Preselector (RF-Systems P-3 vs. LOWE PR-150)
Manuel Mischo
Hello!
I would like to buy a preselector for my JRC NRD-345 receiver to improve
reception quality. However, I am not sure which device performs better, the
RF-Systems P-3 or the LOWE PR-150. Both are listed at approx. the same price
here, thus I have a few questions:
I'm living in Europe, so I struggle with many high-power stations (2 MW
ERP), making it almost impossible to catch "real" DX signals. Would a
preselector improve reception? I'm using the RF Systems DX-10 active antenna
(indoor) but plan to install an outdoor wire antenna soon. Does a
preselector achieve any quality gain on active antennas?
The RF Systems P-3 has 6 tunable bands:
30 kHz - 450 kHz
450 kHz - 1.6 MHz
1.6 MHz - 4 MHz
4 MHz - 8 MHz
8 MHz - 17 MHz
17 MHz - 32 MHz
The LOWE PR-150 has 7 tunable bands:
100 kHz - 220 kHz
220 kHz - 500 kHz
500 kHz - 1.2 MHz
1.2 MHz - 2.6 MHz
2.6 MHz - 5.9 MHz
5.9 MHz - 13 MHz
13 MHz - 30 MHz
Would you recommend the RF-Systems or LOWE preselector? ... why?
I'd appreciate any comments and opinions,
thanks a lot and happy listening!
- Manuel Mischo
katekebo
1.- I am using MFJ-1046 passive preselector with a Lowe HF-150 receiver with
very good results. It is much cheaper than either the P-3 or the PR-150, and it
is readily available in Europe - see link below:
http://www.wsplc.com/products.html
(look under receiver ---> preselectors; you can order it via Internet and have
it delivered at home anywhere in EU)
Although the MFJ-1046 looks ugly and "cheap" on the outside, inside it uses high
quality components and performs very well.
2.- The reason I am using the preselector is because the HF-150 has poor
front-end selectivity - it only has a 30MHz low-pass filter and no pass-band
filters before the first mixer - so it suffers from overloading and
intermodulation due to powerfull MW and SW stations from 49 and 31 m bands. (To
note, I live only 10 km away from a 500 kW SW transmitter.) The preselector is
very effective in preventing overloading and intermodulation problems due to
powerfull off-band signals - but it does not help a lot unless the unwanted
signals are at least one MHz or so away from the station you want to catch.
However, unlike my HF-150, the NRD-345 has 6 pass-band filters - it should have
good front-end selectivity and be fairly immune to overloading and
intermodulation problems due to off-band signals. Unless you happen to live
really close to a powerful MW or SW transmitter, I think you will see only
moderate benefit from the preselector with your receiver.
Also, if your problem is caused specifically by a nearby powerfull MW
transmitter (like Radio Luxembourg for example), have a look at the following
link.
http://www.dxing.com/tnotes/tnote06.pdf
It may give you a better / more effective solution to your problem. Using the
preselector is always a pain - in addition to tunning your receiver, you
continuously have to adjust the preselector - and if you forget to do it, you
may loose a lot of interesting signals.
I live in Belgium (so not very far away from you) and although I am not a
dedicated DX-er, I enjoy listening to SW stations from Latin America. Even with
my "limited" equipment (a Lowe HF-150 + MFJ-1046 preselector + RF Systems EMF
antenna) I can easily catch several low power (5-10 kW) stations from South
America, providing that the nature does not play tricks with really bad
propagation conditions. Even my Sony ICF-SW7600G can do the job from time to
time, if propagation conditions are good.
Finally, I have a "surplus" MFJ-956 preselector - it is almost new and has very
little use - but I do not need it anymore since I have the 1046. It is a cheap
preselector that is definitely not as good as the MFJ-1046, but it may be enough
to solve your problem. If you want to give it a try, let me know (via e-mail at
kate...@yahoo.com) and I can send it to you for a nominal fee. You can have a
look at this preselector at
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/preamps/2964.html
Glenn Smith
I like mine. I had some trouple finding a quiet power supply for it but
when I did it worked great. I use it on a Drake R8.
Glenn Smith
.
Fcathell
tremendous difference for the shortwave bands above 2 MHz.
Frank
CW
but word is that the archives are no more, at least at this stage. You might
want to post this again. If you would like to write an article on this mod,
I will post it on my website (with credit, of course).
--
CW
KC7NOD
Web Page http://www.kc7nod.20m.com
"Fcathell" <fcat...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010222205854...@ng-me1.aol.com...
Hans Johansson
anyone of You fellows have any expeience with the MFJ-1040 (NOT the B
version) ?? If so, I have tried to find the manual since I bought a used
1040 without manual. MFJ doesn´t carry it anymore on their website where you
can download manuals. Not even the manual to the 1040B which seems to be
almost the same as 1040. Can anyone help me with that manual ??
Hans, Sweden
Manuel Mischo skrev i meddelandet <3a940733$1...@news.vo.lu>...
tn...@mucks.net
wrote:
>Good news!! The old Deja search is at http://groups.google.com/ and
>works!
It is not even close to being the same as the old Deja search. At
least that is what I see. It does not let you search by date, and it
doesn't even hold any old any articles.
NANCY GIANAKOPOULOS
will make this offer again. If anybody needs a schematic diagram, showing
the techniques required for a quiet supply, feel free to e-mail me, and I
will reply with a practical example.
Pete Gianakopoulos
Chicago, Il.
Glenn Smith <image...@westman.wav.ca> wrote in message
news:kA9l6.827$4x6....@news2.mts.net...
*
and so on. Glad to see the whole damned thing is brought down.
<tn...@mucks.net> wrote in message news:gigd9tohhf3kg9fav...@4ax.com...
*
"Bob Norton" <bbbob...@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:Xns9054C45F529...@209.0.215.132...
> You WOULD have to worry about that, Lloyd.
Peter Maus
* wrote:
>
> I'm not Lloyd.
...My name is Julio?
Waylon---1974 attempting a duet response after Jesse hit
the top of the charts. Unfortunately, Waylon was wasted, and a bit
too late.
CW
"*" <*@*.*> wrote in message
news:XTHm6.2896$be1.4...@paloalto-snr1.gtei.net...
al
>If so, I have tried to find the manual since I bought a
>used 1040 without manual. MFJ doesn´t carry it anymore on their website
>where you can download manuals. Not even the manual to the 1040B which
>seems to be almost the same as 1040. Can anyone help me with that manual
>??
>
>
>Hans, Sweden
>
Maybe if you bothered to read the responces to your other 4 posts re your
"manual" you would stop whining.
Go to www.w7fg.com/manuals.txt & get your manual.
Al
--
al dudley....wash dc , usa
535,r70,c3g,m1200,m7000
al olg com
Hans Johansson
from a guy who replied with a nice and friendly attitude, something you
clearly didn´t do yourself !
al skrev i meddelandet ...
al
>I found my manual for the price of $ 3. Why would I pay $12 ! Also, I
>got it from a guy who replied with a nice and friendly attitude,
>something you clearly didn´t do yourself !
>
Do you ever post to a ng without whining?
Al
at olg
al
<s_no6.6121$hi2....@nntpserver.swip.net>:
>I can´t stop wondering why on earth people like you Al, can come up with
>writing things like this, totally out of interest to anybody reading
>this ng? I didn´t buy anything from you because you are too expensive,
>simple as that. So why don´t you stop crying like a newborn baby ???
>
>
>
>al skrev i meddelandet ...
>>Hans Johansson wrote:
>>
>> Do you ever post to a ng without whining?
>>
>> Al
I rest my case.
Al
al at olg dot com