Didital vs Analog tuning
t...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
I am sure this topic has been discussed before but I am new to this
newsgroup and would have missed the discussion.
I am looking to buy a shortwave radio and would appreciate if anyone
could share their knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of a SW radio
with analog tuning vs one with digital tuning all else being equal.
Thanks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Joo Tan email: t...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
St Albert, Alberta, Canada.
Gerard Foley
: I am sure this topic has been discussed before but I am new to this
: Thanks.
You can actually find the station with digital tuning. Otherwise
not much - cheap digital may have more spurious responses that analog,
and at the same price will probably be poorer quality, but there aren't
any high priced high quality analog sets marketed any more.
Gerry K8EF
Dave...@tamu.edu
>
>I am sure this topic has been discussed before but I am new to this
>newsgroup and would have missed the discussion.
>
>I am looking to buy a shortwave radio and would appreciate if anyone
>could share their knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of a SW radio
>with analog tuning vs one with digital tuning all else being equal.
>
>Thanks.
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>Joo Tan email: t...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
>St Albert, Alberta, Canada.
If you can afford it, get a digital. With analog, tuning is a hit-or-miss
affair. Also, most digital radios have better circuitry than most analog
radios.
-- Dave
Dave...@tamu.edu
Cliff Kinzel
>
>In message <3ls6qp$m...@news.sas.ab.ca> - t...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca () writes:
>
>>
Digital shortens battery life. If this is not a concern digital is infinitely
easier to tune.
her...@sds.se
T...@freenet.edmonton.ab.c recently wrote:
>I am looking to buy a shortwave radio and would appreciate if anyone
>could share their knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of a SW radio
>with analog tuning vs one with digital tuning all else being equal.
With an analog readout you have to guess what frequency you're at,
no matter how good the readout is. This is a real annoyance if you're
into tropical bands DX, where lots of Latin American stations are on
split frequencies, some only 0.2 kHz apart (or even less)
With a digital readout you know where you are, even with quite
simple receivers.
In short: forget about analog. It's practically worthless, even when
receiving international broadcasters. Digital receivers often also have
padboards, where you simply zap-zap-zap-zap the correct frequency. Try
that with an analog receiver; "the stations should be here, somewhere..."
73 de Hermod Pedersen,
Malmo, Sweden
Replies to: her...@sds.se
___
* UniQWK v4.1 * The Windows Mail Reader
>> SlipStream Jet v1.001 - (C) 1995 PBE
JL Pooley
>In short: forget about analog. It's practically worthless, even when
>receiving international broadcasters. Digital receivers often also have
>padboards, where you simply zap-zap-zap-zap the correct frequency. Try
>that with an analog receiver; "the stations should be here, somewhere..."
You got that right! I lasted about a month with an analog receiver, until
I felt like all the veins in my wrist and hand were going to burst from
the careful, careful turning, and my eyes were all crossed trying to
figure out what frequency I was on. Forget analog!
Az0th
: I am looking to buy a shortwave radio and would appreciate if anyone
: could share their knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of a SW radio
: with analog tuning vs one with digital tuning all else being equal.
If your market is larger than the current crop of plastic portables, a
meaningful distinction can be made between digital tuning and digital
readout. A mil-surplus R390A/URR uses a (mechanical) digital readout,
and is still considered one of the best receivers ever made; in terms
of sensitivity, selectivity, stability, dynamic range, etc. it is _still_
superior to most receivers now sold. Of course, it's big, heavy and consumes
considerable power: no ni-cd stuffed portable this.
If readout accuracy is your primary concern, many older receivers with
excellent characteristics can be fitted with digital counter displays.
I have a late Drake R-4C heavily modified by Sherwood and Sartori, which
is a fine performer under all but the most adverse conditions. I've
equipped it with an S&S engineering digital counter, which provides
100 Hz resolution on all bands. The actual tuning mechanism is still
very much analog, but is cleaner than many digital designs, which can
leave weak signals buried in rx-generated noise. In fact one of the best
receivers available today uses much the same crystal-mixed conversion
scheme as the best of the older receivers: the Ten-Tec Omni-VI xcvr.
Digital readout on an analog receiver won't allow for banks of memories,
or related scanning or channel-hopping features, but can result in a
cost effective, high performance receiving solution for those not needing
those particular modern conveniences.
Cheers es 73
RF Buchanan