[Premium-Rx] RE: Icom/Yaesu as premium-rx

[Ben Dover]

Hello Walter.


>>  Fellas, an interesting burst of activity recently.  I think we shouldn't 
ignore the Icoms and the Yaesu's of the world.  I'm a SWL/DXer, not a ham, 
and amongst my circle, we have been very excited of late with the Icom Pro 
models, which functionally have performed every bit as well as the true 
premium grade rx, and at a fraction of the price. <<


You have a valid point there... and you don't have to look as high up the
food chain as the 756pro.


I have what I consider to be MORE than my share of "premium" receivers (I
tend to be a glutton  <<smile>>), but if I'm totally honest there isn't a
whole lot of difference in performance between them and the receivers I was
into before Terry, WB9GVB, turned me on to premiums. Those were the venerable
Collins R-390/R-390A, Drake R8, Icom R-7000, Icom R71A (with reservations),
and JRC NRD-525. I still have them all except for the R-390s, and use them
regularly.

The biggest improvements in premiums seem to me to be (A) increased frequency
stability (both electrical and mechanical), (B) better front end noise
figures,
tho not enough to make a HUGE difference under most propagation conditions,
(C)
much more operator convenience (premiums aren't junked up with bells &
whistles
that you don't really need), (D) a whole lot LESS weight when compared to my
beloved R-390s, and most importantly (E) much more CONSISTENT performance that
comes from better mechanical and electrical design, higher quality components,
etc. A premium, especially one built using Cold War design philosophies, is a
device that is meant to keep operating at peak efficiency under most ANY sort
of conditions; in a scenario like post nuclear attack, I'd sooner depend on a
Racal than on a Drake R8!  <<smile>>  


My preference for the premiums also comes from subjective factors.

First, frequency coverage on practically all of my Racals goes down to a 10-15
KHz lower limit, and does it with excellent performance. Only my modified R71A
can do that (not counting the Hammarlund SP600VLF, Collins R-389, and Magnavox
built WRR-3/R-1134 I still have squirreled away!). What can I say...   I'm a
hard core LF/VLF nut here!

Second...   I come from a generation where receivers were, by definition, BIG
and heavy boxes, stuffed with vaccum tubes. In the 1950s and 1960s, a receiver
that weighed less than 30 pounds or so wasn't taken seriously, usually for
good
reasons. When decent solid state designs finally came along they seemed like
toys to me, and they still do sometimes...  a 10 - 20 pound box with micro
keypads gets sort of unnerving to me. I dearly LOVE my RA1772s because they 
have what I call the "Old Receiver Aesthetic". They have the same comforting
sort of "feel" that my old SX-28 and HRO have; thier substantial solidity and
imposing bulk kind of inspires operator confidence. Actually, tho I've largely
overcome it now, the uneasiness of the "Small Radio Syndrome" mindset used to
bother me with the Racal RA6790/GM when I first got it!!!  <<grin>>


The final thing that causes me to prefer premiums is philosophical.

We live in a world of waste. Things don't get repaired anymore, they're just
discarded and replaced... when was the last time you bothered to try repairing
a computer motherboard??? Probably NEVER; if you had one go bad, you tossed it
and put in a new one. BTW, I tried it ONCE. NEVER AGAIN!!!   ;o)

COTS communications receivers now have that same sort of smell... they feel
like disposable radios, despite thier high prices. 

A sick premium is an object that seems WORTH YOUR TIME to troubleshoot and
repair.


Enough of this...   just the ramblings of an Old Fart who has owned FAR too
many receivers over the years.


73's,


Tom, W9LBB

Proprietor of the Mahon Loomis 
Memorial Monitoring Station and
Irish Setter Retirement Home

Sun Prairie, Wisconsin