I sold my AOR 8000 as working but with a fault. So spares or repairs really. And to be honest, I was glad to see the back of it. And I hate to say that because I am a big fan of older scanners and always try to praise them. But I have to be honest. This scanner was one of the worst I ever owned. It did come with a faulty keypad button though, and this prevented me from using all the features. It was still useable though and could scan, save channels, change modes etc.

I think comparing the AOR 8000 to my modified Quansheng K6 was the problem. Surprisingly, performance wise, especially in terms of receive strength, they were almost identical. But when it came to features, like squelch, navigation menus, and especially ease of use, the Quansheng was the clear victor by many miles.

The AOR 8000 is extremely annoying to use. Change one setting, such as the frequency in VFO mode and everything resets itself. For example, the steps go from 12.5KHz to 0.05KHz, and the mode changes to something else. It was so infuriating to use.

And the squelch. Where do I start. Probably the worst, most unstable squelches I have ever used. The speaker also wasn’t great. Muffled and supressed. It’s a scanner that needs constant editing with the keypad. I can see why this model is prone to faulty / problematic keypads. Keys need to be pressed constantly.

Yes, 30 years ago when this scanner was new I can see that it would have been a big hit. Even today, it is highly respected and has a bit of a cult following. But 30 years later, for me it was just too cumbersome to use. Every setting and function on this radio takes a lot of work. I did try to give it a chance, but its not for me.

Comparing it to the Quansheng K6. Quansheng squelch is mostly fine, speaker is tinny but everything is heard clearly, settings are one or two clicks to change and then stay in place until the user changes them to something else. It’s so much easier to live with.

The only good thing about the AOR 8000 was some of the shortwave music frequencies from other countries played some beautiful music. Much better than the what the commercial radio stations in the UK play. Other than that the AOR 8000 is bad in every way. If you’re thinking of buying one, don’t do it. They are quite expensive and not worth the money. A Quansheng with Egzumer installed is much better, and cheaper.