So, I have been using my ANAN-7000DLE MKII software defined radio for just over a month. Here is a mini-review of early ANAN receiver highlights.

Simply put, I may never get around to transmitting with this radio. Diversity reception is just too much fun. So, what do I really like about this radio? Here’s a quick list.

For starters, the ANAN has two old fashioned left and right stereo speaker jacks on the back panel. I was able to connect a pair of really good speakers instead of smaller amplified speakers or computer audio. Especially when I use these with the built in equalizer, extended listening is a pleasure. Having said this, I must admit that SmartSDR and SDRuno may produce better audio for SWBC listening.

Second, I just love the antenna connectivity and switching capabilities. Just right for what I am trying to do. I have my main ham antennas on ANT1, and a pair of wideband loops on ANT3 and RX2, respectively. With this configuration, I can do diversity reception with either a main antenna and loop, or with the loop array, at the press of a button. And, by the way, there is TX inhibit to prevent you from transmitting into an active loop antenna by mistake.

Next, when you set up attenuation on the lower bands, such as 20 dB for medium wave, the radio remembers when you change to those bands, for both receiver channels. Same goes for your selection of bandpass filters and also for diversity tune positioning.

And, of course, you enjoy unparalleled ability to phase and amplitude combine the two receivers to achieve array gain (beamforming), diversity reception and noise cancellation. You can mimic the performance of an ANC-4 or MFJ-1026 or X-Phase with a small noise probe rather than a real antenna.

Early ANAN Receiver Highlights Include Some Nits

My biggest nit to pick is the fact that tuning steps are not synchronized with modes. So, when you change modes, you need to manually adjust tuning steps. For band hoppers like me, this is a real pain. Something that could easily be remedied in a Thetis software upgrade, though. (A short term workaround is to set up memories for different bands and modes with appropriate tuning steps.)

Next nit is my limitation of 192,000 sample rate, which only gives you a 150 kHz chunk of bandwidth at a time. Even with my gigabit ethernet, sigh. I think my network and PC could easily handle 384,000 samples at a time, which would be more acceptable. Maybe another software or firmware update will remedy this limit. I guess I have just got too used to the Flex thin pipe architecture or the SDRplay USB data transfer speeds and their wider bandwidth.

That’s about all for nits, though. Great receiver.