Re: [IRCA] Supercharging the XHDATA D-808-- Full Construction Article

[Gary DeBock <d1028gary@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Guy,

Thanks for your comments on the article, which are greatly appreciated (especially with only the first 5 pages completed!). And yes, although this initial posting does include some background information on the D-808 and the construction project, it was mainly sent out so that interested DXers could order the construction parts in advance, and have them ready to go when the full article is wrapped up in about a week.

<<< If I recall, weren't you also one of the initial USA purchasers of the D-808 as I was, for a bargain-basement price of ~$68 USD, shipped? A seller on Aliexpress.com was offering it for this price. Mine came promptly and was very well packed for transit from China. Not long after this, the phenomenal $68 price disappeared; hopefully the seller didn't "disappear" also :^( >>>

Yes, I do recall your excellent initial review of the D-808 portable on the SWLing.com website back around January, which was around the time that the first D-808 models were showing up in Japan, and elsewhere. I attempted to order a D-808 from Aliexpress.com at that time, but was told that they didn't ship to the USA or Canada (although they did ship to Mexico, with the bargain $70 price-- which is apparently still the case). Lacking any friends in Mexico I made arrangements with long-term Ultralight fanatic Hiroyuki Okamura in Yokosuka, Japan, who shipped me a stock D-808 in exchange for a hot-rodded Skywave SSB model (an indication of my desperation to get my hands on a D-808). Of course immediately after that a new eBay seller showed up shipping the D-808 to the USA and Canada at the somewhat inflated price of $112.87 plus $10 shipping-- who must now be nearing early retirement after selling 62 models in 5 months.

As far as I know, Guy, the very early D-808 supply route that you took advantage of closed down immediately, as XHDATA apparently never intended to sell the model openly in North America. You should consider yourself extremely lucky :-)

Gary (in the crowded valley, with the enhanced State Fair traffic)


> On September 1, 2018 at 1:25 PM Guy Atkins <dx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
>     Hi Gary,
> 
>     This is another great write-up as usual! Thanks for taking the time to document your hot rodding of the D-808.
> 
>     If I recall, weren't you also one of the initial USA purchasers of the D-808 as I was, for a bargain-basement price of ~$68 USD, shipped? A seller on Aliexpress.com was offering it for this price. Mine came promptly and was very well packed for transit from China. Not long after this, the phenomenal $68 price disappeared; hopefully the seller didn't "disappear" also  :^(
> 
>     It was after this early, very low price was yanked that we started seeing ridiculous offers on the D-808 ("just $75.00 + $500.00 shipping", etc.), until the situation settled down to the current $112.87 + $10.00 shipping to the USA.
> 
>     BTW, I don't know why but I've tried downloading your article more than once, but only the first half of the article appears. It ends just after entry "J" under Construction Parts.
> 
>     73,
> 
>     Guy Atkins
>     Puyallup, WA
> 
>     On Sat, Sep 1, 2018 at 12:29 AM, Gary DeBock <d1028gary@xxxxxxxxxxx mailto:d1028gary@xxxxxxxxxxx > wrote:
> 
>         > >      The new XHDATA D-808 AM-LW-FM-SW-AIR portable has been a very pleasant surprise among radios introduced this year. With good stock sensitivity on the both the AM and FM bands, multiple DSP filtering choices and SSB capability, the radio is a tremendous value for those living outside of North America (at around $70).
> > 
> >              Because the Chinese-made model has obviously been "inspired" (to use a generous term) by the C.Crane Skywave SSB model (which was manufactured at the nearby Redsun factories in China), direct shipments of the D-808 from China to North American purchasers seem to have been forbidden by XHDAT.A, though. This is apparently to avoid a copyright lawsuit from C.Crane, whose Skywave SSB circuitry is quite closely duplicated in the D-808. A single eBay seller has devised a way to skirt around this restriction by shipping to North America through Israel, though-- ending up with a booming business by selling 62 models to the USA and Canada at the marked up price of $112.87 + $10 shipping.
> > 
> >              Despite its murky design pedigree, though, there is no doubt about the radio's excellent potential. It is controlled by the SiLabs Si4735 DSP chip, offering multiple DSP selectivity choices along with the SSB capability. If you have purchased the D-808 and are satisfied with its stock performance, that's wonderful. But if you would like to transform it into something like a dream travel portable, why not consider installation of a 7.5 inch Medium Wave or Longwave loopstick? Both of those models have been built here, and they are real thrillers. The 7.5" Medium Wave loopstick D-808 model was taken to the Rockwork ocean cliff in Oregon state recently, where it received the following signal from 1017-A3Z in Tonga (10 kW at 5,632 miles/ 9,064 km) all by itself at 1301 UTC on August 8th. It is even picks up the 5 kW Australian horse racing station 2KY (in Sydney) as a weak co-channel in the middle of the recording  https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/tp3i89vky6p7hbylgkk1bp4pa5nvnuk https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/tp3i89vky6p7hbylgkk1bp4pa5nvnuk
> >          u
> > 
> >              For those who would like to construct one of these 7.5" loopstick D-808 models, a full construction article is being prepared. The article is complete through the introduction, background information on the model and the construction parts list, and the partial article up to that point is posted at http://www.mediafire.com/file/yc29lowg0do41d1/Supercharging_the_XHDATA_D_-_Copy.doc/file http://www.mediafire.com/file/yc29lowg0do41d1/Supercharging_the_XHDATA_D_-_Copy.doc/file
> > 
> >         The link is provided for those who wish to order the construction parts while the rest of the article is being wrapped up, which should be completed in about a week. Good luck to all who take the plunge!
> > 
> > 
> >         73 and Good DX,
> > 
> >         Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
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> 
 
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