On Sep 26, 8:26 am, D Peter Maus wrote:
Roadie wrote:
On Sep 26, 6:30 am, "Unrevealed Source"
wrote:
Not everyone sees it that way. The DX-150A was an improvement over the 150,
but then cost-cutting and marketing kicked in

Every one of those radios were low-end entry level models that would
do passable job of catching signals if you could put up with drift,
inaccurate dial, modest selectivity, image signals and somewhat harsh
audio.

There isn't a radio around that is not subject to heavy marketing, so
I don't see your point.

as they began to use ICs,

So what. Welcome to the world of modern electronics. Should we
critizize the many top-end shortwave receivers of today because they
use IC's as well? Can you imagine the forest of soldered in discreete
components if we didn't use IC's? And can you imagine the cost?

This series of radios was, indeed, entry level. Some would say they
were below that. At the time, they were relatively inexpensive,
reasonably well made, and when you turned them on, they made a sound.
For a lot of hobbyists, that was enough. And for them, this series of
radios was a benchmark of performance. Truth is, for most people who
bought these radios, they were the most radio they'd ever owned. And
pinnacles of serious listening hardware.

Just as some models are, today.

Then there were the hot rodders, who could modify them enough to make
them sing and dance with some of the mid level Hallicrafters.

For those of us who grew up on S-40's, the RS DX series was a nice
step laterally. Better cosmetics. Smaller footprint. Often more
features. And this alone was enough to think of them as a step-up.

But for those raised on HQ's and their like, these were nice rigs to
give beginners with the hopes that they would spark an interest in the
hobby, and an interest in better radios.

Which, they did.

The DX series were those radios that everyone remembers, and everyone
has an opinion of. And most everyone left behind fairly early on. They
served their purpose by putting reliable, working radios in the hands of
beginners at a price point.

To those who went on and left them behind, the debate over the rise
and decline of the line is almost surreal.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That's a good description of how 40 years ago, individual perception
of the same radio differed widely as a result of individual listening
experience. I'm sure that in 1968 a new listener would have been
fascinated by signals from around the world that could have been
gotten with 20 feet of wire hooked up to a DX150. And it had a lot of
company with good performing basic radios from Lafayette,
Hallicrafters, Heath and others. When introduced it incorporated
leading-edge electronic technology. At the time those basic radios
provided a tantalizing entrance into a hobby that could have led to an
interest in more advanced listening equipment and possibly an amateur
operators license.

A lot of guys must have snapped them up when new because they remain
plentiful in the resale market. Heck, the same basic radio was sold
for about 13 years so it had to have been a success.

And yes, in the hands of someone who remembers bandspread tuning an
early DX receiver can still pull in a lot of stations. In today's
world an experienced SWL would have a greater chance of enticing
someone into the hobby if a more up to date receiver were offered.
One that included single control synthesized tuning, dual conversion,
multiple filters, keypad entry, memories, etc.