{"id":29263,"date":"2017-11-22T07:22:25","date_gmt":"2017-11-22T11:22:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=29263"},"modified":"2017-11-22T07:22:25","modified_gmt":"2017-11-22T11:22:25","slug":"daves-digitech-ar-1780-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/11\/daves-digitech-ar-1780-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave’s Digitech AR-1780 notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor,\u00a0David Morton, who comments with assessment of the Digitech AR-1780:<\/p>\n

I’ve been using [the Digitech AR-1780] in Australia (southern Tasmania) for about 5 weeks.\u00a0 In the last 10 or so days, I’ve got a 26m long wire hanging fairly reliably on a N-S bearing.\u00a0 My history is that I trained as a marine radio operator in the early 1980s, but worked in commercial IT; so no real radio theory and I only just started listening to SW again since being a volunteer in the South Pacific in the mid 1990s.<\/p>\n

Now, to this radio.\u00a0 I quite like it although it has quirks I wish it didn’t have.\u00a0 In the 1990s, I used a Panasonic RF-B45 and it was rock solid until it died a few years ago.\u00a0 Every now and then, I try to fix it, but no luck…<\/p>\n

Reception here is quite limited and that’s how I discovered the first quirk:\u00a0 when it scans at SW frequencies it skips. For example it seems to jump from about 9400kHz to 11000kHz.\u00a0 I also have an old Jaycar AR1747 and it also skips when scanning.\u00a0 They also skip from about 26100 and restart at 2300kHz.\u00a0 Whether it’s a design feature, or a fault, I don’t know. Other than that, I think it’s a great radio so far.\u00a0 The AR1780 lets you type in the frequencies it skips, it just won’t scan them.<\/p>\n

Until I start to find some reliable interesting stations (I’ve picked up some Radio NZ Int and BBC World Service), I’m doing a fair bit of listening to WWVH in Hawaii.\u00a0 Sure listening to the time isn’t as fun, but it serves a purpose when comparing radios side by side.\u00a0 WWVH broadcasts on 2500, 5000, 10000, 15000, 20000 and 25000 kHZ I think.\u00a0 I can usually get 15000 subject to propagation at any time.<\/p>\n

Until I gave it away, I also had a Jaycar AR1733 and it also skipped; they all probably share a common chip and skip the same frequencies although I haven’t checked closely.\u00a0 This radio looks identical to the Skywave many of you mention.\u00a0 The old AR1747 also had a Crane equivalent, and this was helpful as Crane’s manual was much better!<\/p>\n

On the first tests with my long wire antenna, the AR1733 had a fairly clear signal, beat the old AR1747 and the AR1780 was the best.\u00a0 The AR1747 is hard on its D batteries, so may have been handicapped.\u00a0 As it got dark, I found the signal didn’t change much on 15000 kHz with any radio, but only the AR1780 would find 5000 kHz while scanning (since it skips over 10000 kHZ).\u00a0 The AR1747 does not have a keypad, so all tuning is by a dial or the scan function.<\/p>\n

Oh yes, a hint I’ve learned for Golan.\u00a0 I gained the habit of punching\u00a0 then the desired frequency, then .\u00a0 The precludes the need to type in leading zeroes and trailing zeros.\u00a0 For example, I get WWVH by\u00a0 5000 , while 15000 is\u00a0 15000.\u00a0 This may go all the way back to the RF-B45, so I’ve had time to acquaint myself.<\/p>\n

Next is batteries, the AR1733\/Skywave needs 2xAA batteries, the AR1780 takes 4xAA as did the RF-B45.\u00a0 I haven’t yet run down any batteries in the AR1780 yet, but all my radios with 4 batteries have always worked better than those with only two.\u00a0 So the extra size is worth it, and the AR-1780 is a fair bit smaller than the old RF-B45.\u00a0 The AR1747 was an exception, it took 4xAA and 4xD and AA’s were almost a waste of time in it.\u00a0 But hey, it’s a telephone book size radio with a big speaker; so I keep it plugged in as much as I can.<\/p>\n

Anyway, it’s almost\u00a04PM<\/span><\/span>\u00a0here, we’re on DST so it’s GMT+11 hours.\u00a0 The bands start opening up soon so I want to get back to the radio.\u00a0 I’ve still got a lot of work to find the who, what and where of SW broadcasters.\u00a0 At least logging them is easy these days, when you tune into something, just point the mobile and it and make a movie!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thanks for your feedback, David!\u00a0 I also think the AR-1780 is a gem of a little radio.<\/p>\n

Click here to read our review of the Digitech AR-1780.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0David Morton, who comments with assessment of the Digitech AR-1780: I’ve been using [the Digitech AR-1780] in Australia (southern Tasmania) for about 5 weeks.\u00a0 In the last 10 or so days, I’ve got a 26m long wire hanging fairly reliably on a N-S bearing.\u00a0 My history is that I trained […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,26,129,43,154],"tags":[6396,6645,4556,5748,6646,6332],"class_list":["post-29263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-radios","category-reviews","category-shortwave-radio","category-shortwave-radio-reviews","tag-ar-1780","tag-david-morton","tag-digitech","tag-digitech-ar-1733","tag-digitech-ar-1747","tag-digitech-ar-1780"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-7BZ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27743,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/video-the-digitech-ar-1780-on-single-sideband\/","url_meta":{"origin":29263,"position":0},"title":"Video: The Digitech AR-1780 on single sideband","author":"Thomas","date":"August 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"[UPDATE: Click here to read our full review of the Digitech AR-1780.] With travels, solar eclipse events and family activities this week, I've had very little time to play radio. Yesterday was a gorgeous day though, so I took the family to the Blue Ridge Parkway and (of course) packed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Digitech-AR-1780-and-Pilot-Run-CC-Skywave-SSB.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Digitech-AR-1780-and-Pilot-Run-CC-Skywave-SSB.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Digitech-AR-1780-and-Pilot-Run-CC-Skywave-SSB.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Digitech-AR-1780-and-Pilot-Run-CC-Skywave-SSB.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27438,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/digitech-ar-1780-on-order\/","url_meta":{"origin":29263,"position":1},"title":"Digitech AR-1780 on order!","author":"Thomas","date":"August 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I bit the bullet and ordered the recently introduced Digitech AR-1780. I've had a massive amount of inquiries about this radio--mainly from readers in Australia and New Zealand--so I thought it would make sense to check it out and compare it to other portables. This radio is only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Products"","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Digitech-AR-1780-Front-Face.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Digitech-AR-1780-Front-Face.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Digitech-AR-1780-Front-Face.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35074,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/12\/radio-deal-digitech-ar-1780-nz99-and-au89-at-jaycar\/","url_meta":{"origin":29263,"position":2},"title":"Radio Deal: Digitech AR-1780 NZ$99 and AU$89 at Jaycar","author":"Thomas","date":"December 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Anderson, who writes: Just to let you and and your readers know that the AR1780 has had a price drop - NZ$99 and AU$89 at Jaycar. https:\/\/www.jaycar.co.nz\/compact-world-band-radio-with-ssb\/p\/AR1780 https:\/\/www.jaycar.com.au\/compact-world-band-radio-with-ssb\/p\/AR1780 That is a great price for the AR-1780!\u00a0 Thanks for sharing, David! 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