Only having the SRF-59 for 1 month as my first ULR, looking for a
digital readout ULR. Apperars from summer shootout that the Sangean
DT400W is best bet. However, can anyone comment on actually using that
set long term. OR, any other suggestions for my second set?

rob

Rob,

I absolutely love my DT-400W! I started out with the
SRF-59, then got the ultralight bug in a big way and
purchased the SRF-M37V. Not satisfied with its wide
selectivity against my local stations, I purchased a
DT-200V. That led to my purchase of the DT-400W.

IMHO, the DT-400W has great sensitivity AND selectivity
across the band plus it has a dial light which helps
when DX'ing in bed at night. The addition of the US
weather band in place of the VHF analog TV band was a
good choice, too, since those stations will, for the
most part, go dark soon.

I liked my DT-400W so much I bought another one! I
keep the spare one nearby, programmed for 9-khz channels,
just in case I see where DX'ers in the middle of the USA
are catching TA's or TP's. So far, no luck, but there's
always the chance!

I don't think you'll be disappointed by the DT-400W.

73,

Steve N5WBI
Houston TX

Kevin:

As I posted before I just missed out on Durham radio E100 sale a few
weeks ago by minutes or hours.
But to show my newness what does ".....unable to tune in 1
khz increments ..." mean? What does the Sony M-37 or Sangean 400W
tune in increments?

rob


--- In ultralightdx@..., satya@... wrote:

Hey Rob:

The DT400W is the sensitivity champ, although it is unable to tune

in 1

khz increments and the stock selectivity is rather broad,

especially for

TA work. There is a filter mod posted at DXer.ca, but it sounds

like you

may not be in a position to do that (I know I wouldn't even think

about

it...). As for the ability to tune away from the standard 9/10 khz
channels, I personally would want that capability for serious

DXing, even

domestic, although the judicious use of a passive loop antenna can

really

help.

If you're ready to step up, given that you have wielded a soldering

iron,

a suggestion is to get an Eton e100 (within the correct serial

number

range) and put the slider antenna on it. I have VERY modest

soldering

skills, and I managed to do the mod fairly quickly. The stock

filter in

the e100 is already top-of-the-class for Ultralights, and so you

could see

how it goes before deciding whether or not to put a narrower filter

in. I

see e100's on eBay quite a bit, and making sure what the serial

number is

before buying would make sure you're getting what you need.

The stock-filtered e100 is an absolute terror on the domestic MW

band, and

in Buffalo you should be able to hear a fair number of TA's.

$.02 from Kevin S. Bainbridge Island, WA

Only having the SRF-59 for 1 month as my first ULR, looking for a
digital readout ULR. Apperars from summer shootout that the

Sangean

DT400W is best bet. However, can anyone comment on actually using

that

set long term. OR, any other suggestions for my second set?

rob

Kevin


Great explanation. Any other than E100 recommended recievers ULR,
starting with lowest price first and then up that have 1khz
increments ?


TX

rob
--- In ultralightdx@..., satya@... wrote:

Hey Rob:

The M37V and DT400W tune in fixed 9 or 10 khz increments (you select
either one depending on where you're at in the world). As you push

the

tune button, the receiver tuning jumps up and down in those

increments

(1120, 1130, 1140, etc.). Analog receivers like the SRF-59,

however, tune

continuously, so you could dial up whatever frequency you like,

limited

only by your fine motor skills. The Eton e100 and others tune in 1

khz

steps, so while it isn't continuous like the analog SRF-59, the

control is

much finer.

Why would this be important? If you are trying to listen to, say,

1530

khz, and a strong local on 1520 (say, WWKB's 50,000 watts...) is

stomping

all over 1530, it would be nice to nudge over to 1531 or 1532 to get
further away from the problem on 1520. The station on 1530 will
generally be much more readable, and perhaps be free of "slop" from

1520

altogether. Depending on the filtering involved, you may be able

to get

over to 1533 or 1534 before you start losing the desired station on

1530.

The e100 could do this, but the M37V and DT400W could not.

This ability to tune away from problems is especially important on

TA

signals, since they will generally be quite close to a domestic

station.

For example, 1134-Croatia competes with domestic channels on 1130

and

1140, so it would be nice to be able to tune to 1133 or 1135, away

from

whatever domestic channel is giving you the most problems.

So, the M37V and DT400W would not be able to be detuned either way -
you're stuck with a fixed on-channel frequency. For domestic DXing
without a strong local to contend with, this may not be a big

problem. If

you're out in Newfoundland, it's REALLY not a problem. However, in

your

situation, you would probably have serious problems on a few

channels like

1510 and 1530, and strong regional stations from Montreal, New

York, etc.

will make adjacent channels more difficult to hear.

