We need more Premium-Rxers willing to show all!
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Dan, K0DAN, Kansas City, USA Several friends and family member have told me I look "really mean" in this mug shot. I can't explain that, it must have been a bad day....maybe in a few more years I'll have another "photo op" and will be wearing a smile on my face! |
Hi! While a lot of my radio operations are on the amateur bands, I
also enjoy listening around the HF spectrum, and love to tinker with
high end commercial/military receivers. My operating position has a mix
of amateur and premium equipment. The accompanying photo was taken in
early 2002. Equipment displayed (from left to right, bottom to top)ACOM 2000A
amplifier, Misc.
speakers, Audio amp, JCV
cassette deck, Receiver
rack with RACAL RA6790/GM, RACAL RA1792, RACAL RA6217 with RA6337A LF
converter, Audio
processing rack with Mackie 1202 mixer, Symetrix 528 parametric
equalizer, Rane DC-24 controller, Aphex 104 aural exciter, Antenna
switch, PC/monitor/keyboard, Yaesu
FT-1000MP transceiver, Drake R8A
receiver, Misc.
speakers, Electrovoice RE-20 microphone, antenna rotor, Drake MN2700
tuner, Collins 651S1A receiver, Bird
wattmeter
The equipment and operating layout are in a constant state of change. Since the 2002 picture was taken, the 651S1A receiver has been sold, most of the speakers are replaced by better quality stereo bookshelf speakers (driven by several sterero audio amps), and a number of boatanchor receivers have crept into the operating space, including Collins R388/URR, Colins R390A, Hallicrafters SX-115, Hammarlund SP-600, Hammarulund HQ-180, and a Motorola R-2600 service monitor. Drop me a line and say HI. 73, Dan, K0DAN Email Dan! |
Dan
Robinson, Rockville, Maryland, USA
Dan is on the right. Larry Magne of Passport to World Band Radio is on the left. |
Welcome
to the Rockville, MD Premium and BA collection. My own personal
addiction began in the late 1960's when my late father rescued an old
Pilot T-133 from my grandmother's basement. I used to pull all-nighters
with my ear up to the speaker and logged my first 100 countries that
way, until acquiring a used HQ180C.
I still think the 180 series ranks at the top of the receiver feeding chain, and today I have five of them, including A, AX and C. My receiver love affair shifted to SP600s and 51J4s in the 1980s, and my premium addiction began in the 1990's when I acquired two 8718As at a government surplus auction in Thailand, where I was stationed as VOA Bangkok Bureau Chief. The most recent prize possession is the JRC NRD301A, truly a one-in-a-million find on Ebay, along with a R4245, with two WJ8718A/MFPs thrown in for good measure. I have also been bitten by the megaportable bug, with CRF-330K, CRF-V21, and Grundig 650's, along with some other classics such as the Hammarlund HQ215, Drake R7A w/RV75, and NRD515. If you are ever in the Washington, DC area feel free to email in advance. I am currently Capitol Hill correspondent for Voice of America so if you can stand the security and want a tour, give me a shout at darobin at his.com. |
Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, Canada |
My monitoring room is crammed full of
various receivers and accessories. Unfortunately without a fish-eye
lens, I can’t show you more than a tiny portion of this fascinating
place. During the winter it’s very cozy, thanks to the heat put out by
the very inefficient power supply of the Collins HF-2050. I have three
in the room, as well as a spare downstairs. It’s still my favourite DX
machine. Notice the famous Canadian hockey pucks allowing for good air
circulation….a must to prevent overheating.
Also the red and black cable provides 12v to a muffin fan blowing through the 2050 for cooling. Below the 2050 is a Racal 1792….a very nice and sensitive receiver in itself, with a great selection of filters. As a dx machine it’s just about as good as the 2050, but a little bit more awkward to operate compared to the 2050. One must enter a "0" before the frequency if below 10 Megs, just like my Kenwood R5000. Above the 2050 is a Sony minidisk deck. A great improvement over cassette tapes in my opinion! The 6-second cache is very very worthwhile. No more lost Ids at the top of the hour. I love the ease of editing too. I have a number of these handy units, all purchased used over eBay. Above the MD is the Timewave 599zx. I own two. Another absolute must. Instantly kills all those unwanted whistles at a touch of a button. |
Shaun, Edmonton, Canada |
My predilection for Racal gear
is obvious, but you can just make out one corner of an R390A in the
corner of the image. The racks are also ballasted by a CR-91A and an
SP-600JX. My listening activities include HF utility and LF beacon dx,
although lately (Summer 2003) I have been monitoring DRM transmissions
using the G303i and Merlin software.
