[Lowfer] Icom R-75 Specs

[ToddRoberts2001 at aol.com]

Hi All,
       It looks like John Reed's  test report of the Icom R75 stirred up a 
lot of interest in the Lowfer List  recently.
       I think John's test  reports would be a little less confusing if he 
would add VLF performance along  with LF performance from 200KHz on up. Many 
people interested in these expensive  receivers would also be interested in 
how they perform below 100KHz and in  particular below 30KHz. I think that 
is how John started to confuse a lot  of people when he stated that the R75 
is not a good choice for reception below  200KHz when a lot of people, 
myself included, consider the R75 an excellent  choice at least down to around 
100KHz.
      I noticed in John's LowDown  report on his Harris RF-590 that he 
really didn't explain that even in that  high-end receiver, the specs are 
degraded much below 80-90KHz and it becomes  pretty noisy especially when you get 
much below 60KHz. Also John highly modified  his RF-590 with an extra bank 
of I.F. filters so his results may not be  typical of a standard 
off-the-shelf RF-590. John did not mention overall  performance at VLF - 30KHz and below.
      As I tried to explain in my  recent posting I would really recommend 
using a good LF-VLF converter in front  of almost any communications 
receiver for best results below 100KHz and  especially below 30KHz. A good 500KHz 
lowpass filter can greatly improve LF-VLF  reception with a receiver used 
with a longwire or active whip antenna also and  is a necessity to use with an 
LF-VLF converter. That point could be missed by  John if he only uses loop 
antennas with his receivers.
 
73 Todd WD4NGG