[Elecraft] A helpful review...

[Don Wilhelm]

Al,

You are correct for the more usual "casual use".  In that arena, 
performance does not matter as much.  The gut feeling about a radio's 
audio or the buttons are the more important to many operators.

But when those operators who are a little more discerning and operate in 
DXing and contesting situations, the Sherwood ratings of close-in 
blocking dynamic range become the deciding factors in QSO or no-QSO.  If 
the transceiver is capable of "saddling up" close to a strong station 
without that other station taking over the receiver, that factor is 
important to those who participate in such operating events.
The ability to avoid receiver overload in crowded band conditions 
suddenly becomes the important parameter.

So if you are a casual operator, those Sherwood rankings will not mean 
much to you. But if contesting performance is more your 'thing', the 
Sherwood rankings will be more important - that is what allows you to 
make contacts in the midst of many potentially interfering stations at 
close frequencies to your frequency.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 5/1/2016 6:54 PM, Al Lorona wrote:
> Ahh, this is right on the mark. How many times have you heard a ham say, "I didn't like Radio X because it didn't have enough close-spaced dynamic range." Me, almost never. Instead, I usually hear that hams have discarded a radio because of a million different reasons like
>
>
> "bad" or "noisy" audio
> fit and feel
> buttons too small
> kept failing
>
> transmitter caused interference to other radios during a contest
>
>
> and many other factors, none of which is measured by gurus like Sherwood.
>
> So I totally agree, it's the radio as a whole that matters. It's what comes out of the speaker. it's the sound of the noise. Etc., etc. You've got to get a radio in your hands to get a good idea of it. That's why YouTube videos of receivers being recorded with a camera across the room, and lists of receivers ranked by dynamic range don't mean that much to me.
>
>
> Al  W6LX
>
>
>> The performance and usefulness of ANY product, including a radio,
>> depends upon the totality of its characteristics.
>> 73, Jim K9YC
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