[Kenwood] SM-220 VS SM-230 etc etc

[peter markavage]

Quote - "Many preferred the tube version, SM-220  over the replacement
solid state version"

What tube version of the SM-220????

Pete, wa2cwa

On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 19:39:33 -0500 "WD8ARZ" <wd8arz at ix.netcom.com>
writes:
> The impression made from a lot of posts over the years, has been that 
> the 
> solid state version of the SM-220, the SM-230, did not perform as 
> well as 
> expected for a newer more expensive scope / panadapter. There were a 
> lot of 
> complaints about drift with the 230. Many preferred the tube 
> version, SM-220 
> over the replacement solid state version.
> 
> No mistake about it, neither of these pieces of equipment were ever 
> intended 
> to be compared to commercial spectrum scopes or panadapters.
> 
> However in the amateur hobby world, they are great visual asset to 
> those 
> that use them to expand their situational awareness of what is going 
> on 
> around the frequency that they are listening to, or tuning through. 
> It 
> virtually opens up a bandwidth of information that exceeds what is 
> being 
> heard / seen at the speaker output. That this is an asset is 
> undeniable to 
> those that integrates the big picture a panadapter display provides. 
> It is 
> refreshing to see this feature showing up in more and more new 
> rigs.
> 
> Also note that from time to time there are comments about software 
> that 
> tunes a rig's vfo and plots audio activity per frequency scanned on 
> a 
> computer screen. The resultant display is not very representative of 
> real 
> time situation. For fast results, large gaps are missed when 
> scanning. For 
> more detail and finer frequency plotting, the time it takes to do 
> the scan, 
> distorts the real time reality of what is going on considerably. The 
> display 
> is a result of many slices of time, spread across the display, as it 
> takes a 
> lot of time to scan the band this way. The best way to go is in real 
> time, 
> is to use panadapters / spectrum scopes tapped into early stage in 
> the 
> receivers I.F. before filters narrow down the usable range.
> 
> 73 from Bill - WD8ARZ