Hi, Peter,

D Peter Maus wrote:

Lucky wrote:
"Eric F. Richards" wrote in message
...

"Lucky" wrote:


"Eric F. Richards" wrote in message
...

"Michael" wrote:


I find that there isn't anything that I can hear with
the R-75 that I can hear with more expensive radios.

That's true. Images, birdies, artifacts, intermodulation products --
it's all there.

The R-75 is dumpster fodder. Value? yep. Value for money? yep.
Absolutely a good value? Not even close.

You need to experience a truly good radio. See
http://www.sherweng.com for some guidelines.



I personally think you made a fool out of yourself with your drivel and
that's about it.

Lucky


You can believe that all you want. I owned an R75 for years. When I
was selling it at a hamfest, Bob Sherwood came by and I offered it to
him, and he just laughed.

I'll say it again: It *is* value for the money, but it is *not* an
absolute value.

For me, the issue that is important is front-end overload. There are
several flamethrowers that put millivolts worth of signal on my
antennas. I don't have problems with close-in dynamic range... no one
should really have problems with sensitivity on HF.

The R75 was nothing but images below 10 MHz without both preamps off
and the attenuator on.

--
Eric F. Richards

"Nature abhors a vacuum tube." -- Myron Glass,
often attributed to J. R. Pierce, Bell Labs, c. 1940


Hi

I have about 10 radios. For $425, the R75 is my best rig. I have no problem
with images here in Miami. There are many Hams down here and lots of the
time the bands are terrible. But, with my R75, I can clean the signal up
very well and enjoy the conversations. I can't do this with my other rigs.
Here they. They are not all very good but I started out as a novice.

1] Kenwood 5000
2] Lowe HF-150
3] JVC NRD 525
4] Yaesu FRG-7
5] TenTec 320-D for DRM
6] Yaesu FRG-7700
7] Nasa Target HF3
8] Kenwood QR-666 {really the R300}
9] Degen 1103
10] Icom R75

I would say the next best rig is the HF-150 then the 5000 and 525 are about
equal with the 525 giving you a few more options. If I mean business I use
the R75. All I know is that I bought a brand NEW radio with **DSP and **dual
PBT plus easy computer control for $425. Just being able to mix and match
filters is superb. The built in 2 level pre-amp works great.

How in the freaken world can you argue this point? How? Point me to a decent
receiver for $425. Please, show me so I can buy it.



Not to state the obvious, but he did concede that, for the money,
R-75 is a value. What he's saying, what I've said, and what has been
repeated here over the last few years, is that R-75 is not an
absolute value. For $425, yes, it's a good deal. But as an absolute
value, it's like most ICOM's (of which I've owned several and loved
every one of them): It's potential is not realized until it's been
modified. No one is saying that it's a bad radio. No one is saying
that it's not worth having, and that it's not a strong player, and
to reiterate for those in Rio Linda, FOR THE MONEY, it's a good value.

It's just not all it can be.

As much as I loved my R-71, I was very much looking forward to
R-75's release. And was ready to close a deal with Universal as soon
as it was available. But after playing with one for the better part
of a day, I was less than impressed. And went in another direction.
A direction I've been very pleased with. In fact, I've not bought a
new radio since.

I liken ICOM's to cars at the drag strip. Do you know why there
are so many Fords and Chevy's are used as racing platforms? Ånd you
don't see so many Lincoln's and Cadillacs? Not because the Fords and
Chevy's are superior, but because they're a good buy for the money.
For an economical outlay, you can buy a platform, that when modified
to taste becomes precisely the car you want. Exactly built and tuned
to the application you've chosen for it. A Lincoln would be a better
platform. Sturdier, more finely tuned suspension. But with fewer
mods available, and at dramatically higher cost.

I"ve seen Lincoln's at the race track. And I watched one mop up a
Taurus in the quarter mile, but at 20 times the outlay for a
dragstrip car.

ICOMs are solidly built, and decent performers. Like entry level
domestic cars, their design has great potential for performance. But
production cost shortcuts and economies produce a product that could
be far more than it is. Requiring modification to extract the
performance built into the design. When you're finished, add up
price of the radio, the cost of the mods, shipping, old battery and
recappable tires, and you've got a radio that's actually more
expensive than it would have been had they not cut the production
corners in the first place.

But then, at least, the absolute value of the radio would be
established.

There's nothing wrong with you loving your R-75. And as Eric has
said more than once, it IS a good value for the money.

It's just that as it comes out of the box, it's potential is not
realized. And for many users, that's a deterrent to ownership.


Thank you for clearly articulating what I could not. That's what I
get for posting when in a crummy mood, I suppose.


Unfortunately, the only fix for *my* issue with the R75 would have
been a seriously good manual preselector. Since the CI-V computer
info could have continuously updated external gear, one could conceive
of an electronic tracking preselctor, but at a cost several times that
of the '75 itself.

....kinda like starting with a Cessna 150 with the goal of making a
supersonic jet from the airframe...

--
Eric F. Richards

"Nature abhors a vacuum tube." -- Myron Glass,
often attributed to J. R. Pierce, Bell Labs, c. 1940