ESP Product Catalog

1/18/09 8:52 PM

ESP

Electronic Specialty Products, LLC Product Catalog

DIGITAL DIALS FOR VINTAGE EQUIPMENT AND

BROADBAND PREAMPS FOR HF RECEIVERS Electronic Specialty Products, LLC 3054 Moore Drive Oviedo, FL 32765 407-366-4859 Web: espelectronics.com

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ESP Product Catalog

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DD-103 Universal Digital Dial

$125.00 + $10.00 Shipping The Model DD-103 Universal Digital Dial works with almost any vintage receiver or transceiver, and some transmitters, by counting only the VFO signal. VFO and offset information for many radios is pre-programmed into the display's memory. This allows the operating frequency to be displayed by counting only the VFO signal. There is also a manual program mode that lets you program the dial for equipment that is not pre-programmed, up to 32 bands. Each band can be individually calibrated to allow for crystals that have aged or any other error no matter where is comes from, to 10Hz accuracy. The calibration information is also stored in memory, so that any time you return to that band, the display is automatically calibrated. You only calibrate each band one time. There is also a BAND “CTR” (COUNTER) that has no offset, that is available any time so the unit can double as a bench counter up to 40MHz. The DD-103 has two operating controls, BAND and MODE/CAL, on the front panel, and a CALIBRATE button on the rear. Both BAND and MODE/CAL have dual functions as determined by the CALIBRATE button. Making connections to the VFO and power is easy on most radios. A high impedance interface circuit is provided for use if there is no VFO output jack.

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Plug-N-Play cables are available for TR-4, TS-520, and FT-101.

Cable Shown Is For Yaesu FT-101 $15.00 Free Shipping Available for TR-4, TS-520, and FT-101. When you order a cable with a DD-103, we will program the DD-103 for your transceiver. Cables are three feet long with the correct plug for your transceiver. They pickup both the VFO signal and power. This makes the DD-103 Plug-N-Play. The DD-103 is pre-programmed for the following receivers, transceivers, and transmitters

Frequency Counter Zero offset, for use as test frequency counter up to 40MHz. Allied A2515 • A2517 Collins 32S-1 • 32S-2 • 32S-3 • 51J-1 • 51J-2 • 51J-3 • 51J-4 • 51S-1 • 75A-1 • 75A-2 • 75A3 75A-4 • 75S-1 • 75S-2 • 75S-3 • 75S-3A • 75S-3B • 75S-3C (bands 13-28 are not programmed) See Note Below KWS-1 • KWM-1 • KWM-2 • (bands 13,14 are not programmed.) See Note Below R-388 • R-390 • R-390A • R-392 Davco DR-30

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ESP Product Catalog

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Drake R1-A • (band 6 not programmed.) See Note Below R2-A • R2-B • (bands 6-12 are not programmed.) See Note Below R2-C • (band 6 not programmed.) See Note Below R-4 • R-4A • R-4B • (bands 6-15 are not programmed.) See Note Below R-4C • (bands 6-20 are not programmed.) See Note Below SPR-4 • (bands 11 thru 22 are programmed for ham bands • crystals must be added) TR-4 Galaxy GT-550 Hallicrafters HT-44 • S-20R • S-22R • S-38 • S-40 • S-41 • S-47 • S-51 • S-52 • S-53A • S-76 • S-85 S-107 • S-108 • S-118 • S-119 • S-120 • S-125 • S-129 • S-200 • S-210 • S-240 SR-150 • SR-160 • SR-400 • SR-400A • SR-500 • SR-750 • SR-2000 • SX-25 • SX-28 SX-42 • SX-43 • SX-62 • SX-96 • SX-99 • SX-100 • SX-110 • SX-111 • SX-115 • SX-117 Hammarlund HQ-100 • HQ-105 • HQ-110 • HQ-120 • HQ-129 • HQ-140 • HQ-145 • HQ-150 • HQ-160 HQ-170 • HQ-180 • HQ-200 • HQ-215 • (bands 20-24 not programmed) See Note SP-400 • SP-600 Heathkit HW-100 • HW-101 • SB-100 • SB-101 • SB-102 • SB-300 • SB-301 • SB-303 • SB-310 • SB-313 • SB-400 • SB-401 • HR-1680 Henry Tempo-1 Kenwood TS-520 • TS-511 • TS-900 ITT MacKay 3010B • 3010C National HRO-50 • HRO-60 • HRO-7 • NC-2-40 • NC-33 • NC-46 • NC-57 • NC-60 • NC-88 NC-98 • NC-105 • NC-109 • NC-125 • NC-140 • NC-155 • NC-173 • NC-183 • NC-188 NC-190 • NC-270 • NC-300 • NC-303 • NC-400 • NCX-1000 • NCX-500 • SW-54 SBE SB-33 Squires-Sanders SS-1BS • (band 12 not programmed) See Note Below SS-1R • SS-1T(band 11 not programmed) See Note Below Swan 260 • 270 • 270B • 300B • 350 • 350C • 400 • 500 • 500CX • 700CX • 700S • 750CW

