AOR AR7030

This radio made me come back to the hobby. I did not have interst on receivers from AOR because it was known for its *scanners*. But in 1997 I came to know that AOR had released an HF comminications receiver, AR7030. I read some reviews such as Guy Atkins' and most of the reviews said the AR7030 was an outstanding receiver. One day I went to the electric town of Akihabara and saw the real one. I couldn't help buying it.

This receiver was designed by John Thorpe who designed Lowe receivres before then. Cosmetically 7030 does not look like a communications receiver and weighs not much. But the enclosure construction is very good and sturdy. Knobs and controls on front panel are minimum and full control of the receiver is done through hieracical menu and a remote controler instead. One interesting point is that it has a self test function which detects the number of filters installed and their bandpass characteristics to compensate carrier point automatically. Its PCB accepts various kinds of filters such as Murata ceramic filters, Collins Mechanical filters and crystal filters.

This radio sounds very good. Sync detector works well and it rarely lose lock in auto mode. It automatically tunes to the carrier and locks to it when in the auto-sync mode. The recovered audio is excellent in SSB mode, too. This is the first radio I ever own which can enjoy sound quolity of BC/amateur stations.

A Few Annomalies

• Notch filter works great but the Noise Blaker is not so effective at least for my environment.
• AGC sometimes pops at the onset of strong CW/SSB signals.
• Sync circuit seems to be sensitive to temprature. Sometimes a beat note might be heard after the auto-sync locking is completed. Slightly tuning upwards will disapper it.
• Not a few users reported that the mechanical encoders used for Vol/PBT control failed after 1-3 years use. The PBT encoder failed on my unit failed, too.