AOR AR-1000 Handheld Wide Range Communications Monitor ------------------------------------------------- o Frequency range: 8-600, 805-1300 Mhz (minus TV) o Scan/search/manual tuning o 1000 non-volatile memories, 10 banks of 100 channels/bank o Scan rate: 20 memories/sec o Tuning steps: 5 to 995 kHz, divisible by 5 or 12.5 o Receiving modes: AM, NFM, WFM o Sensitivity: 0.35 uV NFM, 1 uV AM/WFM o Search: 40 increments/sec o Features: delay/hold, squelch, priority on any channel, 10 db selectable attenuator, 4 AA nicads (13.6 VDC), 12 oz weight, 2.5"W x 6.84"H x 1.75"D, AC wall charger/adapter, carrying case, belt clip, cigarette lighter adapter o Price: $499, Grove has for $459 First (open box) impressions: ----------------------------- The case looks much better than the Uniden cases. There is a removable metal belt clip poking through from the back of the scanner and a clear plastic shield over the keys. The whip antenna looks like one of the Larsens. The weight and feel are JUST right, unlike the heavy and tiring Bearcat. The manual tuning knob on the top seems a bit too long for the unit; it rotates left/right to decrement/increment the frequency by the desired step. Squelch and volume are a single knob on the top; the squelch is the outside jacket of the volume. The local/DX switch is also on top. The keypad looks nice, and so does the display. The light is a little wimpy, though. Four(4) AA nicads supply power to the unit, no more hunting for odd battery packs. Operation: ---------- Here we go. It took about 1 hour to master the Bearcat; it took 3 _DAYS_ to learn the AOR. Their manual didn't help matters. It looks like something an engineer knocked out (no offense intended). It is a piece of junk. Things are cut-and-pasted into a mess, there are two(2) sections on scan limiting that are identical, and there are general errors. But the manual is vital in order to learn the unit. It's like flying the shuttle. Take entering bank numbers to scan for example: o Bearcat: hit , then the bank number. For multiple banks press their numbers. The numbers are toggles (on/off). o AOR: hit , , , , lower bank limit, , upper bank limit, . Searching is MUCH worse. Gripe: if I wanted to scan banks 1 and 5, I can't. I'd have to scan banks 1 THROUGH 5. Trying to lock and unlock banks is also a pain. I accidentally locked out all the banks, and it took 2 hours of unlocking every channel to get the scanner back. Scanning: --------- Performance rolls off below 30 Mhz and above 1200 Mhz. As a shortwave receiver I don't put much stock in the AOR. It didn't do well. I was able to copy a few stations but they faded in and out. OK, so I didn't hook it up to an active antenna or a longwire. I only used the whip and a shortwire. But I barely picked up anything under 30 Mhz even under good conditions. UHF, particularly ~460 Mhz (local police): does OK. Some birdies and false detections around here (400 to 600 Mhz), but all-in-all just as good as the Bearcat. Couldn't test the 200 Mhz region since we don't have any close military installations, and I couldn't get any drug/FBI/Secret Service/gov't stuff. Aircraft bands (108-136 Mhz): here I had a problem. Even sitting at the end of the runway I could not pick up traffic as well as the Bearcat. The transmissions were garbled and faint. The AOR apparently has problems with this region. Cellular? Of course I didn't listen, so I can't say (ahem). I imagine, though, that it would do as well as can be expected (cough). The upper reaches (900+ Mhz) went untested as I never could hear anything. CONCLUSION: ----------- It went back to Grove 12 days after receipt. I got tired of fighting it and constantly being reminded of its shortcomings. And I really wanted shortwave, where it showed its worst performance. Perhaps a real shortwave antenna would have helped. As far as the other bands were concerned I used the unit with the supplied whip and with a Radio Shack discone antenna (25-1300 Mhz). Reception improved, but so did the false reports (it locked more noise as a station). Rejection was not too good. Also, it seemed that every time I turned the unit on I had to re-adjust the squelch, even if I had not moved it. Another thing: it picks up harmonics VERY well. One of our local stations on 89.7 Mhz FM came through on our local NWS weather channel (162.55 Mhz), down to about 50 Mhz, and all the way up to 200 Mhz in good conditions. Admittedly this is their problem, but the AOR didn't make it its problem. In short, I was disappointed. Looking back I have to realize that AOR was trying to cram quite a lot into such a small package and that I should not have set my hopes too high (an ICOM R-9000 in a handheld). But I still feel that a separate shortwave and scanner are the way to go with the current market situation. I continue to await the ICOM R1, and will make a road trip to see and test it. But I'm going to be happy with my new Bearcat 200XLT until then. This may, however, be the scanner for you. I will not go onto the record as opposed to the AOR; it simply wasn't what I wanted. You should try one out before you buy it or any other. If anyone has any specific questions or discussion I'll be happy to answer them as best I can without the unit. Just drop me some mail. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Garvin garvin@ccvr1.ncsu.edu NCSU Computing Center - Systems Raleigh, NC