NAT03 or NAT05

@Richard.Dane If the Nat01 is the first and best tuner Naim ever produced, then what made them never want to try and improve on this classic? They produced Tuners up until the retirement of the 05xs which was 30 years ish after the first 01 was produced right?! It seems the NAT01 was the only product in their history which universally would be agreed upon that they never managed to better. Interested in your view on this one from your time on the inside.

I have a flatcap on mine which also powers my stageline. Its subtle but worthwhile, gives more body and realism and makes it a very decent source for not a lot of cost

Steve, the NAT301 was the first Naim tuner, although it never went into proper production, instead turning into the NAT01.

I wouldn’t say the NAT01 was never improved by Naim; the NAT01 was improved by Naim first with the update from Chrome Bumper to Olive, when the proposed additional AM module was dropped and so the NAPST optimised. And then most recently the NAT01 was improved further with the XPS-T power supply upgrade.

IIRC proaction eventually ceased because certain parts became impossible to source. It would have necessitated a major redesign, right at the time when doubts bang to appear over the future of FM, and sales were dwindling.

2 Likes

So, as exciting as building a collinear J would be, I did discuss this option with She-who-must-be -obeyed whose comment was “What? You and a blow torch? Dream on, hubby!”. I did point out that I am a Chartered Sparkie, to which she countered that she was a Chartered Mechie, and playing with copper tubing was Mechie-stuff…so i lost that one!.

So I’m compromising on a 4 element dipole, from a company mentioned above. Unfortunately having gone the the nausea of “setting up an account that I will probably never use again”, and ordering the beast, I am now informed that it’s “on back order”…

2 Likes

And here it is, strung up in “my room”, until the virus crisis recedes and I can get it mounted outside.

Pointed roughly at Rowridge (22km away).

It works, and R3 does sound very nice!

9 Likes

^^^ Good to see (and hear).

Mine also points to Rowridge. I can’t get BBC Solent in stereo at the moment but I can get everything else. It’s not a problem now but when the Season resumes and Saints are away, I would like it in stereo. Can you get it in stereo?
(Apologies to others for this highly parochial and partisan post).

Your setup reminds me of an old friend back in the late 90’s who used to have a small company building microwave assemblies in a converted bedroom in his house. He had a simple 2m setup with a Kenwood transceiver, connected to a 5 element beam on a short rotatable pole, all in the same room. He also used to have an old VHF TV tuned to a Spanish TV station so that he could take advantage of short bursts of Sporadic E. As he worked through the day, the TV station would suddenly come out of the noise and he’d stop what he was doing, put out a few CQ calls and work a few stations down on the continent before the TV signal would fade again. Just being able to catch the right conditions meant he could work stations that many others with far more impressive setups would miss.

Yes, in stereo, bit of hiss,

and it’s excellent news…Saints are not losing! :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

1 Like

No wonder ‘she-who-must-be-obeyed’ is wary of your proposed antenna antics

1 Like

So you actually built a conservatory aligned to your local transmitter. That’s what I call dedication!

3 Likes

Perhaps it’s a conservatoire for BBC Radio 3 ? :grin:

3 Likes

Sporadic E / strongly ionised F layer can be great fun… a few years ago I remember talking to somebody on 28 MHz SSB between East Anglia and a balcony in Crete on about 0.7W PEP, and when conditions are spot on you can occasionally fairly comfortably work somebody in Australia on 10 W, and always more satisfying if they are mobile say down on the beach…
The other ‘fun’ condition for radio transmission is tropospheric ducting… Tropospheric ducting affects FM broadcast and TV signals more… and back in the days of analogue TV caused the so called ‘atmospherics’ interference, and causes FM radio stations to be heard from further away than normal, sometimes resulting in noisier stereo decode due to interference from distant stations.

2 Likes

LOL but pure luck. It just happens to be a 4x4 bit at the front between the house and the garage. The previous owners had build a wooden conservatory with a flat roof, but when that rotted away it was replaced with a plastic job, and at the time I fancied a pyramid roof…and because it was going to be “my room”, a small Naim system with CDP, Kans but not anticipating a tuner.

Fortuitous, I agree, and with the magic of Goggle Maps in “satellite view” I could draw a direct line from the Rowridge mast to the conservatory, and in doing so, noted that it clipped the corner of a neighbour’s garage. I could then aim the aerial at the aforementioned corner, by looking out the window.

Sig Strength Meters? Pah! Real engineers do it by eye (and Goggle Maps) :grinning: :grinning:

5 Likes

Hi @Christopher_M I’m listening to Solent at the moment and it’s in stereo and totally hiss free. That’s with a standard five element on the roof.

Thanks HH. Perhaps there is something off with the direction of my Yagi on the roof, recent gales etc. Yet the national stations are solid in stereo.

I think Linn also ceased producing their Kremlin model at the same time for the same reason.

It happened the month I decided to bite the bullet and get one…

Still have my NAT 03 and it still does sterling service , so not complaining

I’ve come to this thread late.
If you’d be so kind could you please explain what you mean by “red light Philips”.
Regards,
Steve O.

It’s most likely a reference to the first version the NAT05, which used a Philips tuning head and had a distinctive small red LED indicator light in the display. When their head could no longer be sourced by Naim the NAT05 was re-designed to use an ALPS tuning head, and no more tiny red LED indicator.

Hi Steve,
It’s as Richard Says. It sounds great to my ear. I have never compared it with the later green light (ALPS) one, since this is not what Naim ownership is about for me. But I do love the look of the red light in a sea of otherwise black and green.

Best,
Chris

4 Likes

Ah right, same as mine. Thanks.