[SignalOne] CX7A - Why am I doing this?
Joachim Groeger
[email protected]
11 Dec 2003 15:58 GMT
G'day Uli and Ray,
I certainly don't want to continue my tirade ad nauseam. So I am offering=
this as my parting shot on this particular subject:
Uli, you don't say anything about CX7s/As/Bs. So I take it you never had th=
e misfortune to have to work on one of those. My good buddy Bob, W0YVA, tel=
ls me that the only good S/1 ever made was the CX11 (not sure if there are =
different variants). And to be sure, good ole Bob knows a thing or two abou=
t S1 radios.
I don't mind the odd 'design deficiency' (and Collins certainly had their f=
air share of them!) but I certainly don't expect the sort of design/product=
ion engineering deficiency INFLATION Signal/One subjected the owners of th=
eir CX7 series radios to. After all, back in the seventies you could buy a =
midsize family car (or a VW beetle and a half. I guess you still remember t=
he VW slogan? 'It runs and it runs and it runs .......) for the price of a =
CX7. =20
You already know my views on the Milspec 1030. Many nice features, mediocre=
receiver that has to be upgraded with your high-pass filter (I still haven=
't found anyone to produce the PC board for me, btw!) to be up to snuff for=
use in Europe, construction ok but certainly falling short of what I would=
expect from 'milspec' (maybe I've been in a different military).
As to your question how S/1 could stay 'alive' (if you can call it that - f=
or the most part they were on life support, even in the early days when the=
y were a division of NCR), there are probably two factors contributing to t=
hat 'success'
Firstly, the company changed owenership as often as you and I change shirt=
s. It is easy to pick up a company (the critical factor in this is actually=
getting hold of the brand name)that someone else has managed to run into t=
he ground. Happens all the time. You normally get them for a song and a dan=
ce. So, with relatively little up-front money you can resurrect it.
Then comes the second part: you need to promise your potential customers t=
he world, new design, improved performance, better reliability and so on (m=
ake sure you offer the new product at a special introductory, never to be r=
epeated price - free parking included). If you are lucky some of those folk=
s will take the bait (there is a sucker born every minute), maybe even some=
of those who were bitten by the predecessor company(yours truly!).=20
If the venture fails, find new owner, return to step 1 above.
'nuff said?
Vy 73 to y'all
JRG
"Graf Ulrich ICM MP PD ST 2 ULM 1" <[email protected]> schrieb:
>Hi,
>
>a very hard judgement I can't confirm. I not only had Milspecs on my=20
>workbench but also several different designs of the CX-11. The S/1 radios=
=20
>are definitely not desiged for use in Europe under large signal conditions=
,=20
>but in general they are very well designed. There are design deficiencies=
=20
>but you'll find these also in Collins, Motorola or Rohde & Schwarz radios.=
=20
>To me the receivers are highly sensitivity and have high if gain for a lar=
ge=20
>agc range and they are not noisier than comparable constructions. The audi=
o=20
>"sound" is comparable to my Collins KWM-380 which is unrivaled by any othe=
r=20
>radio I had on my desk. And since I'm involved in radio testing for the=20
>German Amateur Rdaio Club I see lots of them! And modulation is confirmed=
=20
>to be absolutely great. So your personal - obviously very negative -=20
>experiences with CX-7s do certainly not meet the rest of the S/1 products.
>
>What I'm wondering about is only how S/1 company could stay alive for such=
=20
>a long period of time with such a little number of products and so many=20
>design variations. I saw minimum 3 different CX-11 and 3 different Milspec=
s,
>apart from options or extensions.
>
>73 Uli, DK4SX
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: [email protected]
>[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of
>[email protected]
>Sent: Donnerstag, 11. Dezember 2003 00:13
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: Re: [SignalOne] CX7A - Why am I doing this?
>
>
>Hi, Ray
>
>Like you I have owned two of my three CX7As from new.
>
>I can honestly say that as a concept the radio is still superb even after =
all these years.
>But as a product it must rank as one of the radio world's biggest design a=
nd production engineering disasters.
>
>Quiet receiver? I wonder what a noisy receivers sounds like to your ears. =
The CX7A's receiver (IF and AF stages) noise is DEAFENING. It is so bad tha=
t it causes total operator fatigue after only 30 minutes of use.
>
>The receiver may be sensitive - sensitive to intermodulation and cross mod=
ulation, that is. Without modification (replacement of 40673 in front end a=
nd first mixer and installation of an antenna attenuator with at least 15=
dB) the receiver is worthless on just about any frequency over here in Euro=
pe, particularly after dark.
>
>Reliability is so poor that one of the greatest thrills of owning the radi=
o is experienced when the radio is turned on and then STAYS on.
>
>If that's how I feel about the box, why did I buy a second and third one, =
you ask? I simply could not believe it possible to replicate such an engine=
ering disaster. But I was wrong!
>
>Despite all this, I'll hang one to them because they are nice to look at.
>
>
>73
>
>J R Groeger
>G4XXW, DK3NG, EL0AA/MM
>
>
>"Ray LaRue" <[email protected]> schrieb:
>>I have had an unmodified CX7A since new, (29 years plus??). I purchased=
it
>>new.
>>
>>While almost any rig can be improved by someone focusing on a particular
>>aspect of the design, I have reviewed all the mods and haven't seen the n=
eed
>>to install any of them. My CX-7A is fine.
>>
>>I love the smooth break-in CW and the sensitive and yet quiet receiver, (=
no
>>phase noise). I have never experienced any significant cross-mod, such a=
s I
>>have on the various "rice boxes" I have had and used.
>>
>>It has served me well as is. It has been in good care and is still almos=
t
>>like new.
>>
>>Ray LaRue, W4BYG
>>VP Engineering
>>Dominion Video Satellite, Inc.
>>Naples, Fl
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>SignalOne mailing list
>>[email protected]
>>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/signalone
>>
>
>
>--=20
>
>
> Jeder Wohlgesinnte und Einsichtige ergreife also
>mit mir Partei f=FCr die deutsche Sprache
>gegen die deutsche Dummheit
> Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860)
>_______________________________________________
>SignalOne mailing list
>[email protected]
>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/signalone
>_______________________________________________
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>[email protected]
>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/signalone
>
--=20
Jeder Wohlgesinnte und Einsichtige ergreife also
mit mir Partei f=FCr die deutsche Sprache
gegen die deutsche Dummheit
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860)