Kevin

Kevin:

As I posted before I just missed out on Durham radio E100 sale a

few

weeks ago by minutes or hours.
But to show my newness what does ".....unable to tune in 1
khz increments ..." mean? What does the Sony M-37 or Sangean 400W
tune in increments?

rob


--- In ultralightdx@..., satya@ wrote:

Hey Rob:

The DT400W is the sensitivity champ, although it is unable to

tune

in 1

khz increments and the stock selectivity is rather broad,

especially for

TA work. There is a filter mod posted at DXer.ca, but it sounds

like you

may not be in a position to do that (I know I wouldn't even think

about

it...). As for the ability to tune away from the standard 9/10

khz

channels, I personally would want that capability for serious

DXing, even

domestic, although the judicious use of a passive loop antenna

can

really

help.

If you're ready to step up, given that you have wielded a

soldering

iron,

a suggestion is to get an Eton e100 (within the correct serial

number

range) and put the slider antenna on it. I have VERY modest

soldering

skills, and I managed to do the mod fairly quickly. The stock

filter in

the e100 is already top-of-the-class for Ultralights, and so you

could see

how it goes before deciding whether or not to put a narrower

filter

in. I

see e100's on eBay quite a bit, and making sure what the serial

number is

before buying would make sure you're getting what you need.

The stock-filtered e100 is an absolute terror on the domestic MW

band, and

in Buffalo you should be able to hear a fair number of TA's.

$.02 from Kevin S. Bainbridge Island, WA

Only having the SRF-59 for 1 month as my first ULR, looking

for a

digital readout ULR. Apperars from summer shootout that the

Sangean

DT400W is best bet. However, can anyone comment on actually

using

that

set long term. OR, any other suggestions for my second set?

rob

Rob, Kevin and Steve,

I'll share a little information from recent Ultralight hot-rodding
experiments by two ex-Navy sonar technicians, that usually prefer to work
in
secret (Steve R. and me).

The C.Crane SWP unit tunes in 1 kHz increments, and has recently
been
modified with both a Slider loopstick (by me) and a Murata CFJ455K5 IF
filter
(by Steve), creating a compact DXing monster fully equal with the Slider
E100's. The first prototype is being fully evaluated here against the
Slider
E100's, with very promising results. For those DXers hoping to
eventually
modify an Ultralight into a 9 kHz transoceanic terror, the C.Crane SWP
would be a
good choice (as long as you can live with push-button volume controls).
Otherwise, pick up an E100 off eBay from "oceansno1" (a.k.a.
"anything4home"),
who sells decent units at a going rate of about $25.

The DT-400W is also being modified by us, and both the Slider
loopstick
and filter mods have been created. The DT-400W is a great Ultralight
with
typically exceptional wide-band stock sensitivity, and Steve's filter mod
will
certainly boost its overall performance. The Slider loopstick also gives
its usual nuclear-powered boost for weak-signal capability (as explained
in the
recent DT-200VX/ DT-400W Slider Loopstick article posted on DXer.Ca.),
but
since the radio can't tune in 1 kHz increments, it will never be as
effective
as the SWP and E100 Sliders for transoceanic DX.

My new PL-450 for the 2009 Shootout should arrive any day now, and
there is great anticipation in the Ultralight community, which is hoping
for an
upgraded E100. We shall see!

73, Gary




In a message dated 1/26/2009 1:19:30 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
satya@... writes:




Of the recommended list, only the e100 has 1 khz tuning.

The CCrane SWP has 1 khz tuning: it was initially a Turkey, but Gary
DeBock recently reported that later production models seem to be much
better.

Also, the Tecsun PL-450, a new model, has not yet been tested/evaluated,
although since Tecsun made the e100, and the PL-450 seems to be the
replacement for that model, I bet it's about the same.

For the CCrane SWP and Tecsun PL-450 verdicts, I think Gary is about to
issue the 2009 Shoot-out results in the coming days/weeks, so you may
want
to wait until then. I am guessing that the PL-450 is going to do really
well...

Kevin

Kevin


Great explanation. Any other than E100 recommended recievers ULR,
starting with lowest price first and then up that have 1khz
increments ?


TX

rob
--- In _ultralightdx@ultralightdxult_
(mailto:ultralightdx@...)

