-- o ICOM

More documents

Recommendations

Info

I 73 Review by stare Stern Nl BLH Number , on yourFeedbKk card The Ranger AR-3500 Competitively-priced ORO 10m rig. Clear Channel Corp. Box 445 Issaquah, WA 98027 Phone: (206) 392..0419 Price Class: 5350 W hen I last reviewed a Clear Channel Ranger 10 meter rig , 1came to a couple of conclusions. The first was that the rig was a reasonable, all-mode 10 meter transceiver. The second was that it wasn't the mosl operator-friendly in the world. After evaluating the AR-3500, a higher.power, upoated version of the original, I have found some improvements, and some areas where things are pretty much the same. In a Nutshell The Ranger AR-3500 is a micrcprocessor-contrclred 10 meier transceiver with 100 Watts 01 output. An all-mode rig (AM. FM. SS8, and CW)o it features true noise blank ing and noise limiting. It has outputs forCW and an external speaker. An amber LED display gives resolution to the nearest 10 Hz. It covers 28.000 to 29.995 MHz and offers splits for repeater use. Specifications put the dynamic range at roughly 105 dBm , and spurious emission suppres- sion meets FCC specifications at about 60 dB down. The Ranger AR-3500 also offers five memories. memory scan, and programmable band scan. II weighs roughly 5 pounds and is about as big as an older 2 meter rig. Improvements Over the AR-3300 The Ranger AR·3500 is an improvement over the AR-3300. whiCh I reviewed last year, in the following ways: Instead 01 using one set of momentary-contact switches for increasing or decreasing frequency, there are now two banks 01 switches under the display. The top bank is for increasing frequency and the bottom is for decreesing frequency. There is now a real, highly effective. noiseblanker circuit. You activate it by pUShing in the RF gain knob. It pretty much cancels just about all mobile noise. By pushing in the mike gain knob. you can now activate a true automatic noise limiting circuit. This feature complements the noise blanker and helps limit noise peaks. The AIT control , called the clarifier, seems 30 73AmateurRadiO . June. 1989 The Ranger AR-3500. • to have been opened up a bit over the previous model and offers somewhat broader tunin g. These changes may seem small, but they make the Ranger AR-3500 tar more pleasant to use. The ANl and noise-blanker circuits are especially welcome, as is the change to two banks of switches to move up and down frequency. Still the Same Th e areas that have not changed are still the same ones which we noted last year. They are: There 's no knob for the VFO. aSYing is button-controlled. To move up 10 Hz, you must press the lar button on the right ten times. No automatic mode is implemented alter several seconds, as is commonly done with other momentary-contact devices in the electromcs world. The CW mode is still strangely implemented . To use it. you have to insert the key. and key the mike while you're transmitting. II's an interesting two-handed exercise. It also indicates that the developers 01 this rig considered it primarily for mobile voice operation. The amber LED display washes out in strong light. This is also true of the LEOs for the sepa rate receive and transmit signal strength indicators. Scan mode i s on ly activa ted with the squelch in a high position. It takes a lot of signat to overcome the squelch, which woocs in any mode. II you want the convenience of using the mike instead of the updown switches, you must purchase an up-down microphone. You must also purchase a CW board if you wish to use the CW interface correctly. The third option you must purchase as an added-cost item is a speech processor board. These features are usually standard parts of a $600 $700 transceiver. Memory storage is only partially battery-backed. Memory is retained as long as 13.8 volts DC is supplied to the rig, provided you remember not to turn the memory reset switch off. If you turn it off. memory goes away. even with the 13.8 volts DC input. This also means that if you move the rig, for whatever reason, there is no memory storage. However. we suspect in later versions of the AA-3500 , the problem will be fixed. Conclusions So, the final verdict on the Ranger AR 35OO? Despite the above shortcomings, iI's an excellent rig. With 100 Walts and a fairly convenient size. we were able to work from New England to the Midwest reliably and with less than optimum band conditions. The extra 6.02 dB of power more than makes up for any shortcomings. Also, you can set a repealer offset in memory and operate in split mode so that you can operate 10 meter repeater mode without making any changes. as is the case with other models on the market. Finally, signal reports and audio reports were consistently excellent with clean , communications-quality audio reported just about every lime. And, last but not least. the price. The suggeted retail on the AR3500 has come down dramatically-from $600 to $350-to make it truly competitive with the other popular 10m mobile rigs on the market today. Given all the plusses, the AR-3500 is worth a look by the serious 10 meter operator.III
THE U SPEt (KOW8,fi /DVP/ Pt:8 .J ·_ T.... 0 _ ' . ...."" ... • T,,-" 1.0,.ln,.1t "..Ir«l ,••,"'• •. Two I., 10, D'_",d."'II'.m..... '''In., 1. Two , N r guO',,,!,,, DIgital Trtplt PIrw.- Sup," o-2OV 01'" C>:IOY., , . 5Y" 'SA 'o ' ~ _ ..,........... ''''0'' _ad ~ . , . , , ..." Con, , ) _".' 000'''' ll. ~·e 60 wIlh AIIlIIig MIl.rl $175 F_ •. _ . rot..,.., Set! CI>oc'< ""ft HOO" 8latJ1ttncl CIvot.. """"' 00
Page 2 and 3: With One YearWa K7SS , "01 all the
Page 4 and 5: Food for thought. OUf new Un iversa
Page 6 and 7: • Number 1 on yourFndbKken Welcom
Page 8 and 9: _______________________________1 Nu
Page 10 and 11: e! ACTUAL SIZE FRONT PANEL TM-621A/
Page 12 and 13: or a TS-140S HF transceiver with ge
Page 14 and 15: , Number 4 on your FeedbKk card Spr
Page 16 and 17: 73 Review by MichaelJ. Geier KBI UM
Page 18 and 19: - , - hy-gain antennas & towers Tri
Page 20 and 21: Continued from page 14 The priority
Page 22 and 23: : Number, on yourFMdback eard QRP C
Page 24 and 25: • zeroing the frequency of the VF
Page 26 and 27: em Table 2: Frequency Dependent Val
Page 28: Number7on YOtlr Feedback u rd The G
Page 31: to the PA, giving different power o
Page 35 and 36: AMATEUR SOFTWARE FOR YOUAIBM PClXT/
Page 37 and 38: a large digital component. There ar
Page 39 and 40: Authorized Liquidator Now it's easy
Page 41 and 42: ~·,w~ . '" ._.,."" ........"."" 'N
Page 43 and 44: See You June 4th-HOSARC, Queens, NY
Page 45 and 46: SAVE TIME and MONEY with THE HAZER
Page 47 and 48: The HF5B "Butterfly"'· A Compact 2
Page 49 and 50: Atlanta HamFestival July 8th & 9th
Page 51 and 52: onfinuedjromp.25 W inding a transfo
Page 53 and 54: , t.a r r r. " I , 6 A II"~ 6A II"
Page 55 and 56: tor. An RF gain control prevents ov
Page 57 and 58: Look at our Mf)B!LE flt1A.!:ll(" VH
Page 59 and 60: Hf Equipment br;ular SALE le-76S Xc
Page 61 and 62: ATV CONVERTERS • HF LINEAR AMPLIF
Page 63 and 64: RX eye. Up to 16 TX waveforms (32 o
Page 65 and 66: UNCLf WAl'Nf'S BOOITSUfLf · F....
Page 67 and 68: Numbef" 20 on your Feedback c.rd CW
Page 69 and 70: lV.1. problems? Low pass lV,1. filt
Page 71 and 72: No gain.No pain. Maintaining a mode
Page 73 and 74: and gels about + 5 dBm output on tr
Page 75 and 76: VISO SUPER PERFORMANCE BATTERIES SU
Page 77 and 78: SPECIALISTS IN FAST TURN P.C. BOARD
Page 79 and 80: KIT, ONLY $675 WIREO$975 VHFOR UHF
Page 81 and 82: INDUSTRIAL PRINTER SALE IDEAL FOR I
Page 83 and 84:
Bilt Pasternak WA61TF 28197RobinAve
Page 85 and 86:
World's Most Powerful CB and Amateu
Page 87 and 88:
D X-ing, contests, pileups, traffic
Page 89 and 90:
ter the war he really did "reme~ be
Page 91 and 92:
Listings are frfJfJ ofcharge liS sp
Page 93 and 94:
nets, as so many involved are sayin
Page 95 and 96:
tt f]IICOMI ICOM IC·7Bt New Oelu x
Page 97 and 98:
100 a SL CARDS S81 Shipped postpaid
Page 100:
• TH-75A WO 2m170cm Dual Band HT
show all

-- o ICOM

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?