Telamon wrote:

In article t,
msg wrote:


SC Dxing wrote:

snip

They probably have to produce all shortwave
radios in mass factories in China because the cost of building an
American factory just to manufacture radios would be prohibitive in
cost.

The [Premium-Rx] mailing list is quite active and its participants
have a significant variety of domestically made quality receivers
both classic and contemporary. There seems to be sufficient markets
military, gov't., commercial and personal to support domestic
manufacture of high-end receivers.


I think some of the problem is parts availability. The discrete
semiconductor industry has been in a state of flux for years where
designs have been shifted around from company to company. I never seem
to be able to get a part from the same vendor. Support for
semiconductor parts is getting worse.

I haven't been a buyer of parts for radios but I expect it is pretty
hard for them as the market is much smaller than the general
semiconductor market.

Indeed, and until you mention it I haven't given it much thought; I wonder
how WJ, CEI, etc. are handling this -- are they buying from Asia and
thus are we dependent on the East for our sigint in this sense?


It is expensive to have to keep re-qualifying parts for designs.
Sometimes you have to change your circuit design because no drop in
equivalent exists.

All the time People think I'm nuts for depending on good working
surplus pulls but it has worked for me (to preserve designs).

Michael