Review of the Digitech AR 1. The following review first appeared in the October 2. Tecsun Pl 450 Manual' title='Tecsun Pl 450 Manual' />Shnte levnou, pouitou, radiostanici Zkuste se t podvat na http a httpwww. The Spectrum Monitor magazine. Earlier this year one of my readers in Australia noted the addition of the Digitech AR 1. Australia and New Zealand based retailer Jaycar. One thing Ive learned over the years is that there are few in country sources of shortwave radios in both Australia and especially New Zealand. Jaycar, in a sense, represents what Radio. Shackand The Source have offered in the US and Canadaa more accessible electronics retailer with some shortwave radio selection. Jaycar sells radios badged with the name Digitech. Earlier this year one of my readers in Australia noted the addition of the Digitech AR1780 to the product offerings of the Australia and New Zealandbased retailer. Another year has brought many new additions to the AM Mega Shootout List. A question I am frequently asked is, What is the best AM portable radio Its a complex. Unfortunately, none of Jaycars recent additionsand there have been a fewhave been enormous hits among serious radio enthusiasts. The company currently offers five Digitech models the AR1. AUD, AR1. 72. 1 2. AUD, AR1. 74. 8 1. AUD, AR1. 94. 5 1. Download Template Monster Hack here. AUD, and now the AR1. AUD. The Jaycar models are either very cheap sub 3. AUD digital portables, or pricier large portables with a form factor similar to the Grundig S3. DL and S4. 50. DLX, or the C. Crane CCRadio SW. The new AR1. 78. 0 fits somewhere betweena compact portable that promises a compliment of features tailored for the radio enthusiast. In this review, well take a close look at the AR1. Features. What appeals to me about the Digitech AR1. Heres a comprehensive list of the AR1. Frequency coverage FM 8. MHz. MW 5. 22 1. Hz or 5. Hz. SW 1. 71. 1 2. Hz. LW 1. 50 4. Hz. AIR 1. 18 1. MHz. Modes FM including RDSAMSingle Sideband. Selectable Bandwidths AM mode 6, 4, 3, 2. HzSSB mode 4, 3, 2. HzConvenient features Sleep timer. ClockAlarm. Thermometer. Signal strength meter. Squelch control. VoiceMusic selectable audio filter. Dedicated fine tune control. Headphone jack 3. Key lock button. Key beep onoff. Tuning knob and tuning step updown buttons. Display button cycles through alarm, time, temperature, and signal strength. FM monostereo selection. Backlight button. Hwp To Pdf Online Converter there. Selectable 91. 0 k. Hz regional MW tuning steps. Flip out backstand. Power source 7 VDC or 4 x AA cells not included, can be internally charged if Ni. MH cellsAntenna Built in telescopic and 3. Weight 2. 53g0. Dimensions 1. W x 9. H x 3. 0Dmm. Operation Manual. The Digitech AR1. In fact, other than the hand strap, the user manual is the only additional item in the box besides the radio itself. The manual is quite thinslightly smaller in height and width than the AR1. Although readable, its littered with grammatical and punctuation errors. While a manual is certainly a welcome reference item with this feature packed radio, this manual comes up short, lacking detailed explanations of features and even leaving some out altogether  it does not, for example, offer any explanation on the use of the excellent squelch control, nor does it fully explain the station memory set on multiple memory pages  Rather unfortunate, as these features deserve a clear explanation. First impressions. The Digitech AR 1. DSP based portables, includes a handy temperature display which can be toggled for Celsius or Fahrenheit. I really appreciate the modest, portable form factor of the AR1. I even opened the box. I travel with portable radios a lot, so the compact body of the AR1. Its not as compact as the C. Crane CC Skywave series, or the Grundig G6, but is much smaller than my Tecsun PL 6. PL 8. 80, or my Sony ICF SW7. GR. Comparing size The Tecsun PL 6. Digitech AR1. 78. C. Crane CC Skywave bottomUnlike the radios mentioned above, the AR1. I believe this is an omission for a radio aimed squarely at the traveler. Fortunately, the plastic chassis of the AR1. With the key lock engaged, the only likely problem that could arise from having no protective case is damage to the display, such as scratching. The buttons all have a tactile feedback and seem to respond quickly enough, save powering up the radio, engaging the SSB mode, or changing bands, each of which takes a couple of seconds to engage. I especially like the fact the AR1. One can turn the tuning knob to scan frequencies or press it to cycle through fast or slow tuning steps or to turn off this knobs function entirely. The AR1. 78. 0 also has a dedicated fine tune controla tuning wheel just beneath the main tuning knob also on the right side of the radio see image above. The only odd quirk about this is that this is where most radios have a volume control. Being a creature of habit, many times Ive inadvertently shifted frequencies when I simply wanted to turn up or down the volumeThe volume control, meanwhile, is in the same position on the left side panel of the radio between the antenna and earphone jack. Speaking of volume, the AR1. Best yet, I like its balanced fidelity mellow, with notes of bass, but ample treble when listening at moderate volume. The audio response curve is almost ideal for such a small package. Something else worth noting the AR1. In general, its a great size for portable listening. Software Linux Fedora 10. Major bonus for a travel radio the AR 1. AA cells. Note that the frequency range information silk screened on the back stand is incorrectshortwave coverage extends up to 2. Hz. On the downside, however, one negative I noted shortly after beginning use muting between frequency steps. In AM mode, this is not as distracting as in SSB mode. Muting makes band scanning a more tedious and fatiguing experience. Unfortunately, in this era of DSP chip based receivers, it seems muting has resurfaced. Also, as with many other DSP portables, you can often hear input noise when pressing buttons. In other words, if while listening to one frequency I decide to key in another, Ill hear a little clicking or buzz in the audio as each button is pressed. This is a very minor annoyance since it only happens when buttons are pressed, nonetheless, I thought it worth mentioning. I often wonder if its a result of poor shielding, something from which similar models suffer. Performance. Over the past two weeks, Ive had the AR1. Ive compared it with a number of receivers, but mainly The C. Crane CC Skywave, The County. Comm GP5 SSB, and even the Grundig G6. Below, I break down my notes by band. AIR band. Lets start with the bonus band the VHF aviation band. Im sure there a number of readers wholl never use this band, but I am not one of them. Personally, I really enjoy listening to aviation traffic, especially when I travel by air. Since the advent of the AIR band on ultra compact radios, I no longer feel like I have to lug an additional scanner or receiver just to listen to the local air traffic control thats a plus. Performance wise, the AR1. CC Skywave on the AIR band. Like the CC Skywave, the AR1. Simply tune the radio to your favorite aviation frequency, press and hold in the tuning knob on the side, and then use the tuning knob to adjust the squelch level. I find level 3 or 4 works well. Note that unlike the squelch on the CC Skywave, the squelch control on the AR1. If you have squelch set on the AIR band, then switch to another band where squelch isnt needed, you will need to turn it off. I never use squelch on the shortwave or mediumwaveAM broadcast bands normal fading QSB can trick the squelch to open and close while tuned to a frequency. Another convenient feature press and hold the AIR button to start an automatic scan of the entire band. Itll run through the AIR band once, saving any active frequencies.