may go from 100Hz to 10Khz for the audio component. Yes if you have a 6Khz filter in your communications gear the broadcasts will sound better than a 2.7 Khz filter, but keep in mind that AM broadcast audio can be as high as 10Khz.
AF4RK - just wondering , are you a bit simple or do you just try and stir up trouble online ? One moment you suggest using a 25 dollar SDR , which by the way are poor at everything that they do. Then when another Ham gives you a perfectly valid reason why they suck , and no doubt referring to a 25 dollar SDR based on your previous comment which he quoted so there would be no misunderstanding , , you come back with calling his view ''typical hot air on the ZED'' , stating your 1400 dollar SDR Icom works fine. Big woopty doo if your Icom works fine ,, as the following comments were related to a 25 dollars SDR , and not the Icom. Is your reading comprehension so poor that you are unable to make the connection there ? gregW OH2FFY PS - SDR isn't 21st century , it has been around for ages ,, it was invented more than 30 years ago , which makes it 20th century. Raytheon had a working SDR radio in 1984.
AF4RK can you seriously think that North Miami has the same kind of RF density as New York City? I invite you to try a $25 SDR in NYC. Even SuperHet VHF/UHF radios sometimes have desense issues in the city. This is largely due to the "Wide Band" receive sections put in as a bonus. You know what does not get desensed anywhere I take it in the city? My IC-2AT from 1982 which has a front end that is only wide enough for the 2 meter band. Wideband, notune frontends have no place in high rf environments, if you want to actually have reliable communications.
Not taking sides here since there are pros and cons to using amateur radio transceiver for SWL. In my experience MW and SW sound better on SW radios. SWLing Blog With a few exceptions, purchasing a ham transceiver is pricier than purchasing a comparable dedicated broadcast receiver AM filters are often much narrower than broadcast receiver filters In many radios, you may be faced with a choice of optimizing filter selections for ham radio use (SSB or CW) or broadcast use (wide AM filters, etc.) Older general coverage transceivers (circa 1980s and 90s) may have somewhat compromised ham band receive performance Some general coverage transceivers may actually lack AM mode. All broadcast reception will basically be tuned via SSB (or better known as ECSS) General coverage transceivers typically lack synchronous detection
Well I for one can attest that the Yaesu FTDX1200 having owned this radio for two years and taking it thru its paces. With two bandwidth settings, 6khz and 9khz for AM, it provides a very nice receive audio with a surprising amount of bass, even at 6Khz which is handy to filter out adjacent interference. Even fairly weak SW stations sound pretty good in spite of any static or fading. Also the IPO setting is helpful when strong signals or strong interference can be a problem. And of course on the ham bands, the receiver works quite well on SSB and CW,with the variable width and the IF shift etc. all work fine for me, and I've owned a wide variety of radios and so far, this is the best one I've owned so far IMHO. So I'm fairly confident it will certainly out perform a $10.00 K-Mart special!!!-Just having some fun-all good. 73's Bob
You reminded me of how the attraction to radio brought to where I am. My father was traveler for the Navy as a civilian in the 50's and 60's and he used to feel guilty leaving our mom with 3 boys to take care of. I was the youngest and a post war boomer baby born 10 years after my brothers. One of the occasional gifts he brought was strange little spaceship that was actually a crystal radio. We lived very close to WEAM radio in Arlington VA and I would put the earphone in my ear at night and listen to the AM stations I could pick up with the little gem. I graduated to one of the "new fangled" transistor radios some time later but the seed was planted. On to CB like many of us and after college and a real job, my friend a HAM since an early age told me about what I could do with HAM radio. Started out as a Novice, Tech, Gen, Advanced and finally this year achieved Extra. Along the way I worked and talked on 2 meters a lot while I traveled and in the late 70's got a part time job at a HAM radio shop in my home town. Long story short I had been working as a business development guy in the Food industry and in 86 my last Contract came to an end. I went back full time at the store and my wife told me she had never seen me happier. She suggested I make my hobby my career. I took a job working at a wireless comms company in 87 and have spent last 30 years in "tech" as a sales engineer, manager, design guy, cook, bottle washer, anything that keep me in "radio." I work with Broadcasters, schools churches etc. I love the career path I took and just thought of my Dad (passed in 99) and all the friends I have made and things I have learned just because of that little crystal radio. Regards, live long and prosper, Pat KA4VNM
The 1200 and the 3000 I own are excellent SWL units. I have the 3000 at my home and an NRD-515 next to it. As far as the receive signal strength both do well but there is a bit of discernible difference in the audio quality of the NRD but as far as flat out performance they are damn close, the 3000 getting the edge. Especially since the NRD is every bit of 30 years old. I may try and swap the external speakers and see if that is the real difference. In the end its what makes you happy. I also own one of the RS DX-398's along with a YB-300P its amazing how well portables do with a real antenna. Have fun, that's what this is supposed to be all about.
