would an Eton E5 be considered an ULR?--it is small, but it would seem

to have more gizmos than a typical ULR--i have one and am just curious
about what the ruling might be--
==========================================================
Jerry,

Head on over to the Files section on the Yahoo site, look in Section 1
Start Here for the first article, "An Introduction To Ultralight
DXing.pdf." Page 1 has the criteria. The E5 apparently doesn't qualify
on two counts: Cost >$100 and the inclusion of SSB.


73,

Jim, KR1S
http://qrp.kearman.com/ <http://qrp.kearman.com/>

--- In ultralightdx@..., "jerrysteck" <geraldsteck@>
wrote:

i think the answer to my upcoming query is a negative--
having said that i will now ask:

would an Eton E5 be considered an ULR?--it is small, but it would seem to have more gizmos than a typical ULR--i have one and am just curious about what the ruling might be--

Jerry,

Head on over to the Files section on the Yahoo site, look in Section 1 Start Here for the first article, "An Introduction To Ultralight DXing.pdf." Page 1 has the criteria. The E5 apparently doesn't qualify
on two counts: Cost >$100 and the inclusion of SSB.


73,

Jim, KR1S
http://qrp.kearman.com/ <http://qrp.kearman.com/>

Hello,

Would it contain teh silabs dsp chip too??

gc

 

Here's an article from the Montreal Gazette about the shutdown of the
two Montreal stations, CINF and CINW. It's interesting that the
station call letters were not mentioned in the article.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/AM940+Info690/2499582/story.html

For comparison, my stock PL-300wt measures about 12 dB soft-mute.

-Scott-

--- In ultralightdx@..., "sdwillingham" <sdwillingham@> wrote:

Hi All,

It has been debated occasionally whether the PL-380 has
soft-mute. The short answer is: mine does (PL-380 2009.9 ver 1)
and it's fairly easy to measure. The procedure is to tune a
strong, steady station, measure its average audio level, then
off-tune by 1kHz, and finally remeasure its level.

To measure the average level, use a free computer recording
program. I think many of you have Audacity and, while it's not
my favorite, it works fine for this purpose. Here's what I did:

1) Install Audacity and launch the program.
2) Attach an audio cable from your PL-380 to the computer's
mic or line input.
3) Turn the radio on, tune in a strong station with good
SNR, and set the radio's volume control to 7 or 8. Also,
set the IF filter to 6 kHz.
4) Back in Audacity, locate the input meter (rightmost), and
click on meter to start monitoring the input. (Stretch the
meter toolbar out to see the levels better.)
5) Next, you'll have to locate your system's recording mixer
and adjust the recording level. I can't tell you the
specifics, since this depends on your sound card. If you
are using a 'mic' input, try to turn off its 'boost'
setting. Adjust the mixer level until the average signal
shows about -15 dB or so on the Audacity meter.
6) Now monitor the signal's running peak (a dark-red
vertical line on the meter). Determine a where this peak
sits for a particular talker's voice or song. For
example, I'm seeing about -12 dB on my meter now.
7) Tune the radio off-carrier by 1kHz. Even for strong
signals, this causes the radio to indicate and SNR of 0 dB
which kicks-in the soft-mute function. Measure the peak
level again. I see about -18 dB now. So my conclusion
is that my radio has about 6 dB maximum soft-mute.

The conclusion is, PL-380 2009.9 ver 1 radios have about 6 dB
soft-mute. This probably also means that the soft-mute
threshold is 6 dB, but that is not certain. We can also
conclude that Tecsun is setting this deliberately, since it does
not match with the Si4734 defaults (neither firmware 2.0 or
4.0). Perhaps one of you with a 'new' model can test if the
settings have been changed.

-Scott-

* Adjustable bandwidth;
Mw step: 9KHz (1KHz/9KHz) /?10KHz (1KHz/10KHz).
SW Stepping 0.001MHz/0.005MHz.
FM step 0.05MHz/0.1MHz.

Which of course is a misnomer. The buttons are labeled in Chinese, but
if selectivity were adjustable I think they'd mention it.

