AOR AR2300 User Manual download pdf

66 MONITORING TIMES December 2010

ehaverecentlywitnessedtherelease

ofseveralcomputer-hostedreceivers

from a number of manufacturers,

including WiNRADiO®, Icom, and Perseus.

Whilemanyotherreceivershavefull-function

panel hardware as well as computer control

capability,the“blackboxes”arenon-functional

withoutacomputer.

 Manytraditionalists(andthatincludesme)

respondedskepticallyatfirst,suspectingthatthe

verypresenceoftherequiredcomputerwould

meanradiofrequencyinterference(RFI)from

thehostcomputer’soscillators.

 Whilethatwasatfirsttrue,especiallyif

theantennawasco-locatedwiththecomputer,

better-shielded receivers and computers have

improvedthat– but still, it’sbestto keep the

antennaatadistance!

 Therearetwoarchitecturalapproachesto

receiver design: analog and digitized.Analog

receiversutilizetraditionaldouble-andtriple-

conversion(superheterodyne)techniqueswhich

preservetheoriginalsignalwaveforms.

 Softwaredefinedreceiver(SDRs),onthe

otherhand,digitizethespectrumbandwidthand

computer-processthedesiredsignalfordetection

anddemodulation.

 Thereisanongoingdebateamongmanu-

facturersastojusthowmuchofthereceiver’s

spectral bandwidth must be software defined

beforetheproductcanlegitimatelybecalleda

softwaredefinedreceiver.Somemanufacturers

digitizetheentireRFbandwidth,whileothers

digitizeonlytheIFandlowerfrequencystages.

❖

The Newest Release

 IntheSeptember2010issuewereviewed

theAR5001D,AOR’spredecessortotheirnew

AR2300.The5001Disastand-alonereceiver,

whilethenew2300isacomputer-hosted,black-

boxversionofthesamereceiver.

 Itemploysdigitizationatthethirdinterme-

diatefrequency(45MHz)forsignalprocessing

ofbandwidth,spectrumdisplay,anddemodula-

tion, and it utilizes direct digital sampling of

thefirst25MHzorRFspectrumaswell.The

oscillatorutilizesdirectdigitalsynthesis(DDS).

 Dual watch (simultaneous reception on

twofrequencies)andeventriplewatchcanbe

accommodatedwithincertainfrequencylimits.

 The 2300 will talk to any PC running

Windows XP operating system or higher (I

usedtheWindowsVista operating system for

this review), and can be controlled remotely

throughanoptionalLANaccessory.Thedefault

communicationspeedis115,200bps,butalter-

AOR AR2300 Black Box Receiver

By Bob Grove, W8JHD

native choices include 9,600, 19,200, 38,400,

and57,600bps.

❖

The Box

 Measuring8-1/2”Wx2-3/4”Hx11-1/4”D

andweighingahusky6.6pounds,the2300is

roughlythesizeofasmalldesktopreceiver.But

sinceithasnoadjustablecontrols,itisloaded

withaccessportsforthehostcomputer.

 Thefrontpaneloffersarocker-stylepower

switch,anLED pilot lamp, areceptaclefora

SecureDigital(SD)memorycard,a1/4”head-

phonejack,anRCAvideooutputconnector,and

evenaninternalspeaker–anicetouchinwhich

thesystemdoesnotrequirethecomputer’saudio

cardoranexternalmultimediaspeakersystem.

 TheLEDdoublesasaboot-upindicator;

whenthepowerswitchisfirstthrown,theLED

colorisamber,butwithinroughlytwoseconds,

itturnsgreenindicatingthe“go”status.Loading

thecontrolpanelthentakesanadditionalfour

secondsafteryouclickthemouseonthaticon.

 Therearpanelisclusteredwithconnectors:

TwoN-styleantennaconnectors(40kHz-3.15

GHz and 25 MHz-3.15 GHz, selectable), 45

MHzBNCIntermediateFrequency(IF)output

(15MHzbandwidth),10MHzSMAreference

oscillatorinput,3.5mmspeakeroutput(2watts

at8ohms),12-13.8VDCat1.2Acoaxialpower

jack,USB2.0interfaceport,3.5mmstereoline

output,digitalI/Q(optional),USB connector,

LANinterfaceDB-styleconnector,andan8-pin

accessoryconnectorforexternalaudio,GPS,and

voltageoptions.