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My amateur radio interest
dates back to the late 60's, and I had my Novice License in 1970 at the
earliest age then allowed (14) in Sweden. After a long lapse of activity
due to studies, apartment living, and family responsibilities, I finally
got back on the air again in the late 1990's.
I have a great interest in receiver technology, both as a profession and as a radio amateur. Professionally, I am employed by the Telemar Scandinavia (formerly Swedish Telecom Radio) organization as a Senior Consultant involved with MF/HF/VHF networks and systems for primarily Government customers. I write technical articles for the Swedish amateur radio periodical "QTC", and occasionally lecture about radio systems and HF-related matters at both professional conferences and amateur radio meetings. I also have the pleasure of representing my organization in the Programme Committee of the triennial Nordic HF Conferences. The current setup of receivers in the radio room is very mixed, there are "Boatanchors" that mostly are kept to have a decent temperature in winter, a few early solid-state receivers (Eddystone, Plessey, Racal, SRT CR300 and Skanti) and finally some "Premium Stuff" such as Racal 6790/1792,Collins HF-2050 and 651S-1, Harris RF-590A, SRT CR90 and CR91's.
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Hadley is President and Owner of LandMar
Systems, Inc. an Electronic Manufacturers’ Representative firm
specializing in the RF Communications market place serving the Pacific
Northwest, Alaska and Hawaii.
Hadley has been actively involved, for many years, in various engineering and sales positions in the electronics industry and is a member of the IEEE, APCO, ARRL, RSGB and is a Fellow Member of the Radio Club of America. As you can guess from the pictures and the above, Hadley is a Ham who enjoys quality radio products. His current electronics passion, outside of work, is time and frequency measurement. He is rumored to have gone "junk" happy, collecting Rubidium, GPS and Cesium Beam standards.
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I've been an avid swl
since the mid 50's when my father was able to obtain a Hammarlund AACS
receiver the military was getting rid of to make room for the
"newer" Collins R-390 receivers. We were living in Madrid,
Spain at the time. Dad was a teletype and crypto technician in the
U.S.Air Force. That set the direction in which I'm still heading 50
years later!
I have written several articles for Electric Radio magazine in regards to the R-390A and SP-600 receivers from a historical viewpoint. As I approach retirement, I have divested myself of "almost" all of my boatanchors and focused on the much lighter solid state gear. The main shack consists of the following Ten Tec receivers, a RX-340 and RX-350D. The workshop has a completely rebuilt Bendix R-1051B/URR and a R-274C/FRR (SP-600JX-14). I still enjoy listening to far off stations, for different views on news and cultures as well as utility stations. I have recently gotten back into BCB Dx'ing after several years away from it. I use a Quantum QX Loop antenna with very good results. I live on the Gulf of Mexico in Gulfport, Mississippi and have a quiet location and enough room for antenna experimenting. Reception is quite good and in the winter months, Trans- Atlantic bcb dx is common. I am one of four hobbyists who maintain the Hammarlund Historical website. |
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Living in Flanders, in the city of Antwerp, the Belgian major world port. Born in 1955, I got the radio bug as a kid from my granddad Jan De Coninck, who sailed in the 1930ies with the Belgian training tallship ‘ MERCATOR’ on a scientific expedition around the world, as a wireless operator. I still recall the smells and looks of the boatanchors he used to repair on the kitchen table. Fate however, decided I should not pursue electronics, but a classical training, studying Latin and Greek. Completely self-taught on electronics and still radio-crazy after all these years, I indulge collecting fine HF radios ( much to the chagrin of my XYL…) and SWL-ing with a keen interest in IOTA collecting and digital HF techniques. |
Last updated 03/28/07