On Dec 5, 10:05*am, "D. Peter Maus"
wrote:
On 12/5/09 06:55 , Drifter wrote:
dxAce wrote:
http://www.universal-radio.com/catal...rxvr/0070.html
Note the 'may be available'.
dxAce
Michigan
USA
Morning Steve. you know i'm following this closely.
Richard tells me the major trouble, as with any new
receiver, etc., coming out now is parts and supplies.
company's come and go. design with supplies today,
may dry up next week.
* *That was the problem with the highly touted Sat 900. The chip
upon which the set was designed dried up before the prototypes were
built. Then Grundig took it's boning from Philips, and...well....
* *A lot of today's radios are becoming unserviceable because
relatively common chips are no longer in production, and substitutes
are rare.
* *But, then, this isn't new. It's been going on in consumer
electronics for years. The product cycle of a Sony TV is less than
19 months, because of it.
* *And you're right...who can afford to drop the kilobucks on a new
rig, that will be obsoleted by parts availability issues within a
few years.
* *I've wondered how much this cycle has been an impact on
hobbycraft like amateur radio/swl.
* *I mean, my grandfather had an impressive radio installation in
the house. And many receivers over the years. But I inherited his
rigs, and comparatively, there just weren't that many of them. I
have more high end radios sitting on my desk than he had over his
lifetime.
* *I'm still using his Super Pro. Even though tubes are hard to come
by, these days, it's still more serviceable than many of today's
modern performance receivers.
This is one of the reasons why I am gravitating toward older, tube and
hybrid equipment. I have friends who have old Drakes and Kenwoods that
are 30 or 40 years old and going strong (and with receivers that are
as quiet as all get out, with zero processor noise). Will my
relatively new Yaesu or Icom rigs still be functional in 30 years? I
really, really don't think so. But those Drakes and Kenwoods probably
will be if they're maintained properly.