https://ccrane.com/cc-skywave-ssb-2-with-am-fm-sw-wx-and-aviation-bands

Does not seem to be a new design but a short list of improvements on the original:

• SW antenna jack
• Micro USB port for charging (now, in the age of USB-C???)
• Improved charging circuit
• Higher quality speaker and more power audio amp
• Longer feet (more tip-resistant).

On Tue, Oct 25, 2022 at 07:39 AM, mediumwavedx wrote:

Yikes, the price.

 

I had the non-SSB model for about a year, the CC Skywave. Beautiful little radio, reminiscent of the RadiWow R-108. After short use, the tuning encoder began jumping erratically when slow tuning, sometimes up 10, sometimes down 10 KHz making tuning difficult. That radio was $89.99, not cheap either. Maybe just a bad encoder, though I've had the same problem on at least one other DSP ultralight radio, notably the Eton Traveler 3. No problem so far on the R-108, a $45 radio when I bought it. Hopefully Crane has used a better encoder on their SSB models at the prices they are asking.

All of these sets use cheap rotary encoders and it is a definite point of failure. Even larger sets (like the venerable AOR 7030 years back) got bitten by this.

As an owner of the original Skywave, I was disappointed to see, within months, a production update which eliminated some MW bleedthrough on SW bands. There was no recourse, of course, for my specimen and this is an understandable risk of being an early adopter. Still. 

When the SSB version came out I was put off by the price, in spite of knowing that CCrane had to recoup R&D and production costs. Then the unauthorized clones (Digitech AR1780 and XHDATA/Sihuadon D-808) came out. They were only slightly larger, had better speakers and more powerful amplifiers, and a larger ferrite antenna which translated to better MW performance. Amazingly too they performed well even in the first production run, and stood up to the rigors of use in the field. Ultimately that was where I went for the next upgrade.

 

[Edited Message Follows]

On Tue, Oct 25, 2022 at 07:28 PM, Paul Blundell wrote:

I am a big fan of my Digitech AR1780 and have found that my latest one works better than the first one I had.

 

Paul

 

 

Interesting observation.

The lineage of the D-808 has been well documented including a full accounting of the 2-3 known variants posted on Radiomuseum.

Perhaps because of the lesser distribution I have not seen the same for the AR1780, but now I wonder whether it has been "improved" since release ~5 years ago.

The initial reports said that both models used the Si4735 DSP.
Subsequently some very emphatic postings from China insisted that the AR1780, in fact, used a Beken (Boardcomm) BK1088. This is a Silabs clone, claimed to outperform the original (besides being available to Chinese manufacturers at lower cost). Perhaps they changed sources in mid-production?

On Wed, Oct 26, 2022 at 04:17 PM, Ian Szekeres wrote:

  To further muddy the waters....

 

I placed an order for the black, Sihuadon version of the D-808 a couple of weeks ago.  I was notified last week that they were sold out of the black version but would send out a grey XHDATA version if I wanted.  I let them know I would rather wait for the black to be back in stock and asked if there was any estimate on the restock time.  The following was the response:

 

"I'm very sorry, but we can't tell you an exact time, because the D-808 in our factory is being upgraded, and we may not be able to tell us the exact time until the upgrade of our factory is completed, sorry again."

 

I did not ask for any clarification, and will sit on my hands for a while to see what comes out of it.  Hard to tell if a newer version of the D-808 is being worked on or if the actual factory itself is being "upgraded"

 

--ian

ac9kw

 

Hmmm. Was it listed as being in stock?

On Tue, Oct 25, 2022 at 07:28 PM, Paul Blundell wrote:

I am a big fan of my Digitech AR1780 and have found that my latest one works better than the first one I had.

 

Paul

 

 

Interesting observation.

The lineage of the D-808 has been well documented including a full accounting of the 2-3 known variants posted on Radiomuseum.

Perhaps because of the lesser distribution I have not seen the same for the AR1780, but not I wonder whether it has been "improved" since release ~5 years ago.

The initial reports said that both models used the Si4735 DSP, but some very emphatic postings from China insisted that the AR1780, in fact used a Beken (Boardcomm) BK1088 clone, which outperformed the original (besides being available to Chinese manufacturers at lower cost). Perhaps they changed sources in mid-production?

It was listed as being in stock, and I was able to place the order.  The day I was informed it was out of stock, the xhdata website had been changed to out of stock as well.

On Wed, Oct 26, 2022 at 3:40 PM Michael Schuster <schuster.ma@...> wrote:

On Wed, Oct 26, 2022 at 04:17 PM, Ian Szekeres wrote:

  To further muddy the waters....

 

I placed an order for the black, Sihuadon version of the D-808 a couple of weeks ago.  I was notified last week that they were sold out of the black version but would send out a grey XHDATA version if I wanted.  I let them know I would rather wait for the black to be back in stock and asked if there was any estimate on the restock time.  The following was the response:

 

"I'm very sorry, but we can't tell you an exact time, because the D-808 in our factory is being upgraded, and we may not be able to tell us the exact time until the upgrade of our factory is completed, sorry again."

 

I did not ask for any clarification, and will sit on my hands for a while to see what comes out of it.  Hard to tell if a newer version of the D-808 is being worked on or if the actual factory itself is being "upgraded"

 

--ian

ac9kw

 

Hmmm. Was it listed as being in stock?

I have never used / tried to find one. I think it needs 7.5V?