[R-390] OT: Other Radios You Like

Mon Feb 25 19:09:36 EST 2008

Good fairly simple radio....

Another is the Palstar....good little radio.

I noticed someone mentioned earlier what started all this in their lives....

My first SW rig was an Allied Radio Shack P-Box Shortwave Radio kit.  One 
transistor regen.  I remember listening to Radio Moscow and HCJB as a kid in 
1970....it was pure magic!  Also remember listening to Hams on AM using my 
families Telefunken console...they still have it and I guess I'll inherit it 
at some point.

Cecil...
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott Bauer" <odyslim at comcast.net>
To: "Les Locklear" <leslocklear at cableone.net>
Cc: <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 5:58 PM
Subject: Re: [R-390] OT: Other Radios You Like

> 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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