The most interesting feature of the HF-2050 receiver is that it may well be the first production receiver to use completely digital IF filtering and detection. This receiver was produced on contract for the Canadian government by Collins around 1984. Only 1100 units were produced and deployed mostly by the Canadian Armed Forces.
Until very recently, few in the SWL world had access to this sort of receiver, so it is a little early to tell whether or not this receiver is as good as initial impressions suggested.
| Modes of Operation | CW, AM, USB or LSB, ISB (optional), and FSK (with external modem) |
|---|---|
| Frequency Range | 14 kHz to 29.999 99 MHz in 10-Hz increments |
| Frequency Stability | Less than ± 1 x 10-8 at 0 to +50 ° C (+ 32 to +122 ° F). Drift rate of not more than 3 x 10-8 per month. |
| Channeling speed | 50 ms maximum |
| Preset channel memory | 30-channel capacity. Each channel contains frequency, mode, bandwidth, AGC, and BFO information. |
| Sensitivity (SSB) | 14 kHz to 500 kHz: 2.5 microvolts for 10 db (s + n)/n 500 kHz to 29.999 99 MHz: 0.82 microvolt for 10 db (s + n)/n |
| Intermodulation distortion | In band: 40 db or greater below either of two input tones at -13 dBm per tone. Tones must be within IF passband with greater than 200 Hz separation. |
| Spurious responses | IF rejection: 80 dB min Image rejection: 80 dB min Internal spurious: Less than 0.5-uV equivalent input External spurious rejection: 80 dB min at 20 kHz or more off tuned frequency |
| Audio outputs | Line: 600 ohms, 10% balanced; adjustable from -20 to +10 dBm
for 3-uV input in USB; maximum 1% distortion Headphone: Up to +10 dBm into 600 ohms; maximum 5% distortion Speaker: 2.5 W peak into 8 ohms; maximum 5% distortion |
| AGC threshold | 3 uV maximum |
| AGC control | Less than 5-dB rise in audio output for signal increase from 1.4 uV to 0.2 V in USB. |
| AGC time constants | Attack time: less than 30 ms Fast decay time: 200 to 300 ms Slow decay time: 3.0 to 4.0 s Manual: greater than 100-dB range |
| Squelch | Operates on audio signal-plus-noise to noise ratio. Applicable to headphone and speaker outputs only. |
| Bandwidths | 2.80-kHz USB/LSB/ISB bandpass filters 0.3-kHz, 1.0-kHz CW bandpass filters 3.2-kHz, 6.0-kHz AM bandpass filters |