[Yaesu] Law of diminishing returns

[James F. Boehner, MD]

John,

You really have your thoughts together on your post.

There are many features that go into a quality rig, but I believe most feel
that the transmitter portion of the radios are very similar.  The voice
quality on SSB may be much better on an expensive rig, but sometimes the
lower price rigs do the same or better.  The more expensive rigs may have
200W PEP rather than 100W PEP, but if you are using an amplifier, the point
is moot.  Many of the amplifiers will go to full output with an input of 70
Watts or so.

I think the real advantage of the upper level rigs is the receiver.
Selectivity is better, immunity to adjacent signals, better filtering, etc.
makes it easier to pull a new one out of the QRM, and more importantly, even
with ragchews, there is less listening fatigue.  The newer DSP units filter
out so much of the background noise, listening on HF is now much like
listening to FM.  I have been through multiple rigs.  I had an FT-1000D that
was a fantastic rig, but without some DSP filtering, the background noise
was not pleasant.  I ended up adding an audio DSP filter, but audio DSP,
IMHO, is nothing like IF DSP.

This is a Yaesu reflector, and I'm sure those with the upper level Yaesu
rigs will chime in.  I moved over to the ICOM PRO series, and have been very
pleased.  I began with the IC-756 PRO II, then the PRO III, and now the
IC-7800.  The DSP is fantastic.  No additional filters are needed.  The DSP
handles the filtering, and is continuously variable, so you can escape the
QRM just by dynamically shifting and narrowing the passband as needed.  If
someone told me 10 years ago that IF DSP could equal
mechanical/ceramic/crystal filtering, I wouldn't have believed it.  NOW, I'm
a believer!  The receiver is quite quiet, with very little background noise.

An additional plus that you may have with the upper level rigs is separate
receivers, so that you can track a DX station when operating split.  Most
have headphones that receive one radio in one ear, the other in the other
ear.

I do not have any experience with the FT-1000MP series of transceivers.  I
know they are populated with filters.  Perhaps someone can offer some
insight on them.  The FT-2000 will be available soon, and perhaps someone on
the list can comment on the FT-9000.  The Ten-Tec crowd claims that their
receivers are the quietest, so it would be interesting to hear from them as
well!  Anyone with an Elecraft?

So all in all, I do think that spending the extra dollars for an improved
receiver is worth it, even if you do occasional operating.  I think it makes
your operating time better quality time.

'73 de Jim N2ZZ


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Geiger" <johngeig at yahoo.com>
To: <cq-contest at contesting.com>; <dx-list at yahoogroups.com>;
<icom at mailman.qth.net>; <yaesu at contesting.com>; <yaesu at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 11:06 PM
Subject: [Yaesu] The law of diminishing returns


> Here is a question I have about station design, but
> first let me set up the situation:
>
> Current setup-I recently picked up a rig in good
> condition that does a pretty good job for me.  It
> covers HF and 6 meters (my favorite band) and knocks
> the noise out at my QTH as good as any rig I have
> seen.  It is not considered a contesting rig or big
> gun DX rig, but I do like it and it does all the
> bands/modes that I am currently interested in.
> I won't list the brand or model to avoid biasing
> responses from people who love or don't like that
> brand or model.
>
> Current operating-DXing, casual contesting, and some
> ragchewing, plus hunting grid squares on 6m.  I have a
> full time job, and a fairly young family with a 3 1/2
> year old daughter. Just can't get alot of time in
> front of the rig, especially for hard core contesting.
> Plus I have a fairly simple antenna system (2 element
> mini quad) but have worked 310 countries, and did 850
> QSOs a few years ago in the 10 meter contest for my
> best contest effort ever (pre daughter days).
>
> Now here is my question.  Given that I am a fairly
> limited budget, when do I hit the point of diminishing
> returns.  By that I mean, when does spending extra
> money to upgrade to another radio not pay for itself
> in the extra performance you buy.  Would spending an
> extra $800 to upgrade to a 756PRO or FT1000MP really
> be worth it?  Given my operating style, would I be
> getting my money's worth out of that extra money?
> That would be pushing things a bit financially, but it
> wouldn't make up homeless or starving, or anything
> like.
>
> I am sure that others have similiar situations and
> similar questions.  So when do you hit the point where
> the extra money isn't worth the extra performance?
>
> 73s John
>