Ranger_AR-3500_review_1989.pdf
- 73Review by stare Stern Nl BLH Number, onyourFeedbKkcard I TheRangerAR-3500 Competitively-priced ORO10mrig. ClearChannelCorp. Box445 Issaquah,WA98027 Phone: (206) 392.0419 Price Class: 5350 W hen Ilastreviewed aClear Channel Ranger 10 meter rig,1cametoacoupleofconclu- sions. The firstwasthat therigwas a reasonable, all-mode 10 meter transceiver.Thesecond wasthatit wasnt the mosl operator-friendly intheworld. After evaluating the AR-3500, a higher.power, upoated version of the original, Ihavefoundsomeim- provements,andsomeareas where things areprettymuchthe same. In aNutshell The Ranger AR-3500 is a mi- crcprocessor-contrclred10meier transceiverwith100Watts01 output. An all-mode rig (AM. FM. SS8, andCW)oitfeatures true noise blanking and noise limiting. IthasoutputsforCWand an external speaker. An amber LEDdisplay gives resolution to the nearest 10 Hz.Itcovers 28.000 to 29.995 MHzand offers splits for repeater use.Specifi- cations put the dynamic range at roughly 105 dBm, and spurious emission suppres- sionmeetsFCCspecificationsatabout 60dBdown. The Ranger AR-3500 also offers fivememories.memoryscan,andpro- grammablebandscan. II weighs roughly 5 pounds and is about as big as an older 2 meter rig. ImprovementsOvertheAR-3300 The Ranger AR3500 is an improvement over the AR-3300. whiCh I reviewed last year, in the following ways: Instead01using one set of momentary-con- tact switches for increasing or decreasing fre- quency, there are now two banks01switches under the display. The top bank is for increas- ing frequency and the bottom is for decrees- ing frequency. There is now a real, highly effective. noise- blanker circuit. You activate itbypUShing in the RF gain knob. It pretty much cancels just about all mobile noise. By pushing in the mike gain knob. you can now activate a true automatic noise limiting circuit. This feature complements the noise blanker and helps limit noise peaks. The AIT control, called the clarifier, seems 3073AmateurRadiO .June. 1989 The Ranger AR-3500. to have been opened up a bitoverthe pre- vious model and offers somewhat broader tuning. These changes may seem small, but they make the Ranger AR-3500tarmore pleasant to use. TheANland noise-blanker circuits are especially welcome,asis the change totwo banks of switches to moveupand down fre- quency. Stillthe Same The areas that havenot changedare still the same ones which we noted last year. They are: Theresno knob for the VFO.aSYingis button-controlled. To moveup10 Hz, you must press thelarbutton on the right ten times. No automatic mode is implemented al- ter several seconds, asis commonly done with other momentary-contact devices in theelec- tromcs world. The CW mode is still strangely implement- ed. To use it. you have to insert the key. and key the mike while youre transmitting. IIs an interesting two-handed exercise. It also indi- cates that the developers01this rig consid- ered it primarily for mobile voice operation. TheamberLEDdisplaywashesoutin strong light. This is also true of the LEOs for the separate receive and transmit signal strength indicators. Scanmodeisonlyactivatedwith the squelch in a high position. It takes a lot of signat to overcome the squelch, whichwoocsin any mode. II you want the convenience of using the mike instead of the up- down switches, you mustpur- chase an up-down microphone. Youmust also purchase aCW board if you wish to use theCW interface correctly. The third op- tionyoumustpurchaseasan added-cost item is a speech pro- cessor board. These features are usually standard parts of a$600- $700 transceiver. Memory storage is only partially battery-backed.Memoryisre- tained as long as 13.8 voltsDCis supplied to the rig, provided you remember not to turn the memory reset switch off. If you turn it off. memory goes away.evenwith the13.8volts DC input. Thisalso meansthat if you move the rig, for whatever reason, there is no memory storage. However. we suspect in laterver- sions of the AA-3500, the problem willbe fixed. Conclusions So,the final verdictonthe Ranger AR- 35OO?Despite the above shortcomings, iIsan excellent rig. With 100 Walts and a fairly con- venient size. we were able to work from New England to the Midwest reliably and with less thanoptimum bandconditions. The extra 6.02 dB of powermore than makesup for any short- comings. Also,you can set a repealer offset in memo- ry and operate in split mode so that you can operate 10 meter repeater mode without mak- ing any changes. as is the case with other models on the market. Finally, signal reports and audio reports were consistently excellent with clean, com- munications-quality audio reported just about every lime. And, last but not least. the price. The sug- geted retailonthe AR3500 has come down dramatically-from$600to$350-tomake it truly competitive with the other popular 10m mobile rigs on the market today. Given all the plusses, the AR-3500 is worth a look by the serious 10meteroperator.III
