“Degen”
Synthesised
HF Communications
Receiver
Review by Ross Tester
Elsewhere in this issue we feature “WinRadio”: a very high
performance, computer-based radio receiver. As that review was
being written, this tiny communications receiver also arrived at
SILICON CHIP. It’s very significantly cheaper, covers the complete
100kHz to 30MHz MF/HF band (with 88-108MHz broadcast band
into the bargain) and offers a wide range of user controls. We
thought it apposite to put this review in the same issue so readers
can get make their own comparisons . . .
76 Silicon Chip
siliconchip.com.au
Unusually for a radio of this size, it sports a line-out
socket and, more importantly, a fine tuning control to help
resolve SSB signals. Having SSB capability brings it right
into the amateur radio market – especially at the price.
T
he first thing that strikes you
about the Degen DE1103 Communications Receiver is that it
is too small! “How can something this
size deliver on the promised performance . . .”
As one who was brought up on
the b-i-g communications receivers
of yesteryear (an ancient Geloso, if I
remember correctly!) then through a
Heathkit or two and more recently on
the ubiquitous FROGs, it does take a
bit of getting your mind around the
fact that something this size offers
performance far and away better than
those and features that weren’t even
a glint in the designer’s eye. It’s taken
the development of microprocessors
– as we saw with WinRadio – to get
this sort of performance.
So how big is it? Try 165 x 105 x
29mm - not much bigger than a typical
personal AM/FM receiver. It weighs in
at 300g plus batteries. Of course, there
have been quite a few synthesised
radios around this size in recent years
– but this is one of very few (indeed if
any!) we can recall which offers SSB
(single sideband) reception.
What’s so important about SSB? Ask
any amateur operator – it puts more
“punch power” into the signal by
sacrificing parts which can be synthesised at the receiving end. Hence, more
range. SSB on a standard AM receiver
sounds like “Donald Duck” talk.
Back to the Degen. It’s a dual conversion, PLL (phase-locked-loop)
synthesised receiver offering continuous coverage from 100kHz through to
29.999MHz, plus the FM radio band
of 88-108MHz (in stereo). And while
the jog tuning control gives surprisingly good bandspread, you can also
directly enter spot frequencies over
the entire range. If that’s not good
enough for you, there are also 255
memory channels (with memory scanning along with auto band scanning).
It is obviously intended for the avid
siliconchip.com.au
There are sockets for a long wire antenna, headphones
and a plug-pack adapator – and all are included in the
box. The batteries included are rechargeable (NiMH) types
which the external supply automatically charges.‑
shortwave listener as well as a more
general market, as the band switch
will progressively step it through the
popular shortwave radio bands: 75m,
60m, 49m, 41m, 31m, 25m, 22m, 19m,
16m and 13m, along with the FM and
AM broadcast bands.
Various combinations of pushbuttons also make it perform other
tricks, so a good read of the 28-page
instruction manual is a must if you
want to get maxium performance/
enjoyment from this radio.
There’s a couple of controls included “because they could” such as
a local/dx switch and a wide/narrow
2nd IF response switch for AM (wide
band, <6kHz, has better tone reception than narrow band [<4kHz] but it
is also noisier).
It has the obligatory digital clock
built in (with two alarms, no less) and
a 1-99 minute sleep timer.
Volume setting uses the same jog
dial as the manual tuner and we must
confess that is one feature we didn’t
like. Perhaps it’s just a matter of getting used to it but we were continually moving off frequency when we
meant to change the volume. And
speaking of volume, there is plenty!
The specs don’t mention the power
output but we found that sub-20 (out
of a maximum level of 64) was more
than enough for normal listening.
And as we mentioned earlier, using
the jog dial in conjunction with the
fine tuning control is more than good
enough to resolve SSB signals.
We didn’t try to measure sensitivity
but deemed it more than adequate.
It’s stated as <10uV on FM, <1mV/m
on MW AM and <20uV on SW AM.
And we didn’t have the opportunity
to string the long-wire antenna to see
just how much better it could be – but
Avcomm’s Garry Cratt told us that he
had done so and the performance was
even better, as one would expect. OK,
so what’s the verdict?
We’ve already mentioned the one
thing we didn’t like (again, that’s only
a preference) but there’s a lot to like
about the Degen DE1103. The one
thing we haven’t mentioned is the
price – and that was a real pleasant
surprise. Avcomm are selling this,
complete with NiMH batteries, plugpack, longwire antenna and earphones
for just $159.00 (inc GST, plus freight).
We’re trying to cast our minds back to
other receivers in the genre without
all the features of the Degen DE1103
and we can’t remember any that even
approached this price!
For more information call Avcomm
on (02) 9939 4377 or visit their website: www.avcomm.com.au
SC
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January 2007 77