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Yaesu FT-101 • FT-101B • FT-101E • Bands for the FT-101 are programmed in the same order as the YC-601 digital display. FT-101Z • FRG-7 • FTDX400 • FRDX400 • FLDX400 • FTDX560 Note: FT-101 may not have the 160 meter band Note Bands that are not programmed are auxiliary bands for which crystals were not supplied as standard. They can be manually programmed for whatever crystals you may have installed.

DD-101H Digital Dial For Hammarlund Models With A Clock Opening

$100.00 + $10.00 Shipping The DD-101H is a Digital Dial to replace your hammarlund clock or install if you have no clock. It programs easily for your Hammarlund model.  Operation is completely automatic.  There are no controls. Set the bandspread to 50 on the receiver logging scale, then use the main tuning dial as the course adjustment while viewing the digital readout, then use the bandspread to tweak it in. Hammarlund models supported are, HQ-100, HQ-105, HQ-110, HQ-120, HQ-129-X, HQ-140, HQ-145, HQ-150, HQ-160, HQ-170, HQ-180, HQ-200, SP-110, SP-200/210, SP-400, and SP-600. The DD-101H uses a backlit LCD.  Dose not work on 6 meters Installation is simple using the tube shield interface included. technical knowledge is required.

No soldering or

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ESP Product Catalog

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DD-101H/U Works With All Hammarlund Models And All Other Single Conversion Receivers

$100.00 + $10.00 Shipping This is an outboard version of the DD-101H unit with the added feature that it is also a universal dial for all single conversion receivers using an IF frequency between 443KHz and 467KHz. The vast majority are 455KHz. It does have a switch on the back that is used on some models.

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ESP Product Catalog

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BBP-.5-30 Broadband Preamp IMPROVES THE SENSITIVITY OF ANY HF RECEIVER

$50.00 + $10.00 Shipping The ability of a radio receiver to receive weak signals is affected by two things, atmospheric and man made noise, and the noise figure of the receiver.  Noise Figure is a technical term that represents the amount of the noise produced by the receiver, that the signal must overcome to be heard.  The lower, the better. Atmospheric noise is affected mostly by local weather and weather conditions at the location of the station you are trying to receive.  It is very difficult to reduce this kind of noise.  Man made noise refers to noise from electrical appliances, ignition noise from cars, florescent lights, and other things like that. The noise figure of a receiver is determined by the first stage, usually the RF amplifier, or mixer stage.  Noise figure is expressed in decibels, or db.  Typical receivers have noise figures of 10 to 12 db which is not really very good.  A receiver with a 12 db noise figure is acceptable when it is the atmospheric or man made noise that is limiting the ability to receive a weak station, but when noise is low, and it often is, a preamp can be beneficial.  What causes receivers to have high noise figures is all of the circuitry between the antenna terminal and the first amplifier.  There are tuned circuits, band pass filters, diode switches and other things that all introduce loss. The BBP .5-30 Broadband Preamp has no lossy circuits that the signal must go through to reach the amplifier.  It has a 2.5 to 3 db noise figure and 10 db of gain.  That's more than 3 S units.  When noise is low, signals that don't move the S meter and  can barely be heard, become 100% readable.  10 db of gain is enough for a very noticeable improvement but not enough to cause overloading at most locations.  It is effective from below the AM broadcast band up to 30MHz and above.  The BBP has been tested on a Kenwood R-500 and a Icom R71A with excellent results.  On older tube receivers, the improvement is exceptional.

