From: schuster@panix.com (Michael Schuster) In article <1994Feb23.142511.21250@news.rlcn.rl.af.mil>, Ed Starczewski wrote: >Would anyone who has recently purchased the SW8 care to offer up a review? >I'm considering (actually leaning towards) a Lowe HF-150 and would really like >to see a review of the SW8 before I take the plunge. * DRAKE SW8 REVIEW * Broadcast Thursday Feb 3, 1994 on Radio Nederland / transcribed by Jeff Goldman -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We just completed extensive practical tests of a production version of the Drake SW8. That's the $600 portable communications receiver designed to fill up a perceived gap in the US marketplace. This new radio will not replace the existing Drake R8. In fact though, it is better to describe the set as a transportable receiver. The 6 size D cells used to power the set for portable use, as well as the size of the cabinet (29 x 13 x 33 cm) mean that you're not going to take this set on a business trip. But, on the face of it, it looks like the ideal set for DXpeditions, as well as for home use. The receiver is certainly well above the standards set by most portables. Not surprisingly for the price, you may say. The front panel is logical. It doesn't take too long to get the hang of the radio, although many of the buttons have a double function. The radio tips up on an angle as it rests on the handle, and that makes it easier to get at the front panel. If you want to keep the running costs down, it's best to run the receiver using the external power supply, as it uses 400mA when tuned to shortwave. Let's start with some negative points this time around. The attenuator is rather crude... either 0dB or -20dB, but nothing in between. There is no RF Gain. And the Automatic Level Control (AGC) cannot be switched off. And for some reason, the headphone socket was moved to the side of the radio, and that makes it awkward to connect a pair of 'phones if you want to put something next to the set. Now, as a cost-cutting measure, the SW8 makes use of a bridged amplifier to run the 2 watt internal speaker. That means that you can't connect a Telex decoder or data converter to the output speaker terminals because you'll damage the amplifier by earthing (grounding) it. The SW8 does have a line output, but that's not enough level to drive most Telex converters. The coverage is from 0.5 to 30MHz continous, FM (stereo on the headphones) from 87 to 108MHz, and the Airband from 118 to 137MHz. We found it strange, at least here in Europe, that Drake decided to use a 300 ohm balanced antenna input for VHF. Most antennas for the Airband, available here, such as a discone, have a 75 ohm asymmetric output using a coaxial cable. You can't connect this direct to the SW8. Assuming you use a matching transformer to step up to the right impedance, you'll still need a strong signal to hear anything because the radio's quite insensitive at this part of the dial. You can hear aircraft flying overhead, but you won't be able to monitor ground stations from any distance. Likewise, the performance on FM broadcast is only fair. Most of the money, after all, has been invested in the shortwave performance. So, it's handy that the Airband and FM broadcast bands are on the SW8, but don't expect too much. Drake told us yesterday that the 300 ohm FM antennas are widely available in North America though. Now to that shortwave performance. The synthesizer on the SW8 is a simpler design than on the more expensive Drake R8, which -remember- costs another US$300 (actually, $400 -ed.). But, Drake has spent considerable engineering time keeping the noise of the synthesizer to a minimum. The radio is sensitive though, especially for listening to the broadcast stations. And it's roughly even across the coverage range. But, you should note, that the set has no longwave. That's because longwave's not used in North America for broadcast work. The SW8 has synchronous detection, although there's no way to select either lower or upper sideband when you're using the synch mode. The lock-in time for the synch detector takes anything up to 3 seconds, and the lock only works when the signal is quite strong. So, you can use the synch to reduce some of the fading effects on strong signals, but not to dig weak stations out of nearby heavy interference. Once the station fades below a critical level, then it takes another 3 seconds to lock on again. We note that the audio distortion drops dramatically though in the synch mode. So, the synch design in the Sony ICF-2001D or the 2010 is, in our opinion, much better than this new Drake SW8. The internal speaker has a rich sound, despite its relatively small size. That's great for program listening, but not quite so useful, of course, for utility reception. It's all a matter of personal taste. If you take the case off to look inside, you'll find the SW8 is beautifully designed and it's easy for a qualified technician to repair. It is clearly a different design, though, when compared to the more expensive R8. Overall, we noted better performance on the lower shortwave bands up to 6MHz when an external antenna is connected to the SW8. The amplifier of the built in whip antenna had a tendency to overload with high power mediumwave stations in the vicinity, and this increased the background noise in the range of 2 to 3MHz. But, Drake says they've solved this problem on units that will start shipping in the next few days. It has 3 bandwidth filters as standard: 6, 4 and 2.3kHz, all measured at -6dB. We measured a dynamic range of 97dB, which is a very good figure for this type of radio. The use of 5 input filters in the antenna input stage means that the radio doesn't overload as easily as a result of strong nearby transmitters desensitizing the circuitry. And that's a problem on many competing portables. Well, now to summarize. We found that the Drake SW8 is a top range portable. Better, than Sony's ICF-SW77, for instance. It's rugged and very well-built. The filters are not as good as the Lowe HF-150. But, there are extras on the SW8, such as FM and Airband which you won't find on the Lowe receiver. So, it's the old story of you get what you pay for. In North America, the radio's priced at US$600, and for that price the performance is simply excellent. Nice to see that Drake has succeeded in a quality product for the program listener. -- Mike Schuster | schuster@panix.com | 70346.1745@CompuServe.COM ------------------- | schuster@shell.portal.com | GEnie: MSCHUSTER