AOR AR-5001D reviews

After 14 years of reliable service, my old AR5000+3 suffered a processor failure, a part long obsolete. This was just about the same time as the new 5001d was launched, but the price put me off.
Then a silent key (the death of a fellow radio amateur) sale came up locally and I happened to get this receiver for a very low price, less than I'd paid for the 5000.
It's very similar in operation to the previous model, but the technology is far in advance. Below 25 MHz it is a 'direct sampling SDR', which basically means the aerial signals are applied (after suitable filtering etc) to the input of a very fast A/D converter. This data stream is then handled by software.
Above 25 MHz, the input signals are converted down via conventional tunable superhet techniques to an IF at 45 MHz, and again SDR methods do the donkey work.
Plenty of front end filtering keeps the nasty stuff at bay, and the IF filters (which are software devices) are clean and steep-sided. Mine is an early model with some interesting 'quirks' in the operating system, so it's currently over at W&S in Essex being updated. Looking forward to getting it back!