Re: AOR 7030 comentary

[ratzer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Christoph Ratzer)]

This message is sent by ratzer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Christoph Ratzer)
to hard-core-dx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

>This message is sent by "Zacharias Liangas" <zliangas@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>to hard-core-dx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:
>
>Only one question here
>
>Except JOhn Thorpe's and Gordon Bennett's  comments on 7030  is there any
>other
>comment on this receover ?
>Does anyone finally know the price of it ?
>73s sangat dan panas!


Hello Zacharias + all other hard-core-dx friends:

Found last week in rec.radio.shortwave from Mike Schuster and Guy Atkins:

From: schuster@xxxxxxxxx (Michael Schuster)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave
Subject: AR7030 comments
Date: 20 May 1996 17:22:14 -0400


Well, the much-hyped vaporware product of 1996 seems to be trickling out.
Jonathan (Javiation UK) says he's getting a slow but steady stream of
production units, and I received serial #90 from him this morning.
The unit comes with a rmeote, full manual, and a brick-style regulated
15 VDC power supply for US wall current.

Some random first impressions after 3 hours' playing during daylight
hours.

One is first struck by the size. If you stack an HF-150 sideways on top of
the AR7030, you can see that it is only about 50% larger than the Lowe.
Almost a portatop. Fit and finish is, as the reviewers have said, very
impressive. Solid alumiminum frame with anodized or black hammertone paint
throughout. Bright 2-line LCD alphanumeric display (with a little ghosting
of the top line onto the bottom at times). Nice, solid tuning knob which
spins freely.

Excellent audio. Even the built-in speaker is acceptable in a pinch, if
you turn up the bass. I never thought I'd find a receiver with a better
sync detector than the HF-150 ... until now. Watching it home on a signal
in "auto" mode is a sight to behold. Geez, it makes the R8a's sync look
like a toy.

Not a trace of overloading. No birdies or intermod products detected yet;
but I have not yet used it at night when the signals are strong. The selection
of stock filters, as Magne points out, have a hole in the 4-5 MHz area.
After the SSB filter (#1), my #2 measures at 5.2 MHz which is a little
wide. However, the pass band shift does allow for considerable leeway in
getting around an interfering station on one side or the other.

Also like the reviewers said, the remote control is iffy - even with IR
detectors on both front AND back of the radio. I'm hesitant to admit it,
but a confirmatory beep would be nice. The menus take a good hour or two
to get used to, but it does become semi-intuitive after a while. I was
VERY intimidated at first, and that says a lot. The ability to choose what
items and control functions are displayed could become highly addictive.

A coarse 1 or 5 KHz up/down button (like the R8/a) would be nice on the
front panel too, though the remote control has such a function.  The
manual does the job, I guess, but it needs an index and could be a lot
clearer in many sections. AOR ought to contract out to Jonathan to
re-write it. :-)


--
Mike Schuster       |        schuster@xxxxxxxxx | 70346.1745@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
------------------- | schuster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | schuster@xxxxxxxxxx



____________________________


Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave
Subject: AR7030 First Impressions
Date: 21 May 1996 00:44:34 GMT



AOR AR7030 INITIAL IMPRESSIONS: On Monday 5/6 I received my AR7030 receiver
via FedEX
from the communications retailer Javiation in the UK. The 695 UK pounds
price to the
States (including shipping) worked out to $1066 US. This puts the AR7030 in
the same
price class as a Drake R8A in the USA, although I have yet to receive the
bill from the
customs agent for the 3% import duty. This will put the total at
approximately $1098. If
one doesn't mind the risks involved with overseas purchases this is the way
to go, as the
cost from US outlets reportedly will be around $1299 street price.
(Jonathan Clough at
Javiation is excellent to deal with, however, and regularly sells to US
customers. This
is the second time I've bought a receiver through Javiation without a
hitch.) Note the
missing "i" in "Javiation" if e-mailing: info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Due to my schedule I haven't had the time to do a thorough shake-down of
the AR7030. A
DXpedition--for trans-Pacific mediumwave and tropical bands--is planned
later this month
for the purpose. The following points are strictly initial observations.

CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN: Aesthetics are certainly a personal matter, but in
my opinion the
AR7030 is quite good looking. The overall appearance resembles current
British audio
equipment-- it does not have that "military industrial" look common to many
shortwave
receivers.

The all-metal front panel and case are excellently finished and extremely
robust. The
front panel is at least 5/16" thick and the large main tuning knob is solid
anodized
metal and very comfortable for bandscanning. The two smaller rotary
controls are not as
comfortable or attractive, being rather tiny knobs attached to mechanical
encoders with
quite "stiff" click-stops. It helped to refasten the knobs a bit further
out on their
1/4" diameter shafts, but I may try to modify the encoders' internal
click-stop spring or
detent mechanism (as I did successfully on a Grundig Satellit 500 some
years ago).

The display is very readable and the soft green backlight is easy on the
eyes. I very
much appreciate the AR7030's ability to display nearly every parameter of
the receiver--
even the bass and treble adjustments are shown, in plus or minus decibels.
Decades from
now, will we fondly remember the dot-matrix displays of the 1990's, just as
many now get
nostalgic at the mention of glowing pilot lamps and slide-rule dials? Hmmm...

The supplied infrared remote control is handicapped with small rubbery
rectangles
masquerading as pushbuttons (common practice on many remotes). Fortunately,
100% of the
keystrokes "take" on my unit and it is very forgiving when aiming it
anywhere in the
general vicinity of the radio. I initially thought the silkscreening on the
remote was
defective, but the fuzzy appearance went away when I discovered and peeled
off the clear
protective plastic! A more ergonomic remote controller may be possible by
programming a
larger, "universal" remote and modifying with appropriate labeling.
However, the supplied
remote controller works as advertised and I'm starting to get used to its feel.

Speaking of ergonomics, it took a couple hours of use to become comfortable
with the
operation of the AR7030. When used in conjunction with the remote keypad it
handles and
operates easily. I'll stress here that this is strictly MY opinion, and
others may be
just as adamant that they consider the ergonomics poor. The receiver should
be given a
fair chance, though, because its full operation is not learned quickly. The
custom
"setup" menu is nice and really aids quick switching to favorite parameters
for tropical
band DXing, general SWLing, mediumwave DXing, etc. I almost feel as if I'm
operating a
laptop computer when using the AR7030, such is the effect of the remote,
the software
menus and the alphanumeric dot-matrix display. Those who cannot bear to
operate anything
that doesn't feel like the large, classic rigs of yesteryear will view the
AR7030 as mere
gadgetry. In my opinion it is not an unusual or difficult receiver to
operate, but rather
fun to control after the initial learning curve.

MANUAL: The excellent manual is one of the best around, among contemporary
rigs.
Curiously it lacks the British colloquilisms found in other UK equipment
manuals. It
almost reads as if it was written by an US writer. Particularly interesting
are the
discussions about the filter calibration routine and the automatic-tuning
synchronous
detector. The section on filter calibration explains why actual measured
values vary from
nominal/minimum passband and stopband figures for ceramic and mechanical
filters.

PERFORMANCE

Here are some thoughts & impressions of the AR7030 after only a few days of use.

OVERALL: Impressive on weak DX. Intelligibility seems a notch above that of
other
receivers I've owned (R7, R8, Europa, etc.), aided no doubt by the AR7030's
low noise
level and high dynamic range. However, I'm going on memory here as I have
not yet made
direct comparisons to other receivers. (A friend and I will be doing an A/B
test against
a WJ HF-1000 receiver... that should prove interesting!)

On various Indonesian stations on 90 and 75 meters, the AR7030 provided
reception at
least as good as that from my previous rigs. The true test of the radio's
calibre will be
trans-Pacific MW DXing from the Washington coast later this month.

