Steve wrote:
This kind of defensiveness speaks volumes. It's easy to tell when
someone has sunk a large amount of money into a receiver and then
regrets it. They have to make others pay for (what they perceive to be)
their mistake.

Actually for my first decent tabletop receiver I paid $400.00 new for
a Kenwood R5000, added the filters, memory option and a few other
goodies. After that I picked up a fully functional National HRO 500
for $25.00 plus commission at an auction.

But the radio that really got me started in SWLin'g was the
high-performing Sony 2010 Portable (before the R5000) that sold for way
under your magical number of $500.00 And yes it will outperform many
tabletops.

I'm at a complete loss as to what what you are talking about..., bud.
There are guys that will sink a lot of money into old communuications
receivers (R390) and some of the new comm stuff that comes on the used
market. But they really are basically just ego boosters for guys like
you aren't they.