GP wrote:
Hello all

I may be buying a R75 shortly but have a question on its broadcast band
capacity. I have heard that the R75 is not a very good receiver for
listening to AM broadcasting because of its poor synch detector. I am
wondering if it is as bad as the reviews say it is or is it something
that can be overcome.
Also I am curious as to how the Eton E1 would compare to the R75 in
performance as I have heard good things about it as well. I am hesitant
in putting down $500 on a portable radio but would like to weigh all
the options before deciding which receiver to get

This is a bit complicated, and may depend more on your electronic
abilities and how you like to use a receiver than the two radios.

The R75 is a very good receiver with some real faults. The sync det is
as bad as "they" say it is, essentially useless as delivered IMO.
There is a lot of info available on the Yahoo R75 group. The
sensitivity is reduced on MW, the AGC can use improvement, and the
fidelity needs some help (fidelity can impact your ability to ID a weak
signal by quite a bit). All these things can be addressed. A good
place to look for the mods is Kiwa Electronics:
http://kiwa.com/R75.html
You will see that you can send in the receiver to Kiwa to get the work
done or get the components in kit form. If you or someone you know is
comfortable doing this kind of soldering etc (I am not) then the
improvements can be made at relatively low cost. If you send it in the
cost is higher, plus shipping two ways. When done, the receiver is an
excellent SSB unit and a good AM unit, again IMO and from info from
others.
A real advantage of the R75 is that with the filters provided there is
great flexibility in bandwidth. Icom provides the ability to select
filters in two IF's both 9 MHz and 455 kHz. (It is a triple conversion
design) You can also adjust both if freqs using the dual passband
tuning controls. This gives the ability to smoothly adjust the
passband width, especially if similar filters are selected in both IFs.
You could do this, for example, with the two 2.4 kHz filters as
supplied. A good discussion of dual passband tuning can be found he
http://www.qsl.net/icom/xfilter.html
there is also useful info in the ARRL handbook.

The E1 is an amazing little receiver. It is not so easily modifiable
as an R75, but as delivered it doesn't need so much either. It is not
like a table top in that you can't add filters by plugging them in, for
example, but what is there is good. It doesn't have dsp, but if that
is important to you, it can be added to the audio out, albeit at a
cost. It is also not quite like a portable since it has no AM ferrite
antenna and no handle, but it works well on the whip and is pretty
easily carried due to the "rubbery" surface. The sync det is very
good.
If you decide to buy one, look around for a better deal than $500.
Refurbed units were recently available through Heartland for quite a
bit less, but no more I think. Maybe they or somebody else will get
more. Be sure to try the various search engines. You might ask at
Universal Radio what it would cost if you didn't want the "free"
Grundig radio they offer. Reports are that they will reduce the price
as an alternative. There is also a Yahoo group for the E1 with good
info.

You have to determine what you want in a receiver and how -you- will
use it. These are both good receivers that have both good features and
design compromises. (Don't they all!) Decide which best serves your
particular needs.
Keep in mind that whatever you read in groups or on sites (including
this post), the information is the writer's opinion and reflects where
they are coming from with respect to what they use the equipment for
and how they use it. Someone who does tropical band dxing would have
different needs than a low frequency beacon hunter or an amateur band
CW person.

Good luck, and hope that helps, Bob