[Yaesu] RE: best tube rig

[Walter A. Hutchens]

va3kis wondered:
> I your opinion what was the best tube rig that yaesu ever made in regards to recieve.

Wow,  fascinating question.   

Lesseee -- there's the FR-100B, little seen in the U.S.; basically the (then 
new) Yaesu answer to the Collins S-line receivers.    Then the Tempo ONE 
marketed in the U.S. by ... I forget ... and in Europe as the Sommerkamp FT 
200 and I think 250.   Then the FTdx-400, 500, 540, 560 and 570 ... I 
won't swear to all of those numbers.   That was sold in the U.S. under the 
Yaesu name.   All but the FR-100B are transceivers.

(The FTdx-100 prototyped the FT-101 -- it has a solid state receiver.)  

All were very competent designs considered as vacuum tube analog 
equipment; superior in my opinion to anything made by American 
contemporaries.   There were serious quality control problems at the start; 
perhaps that's why the FR-100B/FL-100B were not imported here.   Drift is 
of course much higher than in a modern receiver but intermod problems are 
much less than in the early solid state rigs.  

Had Yaesu gotten down the learning curve a bit faster and exported the FR-
100B/FL-100B to the U.S. I believe they'd have killed off the U.S. ham 
manufacturers several years earlier.   As it is they seem to be known here 
only direct-from-Japan via servicemen and other travelers.   

Sensitivity isn't an issue for an HF receiver, at least not on the bands below 
10M.   

For the money you can't beat the Tempo ONE.   The set works well and 
rarely requires troubleshooting obscure problems -- like a lead that was 
clipped 1/8" too long inside an IFT causing an intermittent short in an FTdx-
400 of my acquaintance.   It has a much better dial design than the FR-100B 
(far better tuning rate) and is a more polished design.   The later Tempo 
ONE's have a black face (rather than silver) and are preferred -- I forget 
the details of that.

With any of these rigs try to avoid CB retirees ... those were often not the 
most skilled of owners and backing out their mods can make you crazy, 
AFTER you find or buy the crystals they replaced and discarded.    

Walt Hutchens
KJ4KV