sgrossklass
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2004
- Posts
- 2,803
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- 22
Yup, a new toy.
Neat little radio, I'd write normally - but particularly small it is not, and at 1.8 kg it's good that a fold-out handle is present. This is a fun set with good reception on all bands, i.e. MW, SW, FM, even if areas with crowded shortwave bands will necessitate the use of a selective (tunable) external antenna if the excellent sensitivity at full RF gain is to be used to its full extent. (My trusty 7600G is about as sensitive as the RP2000 with RF gain in the 12 o'clock position... Oh, my AN-LP1, with some adapter to fit the coaxial PAL jack, really makes the set fly.) Speaker audio is very good, too, makes a nice SWL set.
This is a knobtwiddler's and tweaker's radio in the best sense, not a button pusher's - big tuning knob with optical encoder, RF gain, bass/treble controls, external antenna input, AM IF out (for SSB demod or a downmixer for DRM or whatnot), no presets in sight even though it's a PLL set (the RP2100 has 10 for each of the 5 bands). Uniquely, you can power the set via both AA and D cells (user selectable), and I bet it would run for ages on the latter (mains and DC in are present, too). Might be nice for a beginner's FM DX set as selectivity and sensitivity really are pretty good there (it's supposed to have good overload rejection, too). MW (AM) reception likewise is very good, with sensitivity approaching or equalling that of my vintage ICF-7600A's and good audio (a strong station in wide with the treble control tweaked can produce a sound quality approaching FM). Shortwave shows very few images (the dual conversion design does quite well in this regard), like I mentioned intermod is more of a problem here if you crank up the RF gain (I guess the mixer performs about as well as that in other sets that have a noticeably lower maximum sensitivity). Selectivity is close to a 7600G's in narrow, which is more than adequate for SWL purposes (but not for hardcore DX, of course - it has more from a modern version of the oldschool Grundig Satellit 1400).
My RP2000 actually is a Roadstar TRA-2350P rebrand. Is the thing worth 60 hard-earned €uros to a radio geek? You bet. Save for SSB and presets (RP2100 has these), it has everything that a beginning shortwave listener may need and is equally useful as a "normal" radio.
BTW, a new model RP3000 with synchronous detection, keypad input, 1000 presets and AGC control is in the works and should come out next year.
This is a knobtwiddler's and tweaker's radio in the best sense, not a button pusher's - big tuning knob with optical encoder, RF gain, bass/treble controls, external antenna input, AM IF out (for SSB demod or a downmixer for DRM or whatnot), no presets in sight even though it's a PLL set (the RP2100 has 10 for each of the 5 bands). Uniquely, you can power the set via both AA and D cells (user selectable), and I bet it would run for ages on the latter (mains and DC in are present, too). Might be nice for a beginner's FM DX set as selectivity and sensitivity really are pretty good there (it's supposed to have good overload rejection, too). MW (AM) reception likewise is very good, with sensitivity approaching or equalling that of my vintage ICF-7600A's and good audio (a strong station in wide with the treble control tweaked can produce a sound quality approaching FM). Shortwave shows very few images (the dual conversion design does quite well in this regard), like I mentioned intermod is more of a problem here if you crank up the RF gain (I guess the mixer performs about as well as that in other sets that have a noticeably lower maximum sensitivity). Selectivity is close to a 7600G's in narrow, which is more than adequate for SWL purposes (but not for hardcore DX, of course - it has more from a modern version of the oldschool Grundig Satellit 1400).
My RP2000 actually is a Roadstar TRA-2350P rebrand. Is the thing worth 60 hard-earned €uros to a radio geek? You bet. Save for SSB and presets (RP2100 has these), it has everything that a beginning shortwave listener may need and is equally useful as a "normal" radio.
BTW, a new model RP3000 with synchronous detection, keypad input, 1000 presets and AGC control is in the works and should come out next year.
