[Premium-Rx] HF 2050

[Walter Salmaniw]

At 09:42 PM 6/22/2008, you wrote:
>I have been reading this thread with great interest and amusement. I have actually owned a couple of the HF2050's. There great claim to fame was as heat source for the ham shack in Michigan. As to comparing it to the 590A as a receiver it is folly. The audio is perhaps better but this is only a personal opinion of the observer. In all other rear world capabilities it does not hold a candle to the 590A or similar Racal ?1792.  This was a remarkable technical achievement for it's time--The incorporation of Digital processing. There has developed in Canada an almost cult like reverence for this receiver. As to national pride it is entirely understandable as this receiver represents a turning point in military receiver design and it is a product of largely Canadian effort. We must remember though that this can not influence our judgment of receiver quality/performance.
>
>It is not my intention to insult anyone but after listening to this conversation over and over I had to put in my two cents worth.
>
>Mike Taylor
>_______________________________________________


Mike, I've owned many receivers over the years including the Racal 1772, 1792, Harris RF590A, and a lot of high end commercial rigs....AOR 7030+, Ten-Tec RX-340, Icom 756 Pro2, Several JRCs, and now several SDRs.  For me, the 2050 was a top performer.....I liked it much better than the Harris (mostly because of the awful ergonomics in my opinion).  The only mil-spec receiver that was comparable in my hands was the Racal 1792 (a lovely receiver, but seemingly much less robust and prone to failure compared to the 2050).  Yes, there's a certain amount of pride that it was a Canadian rig, built in Canada (but wasn't it designed in Cedar Rapids?), but still, I loved (and still love) this work horse of the Canadian military (mostly Navy) and yes, I was grateful for the heat during our cold winters!  .....Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC