[IRCA] RE: Sony XDR-F1HD Tuner

["HASCALL, DAVID CIV DFAS" <DAVID.HASCALL@xxxxxxxx>]

Thanks Bob for your review of the Sony HD Tuner.  Of course there are
much better AM radio's, even the $10 Sony SRF-59 is better than it is
for AM DX.  I, of course, was just giving a review of the HD features of
the Sony, as I did the Accurian when I bought that one at Goodwill for
$6 (an indictment of the HD myth, if there ever was one).

I do get locks and the obvious audio "upgrade" on locals WFNI 1070, WNDE
1260 and WTLC-AM 1310 during the day.  1070 and 1260 are so-so at night.
The sound is an improvement over analog AM but I would not say FM
quality.  Artificial quality is about right.  I had similar daytime
results with the Accurian but nighttime on AM is much better with the
Sony.  If time allows, I will try for more HD "locks" with the call
letters showing.  The Accurian never got close.  I wonder if the Sony
kills itself on AM with internally generated RFI?

You are right, the selectivity on FM is awesome and sensitivity isn't
bad (similar to the Accurian).  There have been some audio complaints
about weak signals on FM and power supply related heat issues.  I have
noticed the distorted audio on weak signals.  I'm no technical expert
but I am guessing that DSP is throwing some small virtual filters at the
weak signal to get them to come in at the expense of clean audio.  After
an hour of use, the case on the top, rear-center (near the vents) does
get quite warm but not alarming at all.  I like my new "toy" and since I
had a Fry's $50 Gift Certificate and they had it on sale for $69, it was
a no-brainer.

73
Dave in Indy

------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:16:13 -0400
From: Bob Young <youngbob53@xxxxxxx>
To: <irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [IRCA] Sony XDR-F1HD Tuner
Message-ID: <COL122-W506E17190AD2272EE9FAD8C6A20@xxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"


I've had a Sony XDR-F1HD Tuner for a year and a half and as far as the
AM 
IBOC ICON lighting up it will light up a lot, I used a C crane twin coil

ferrite antenna with it but try to get a lock. I cannot lock onto local
WTAG, 
a 5KW IBOC AMer on 580 from about 10 miles away. When the Gods of HD
(from 
down below it appears) were smiling I could get a lock on WBZ at about 
40 miles from their towers, it was always inconsistent and sounded very
artificial when I did manage to lock on their HD signal. 
I also experienced quite a few drop outs on the FM IBOC side with
supplied 
dipole. It is gathering dust and has been now for a year in my QTH. 
If I ever try FM DXing I will try this however as it seems to have
excellent 
selectivity on the FM band. The AM band on the Sony is run of the mill 
however with my 30 year old Marantz 2385 running rings around it, never
mind
a real AM radio.

Bob Young
KB1OKL
Hammarlund SP-600
R-390A
2 400' LW's 
Misek phaser
 
Message: 3
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:18:19 -0400
From: "HASCALL, DAVID CIV DFAS" <DAVID.HASCALL@xxxxxxxx>
To: <tvfmdx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: amdx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [IRCA] Winegard HD-6000 FM antenna / New Sony XDR-F1HD

 
BTW - I just got the Sony XDR-F1HD Tuner.  Got it Fry's on sale for $69.
NO analog interference from local 105.7 on 105.5 or .9.  My old Accurian
HD radio (Goodwill find) has strong slop on .5 and .9 and it takes
strong Tr or skip to get by.  HUGE improvement.  Slightly better with
stations getting through adjacent channel IBOC noise.  The Accurian is
still in use, I am feeding the Tuners audio out, to its line in. :)
This is with rabbit ears.
 
Medium Wave: MUCH better than the Accurian.  The HD icon flashes when it
is getting close to a lock.  I am just using the included loop but I
laid that next to my Select-a-tenna (antenna booster).  I saw the HD
icon flash on some non-locals like WLW, WBBM, KMOX and so on.  In the
2-3 minutes that I played with AM, the icon went solid on KMOX and it
displayed the calls.  I'm not sure that the audio ever went HD but I
never had a smell on the Accurian with similar set ups.
 
73,
Dave in Indy 
****************

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