AOR SR2200 User Manual download pdf

68 MONITORING TIMES July 2005

s it a scanner? Is it a spectrum analyzer?

For untold decades of radio manufacturing,

the industry still awaits the first wide-

frequency-coverage communications receiver

with a wide-span spectrum display. There are

spectrum analyzers with audio recovery, and

service monitors with spectrum displays, but

nothing that combines a high-quality receiver

with a spectrum display that spans more than

10 megahertz, all in one box.

Several manufacturers have made note

worthy attempts: ICOM’s R9000 was a high-

performance, wide coverage receiver, but only

had a 2 MHz spectral span; Standard’s AX-700

VHF/UHF scanner had only a 1 MHz span;

Grove Enterprises tried to produce their cutting-

edge SR1000, but cancelled it after a six-year,

half-million-dollar development effort.

Several high-end scanners now include

“spectrum scopes” which show a narrow band

of signals above and below the tuned frequency,

but these are relatively crude devices, and none

spans more than 10 MHz. A few manufacturers

like WiNRADiO offer computer-hosted “black

boxes” with wide frequency coverage and a

broad spectrum display observable on the com

puter monitor (up to 100 MHz for the WiNRA

DiO). But no one has it all in one box…yet.

❖

Enter the AOR SR2000

This newest entry, named the “FFT (Fast

Fourier Transform) Frequency Monitor,” boasts

a 25-3000 MHz (3 GHz) frequency range for

reception, and a 10 MHz-span spectrum display.

While it doesn’t cover shortwave, nor does it

offer SSB reception, it is a powerful scanning re

ceiver for AM and FM signals in the VHF/UHF

spectrum.

A stand-alone receiver, the SR2000 can

alternatively be computer-hosted by a PC, either

through its serial (RS232C) port or an optional

USB interface. Serial port speeds may be se

lected as 9600, 19.2k, 38.4k, 57.6 k or 115k bps

(default). A full command set is printed in the

manual for all computer functions.

❖

Scan and search

The 1000-channel memory is divided into

ten 100-channel banks. Up to 12 alpha characters

can be inserted to identify each channel. Any one

channel may be chosen as a priority channel, and

sampling intervals for that channel to check for

activity can be chosen anywhere from 1 to 99

seconds.

For the memory-channel scanning func

tion, scan delay may be selected for any period

from 0.1 to 9.9 seconds after signal dropout. If

desired, a hold option may be selected so that

scanning won’t resume after the sequence stops

on an active channel even after the signal drops

out.

A search feature allows any swath of

spectrum to be automatically swept for active

frequencies which will then be displayed on the

screen as hits are found. For faster search, an

FFT function may be elected to sample a 10 MHz

span six times per second. To avoid unwanted

or previously-identified frequencies, up to 1600

of them may be entered as “pass” frequencies

so that the search sequence won’t look for them

during the search routine. All this activity as

well as command functions are displayed on a

five-inch, full-color, TFT LCD display.

❖

A ﬁrst look

The SR2000 is compact (8-3/4”W x 4-

3/4”H x 7-3/4”D) and lightweight (7.4 lbs.),

making it pre-eminently portable. It is powered

by 12 VDC at 1.4 amps. A tilt bail lifts the front

of the receiver so that the control panel can

be comfortably viewed from a desktop, and

threaded holes (two on each side) invite mobile

mounting.

Curiously, although the SR2000 is entirely

self-contained for portable convenience, there is

no internal speaker; attachment of an external

speaker or headset is required for signals to be

audibly monitored.

❖

Speciﬁcations

A tuning knob allows rapid frequency

slewing (there are nine independently-selectable

VFOs), and doubles as an option selector in the

menu mode. Tuning steps may be selected as

0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 6.25, 8.33, 9, 12.5, 25, 50 and

100 kHz; a non-standard step may be entered

anywhere between 0.1-100 kHz via the keypad.

Any keypad press is confirmed by a soft beep

which can be muted in the software command

set, but the amplitude can’t be changed.

The SR2000’s high-stability receiver

employs triple conversion (255.3/744.3 MHz,

10.7 MHz, 455 kHz) to reduce image response

and, for single-signal selectivity, wide (300

kHz), narrow (15 kHz) and sharp (6 kHz) FM

modes as well as conventional 6 kHz AM may

be selected.

Sensitivity is an impressive 0.35 uV, but

this ability to detect weak signals comes with a

price: dynamic range. The third-order intermod

(IP3) of the SR2000 is only +1dBm, making

the receiver vulnerable to strong-signal over

load unless the attenuator (10 or 20 dB) is used

– which reduces the sensitivity. Still, in remote

monitoring areas where all signals are weak,

the sensitivity is important and, in dense signal

environments, it makes sense to invoke the at

tenuator.

A frequency offset function allows the

operator to choose any second frequency that

he can immediately select to check repeater

input/output pairs, two-frequency simplex, or

other requirements for rapid dual-frequency

switching.

❖

That big LCD

The bright, busy, backlit, color LCD is very

informative, reporting the frequency currently

selected, the VFO in use, upper and lower span

limits, demodulation mode, resolution band

width (RBW), operational function, step incre

ment, attenuation, volume and squelch (noise or

level) settings, signal strength, and more.

A waterfall mode allows a dynamic repre

sentation of signals in the spectrum over time;

their relative signal strengths are color coded for

identification.

Spectrum-display resolution bandwidth

(RBW) may be selected as 4, 32, 64 or 125 kHz,

accompanied by a sweep rate as fast as 10 MHz

in only 0.2 second to assure real-time signal

capture. But this digitally-triggered sweep shows

signal spikes as vertical lines, not the sloped

envelope familiar to veteran CRT users unless

the span is narrower than about 500 kHz.

Marker functions can be chosen to report

instantaneous values of signal readings as well

as peak readings. The display can calculate

maximum, average and medium levels for sig

nals over time. As informative as the display is,

there may be times when the operator doesn’t

want the information to be visible; the display

may be switched off for “black” operations.

AOR SR2000 FFT

Frequency Monitor

By Bob Grove W8JHD

REVIEW

1 2

Summary of Contents

Page 1 - Frequency Monitor

68 MONITORING TIMES July 2005Is it a scanner? Is it a spectrum analyzer? For untold decades of radio manufacturing, the industry still

Page 2 - ❖ The Bottom Line

July 2005 MONITORING TIMES 69❖ IF output options An IF output port (10.7 MHz center fre-quency, 10 MHz wide) from a BNC connec

AOR SR2200 User Manual

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