Difference between a 8000DLE and 7000MKII

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N4QNT
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Difference between a 8000DLE and 7000MKII

Postby N4QNT » Sat Jan 22, 2022 3:26 pm

Hello group, can someone explain the difference between the older Flagship 8000DLE other than the 200watt plus PA? Has there been the latest revision hardware-wise change on the Orion boards like on a Black 7000 MKII. will the latest Firmware Pro-2 2.1.18 benefit the 8000DLE or cause conflicts with the older hardware?

Thank you, Art
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w-u-2-o
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Re: Difference between a 8000DLE and 7000MKII

Postby w-u-2-o » Sat Jan 22, 2022 3:56 pm

Don't think of the 8000 as being "old". It is 90% the same as the 7000 and 100% the same where it counts. It uses the same preselector design, the same Orion MKII SDR board, and the same rear panel connector breakout board. There are some minor differences in the RF switching paths, and minor differences in terms of additional mic/speaker/key connectors on the front and a few other odds and ends.

Those minor differences in a bit more detail:

- Most of the differences are associated with minor variations in connectorization, which are self evident by comparing the front and back panel photos.

- The 8000 is missing the EXT inputs, but since there's no longer any real way to use them on the 7000 that hardly matters.

- On the 8000 instead of a Bypass input for external PureSignal feedback there is a separate dedicated path via connectors on the rear panel, but functionally it is the same thing.

- On the 8000 there is a front panel display that shows a number of parameters but it's really just a frill. It runs on it's own processor and it's own firmware and does not interact in any way with the main software (Thetis) or main Orion MKII firmware (P1 or P2).

- The rear panel Bootloader switch is easier to reach on the 8000 compared to the bottom-mounted switch on the 7000.

The big differences between the 7000 and the 8000 are:

- On the 8000 the case is quite large, with a massive internal heatsink, and while I've got no proof of this, I suspect the cooling is better in the 8000. If you like to rack mount things the 8000 is too wide to fit in a standard 17" equipment rack.

- The 200W RF amplifier, of course.

In any case, both Thetis and the P2 firmware work equally well on both the 7000 (all variants) and the 8000, which should be no surprise since both use the same SDR board.
K1LSB
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Re: Difference between a 8000DLE and 7000MKII

Postby K1LSB » Sat Jan 22, 2022 4:51 pm

Scott,

What specifically are you referring to by the term "preselector"? If you mean band prefilter then I'm confused, because you say that the 7000 has no ADC2 prefilter but the screenshot below (taken from the Anan 7000 black-case brochure) shows full prefilters for both RX1 and RX2.

Please clarify,

Mark
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7000DLE MKII Amp & Filters.png
7000DLE MKII Amp & Filters.png (224.4 KiB) Viewed 2465 times
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w-u-2-o
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Re: Difference between a 8000DLE and 7000MKII

Postby w-u-2-o » Sat Jan 22, 2022 6:48 pm

My apologies! I thought the 7000 didn't have a preselector on the second ADC, but per that block diagram it clearly does. So there you go, even less of a difference between the two models!

I've edited my post above to make that correction.
K1LSB
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Re: Difference between a 8000DLE and 7000MKII

Postby K1LSB » Sat Jan 22, 2022 9:11 pm

Not a problem Scott, I do believe that's the first mistake I've seen you make in the entire time I've been on this site!

It just confused me for a sec because I was sure I'd read before purchasing my 7000 that both ADCs had full prefilters. In fact, that was one of the plusses that drove me to make the purchase....that, plus PureSignal plus Thetis plus the support team (including you!) plus everything else that's so awesome about this radio!

Mark
Tom AA4VV
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Re: Difference between a 8000DLE and 7000MKII

Postby Tom AA4VV » Sun Jan 23, 2022 12:30 am

I have a 7000 DLE and I don't see anyway to set or change the RX2 preselector.

For what it's worth.

I have the latest Thetis software installed.
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n1gp
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Re: Difference between a 8000DLE and 7000MKII

Postby n1gp » Mon Jan 24, 2022 11:42 am

I believe you can change the RX2 BPF's here:

rx2.JPG
rx2.JPG (121.58 KiB) Viewed 2327 times


-Rick / N1GP
Tom AA4VV
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Re: Difference between a 8000DLE and 7000MKII

Postby Tom AA4VV » Mon Jan 24, 2022 4:25 pm

Yes, I see that.
Thanks Rick.

73 Tom

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