[Lowfer] First Light

[JD]

Hi Doug, you recall correctly. It does have the "reverse CW" capability, but 
apparently I'm having a time getting used to the supposed 2-second key 
presses that activate options like that on certain buttons, including CW 
mode.  Seems to me they don't always wait for "one-Mississippi, 
two-Mississippi" and they've already done their thing before I notice that 
they have. :)

Filters have gotten hard to find for the R75, but I managed to locate a 
narrow 9 MHz SSB filter (FL-223) and narrow 455 kHz CW filter (FL-53A, 
BW=250 Hz).  I'd sorta prefer to have a choice of medium and narrow width CW 
filters instead, but when you arrive late for the party you take what's 
available.  They seem to work well, but apparently I haven't interpreted the 
rather cryptic setup instructions correctly yet, as the normal, wide, and 
narrow options in each mode definitely work, but don't always seem to match 
what I'm hearing by ear when I step through them.

Contrary to a few things I've read online, both preamps are available down 
to 2200 m (though they don't seem active at 60 kHz).  I don't seem to need 
them with my antenna, and in fact, using them actually makes the noise 
blanker less effective! Without the preamps, it's a wonderfully effective 
and transparent blanker for everyday clicks and pops; much better than my 
trusty ol' Kenwoods. Haven't tried it under really noisy conditions yet, but 
I believe the blanker is what made my early evening trace of SIW so much 
cleaner looking than the afternoon trace, because there was no evident 
change in either signal or average noise levels yet at that time...only no 
pops and clicks to disrupt Argo.

Among some of its other good points are the front panel layout, the 
readability of the display, and the ease of entering frequencies directly. 
Overall, I really like this radio.

John