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You are looking at the first production unit which I tested on my R-5000.  I searched for a very week station in the 16 meter band.  I found a station on 17.795 MHz which did not move the S meter and I could only copy a word now and then.  I put the preamp in the antenna coax and the station became an S 3 and I could copy every word.  It was Radio Australia. Antenna and receiver connectors are RCA jacks.  RCA to UHF (SO-239) adapters are included.  Also included is a wall wort plug-in power supply.

BBPV Broadband Preamp

Same As BBP-.5-30 but for installation inside of vintage tube receivers. $35.00 + $3.00 Shipping

BBP-1020 Broadband Preamp Connect A Short Wire And You Have An Active Antenna

$90.00 + $10.00 Shipping

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The BBB-1020 Broadband Preamp is two stages of our BBP-.5-30 Preamp with selectable OFF, 10db or 20db gain. When 20db is selected, the noise figure is in the 2.5db range, slightly better than the BBP-.5-30. Sometimes just a little more gain or a little better noise figure can make the difference. UHF (SO-239) connectors are used and a plug-in power supply is included.

THE CASE FOR A BROADBAND PREAMP You may have been told that preamps don't work.  They just amplify the noise along with the signal, with no improvement in signal to noise ratio, which is what is really needed.  I have said that myself.  Well that was true in the tube era, and the same thinking has carried over to the present by some. In the days of tube technology a receiver typically had an RF stage with the input tuned to the receive frequency.  The sensitivity is determined by the noise figure of that RF stage.  Adding a tuned preamp between the antenna and the receiver, using the same tube technology, results is additional gain but the same noise figure.  The S meter will read higher but the signal sounds the same.  If the receiver has no RF stage, a tuned preamp can be beneficial.  In that case the preamp will have a better noise figure than the mixer stage in the receiver. Modern HF receivers used used by amateur radio operators and shortwave listeners have less than optimum sensitivity because of the design of there front end circuitry.  By front end I mean the first receiver circuitry that the signal goes through.  Because the input of modern receivers is no longer tuned to individual stations, the front end circuitry typically consists of a bank of bandpass filters, which cover the frequency range of 100KHz to 30MHz, and diode switches to switch in the appropriate filter for the frequency you want to receive.  Band pass filters have higher loss than a circuit tuned to one frequency.  There are two diode switches for each filter.  There are also resistors that supply the current to the diodes.  The signal must go through two diode switches and a band pass filter before it gets to the first amplifier stage. There may be other circuit elements depending on the receiver manufacturer. All of that circuitry introduces loss of several db.  So even if the first amplifier has a low noise figure, the overall receiver noise figure, which is what determines the sensitivity, is degraded by the circuitry that precedes it.  The noise figure of receivers like the Drake R8, the Kenwood R-5000, and the Icom IC-R71A have been measured in the 10 to 12 db range.  The sensitivity of those receivers is considered acceptable because much of the time the atmospheric and man made noise is the limiting factor in the ability to receive a weak station.  However there are often times when noise is low, and the receiver noise figure is the limiting factor.  Also atmospheric and man made noise decreases as frequency increases so on the higher bands, the noise is very often low.

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The BBP Broadband Preamps have no lossy circuits that the signal must go through to reach the amplifier.  They have 2.5 to 3 db noise figures and 10 or 20 db of gain.  When noise is low, signals that don't move the S meter and  can barely be heard, become 100% readable.  They are effective from below the AM broadcast band to well above 30MHz.

Ordering Information Orders can be placed on the web site using the BUY NOW buttons. That will take you to PayPal where you can use a credit card. If you don't have a PayPal account, just follow the instructions. You can also just send you payment through PayPal to "[email protected]". We can't take credit cards direct. You can also send a check or money order to:

Electronic Specialty Products, LLC 3054 Moore Drive Oviedo, FL 32765

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