ft817/eton e5
Ted
using the same antenna...
Ted
Ian Jackson
<t...@trufflesdad.plus.com> writes
>Anyone tell me if the 817 rx is as good as or better than the eton e5
>using the same antenna...
> Ted
????
I don't have an FT817, but I do have an Eton E5.
If it's not an outstanding example of chalk and cheese, I certainly
won't be buying an FR817.
--
Ian
4CX250K
tuning steps. The filter on the eton is as wide as a barn door and has
a very poor shape factor but it is only �60. About the only thing it
has going for it is the price and a high sensitivity.
4CX250K
Ian Jackson
writes
offer, about 18 months ago - see comments at the end).
On its own aerial(s):
It's pretty good from around 5MHz to 20MHz.
The MW is OK.
Below the MW, it doesn't seem very sensitive, and suffers from local
oscillator harmonics which 'allow you' to hear strongish MW signal.
[Obviously, these cause interfering whistles etc.] On SW (anything above
the MW) there are a lot of self-generated 'birdies'. Some of these are
paralysingly strong.
From above MW to 3MHz (where it is still on the ferrite rod), it is not
very sensitive.
At 3MHz (where it switches to the whip), it is a bit more lively, but
isn't really very good until around 5MHz. [It certainly seems lively
enough on 7Mhz and 14MHz.]
Above 20MHz, it seems to lose sensitivity (although, at the moment
there's little to hear there). On the CB band, it even relatively local
transmissions are not that strong.
On AM/SSB/CW, the synthesiser (tuning only in 1kHz steps) has an oddity.
Alternate steps are unequal - appx 0.8kHz and 1.2kHz. Apart from that,
you get used to having to do a 'coarse tune' on the frequency knob, and
a 'fine tune' on the BFO.
The BFO knob 'centre' tuning isn't centred, and the tuning range (end to
end) is only appx 2.5kHz. However, it is just sufficient to allow you to
correctly resolve SSB on any frequency.
FM (mono/stereo if you use headphones) is very good.
When using rechargeable batteries, on FM, the battery level indicator is
'digital'. It either shows 'full', or 'empty' (and the receiver is
dead). You get no warning that the batteries need a charge. I have never
tried non-rechargeables.
With a longish external aerial, it overloads. The input 10dB attenuator
needs to be switched in. An ATU helps. A passive pre-selector would be
better.
The whip aerial is plug-in, and the socket soon became slack and sloppy
(simply due to the swivelling action - not by repeated insertion and
removal).
All in all, it's probably comparable with the portable radios they were
selling for �2 at Superdrug around three years ago - but the E5 does
have a few extra bells and whistles (synthesised tuning, BFO,
wide/narrow IF etc). It's certainly good enough to use as a small SW
portable receiver to take on holiday. When I'm in the toilet, I find it
useful (on 7MHz) for practising my morse!
Of course, my E5 might simply be a 'Friday afternoon special'. Or maybe
there was a QA problem with a batch of them, and they were sold off
cheaply. I am learning to become a bit suspicious about 'special offers'
- even of things which ostensibly have a good reputation. [A few years
ago, I bought an electric razor which shaved so close that I was
constantly nicking myself. It was very unpleasant to use. Six months
later, that particular model appeared as a 'special offer' in a certain
daily newspaper.]
--
Ian
nick
In my experience the E5 is not as good on transmit.