[Premium-Rx] FCC Equipment

Fri Dec 10 15:52:19 EST 2004

I seem to recall the military buying up all the R-7000s they could for the
first gulf war.  More bang for the buck and a lot faster I guess.

If it breaks, go to the closet and get another, and another and another until
all the spares are used up.  

Tom
--- wglevy <levyfiles at att.net> wrote:

> The fact that ICOM and Yaesu have not made commercial  or professional grade
> radios misses a point.
> RACAL, WJ, and HARRIS are out of the biz of making this stuff
> because those other non professional outfits made em cheaper and good
> enough.
> 
> Let me add another thing. I have spent part of my life making wildlife films
> and I have installed these
> japanese toys in my land rovers and I have rained on them, and filled them
> with dust, and given them
> river baths and they never quit working. That was a huge eye opener for me.
> I couldn't believe it, I bet against it.
> I took one spare radio for every vehicle and I never used them. What did
> break? The 102 inch whip by Antenna
> Specialists fed by an ICOM Tuner. What didn't break? The ICOM Whip supplied
> with the tuner.
> 
> Further when I started out there were American outfits making SW radios for
> the bush nations
> like SWAN, SOUTHCOM and KACHINA, HARRIS so the outback rancher could keep in
> touch
> with whomever. Those radios are now made by ICOM YAESU and KENWOOD. Doesn't
> mean
> that the Harris's I supplied out there aren't still working. Just means they
> can't compete on price
> and no one is complaining that the radios are smaller and run directly on 12
> volts and have automatic
> tuners.
> 
> So as much as we love them let us love their faults too as they love ours.
> The Ten Tec radios are really hot.
> Its the propagation that stinks!
> 
> Bill N2WL
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <Sig346 at netscape.net>
> To: ""Geoff Fors"" <wb6nvh at mbay.net>; <premium-rx at ml.skirrow.org>
> Sent: Friday, December 10, 2004 8:11 AM
> Subject: RE: [Premium-Rx] FCC Radio Gear
> 
> 
> > Gentlemen,
> >
> > neither ICOM nor YEASU have ever made professional grade receivers
> > or transceivers apart from some cheap aircomms and marines.
> >
> > In my opinion it would be definitely a lack of taste mixing
> > WJ8718 with their stuff like R75, PRC100 or FRG7700.
> >
> >  Well,
> > I know that many on the list are hams who like YEASU and ICOM
> transceivers,
> > but again, they are designed exclussively for hams and featured
> > as hightech toys. The companies know that and never claimed
> > their transceivers or receivers had been designed for professional use.
> >
> > The fact that FCC used or use them explaines their financial
> > situation (renting satellites and buying nice cars for top managenent
> > eats all the money they have) and their priorities: short wave
> > spectrum management is probaly on place 8126 on their priority
> > list. If the consumer grate technology can do the job, no
> > problem.
> >
> >  The situation is not that unique: remomed companies
> > like Rockwell Collins and Cubic use AR3000A as a building block
> > in their DF: their own receivers are simply too expensive
> > for low end government products - aimed, say for FCC.
> >
> > But we must not forget WHO IS WHO in this world...
> >
> > Regards,
> > Anatol
> >
> >
> > "Geoff Fors" <wb6nvh at mbay.net> wrote:
> >
> > >I have received a great deal of e-mail off-list about this subject and
> also there have been some further postings to the list in the last 24 hours,
> so I will try to summarize what I have learned about the present FCC
> receiver inventory:
> > >
> > >The receivers I saw in use at the now unmanned Livermore, Calif. FCC
> facility were the Icom R75.  They are equipped with the CT17 option for
> remote control/level conversion.  I know, it wasn't really fair of me to
> call them "consumer grade" receivers and I hope no one other than Icom took
> offense at that, but after all, they are inexpensive, unimpressive looking
> and not really in the same class as a Watkins Johnson 8618.
> > >
> > >I am informed by people working with the FCC that the stations are also
> using R7000, R7100 and a few PC1000 receivers.  I don't know what they are
> doing with them but I also saw a wide variety of lower priced receivers
> piled up in FCC storage such as the Yaesu FRG-7700 and a Kenwood 1980's era
> receiver whose model # escapes me at the moment.
> > >
> > >The majority of Watkins Johnson receivers still in use are 8618B's, and
> they are in the process of adding 432 or 488 interface cards to those to
> allow remote operation.  The vehicles are getting smaller and as a result
> the bigger W-J receivers are being replaced by Miniceptor 8607 units (and I
> suspect digital recording equipment as well.)  I was also informed that some
> of the Watkins Johnson FCC equipment is being transferred to the US Border
> Patrol.
> > >
> > >I am afraid of spinning off topic by discussing the vehicles, even though
> it appears a lot of us are fascinated by them as well.  Just as the British
> have train spotter hobbyists, we may need to start an "FCC spotter"
> reflector.  There seems to be a wide variety of FCC trucks, SUV's, RV's,
> vans, and decrepit Chevrolet police model Caprices still out there.
> > >
> > >Thanks to the people who added their comments and to those kind folks who
> aren't members of the list but monitor the digests and contacted me
> directly.  I didn't mention you by name since some of you are associated
> with the FCC and may prefer to remain anonymous !
> > >
> > >By the way, regarding the Echelon system question that was just posted.
> Not at the FCC facility I am familiar with.  Echelon is run by the NSA, at
> least theoretically, and involves a huge amount of equipment intended to
> monitor telephone and common-carrier traffic, not primarily HF and VHF
> communications. I would dearly love to comment on Echelon further, but I had
> better not or I will drift off-topic with it !
> > >
> > >Geoff Fors
> > >
> >
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