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[email protected] · November 29th 06, 05:13 PM posted to rec.radio.shortwave

wrote:
Geary Morton wrote:
In article .com,
wrote:
Some people are paying more for the Drake R8B used than it sold for
when new??? Do it's signal catching abilities improve with age and
use? It has apparently attained collectible status alongside other
notables like the Panasonic RF9000, Sony CRF330 and Zenith TO with
performance apparently a secondary issue.
Uh, I don't think performance is a secondary issue, rather it's the
primary issue. The 'performance' of an R8B is competitive if not
superior in some ways to anything currently being offered by anyone.

At those prices performance would have to be a secondary issue because
comparable reception performance could be gotten from several other
discontinued high-end receivers. And that is the price for a used
receiver not a new one.

I
don't know of any radio for the same (albeit inflated) price that offers
more, and there is certainly NO comparison between it and any of the
other radios you list, IMHO.

The radios including the Drake were listed mostly because collector
interest has pushed the price beyond anything that makes sense. Those
radios perform no better now than when new and indeed they are all
gradually aging.

Geary

Dan Robinson wrote:
I think the high prices for the R8B are a
bit excessive -- it's a great receiver, but
these days, with SW on the way out, there is
not much a R8B can do that a R8 or R8A cannot.

Or high-end receivers from several other companies that bailed out of
the HF radio market before Drake did.