The AM Forum

I have a chance to pick up a Drake R8A for 450.00.  I have never used the receiver before and thought maybe some of you would have some comments.  I would be mainly using it as a back-up receiver. 

I noticed that for AM the filter in it is 6KC wide which is right on the edge of being marginal in my book.  It also has synchronous detection which based on some reviews I have read does not work all that well. 

I do hear some good things about it as well.

Any comments would be appreciated!

Thanks
Joe, W3GMS   

I have a straight R-8 - one of only 3 radios I've ever bought brand new.  Because it has an excellent passband tuning, your effective BW is 12 KC.  More than enough for good audio reproduction.  In my view the sync detector works FB.  Not quite as good as the Sherwood but its lock time is almost instant.

Hook it to a decent HIHIFI speaker and I think you'll be impressed.  Not the best sounding RXer ever but not half bad.  The ergonomics aren't all that great on the R-8 but I understand they improved them on the R-8A.

I used mine all the time when I lived in Havana to listen to WHAS Louisville and WTOP Washington, as well as the 4 and 5 land 20% modulation AM nets.  A lightning strike nearby took out a couple of the PIN diodes but other than that it's been very reliable.

Pretty good RX on the test bench I'm told

Thanks John and Frank for your comments.  It sounds like a worthy piece of gear.  Now do I "really" need it :)?  Of coarse we all know the answer to that question!  It may be treat time...
Joe, W3GMS

Like JN I have the original R-8.  It and the SX-88 share receiving duties at the Ranger/Desk KW station. 

The audio is very nice and I prefer the later Drake electronic passband tuning system (R-4C, R-7, R-8 series) to its implementation on any other radios.  The combination of the R-8 LC filters with electronic passband tuning is an excellent combination.

Lately the R-8 gets more usage than the SX-88; I think under really poor conditions on AM the SX-88 with bandwidth set for 2.5 KC and carefully tuned for best sideband detection is marginally better at pulling out weak signals from heavy QRM and QRN.  However the interference rejection capability of the R-8 is much easier to utilize.

That is a fine price for a R-8A and I would strongly advise you to grab it.  If it turns out you don't like it you will have no problem finding a new owner for it.

Thanks very much Rodger for your comments.  The collective comments I have gotten on it are very good. 
It looks like I will purchase it. 
Joe, W3GMS

Joe, I just bought a Cubic R3080 Chassis and had all the modules to populate it.
It is spring, time to buy another radio. That is a good price for a R8.

I have a late R-8B, and paid much more for it, but I am quite happy with it.  I suspect I'd only sell it if I ever got an Elecraft K3, but even then I'd be torn.  450 is a good price for an R-8A as far as I have seen.

David, k3tue


Version Differences (http://www.shortwaveradio.ch/radio-e/drake-r8a-e.htm (http://www.shortwaveradio.ch/radio-e/drake-r8a-e.htm))

R-8: first version:
    You cannot directly select the different recepetion modes or IF bandwidth filters, but You have to circle through the selection by pressing the MODE or BANDWIDTH buttons several times without a "back" option. So You will have to press the button once to change from USB to LSB but it will take five times to press the button to switch back to USB. In addition, the receiver switches the bandwith automatically when changing reception modes to Drake's recommended fitler setting, the selection has not been accepted by all DXers...
R-8A:
    direct switching of all reception modes and filters with 6 pushbuttons for MODE and BANDWIDTH each, 440 alphanumeric programmable frequency memories
R-8B:
    synchroneous detection with selectable sidebands, 1000 memory channels
R-8E: European version of the original R - 8

One more addition to David's list of differences, the original R-8 (and the European variant) use an optical tuning encoder with a fairly heavy knob.  The A and B versions switched to a mechanical encoder and somewhat lighter tuning knob.

I was reading up on the mechanical encoder.  One guy did quite an analysis piece on the wear patterns that caused some intermittents.

http://www.radiointel.com/R8.htm

I have an R8A, it's quite the thing.  The narrow 6 KC IF selectivity is a little restrictive, but as a previous poter noted, the passband tuning is super and a great QRM fighter when the slopbucketeers get close.  And yes, definitely use a hi fidelity speaker.

Guys,

Thanks for all the honest feedback on the Drake R8A.  The collective summary from all the comments given indicate that it is a good receiver with some very positive comments said about it. 

I need to verify the cosmetics of the receiver and also make sure everything is working on it.  Providing that those two items are positive, I will purchase it as early Fathers Day present!  Now to hold back my wife Martha to make sure she does not buy it as a Fathers Day present for me is going to be the tuff job :)

Thanks again all....
Joe, W3GMS

The only downside to the Drake R8 series is the push button controls wear out. The first to go is the power switch.  I just bought an infrared remote control for mine which helped with the ailing switch.  I believe the only other thing is that Drake will no longer service units over a certain age.  Naturally my R8 power switch just started getting finicky right after their announcement.   

There's someone who regularly sells replacement parts of all kinds of drake models on ebay.

 After owning both a Drake R8A and a JRC NRD545 at the same time , the Drake R8A is still here. The NRD 545 is long gone. As soon as JRC stopped production of the 545, the parts flow dropped as well. Drake still supported the R8s for years after production ended...at very reasonable rates !
 The ergonomics of the R8A are really not all that bad , the controls are quickly learned. The R8A does have some nice ergo features over the older R8 but the R8 also seemed to have a better syncro-detector system .
  While the JRC had two major problems in the first three months, I have never had to send any of the three Drakes back in the 15 years that I have owned them. The JRC on the other hand was not serviced due to a lack of replacement boards, that is why it is gone. The JRC looked great and had fantastic ergos but it was NOISY and frail.
  Drake has an excellent reputation for support but after 15+ years they too may have to limit the support. No problem with that.
$450 for a good R8A is a lot of receiver for the money . As mentioned the passband tuning is very effective and  affords
 plenty of bandwidth for good AM reception. The PB also slices of sloppy buckets cleanly.

  The R8A also runs very well on outboard 12VDC power supplies. This keeps a lot of heat out of the radio case. The standby heat is a bit high as the radio consumes about 25 watts from the AC line in the "off" position.

  Update:http://www.rldrake.com/support-models.php (http://www.rldrake.com/support-models.php) Just checked the Drake website. According to Drake, all of the R8 series are still supported both parts and service. No bad after nearly 20 years .

Gary & Dave,

Thanks for your comments concerning the R8A. 

I have purchased it and will be picking it up in early June from the seller. 

It will be fun checking it out in the GMS Lab prior to pairing it up with a transmitter.

73,
Joe, W3GMS

I totally agree.  I run my R-8B on a 4A PS I had kickin' around and it runs so much cooler.

I picked up the R8A last Wednesday and the seller let me try it out for a few days to make sure I would be happy with it.  The receiver works very well and I really like it.  A little to many menu's, but once you get used to them they are not that bad.  They have this reverse function key feature and finally I found out how to flip that around!  Those that know me, realize that I am a knob and toggle switch kind of guy.  The receiver, even thought it was used, is in immaculate condition.

I have been using my Jupiter as an AM receiver as of late.  It's worked well but the R8A seems to have a lower noise floor and also does not overload when strong signals are present near the frequency of operation. 

No measurements up to this point, just empirical observations.   

Joe, W3GMS   

I think you will continue to like the receiver.  Mine gets a lot of use and is light enough that it often gets moved to work with a lot of different transmitters. 

You made a wise decision :)

Thanks Rodger!
Joe