 Accessoriespackedwiththe2300include

the120VAC/12VDCpowersupply,USBin-

terfacecable,owner’smanual,driverCD,and

aquick-lookupsoftwareguidesheet.

❖

Functional Overview

 The 2300 features a continuous 40 kHz

to3150MHz(3.15GHz)frequencycoverage

(800MHzcellularfrequenciesareblockedon

theconsumer version)withAM, synchronous

AM,FM,WFM,stereoFM, CW,USB,LSB,

andISBmodedetection.

 Availableoptionsincludein-phase/quadra-

ture(I/Q)(1MHzBW,25-3150MHzreception

only),APCOP25 digital decoding, and voice

inversiondecoding.Thevoiceinversiondecod-

ingoptionisavailabletogovernment/military

clientsonly.

 IFbandwidthsfrom200Hzto300kHzare

modedependent,andtheunitIFshiftfunction

allowsasignaltobe removed from adjacent-

channelinterference.Automaticnotchfiltering

as well as noise reduction and noise blanker

ircuitryfurtherreducesinterference.

 Tocompensateforstrong-signaloverload,

or weak signal strengths, both a two-step at-

tenuator(-10/-20dB)andapreamplifiermay

beinvoked.

 Frequencyresolutionis1Hzwithapin-

point 1 ppm readout, which may be further

refinedto0.01ppmwithanoptionalGPSinput

signal. Frequencies may be stepped in any

whole-Hertzintervalfrom1Hzto999.999kHz.

 Upto2,000frequenciesin40banksmaybe

storedandscannedat100channelspersecond.

Forrapidlysearchingswathsofspectrum,upto

1,200discretefrequenciesorstart/stopranges

maybepassed.

 FourseparateVFOsareavailabletostore

14receiversettingsincludingfrequency,step,

memorychannel,bank,tone,antenna,attenua-

tor,andsevenotherselections.

 ForVHF/UHFsignals,anoffsetfunction

permitstheusertoenterasecondfrequencyfor

toggling,suchasrepeaterinput/outputpairsor

two-frequencysimplex.

 SquelchlevelscanbesetforCTCSS(sub-

audible tone) and DCS (digital) activation as

well as voice activation to avoid hanging on

open carriers. Squelch may be momentarily

disabled by pressing a MONI (monitor) key.

DTMFtonescanbedecodedanddisplayedas

numbers,letters,andsymbols.

 SignalcontentsmayberecordedinWAV

fileformatontheSDcard;a1GHzcardcapac-

itycanstoreupto15hoursofaudio.

 NTSCand PALvideo outputsare avail-

able from a rear-panel connector intended to

beconnectedtoanexternalvideomonitorfor

detectionofwirelesssurveillancecameras.The

IF direction can be reversed as required for

receptionofsomewirelesscameras.

❖ The 2300 Specs

 SensitivityisexcellentinthecriticalVHF/

UHFspectrumfrom25-3150 MHz. It’s typi-

cally0.7microvoltsforNFMsignalsand0.3

microvoltsforSSB.Iwasabletohearfringe

UHFsignalsveryclearly.

 Equally important, the dynamic range

keeps the products of overload interference

toaminimum.Third-orderintermodulationis

factoryspecifiedatarespectable+20dBmat

HF,+12dBmatVHF,and+7dBmatUHF.

 Digital IF filtering offers a choice of

selectivity depending upon the mode chosen.

Nominalbandwidthsare200kHz,500kHz,1

IRST LOOK

New Product Reviews

1 2

Summary of Contents

Page 1 - IRST LOOK

66 MONITORING TIMES December 2010Wehaverecentlywitnessedthereleaseofseveralcomputer-hostedreceiversfrom a number of manufact

Page 2 - ❖ The Bottom Line

December 2010 MONITORING TIMES 67kHz,3kHz,6kHz,15kHz,30kHz,100kHz,200kHz,and300kHz. Digitalfilteringforsingle-sign

AOR AR2300 User Manual

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AOR AR2300 User Manual

Browse online or download User Manual for Receiver AOR AR2300. AOR AR2300 Black Box Receiver FIRST LOOK

Summary of Contents

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