[R-390] OT: Other Radios You Like

Mon Feb 25 18:58:25 EST 2008

 I have a favorite that I dont believe has been mentioned. It is both 
sensitive and selective.
Covers 100 kc thru 30 megs. It has a cult like following, will run off 
D-cells or house current.
It received a full 5 star rating in the Osterman book It is simple to 
operate and great to have around
to use when the power goes out. It is the Famous Yaesu FRG-100. 
Boatanchor? No. Great
radio that is fun to use? Yes.

 Scott W3CV

Les Locklear wrote:
> I was listening the other day to some long forgotten frequency in the 
> 17.8 mc (yeah I'm that old) range on the John R. Leary SP-600 and it 
> was fully readable, not so on my Kiwa modified Icom IC-R75, nor the 
> Eton E1. So much for modern technology.............;-) The basic 
> superheterodyne receiver has been around since the 1930's, not much 
> has been done to improve on this design other than bells and whistles.
>
> Having owned 128 receivers over the years in a seemingly fruitless 
> search for the "Holy Grail" of receivers, I realized many years ago it 
> does not exist. Having stated that, my choice for a "Hollow State" 
> receiver is the Hammarlund SP-600 in its many variations, but the 
> JX-17 wouldn't be one of them due to its crappy agc action. Solid 
> State receivers? The Drake R8B would get my nod, due to its superb 
> synchronous detector, but low marks for the dismal mechanical encoder 
> vs. the optical encoder in the original R8. I sold my R8B because of 
> that very problem after correcting it.
>
> I have divested myself of almost all the boatanchors, except the Leary 
> SP-600, a beautiful Philco 40-144 wood tabletop radio, the 
> aforementioned Icom R75 and Eton E1. If I go before my wife, she won't 
> have too much to get rid of. The Leary SP-600 will go to my grandson 
> Jake so he will know that the Japanese (Sony in particular) didn't 
> invent radios.
>
> All that said and done, it has been a fun ride trying all these 
> various receivers and seeing first hand what works and what doesn't.
>
> Les Locklear
> Gulfport, Ms.
> DX'ing Since '57
> http://www.hammarlund.info/
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cecil Acuff" <chacuff at cableone.net>
> To: "Masters Andy" <nu5o at yahoo.com>; <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
> Cc: "Les" <leslocklear at cableone.net>
> Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 12:18 PM
> Subject: Re: [R-390] OT: Other Radios You Like
>
>
>> Interesting Andy.  10 khz spacing is quite demanding.  There are so 
>> many variables.  I can't imagine if all were set to a common 
>> bandwidth for testing that performance would not be close to the 
>> same.  I know the SDR's have great flexibility in setting the 
>> bandwidth....I guess it all depends on how many buttons and knobs one 
>> has at his disposal to dial up a solution. No doubt the 390A has few 
>> but I would have expected better out of the tracking preselecting 
>> front end....  Which antenna connector do you use the balanced or 
>> unbalanced.  The unbalanced is a compromise because it skips part of 
>> the front end tuning.
>>
>> 10Khz is still a pretty stiff requirement....but I've seen my (now 
>> Les Locklears) Leary SP-600 slice and dice with the best of them.
>>
>> Cecil
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Masters Andy" <nu5o at yahoo.com>
>> To: <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
>> Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 11:55 AM
>> Subject: [R-390] OT: Other Radios You Like
>>
>>
>>> Tim raises a good point about his WJ.  I have
>>> thoroughly enjoyed this discussion because I always
>>> wondered about a lot of the radios mentioned.
>>>
>>> Where I live, near Memphis, TN, I have an acid test
>>> that I use to evaluate selectivity.  We have a local
>>> high power AM station on 640 Khz (WCRV), I take the
>>> radio and then tune it to 650 Khz (WSM in Nashville,
>>> TN).  If I can hear WSM and NOT hear WCRV, the radio
>>> is good.  WCRV watches its modulation and is a good
>>> test.  My R390A did not pass the test but a 651S-1 and
>>> the new Flex-Radio I have tried did so with flying
>>> colors.  Others to fail were the IC-75A with the Kiwa
>>> mods, a 51S-1, IC-756PRO II/III and my old
>>> Sparton-although the Sparton with its loop antenna
>>> built in was able to reject 640KHZ by simply turning
>>> it to null the local station.  When flying WSM used to
>>> be a clear channel station and we could use them as a
>>> NDB from hundreds of miles out to thousands of miles
>>> depending on time of day.
>>>
>>> My other test is purely subjective and that is the
>>> sound of the audio.  My R390A  has the Kleronomos
>>> audio mod and the audio sounds fantastic out of it.
>>> The Sparton has been modified to a single ended 6V6
>>> biased in class A and it has the edge on sound.
>>>
>>> I figure you guys have collectively saved me $1000's
>>> on what I always wondered about.  THANKS!
>>>
>>> Andy Masters NU5O/P29AM/7Q7AM
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
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