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F5PBG > MODS 16.08.98 16:31l 181 Lines 7872 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: AOR AR1500 2/2
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From: F5PBG@F5PBG.FBRE.FRA.EU
To : MODS@WW
>From INTERNET :
Part 2 of 2
SENSITIVITY
The AR1500 is a quite sensitive receiver. It proved to be more sensitive than
the AR1000 but less sensitive than the PRO-43. It easily broke squelch on a
signal that the AR1000 could only hear with the squelch opened manually.
Both units were using identical DA900 rubber duckies.
Like the AR1000, the AR1500 can pick up SW and MW signals when
attached to an appropriate long-wire antenna. While you wouldn't buy this
unit as your primary shortwave receiver, it can pick up strong SW signals
nicely (subject to signal fading) and the AR1500 can easily decode SSB
signals.
INTERMODULATION
The AR1500 seems to have about the same intermod problems as the
AR1000. My unit got periodic FM radio broadcast interference all across its
frequency range. While it wasn't as bad as the Icom R1 is rumored to be, it
was noticeable.
IMAGES
The AR1500 is supposed to be triple-converted, but I noticed images in the
800 MHz range. I picked up cellular phone conversations on the local
government frequency of 812.2125 MHz. This was the only frequency I
noticed images on. The AR1000 doesn't do this.
RF
The AR1500 puts out a fair amount of RFI. It stopped the PRO-43 from
scanning at a distance of over 4 feet. If you are using this scanner near
other
scanners, you might have a problem.
BATTERY LIFE
The AR1500 comes with a custom 5 AA cell molded nicad pack. The pack
is removable, but there is no way to charge the pack while out of the
scanner. The scanner also comes with a battery holder that will take 4 AAA
alkaline or nicad batteries. I wasn't able to do a battery test on this unit
but
the custom nicad pack battery life is said to be about 4 hours. The AAA
battery pack life is supposed to only be about 2 hours. Any AR1500 users
who have more accurate figures than this are encouraged to contact me and I
will update this document to reflect these figures.
Charging time is approximately 15 hours and you are warned not to
overcharge the nicad pack.
Battery life and maintenance seems to be the biggest problems with this
unit. It will not be very useful in the field if you run out of juice in a few
hours. And, unfortunately, you can't be charging one pack while you are
using another.
SSB OPERATIONS
One of the more intriguing features of the AR1500 is the ability to decode
SSB. The AR1500 includes a BFO that you can use to tune in upper or
lower side-band signals. There are a number of limitations to this feature,
however.
I had hoped that you could simply program in a number of utility stations
and scan them in SSB. However there are a couple of things that make this
impossible. First, the squelch control on the AR1500 is as squirrelly as it is
on the AR1000. The squelch setting is different for different bands, and in
the SW region it is practically useless. You cannot squelch out many
frequencies, even if they don't appear to have an active signal or carrier.
Therefore, you can't really scan these frequencies.
The second problem has to do with the resolution of the AR1500. The finest
tuning increment you can select is 5 KHz. You use the BFO to tune between
the 5 KHz limitations. So, for example, if you wanted to pick up 8989
KHz, you would have to enter 8990 and then tune down to 8989 with the
BFO. Of course, the setting on the BFO would be different for this station
than it would for 7613 (you'd have to enter 7610 or 7615 and tune in
between with the BFO). What this means is even if you could scan SW
stations, the BFO would be set at a different location for each station.
While I didn't try this with CB, presumably you could enter all 40 CB
channels, set the BFO to USB and scan all the USB CB channels. Then,
just by turning the BFO a bit, you could scan all the LSB CB channels. If
any AR1500 user can confirm this, please drop me email and I'll update this
document with your comments.
The unit I tested also put out an extremely high-pitched whine while tuning
in the SW bands.
SEARCH AND STORE
The search and store feature provides a way to automatically take active
channels that you find during a search and plug them into scan channels.
The search and store feature on the AR1500 is pretty limited in its capability
and usefulness. This is somewhat frustrating, especially since all of the
capabilities are built into the AR1500 to have made this a much more useful
feature.
Whenever you search with search bank 9, every channel it stops on is
automatically plugged into the next succeeding scan channel in scan bank 9.
The first signal goes into channel 900, then 901, etc until you fill up all
100
channels in scan bank 9. When you reach channel 999, the unit starts over
with channel 900 again.
The way you would use this is to start searching and then later simply scan,
using scan bank 9. The problem with this feature in the AR1500 is that it
stores anything it stops on during a search. It will store open carriers, data
channels, static, and any other kind of signals. The biggest problem,
however, is that it stores the same frequencies over and over again.
This could have been eliminated and the search and store feature could have
been made to be much more useful had AOR simply combined the search
frequency lockout feature with the search and store feature. This way, as
soon as the scanner stopped on an active frequency during a search, the
frequency would be stored in scan bank 9 and be locked out of search bank
9. Then, an active frequency would only be stored once. In addition, the
scanner wouldn't have to needlessly stop on channels you have already
stored, making it more likely that you could catch the elusive signals in the
range you are searching. Then, when you scan bank 9, you'd get all the
frequencies found during your search with no repetition. Alas, it wasn't
implemented this way, so IMHO the search and store feature is quite a bit
less useful.
In addition, the search and store feature only stores the mode as AM or FM.
If you are searching in WFM mode, the channels get stored as FM mode,
not WFM mode.
RECOMMENDATION
The AR1500 is an amazing piece of engineering, cramming incredible
functionality into a very small package. Unfortunately, the small size itself
may be more of a minus than a plus. It makes the unit harder to operate and
gives it a considerably shorter battery life. In addition, the designers of
the
AR1500 didn't fix many of the idiosyncratic problems of the AR1000 when
they designed this new scanner.
While the AR1500 is more sensitive than the AR1000, you lose 100 scan
channels and one search bank to the dedicated function of the auto search
and store--a feature which may not be of great value to most users.
You also get SSB reception, but this feature generally can't be used in
scanning mode. This makes SSB reception a single station feature. Since
the AR1500 isn't designed as a primary shortwave receiver, this feature
should be considered a bonus, not a main selling point.
Unless you have a specific and demanding need for SSB reception, it seems
hard to justify the additional expense of an AR1500 over an AR1000,
especially considering its difficulty of operation due to its small size and
its
short battery life. However, if you are in the US and are buying the
AR1500 from the UK, with the current exchange rate, you may get a price
comparable to the US version of the AR1000. In this case, the trade-offs
might make sense.
The AR1500 has the same intermod and squelch adjustment problems as the
AR1000. In fact, the AR1500 manual from ACE carries this disclaimer in
the warranty:
"We do not warrant that the operation of the unit will be uninterrupted or
error free."
BOTTOM LINE:
If you want a continuous coverage scanner and don't have a pressing need
for SSB reception, buy an AR1000.
End of part 2 of 2
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