"Has anyone owned one of these receivers? I'm not bidding on it, but
I'm
curious about how it would stack up against one of the better
commercial receivers, like an R8B or 7030+."

Well, remember the Racal is a commercial grade receiver designed for
specific applications ranging from laboratory work to fixed frequency
monitoring, etc. It was not built as a hobbyist radio. There are
several interesting reviews that go into detail about it's strong
points and several limitations: http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/488


On the other hand, the R8B and 7030, R75, etc., are consumer grade
receivers for serious hobbyists. All three are known for for having
numerous very useful features that allow the user to manipulate the
signal in a variety of ways. Unlike the Racal they all have memories,
a feature that is basic to swling.

Fully expect that you would hear the same signals on the Racal as you
would with the three consumer receivers. The Racal does look the
serious receiver with the rack mount case, handles and austere design.