Nice report but you didn't say if the 8716 is better than the Space
Spanner? ;-)


wrote:
OK, folks, I took the plunge and bought a "AS-IS but not DOA"
Watkins-Johnson WJ-8716 on E-bay.

For those who haven't used or seen them before, this is not a SW
portable. This is not a SW tabletop. This is a rack-mount receiver sold
in the 80's to the military, certain 3-letter agencies, certain
laboratory environments, etc. My particular unit has the GPIB
interface, the Preselector, ISB, and the regular (not microprocessor)
front panel.

The seller wasn't particularly communicative nor awfully quick to ship,
but after a week it got sent via UPS and arrived safely. Packing job
wasn't stellar but it was good enough (and after all these things are
pretty sturdy).

Just for a base of comparison: I've owned many SW receivers over the
years. My first was a Knight-Kit Space Spanner. Since then I've had an
assortment of ham and SW equipment - if you can name a brand, model, or
seller, I probably had at least some contact. Usually I stay away from
the newest and shiniest stuff, and in the past couple years my main
pieces of equipment were some R-390A's and the associated
electromechanical maintenance. I was very happy with the R-390A's as AM
and CW receivers, but they predate modern SSB stuff and the lack of a
product detector was a sore point. R-390A's are also a true joy to work
on - modular construction, nice big glowing tubes, a geartrain and cams
up the wazoo, the works!
snipped