[Premium-Rx] Mackay 5050

[Bob Milne]

Hi Keith,

I have a 5050A and love the hell out of it. The audio is outstanding
and it has a terrific keypad for punching in frequencies or accessing
memory locations.

My biggest complaint is that the tuning steps are 10 Hz, 1 kHz, and
100 kHz. It sure could use 100  Hz tuning steps. Also, it's not the
most sensitive receiver around. But I just improved things quite a bit
by changing the AGC jumpers form voice mode to data mode. That reduced
the AGC threshold from about 5 uV to 1 uV. Makes it a lot easier to
hear weak signals. And like most premium rigs, the SSB selectivity is
a bit wide for crowded ham bands. But a good DSP filter like the
Timewave DSP-599zx cures that problem quite nicely.

It also has a syllabic squelch that works quite well. You can listen
to a SSB aero channel, pull out the squelch control, and it pretty
much ignores noise and static crashes. The squelch only opens up when
someone actually talks.

I've never used any of the Watkins Johnson or Harris premium rigs, so
I don't know how it stacks up against them. But I do prefer the
5050A's audio over that of my Racal 6790/GM (it's a lot less harsh
sounding). And the 6790 has no memory channels. On the other hand, the
6790 has 1 Hz tuning resolution and outstanding frequency stability. 

My recommendation: If you can find a 5050A for a good price--go for
it!

Regards....
....Bob

On Fri, 12 Dec 2003 12:52:21 +0100, you wrote:

>Hi list!
>
>I wonder if anyone of you can tell me something about a Mackay MSR5050A or Mackay in general.
>
>Thanks for your help!
>
>Greetings de OE
>Keith
>
>
>
>
>
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