SCS P4dragon DR 7400 Pactor 4

[KStepman]

I am in the process of installing a SSB.
I have selected an IC-802 Tranceiver and AT-140 Tuner.
I am unsure which Practor Modem to purchase.
Not only is the a great difference in the price of a Practor III vs a 4, but I have read recent reports of the 4 crashing.
This is my first install.
I need some advice.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

I haven't heard of P4 crashing. The few people I've know that have P4 modems say that it is really nice. P3 could still be good to get. It's still a pretty fast mode and not sure how many base stations have actually upgraded to P4, which would cause the equipment to revert back to P3 mode anyway during connections.
I think either would be a good choice. If your budget can handle it, go P4, if not, get P3 and use extra money elsewhere on the boat.

[btrayfors]

There are two P4 Dragon modems: The DR7800 and the DR7400.

The former is the original one, which is priced about $2,000. The latter is a smaller version which has almost exactly the same functionality, but lacks a couple of features which most users on boats won't miss a bit, and is priced several hundred dollars less.

I have purchased two DR7400 Dragons for clients recently, and have installed and tested one of them already. It works flawlessly. The second one will be installed shortly.

In my limited experience, I'd say the 7400 should receive close scrutiny from any cruiser interested in HF email. As a part of the overall real cost of the SSB/email installation, it's just a few hundred dollars more than a P3 modem and has performance approximately twice as fast.

It's also a very cute little box which can be stashed just about anywhere. Seems to have the usual SCS quality as well. There are at least two versions: the USB version and the Bluetooth version.

Here's the manufacturer's description:
http://www.scs-dragon.com/en/Home.html

Bill

[KStepman]

Thanks for the information.

Bill, other than the display graphic, what other features are missing on the lesser priced 4?

[btrayfors]

- Multi-view high resolution OLED display

- Mic input and speaker output jacks on rear panel

- RJ-45 LAN and USB connection on rear panel

There may be others as well, but none of practical value for the mariner planning to use the P4 on a boat, IMHO.

Bill

[KStepman]

Bill,
Thanks. The RJ45 has value to me as my boat is a WiFi hotspot. Plugging the 7400 into the router should allow wireless communication with my laptop and other devices. Yes?
Also, is the Mic in and Speaker out for VOIP?

[Auspicious]

I've installed two DR-7800 units and one DR-7400. The front panel of the 7800 is very pretty but from a practical perspective I think the 7400 is a better value for most cruising sailors.

Your mileage may vary.

The 7800 is a nice looking box though.

I haven't tried the network approach of an Ethernet connection to a WiFi router yet. Interesting idea. I'm not sure if Airmail will support that. I'm confident RMSExpress will not.

[westsailwill]

What happened with this thread? It was very interesting and informative. I am also looking to install one of the pactor IV's, and appreciate any experiences or fedback anyone is willing to share. Thanks