[Premium-Rx] Odd behavior by NRD-515

[Rick Robinson]

I no longer own my '515 but I remember the one I owned had a mod when I 
bought it that disabled the MW peaking control.  IIRC, it disabled the 
"BC Tune" function for use as some other function.  I had to remove this 
mod and return it to stock in order to get the MW peaking working 
again.  Like my '525 there is also a permanent attenuator in the LW/MW 
section of the '515 front end that needs to be removed for good 
sensitivity under 1600kHz.  I'm a LW/MW DXer and removing these 
attenuators are the first mod I do to any receiver that has one.    If 
you never used the '515 on MW, there is a possibility that this same mod 
effecting the MW peaking may have been done.  A non-MW DXer would never 
notice it.   There are comments on the internet about the poor to fair 
MW sensitivity of the '515 that some owners report.  Once I removed the 
attenuator and returned the "BC Tune" to its stock configuration, it was 
a good MW receiver.  To be honest, my HF-225 is noticeably more 
sensitive on LW and MW than either of the JRCs I've owned even with 
attenuators removed.  LW and MW DXing don't seem to be any JRC 
receiver's strong suite although they are overall excellent receivers in 
my opinion.

I've googled looking for this mod but have come up empty.  It was a 
common mod done back in the late '80s and I think either Gilfer or maybe 
some private DXer came up with it.  It may be in the IRCA reprints or 
Fine Tunings Proceedings. The seller sent me documentation on the mod 
along with a service manual which allowed me to reverse it.  I passed it 
along to the next owner and didn't make a copy.

My $.02 worth, it may not be your problem.   Perhaps it's a case of 
either the buyer not reading the manual and not understanding the "BC 
Tune" or maybe it's had this mod installed and is inoperable.

Anyone else remember this mod?

Rick W4DST