Best receiver?

[Admiral]

Here's mine with a bit of green garden wire chucked into a tree, no earth, no balun and no ATU. Location at the time was North MK near Wolverton.

As you can probably tell, with no controls the AGC is a compromise, and not greatly to my personal liking.

If you do go for one of these then make sure it has the original PSU with it as a lot of the wall-wart types create a lot of noise on them, if not then use an old CB PSU and avoid nasty switching PSUs, they really don't like them.

Please excuse the naf quality as I had to use a trial version of something to bring it down from 900mb to 20mb, hence their watermark.

[Gemini4]

Actually that doesn't sound too bad at all Admiral..in fact it sounds better than my Sony_ICFSW7600GR which is a devil to use the refine tune.
nice big numbers too,no problem seeing that display at all..well its made my mind up to be honest and will search for one that's not costing
the earth.
Do the arrows change the frequency and LSB/USB too?. And does it pick up normal shortwave am?.

[Admiral]

On my LOWE version the up down arrows toggle between USB/LSB/AM and then you have the memory and recall, it has 10 memories, I have never used the feature, other models vary slightly.

These are still available new for £235, and anything up to £150 on eBay, please, please don't pay those prices, £80 absolute maximum for a minter.

You have absolutely no control over the radio other than tuning, everything is either automatic or preset, hence my comment about the AGC, you flick the VFO knob fast to increase by megs, and then obviously slower for fine tuning. They were designed for use on a boat, so everything is as simple as possible.

And as I said, make sure it has the original PSU or use an old PSU with a transformer and regulator in it, they don't like stitch PSUs.

It's a great set to have next to the bed, but not for a main SWL set.

[owza]

Tell you what Gemini, PM sent

edit oops you have disabled PMs Gemini4

[Admiral]

Also remember that the place I took that vid in is detached and set in half an acre so no chance of PLT and plasma crap from neighbours, so don't be thinking that an identical set will work the same in a bedsit in Manchester City Centre.

And also remember that if you have a nice 4 bed detached in some grounds and regardless of who did what then your wife will end up owning it when she's fed up of you and you'll be stuck in a rented apartment somewhere, oh, and the bitch will not only get your house, if she has a good lawyer she'll get half your pension and your dog as well as your £450k house. Sorry, I digress.

[Farty]

My ex didn't!

[Admiral]

I miss the dog.

[Gemini4]

Live a mid terrace,so maybe I'll get plenty of interferece on it.
Saying that,most sites seem to refer to it as a marine radio?.
Looking at the pdf download it states 12v dc..is this meaning a amp is need or does it come with a adapter like plug?

http://www.mesltd.co.uk/nasa-target-hf3 ... p-880.html

[Admiral]

Apart from my portable sets I always use a coupler/ATU, this will be even more beneficial on this set as it has zero controls.

I use these, some eBay loons want top Dollar for them, but if you can pick one up for about £20 then it will make a big difference.

Both of mine are branded Global, but there are many variations on this RX only ATU, if you're handy with an iron you can make one yourself.

Global-AT-1000.jpg

[Gemini4]

thanks Admiral.

[Gemini4]

what sort of amp do you though? at the moment all i've got is a 13.8 100 watt amp..would this be too much.

[Admiral]

Amp????

If that's another name for a PSU then it will only draw what it needs, so a 100a PSU will be overkill as the thing needs probably 1a or less, but it will work fine so long as it's clean and not noisy. The couplers I use are passive so require no voltage.

[Gemini4]

Thanks Admiral.

[Gemini4]

Think I'll go for the one I saw at £159.99 brand new,I'm not risking ebay as you can never be sure from pictures..thanks for your post's everyone and I'll let you know how I get on with it in future posts.

[Admiral]

It's your money, I wouldn't pay that for one, I think you may be underwhelmed.