In article ,
(Brian Kelly) writes:

(Len Over 21) wrote in message
...
In article ,

(Brian Kelly) writes:

on the SGC 2020...

I hate to bust yer bubble again Sweetums but they're all over the ham
bands used mostly by the "pack radio" crowd. Nice rugged little
minimalist's xcvr but somewhat lacking in rcvr basic performance.

Awwww...not up to Kellie's mighty standards? Tsk.

You bet. Crummy rcvr. Dig up the test lab reports on it. Like this
one.

http://www.arrl.org/members-only/prodrev/pdf/pr9810.pdf

Some observations on the SG 2020....

- It's a nice little rugged 20W box. Continuous HF coverage, which may be a big
plus for those who want to do freeband or cb :-).

- It's lacking in receiver performance in a number of ways. Some of the
deficiencies are made up for by *audio* DSP, at extra cost. But it's
direct-conversion, so things like aftermarket filters don't exist.
Unwanted-sideband suppression is not up to superhet standards.

- BDR and 3rd order 2 tone IMD are way below the competition, and are *noise
limited* due to the synthesizer.

- It's not a bargain. Costs more than many ham xcvrs that perform better. The
basic unit is not too expensive but the add-ons are.

- Almost no internal accessories. (ATU, battery, filters). No noise-blanker
that I could find on the website.

- Heavy, by comparison to the competition

In almost every performance spcification, there are better performing rigs for
the same or less money. About the only place the SG 2020 really shines is that
it's in a rugged case, and puts out up to 20 W.

Are you in the tRoll opinion against the "shack on the belt crowd?"

Nope.

"Minimalist?" It does SSB very well. It includes a lot of self-
check features as standard.

I can check my own radios Sweetums, but you better stick with SGC.

It's not alone in the self-check function. How much test equipment is needed to
do a complete alignment?

Maybe you want a "top of the line contester" transceiver that not
only has all the super selectivity and sensitivity to leap tall pileups
but also keeps the logs and prints out QSLs?

Right on again Sweetums, you're finally starting to get it.

Take a spin over to the Elecraft website and see the mobile computer a ham put
together in the EC2 enclosure. ITX motherboard, tiny LCD display. Big computer
performance. Whole thing runs on 12V.

All on battery power?
:-)

Whatta a great battery-powered rig: Draws over a half amp while simply
listening to a dummy load.

That's more than double the competition's requirement. Some smaller
ultraportables draw about a tenth of that on receive!

Plus SG2020 has no provision for internal battery. There's an external pack so
you can run it on D cells.

Bring a lot of D cells.

You don't wanna think about what it draws while transmitting.

Perhaps some folks' idea of fun is hauling all those batteries around. Good
exercise ;-)

But you missed the big question: Does Len own an SG 2020? How about
accessories?

Or does he do like my old highschool friend - "borrow" others' setups, rather
than have his own?

Well no, fact is Sweetums that I have a very current tech ham radio
catapult, Miccolis and I used it to launch some Field Day antennas
just a few months ago. He has one of a different design which also
works well.

You have the deluxe model, I have the minimalist. Seen service at several
locations.

IIRC, mine has been used on at least 3 Field Days and also to put up permanent
antennas at ham QTHs. Yours is even better-traveled.

73 de Jim, N2EY