I like the wide range of the passband shift; it helps to push many
offending hets right
off the edge of the passband. For stubborn hets I have an audio DSP unit
available to
automatically notch out hetrodynes. AOR has an optional notch filter
planned for the
AR7030 later this year.

AGC: I don't know what magic John Thorpe has done, but the values invoked
by LSB/USB
modes provide great performance. The three speeds of SLOW, MED, FAST, plus
OFF will all
be useful in various signal situations while ECSS tuning.

AUDIO QUALITY is great, typical of John Thorpe's designs. This can only
help to ID weak
stations: coupled with the flexible & useful passband shift, AGC, and tone
controls it
gives the DXer a good shot making the most of a weak, difficult signal.

IF FILTERING is impressive although an intermediate width of 4.0-4.5 kHz is
missed. The
narrow 2.0 filter is THE choice for the toughest DX when operating in ECSS;
it's truly
excellent.

When used with the flexible passband shift, the wider intermediate filters
(measuring 5.4
and 6.5 on my unit) are definitely useable on a variety of signals. I have Kiwa
Electronics' CLF-D2K high performance ceramic filter installed and it is a
useful
bandwidth. I also tried a couple of Kiwa active filter modules I had on
hand (3.5 kHz),
but both were much too noisy. Craig at Kiwa suspects the IF level in the
radio is too low
for proper operation. Craig is currently doing some performance
measurements on the
AR7030 and he will be able to check the IF level also. The five filters
currently
installed in my AR7030 measure: 2.0, 2.9 (Kiwa CLF-D2K), 5.4, 6.5, and 9.5.
The widest
filter of 9.5 is suitable for a strong signal in the clear (passband shift
may have to be
employed). However, on a shortwave signal I cannot tell any audible benefit
from opening
up the bandwidth from the 6.5 kHz selection. The 9.5 width is mainly
intended for
narrowband FM.

A real plus is the optimum alignment of filters after the calibration
routine is run.
When switching from LSB to USB or vice-versa I can detect NO change in
pitch or audio
quality for any bandwidth.

SYNCHRONOUS DETECTION: This mode has the tenacity of a mountain goat, and
clings to
signals weak and strong without problems. It is the best I've ever
encountered, period.
Finally, a synchronous detector that a DXer can use! The passband shift can
be adjusted
liberally in SNC mode without causing squeals of complaint or loss of lock.
My ears
cannot detect any rise in distortion in SNC mode (as reported in the RNMN
review); in
fact, audio sounds definitely better than with the AM envelope detector.
With passband
shift carefully adjusted, the Kiwa 2.9 kHz filter sounds very good using
synchronous AM
mode.

My test signal for synchronous detection with any receiver is RNZI on 15115
kHz during my
local evenings. It's often subject to annoying rapid fades after sunset.
The Drake R8
would lose lock frequently and "bend" musical tones unmercifully, but
there's no such
problem when using the AR7030-- I have not heard it lose lock even once on
15115.

DUAL WATCH is an unusual feature worth mentioning. It is similar to
"priority" scan on a
VHF/UHF scanner. It allows the automatic monitoring of a second channel at
intervals,
time delays, and squelch settings of your choice. I anticipate using this
while DXing an
active station to automatically check another frequency (say, once every
thirty seconds)
for sign of a carrier or audio (indicating a DX station about to sign on,
or the fade-up
of a wanted station).

I believe this radio is going to polarize radio enthusiasts, due to the
AR7030's radical
approach to HF receiver design. Features like filter measurement &
alignment, auto-tune
synchronous detection, and the automatically-adjusting RF gain have not
been seen before
in consumer-grade receivers. It's clear that this receiver is good; the
question remains,
just HOW good is it? I think a consensus will rise to the surface within a
year, as more
AR7030s make their way into DXers' shacks. In any event, John Thorpe and
the AOR staff
are to be commended on their bold move with the introduction of the AR7030.


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