73,

Jim, KR1S
http://qrp.kearman.com/ <http://qrp.kearman.com/>

Hello!

Just saying "hi" to the group, as a new member. Also, I wanted to say that I purchased a Grundig G8 last night and am very happy I did. A neat little set; my first radio with DSP. The selectivity is very good. What they say about its AM and FM recpetion in that regard is true!

I also like the neat signal meter which displays the signal-to-noise ratio, even though I don't really understand just exactly what sort of readings one should be looking for... or hoping for with this! I understand that a higher number for the signal itself is obviously better; my ears tell me that! However, I am not sure just what the signal-to-noise number means; is higher better?...or lower?...my guess is that the smaller the gap between the two numbers is probably better?

Anyway, I am enjoyig the G8. I must have gotten a good one because mine does not have any of the image problems on SW that others report. I've been up and down all over the dial, too. Not one single image have I noted yet.

Actually, I should say "thanks" to this group. It is because of you that I have my G8. The information I read on this message board made me go out and buy it. You see, I actually tried the G8 once before. I bought it on impulse one day. (I never told my wife about it..."what!? ANOTHER radio!?!"...do any guys here ever deal with this phenomenon?) Anyway...I was never impressed at ALL with this first set. There was not a single shortwave station that I could get clearly; every single one had images which I could not seem to tune out by relocating the radio, detuning, lowering the antenna...all the usual tricks one uses. It also had the warbling sound that some have reported, due to the mute function on the DSP chip being out of alignment, so they say.

I finally decided after a couple of weeks to simply return it. After all, I really did not need ANOTHER radio, especially one that seemed to be a real dog. Christmas was coming, and the extra cash certainly would be nice to have anyway. (Part of the problem may have been that I bought the display model? Who knows how many people handled it, dropped it, etc.?) Well, I kept reading in various places how good the little G8 is. I wondered what I had been missing. Perhaps I had gotten a lemon? Perhaps I did not spend enough time getting used to the nuances of the set? So...when I joined this group last night and read the wonderful review of the G8 posted here, I got up out of the chair, put my coat on and asked my wife if she wanted to take a car ride with me to Radio Shack so I could get a Grundig G8. She said, "sure", and well, now I have one again. This time, it's a really good one!

For the record, I should actually clarify one thing. My wife is very supportive of my radio hobby. She never balks when I buy a new radio. I just sometimes avoid telling her about a new radio because, I dunno...I feel sort of foolish, ya know? Us guys don't always want our significant others to realize just what a "little boy" we still are when it comes to our passion for our toys!

My other radios are:
Zenith Trans_Oceanic Royal 1000D,

Eton/Grundig models:
E1
E5
E10
E100
YB 550PE
S350
FR200
Mini 100
Mini 300PE
G1000A
G2000 ("Porsche")
G4000A (a.k.a YB 400)
G3 traveller
G6 Aviator - Buzz Aldrin edition
G1100
Satellit 750
Satellit 800

Realistic DX398 (a.k.a. Sangean ATS 909)

Sonys:
ICF 7600GR
ICF 2010

I have also owned the Sangean ATS 808 and the Realistic DX 440, (a.k.a. Sangean ATS 803 - another radio I never quite felt all that great about...seemed so "hissy" and somewhat deaf.)

I want to try the new Grundig Mini 400 that sells for about $30.
That will be next!

As for antennas, I have never had an outdoor antenna! I am 48 years old and have been listening to shortwave since I was about 12. Can you believe it? That's another thing I should look into!! One could say that a couple of the sets I own are almost "wasted" on a guy like me. For instance, to own an E1 and never hear it really sing on an outdoor antenna!? That's probably some sort of radio crime! And maybe the DX 440 I owned would have done much better with an outdoor antenna too!

Active Antennas I use: Sony ANLP_1, Degen 31, C Crane Twin Coil Ferrite
I have one Passive antenna: Grundig AN200

Well, I've gone on long enough here. However I just wanted to say hello and "thanks" for inspiring me to give the G8 another try!

Sincerely,
Dave from Minnesota