[Premium-Rx] consumer vs premium-rx's

[refmon]

Hi,

The FCC-inspired discussions have wound all over the place, all the while
ignoring some basic points or making some very convenient assumptions.  If
one isolates the discussion to the subject of voice and voice-frequency
data, this is valid.  However, the real reasons that premium-rx's were even
conceived is not so some guys can listen to short wave or "crack" a
commercial digital code;  the real purpose of Premium-RX's was/is to perform
measurements.  Lab quality, repeatable measurements, that is.

The FCC, International Monitoring Station Network, and all the 3-letter
joints require/required precision measurements.  These measurements may be
channel occupancy runs made at multiple locations, ultimately feeding into
Intenational Treaties that determine frequency assignments for all manner of
services.  These measurements may be interference analysis on which
enforcement actions are based and must stand up to legal scrutiny.  They may
be super-secret eavesdropping that gathers data from which the other-guy's
technology may be assumptively reverse engineered.  The Premium-RX's we play
with were the instruments of their day just as digital Spectrum Analyzers
are the instruments of today.

Premium-RX's didn't cost an arm and a leg simply because the government was
buying them-they are expensive because they utilize precision components and
designs in small quantities--therefore a certified unit piece costs
significantly more than the same piece from a mass-produced lot.  Add to
this that manufacturers have to test and certify to various levels depending
on the purchaser of the unit, and you've got a raelly expensive item.

Those $600.00 toilet seats aren't just your run of the mill Sears potty
seat, they are precision engineered and certified excretia implementation
devices, and as such, require testing and certification...any idea how much
that guy with the mil-std butt makes per year?  They actually do have to
pass tests for arctic & tropical wear & tear minima, impact resistance, etc.

So, an Icom, Yaesu, or TenTec Ham/SWL radio is not synonymous with a
Premium-RX, nor should it be.  Why these consumer units don't even have all
those really cool inputs and outputs, weird bandwidths, or pulse
demods...nor do they weigh as much as Premium-RX's.

Anyway, I seem to remember that we have voiced on this list, the fact that
we realize that premium-rx's (which may never have been intended to be an
audio receiver) often (with notable exceptions) don't come close to the
"reception quality" had by the consumer receivers; we're frequently
comparing receivers with vastly different design goals and/or capabilities.
On some Premium-RX's, we are using maintenance features (audio output &
front panel controls) and comparing those to a purpose-built audio receiver
with all the consumer "features" on the front panel.  Frankly, I enjoy my
receivers not because they stand as the best receiver for all purposes, but
because they are examples of some of the most fabulous engineering and
implementation of our time-the early melding of purely analog and partly
digital systems to perform tasks that, today, may require only a few chips
or lines of code.  In fact, some of this equipment doesn't even have a
microprocessor-imagine that!

Consumer receivers are showing up in FCC centers, etc...  What may actually
be happening is that the FCC et al have indeed been gutted...it started when
they stopped enforcing various technical standards on TV and Radio
Broadcasters, public safety comms, and various service carriers and has
continued to the point where they hardly need to make any robust
measurements...they just take a look or a listen and that's that.  Now if
you really push your luck, the spohisticated stuff hits the road...hardly
stealthy if you know what to look for........

Did you know there are also Premium-RX's for TV?  Tektronix and R&S used to
make these Precision Demodulators by the boatload...both for the enforcers
and for the broadcasters.  Now everyone just uses a TV set with a video
output and a scope...talk about unrepeatable measurements!

The loftier of the 3 letter joints and various test and certification
facilities still enjoy the fabulously expensive (and rare)
Premium-RX's....tomorrow's ebay fodder.

Just my 2.17665 cents ...  devaluation, you know

regards to all

John Collins