Icom R71: How well does it stack up today?
 

On Feb 2, 12:50 am, wrote:
Hi

I've been away from this group for a few years but I'm just getting
back into SWLing again. Anyway, I have an Icom R71 with the Kiwa audio
upgrade, a Kiwa LF-H4S 6KHz AM filter, an Icom FlL-33 6KHz filter and
have performed the passband tuning mod from Don Moman's R71
performance manual. I also recently re-aligned it and fine-tuned its
sensitivity so that its running sweetly.

The R71 was a top performer in its day but I'm just wondering how it
stacks up against newer receivers like the Icom R75, AOR7030, NRD 545
or the Drake R8B. I listen solely to Worldband broadcasts and am
wondering if some of the newer receivers are any better at pulling
weak stations out of the mud. I do fairly well by tuning AM stations
in USB or LSB mode if strong interference is a problem. I know that
sync detectors improve the audio quality but are any of these
receivers significantly better than the R71 at making an AM signal
intelligible in the face of strong interference or when dealing with
very weak signals? I don't often listen to communications so I'm only
really concerned with AM.

Cheers

Andy

You should do just fine with the R71 as long as the audio was improved
with the Kiwa mods. Sensitivity wise and selectivity wise you have
little to gain from a newer receiver.

Frank