[Milsurplus] BC-348Q being cheap

[Hue Miller]

First is the confused meaning of the word "cheap" today.
It used to mean more like poorly made, poorer materials,
definitely downgrade. Clearly we're not talking about that
here. More accurately: rationalized, simplified, less
expensive. I concur that the BC-348 was overbuilt for its
mission. For the young man with brief experience in radio
communications, and possibly no real love of the subject,
who had no interest in weekend dx-ing on the crowded
ham bands, the antenna trimmer was unnecessary, as was
the crystal filter. ( The 224/348 was the only aircraft 
receiver EVER to have a crystal filter. ) Some of the features
we rate so high today were just not crucial to getting the
job done, then. 
For my money, the most desirable versions, which don't 
involve of course, sending position reports on schedule,
or reporting Mayday, and so on, are: 
-early models with no LF band, thus slightly better
tuning speed on the highest bands
-antenna trimmer: something hams and SWLs of the
postwar period valued in shopping for medium-grade
shortwave receivers; definitely useful to bring up that
marginal DX signal
-"old style" crystal filter, which lends itself to easy
modification for better selectivity than than the "simplified"
circuit. 
-Hue Miller