Tuesday, March 1, 2022
For the past week or so I’ve been operating my Drake TR-7 transceiver with my new Noble Radio 8-pole CW filter.
Noble Radio makes a number of really neat accessories for the Drake 4 line and the TR-7, including a wide array of crystal filters.
My Drake came to me without a CW filter. Now the Drake has phenomenal Pass Band Tuming that works better than I’ve ever used before, but during a CW contest or other night when the CW band is crowded, you can get quite a headache trying to operate without a good CW filter.
Noble Radio has several 8-pole filter options, including the two I purchased — a 2.8 filter (to replace the factory 2.8 MHz filter for better receive and transmit audio), a 1.8 MHz SSB filter and a 450 Hz CW filter.
The price for the TR-7 filters was so cheap I thought it was a mistake — $49 each! So far I’ve only installed the 450 Hz filter, but boy howdy! What a difference it makes!
I really loved using the Drake, but its even better now that I have a CW filter. The MFJ audio filter box pales in comparison to the new Noble Radio filter — in fact, it doesn’t hold a candle to it in performance. If I keep the MFJ box, its only because I might use with other old transceivers that aren’t equipped with a CW filter. I wish Noble Radio would create filters for older Kenwood transceivers, I would love to have one for my TS-520S.
Noble Radio makes some really great accessories for the TR-7 line, including an external VFO that actually provides SDR control capability to the Drake. it also includes a CW keyer and other options. Its pricey, but damn, to add 21st Century features to a great classic rig, it would be worth the money. I’m seriously going to have to consider adding one to my Christmas list.
NEW RADIO COMING. I probably had a weak moment, but I pulled the trigger a couple of weeks ago on the purchase of a new Xiegu X6100. Its a new QRP rig by Xiegu with a 4 inch LCD screen with a waterfall, etc., much like my RS-918, only much larger.
The radio’s top output on 12DC external is 10 watts. I just bought an external amplifier that should give me 50 watts minimum with 5 watts in, so I think that will help. I want to use the radio portable too.
Well, time for a shower. I’m working to get more of my key collection listed, which means I’m also trying to avoid BUYING new keys, lol. Doesn’t do much good to sell off keys and then spend the proceeds buying more, does it?
73 es CUL … DE KY4Z …. SK …. SK …. (dit dit) ….