, satya@... wrote:

Hey Rob:

The M37V and DT400W tune in fixed 9 or 10 khz increments (you select
either one depending on where you're at in the world). As you push

the

tune button, the receiver tuning jumps up and down in those

increments

(1120, 1130, 1140, etc.). Analog receivers like the SRF-59,

however, tune

continuously, so you could dial up whatever frequency you like,

limited

only by your fine motor skills. The Eton e100 and others tune in 1

khz

steps, so while it isn't continuous like the analog SRF-59, the

control is

much finer.

Why would this be important? If you are trying to listen to, say,

1530

khz, and a strong local on 1520 (say, WWKB's 50,000 watts...) is

stomping

all over 1530, it would be nice to nudge over to 1531 or 1532 to get
further away from the problem on 1520. The station on 1530 will
generally be much more readable, and perhaps be free of "slop" from

1520

altogether. Depending on the filtering involved, you may be able

to get

over to 1533 or 1534 before you start losing the desired station on

1530.

The e100 could do this, but the M37V and DT400W could not.

This ability to tune away from problems is especially important on

TA

signals, since they will generally be quite close to a domestic

station.

For example, 1134-Croatia competes with domestic channels on 1130

and

1140, so it would be nice to be able to tune to 1133 or 1135, away

from

whatever domestic channel is giving you the most problems.

So, the M37V and DT400W would not be able to be detuned either way -
you're stuck with a fixed on-channel frequency. For domestic DXing
without a strong local to contend with, this may not be a big

problem. If

you're out in Newfoundland, it's REALLY not a problem. However, in

your

situation, you would probably have serious problems on a few

channels like

1510 and 1530, and strong regional stations from Montreal, New

York, etc.

will make adjacent channels more difficult to hear.

Kevin





> Kevin:

As I posted before I just missed out on Durham radio E100 sale a

few

weeks ago by minutes or hours.
But to show my newness what does ".....unable to tune in 1
khz increments ..." mean? What does the Sony M-37 or Sangean 400W
tune in increments?

>

rob


--- In _ultralightdx@ultralightdxult_

(mailto:ultralightdx@...) , satya@ wrote:

Hey Rob:

>>

The DT400W is the sensitivity champ, although it is unable to

tune

in 1

khz increments and the stock selectivity is rather broad,

especially for

TA work. There is a filter mod posted at DXer.ca, but it sounds

like you

may not be in a position to do that (I know I wouldn't even think

about

it...). As for the ability to tune away from the standard 9/10

khz

channels, I personally would want that capability for serious

DXing, even

>> domestic, although the judicious use of a passive loop antenna

can

really

help.

If you're ready to step up, given that you have wielded a

soldering

iron,

a suggestion is to get an Eton e100 (within the correct serial

number

range) and put the slider antenna on it. I have VERY modest

soldering

skills, and I managed to do the mod fairly quickly. The stock

filter in

the e100 is already top-of-the-class for Ultralights, and so you

could see

how it goes before deciding whether or not to put a narrower

filter

in. I

see e100's on eBay quite a bit, and making sure what the serial

number is

before buying would make sure you're getting what you need.

The stock-filtered e100 is an absolute terror on the domestic MW

band, and

>> in Buffalo you should be able to hear a fair number of TA's.

$.02 from Kevin S. Bainbridge Island, WA

>>

Only having the SRF-59 for 1 month as my first ULR, looking

for a

digital readout ULR. Apperars from summer shootout that the

Sangean

DT400W is best bet. However, can anyone comment on actually

using

that

set long term. OR, any other suggestions for my second set?

rob

>>

>

**************From Wall Street to Main Street and everywhere in between,
stay
up-to-date with the latest news.
(http://aol.com?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000023)

Hey Gary:

Thanks for the info! I look forward to the Shott-out results.

For the e100 units from "oceansno1", I presume those are known to be the
right models/serial numbers such that you get a single-conversion set that
is amenable to loopstick transplantation?

Kevin

Hi Kevin,
So far, I have purchased four E100's from "oceansno.1" on eBay, at the average cost of $18.00 (plus about $18 shipping per unit, by UPS).
Every E100 was in excellent condition, fully functional, and was of the E10-0505xxxxxx or E110-0504xxxxxx serial number (fully suitable for all modifications). I had to look very hard to find any wear at all, and there were only very minor scratches on the whip antenna on two units. The eBay listing description will tell you whether the unit is in excellent condition, has minor wear, or is non-functional. They certainly can be trusted, from my experience. The seller ships the units from Ontario quickly, and they arrive here in about 9 days, by UPS. I used to think the Durham Radio E100 $44 special was a steal, but these are like highway robbery :>)
73, Gary

.