Re: [IRCA] Perseus SDR - 6 years on and still a gem

["T. Hills" <"thills"@sio.midco.net>]

I think it comes down to personal preference, listening environment and 
available time.

For the last 2 years between an insane seasonal work schedule, dealing 
with family issues and a prolonged illness that left me just barely 
enough energy to go to work and fall into bed has left me just enough 
time to get the weather forecast from the local station in the car on 
the way to/from work. I had considered the SDR route but was afraid the 
time constraints would leave me with full hard drives and few loggings.

I've always had as much enjoyment from building and tweaking my own 
equipment as listening and logging and I'm more of a knob-turner than a 
mouse-clicker. I'm finally finishing up a home-brew receiver tat I 
thought I'd have done over a year ago :( It's mostly analog with the 
bells and whistles I want except for 2 digital additions to make life 
easier.

Digital frequency control using an N3ZI DDS2 for the 1st L.O.
A Soft66 Lite for I/Q output of the 2nd IF right off the mixer.

I plan on doing single channel unattended recordings since I'm in a very 
noisy location and my antennas for MW are tuned narrow band recordings 
more than ~10-15KHz wide would be pointless.

As with anything, it's not the tool that does the work but the hand 
holding it.

Tim Hills
Sioux Falls, SD

On 1/12/2014 8:57 AM, Ken, Scotland wrote:
> I am not too sure why some dxers think recording the full band on a 
> Perseus on a nightly basis at the top of the hour would give them time 
> problems.... It is not half as bad as it may seem.... Though I am 
> judging this from a transatlantic dxers point of view. If I bothered 
> much with the Euro channels here I may find the going tougher.
>
> After using the wideband recordings on an almost nightly basis since 
> 2007, I would hate to have to go back to single channel dxing. It 
> would seem like going back to my old domestic radiogram that I used as 
> a youngster in the 70's.
>
> I notice though that some dxers make notes of everything they hear in 
> a certain file!! Phew, that seems a load of work. I don't even keep a 
> written log book now. All notes and logs are made on my web page, as 
> and when I hear anything unusual... And that serves as the log book.. 
> I don't log WWKB or WBBR every night.... I can hear them any time... 
> My all time list notes the common stations that are almost never 
> logged, unless something unusual is heard. But using the Perseus 
> highlights what really are common regular stations, that I used to 
> class as good dx!! I have a very different view now of what is a 
> common station.
>
> You get to know the common stations, and for me it is common 
> transatlantic stations on the 10khz splits....  A quick check of a 
> file will let you know if it is worth listening more closely.
> eg on 26/12 we had a superb Mexican opening on the 0800 recording, so 
> that particular 10m recording was worth taking some time over.... and 
> I will also keep the file, as there were personal firsts at that time.
>
> Other mornings, like today, offered little of interest first shot, and 
> I have no doubt the files will be deleted shortly..
>
> Sometimes, like early January last year, the band is superb for a few 
> days, openings to the mid west and the west coast, and those files are 
> kept and checked every now and again, incase I missed anything, or 
> even just for the memories of listening to an exceptional morning of 
> reception.
>
> Aye, the Perseus was a technological breakthrough as far as MW dxing 
> was concerned, so much so that I don't have the AOR or NRD 545 and 
> more. A life changing receiver...., and it encouraged me to write a 
> bit about it.
>
> http://www.dxarchive.com/mw/perseus_a_life_changing_receiver.html
>
> I should really rewrite this article after 4 and a half years.... 
> There is probably a lot more to add..
>
> Ken
>
> Scotland


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