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BDK[_3_] · August 30th 07, 09:48 PM posted to rec.radio.shortwave

In article .com,
says...
On Aug 29, 10:29 pm, BDK wrote:
In article , says...

"dxAce" wrote in message
...

Jackson wrote:

"Mike Terry" wrote in news:i_Odnb-5r-
:

I am considering buying one - any suggestions as to what would be a
reasonable second-hand price please?

I've seen a handful listed recently on QTH.COM in the $300-350 range.

At around that price, or just a wee bit more, a Drake R8 can be had these
days.

Much rather have the used R8 if it was in good shape. Even better, spend a
bit more and get a new R75.

Michael

Either of them are much better than the FRG-100B.

BDK- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I had an FRG-100"B"for awhile, and its main problem IMO was that the
base response in the audio was strong, and the treble weak. This made
even clear stations sound quite muddy, and harder stations were nearly
impossible. An external speaker helped, but not much. There was a
tech fix for this, but I never attempted it.

That mod was a huge improvement. I did one, but I can't remember the
procedure. I don't think it was hard to do.

Also the filters left a bit to be desired, especially when the audio
was already poor.

Yeah, the stock filters in every one of Yaesu's FRG's has been it's weak
point. My 8800 was vastly improved with a filter swap. SSB was semi
useless with the stock one. It was very poor for RTTY/FAX too, but nice
with the new filter. I sold it soon after I bought my NRD-515, and the
guy who bought it still has it. Other than locking up once in a while,
it's been totally trouble free since I bought it in 1986.

Otherwise, it was fairly nice receiver, easy to use, but as others
have pointed out, no keypad. Changing Freqs was not hard, however.
It was certainly sensitive and selective enough, and seemed to have no
particular trouble with intermod products or overloading from strong
local stations (with which I am plagued).

I used to have problems with a nearby country station that was coupling
itself to the high tension wires that went past it, and pass across the
street from me. Without any antenna connected, I had S9 signals and if I
walked over to the radio, as soon as I moved my finger towards the SO-
239 on it, the meter would slam over to the peg. Every receiver I had
either had the country music twanging away, or a general hash from 5MHZ
down. When the station finally, after at least a dozen calls from me
alone, redid the grounding of their antennas, the signal level dropped
way down, to the point it could just barely be heard without an antenna.
Only took about 4 years to fix it. I had AMBC killers on every antenna
and they helped, but didn't cure it.

I have enjoyed the R75 much more, even though it has taken the Kiwa
mods to bring it up to a reasonble par.

I got the KIWA "ultimate rejection" filter for my NRD-525, it was a
great improvement for $25 bucks. I wasn't thrilled with the lousy double
stick tape that came with it though. I had my own anyway.

BDK

Bruce Jensen