I'd like to know where I could pick up an R8B for $800...



"Michael Lawson" wrote in message
...

"Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
Michael Lawson wrote:
"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
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Michael Lawson wrote:

wrote in message
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What is it about the 75's that is so special?


My guess is the dual passband tuning, because I've
heard mixed things about the sync and DSP.

--Mike L.




R-75 handles a bit easier than R-71. Audio is more pleasant.
And

it

tends to be a bit quieter in the headphones.


So, between the two, if the cost came up for the same
used, the R75 is the smarter buy? I always figured
that the R71 would be.



There will be some tech work required if you go that way....caps
need
to be replaced on the DC-DC and display boards, trimmers on the PLL
will
probably need to be replaced. And there will be some solder joints
that
need to be touched up due to the huge heat output of the regulator.
And
you may need to replace the lithium cell.


Some parts will be hard to come by soon. If you're up to the
challenge, R-71 is a higher quality build. If you're not, R-71 can
be a
bit much.

Doesn't Icom still provide service for the IC-R71A? I thought
that was a main difference between Kenwood's R-5000 and
the IC-R71A.

My preference was with R-71. But that's my preference. I like
the
feature set, performance is still superior to most of what's out
there.


It really depends on what your intentions for the radio are.

Definitely would be for DXing and adjacent channel
rejection. I use 5980 Radio Marocaine as a standard
point for rejection, as the selectable sideband sync
on my Sat 800 has tremendous trouble with bleedover
from 5975 BBC. At least one other person said that
they have no trouble using their Sat 800's sync to
lock in Marocaine easily (without having to constantly
tinker with the filters and whatnot), but that's not
been my experience. It'll lock for about a minute or
two, and then get bleedover, and that's all she wrote.
Going the ECSS route helps a bit, but the Sat 800
simply doesn't have the full toolset or the specs
that a real DXing machine has. If a radio can
handle that requirement, then I'd be set. As for DXing,
hell, any band has it's faint signals; if a radio can dig
out more of them, the more the merrier.


R-71, by receiver standards, is very long in the tooth, and

though it

still acqits itself well, it's nowhere near current, technically
speaking, and is easily outperformed in deep DX by younger models.

And

by now, is beginning to show it's frailties.


Younger kilobuck models, or younger $500 models?
I'd figure that it still had the DX capabilities over
the new competition in it's price range, the R75 and
Sat 800 (and now E1).

--Mike L.


Sat 800 and E1 aren't in the same class. Not by far. Because they
were not built to the same purpose as R-71. Sat 800 and E1 are
entertainment radios, with DX performance -- such that it is -- a
bonus.
R-71 was created as a high performance communications radio, with DX
performance a priority.

Bingo.

As for price class, remember that R-71 was pushing the high side
of
$1700 by the time it was discontinued. But newer technology has made
quantum improvements in performance, often at less cost. So, you're
question has no real definitive answer.

True, but I often think of the R71A as a $350-$400
used radio now, not the original price. It's a legacy
product nowadays.

Of course, as a measure of how good it was, it
outlasted the IC-R72. Which is why I was asking
about the R75; was it going to be another R72,
or would it really match the R71A in DX-ing
performance?

Against younger comm receivers, R-71 holds its own, $500 or
kilobuck
models. Not was well as it used to. But it does well.

Against program listening models, like SAT 800, E1 or even
HF-150,
R-71 is a more robust performer in many environments, but that can
be as
much a matter of taste as it is actual numbers. And it is often a
matter
of environment.

True, but then again, I already have a Sat 800 for
program listening (as well as that SX-100, when I
get done working on it). The DXing machine is
where I've a gap in my shack; and short of spending
$800 or so for an R8B, I'd like a good DXing piece
of equipment that I can purchase without too much
pain in the next year or two.

--Mike L.