Drake R - 8

Manufactured by R. L. Drake.

In April 1991, Drake returned to the shortwave receiver market after an absence of many years with the announcement of the R - 8, the set was subsequently improved several times:

R-8: initial version: the different operation modes or IF filters could not be selected directly, by pressing a „carousel“ button the set went from one operation mode to the next, but without a „step back“ option, so that it was possible to switch from USB to LSB by pressing a button, but the way back to USB required the button pressd five times. The discontent of many DXers was increased because of the R-8 changed the IF filter bandwidth to a pre-programmed value simultaneously when the operation mode was changed…
R-8A: with six buttons each, direct access to all filters and operation modes was possible, 440 frequency memories with alphanumeric labelling
R-8B: Synchronous detector with independently selectable sidebands, 1000 frequency memories.
R-8E : European version of the original R-8

The R-8 is a double conversion tabletop receiver from US production, which was in the middle price segment in its country of origin. Due to the microprocessor control, an alphanumeric labelling of the memories is possible in addition to the usual memory and scan functions, which makes the receiver stand out from the crowd. The receiver is operated entirely from the front panel.

The original version with FTZ approval was launched on the German market as the R-8E.