My interests was aroused to do a little research on why shortwave HF
radio
receivers are steadily going off the market. The only new receivers
coming
on the market these days with upmarket features are the computer based
SDR's (Software Defined Radio). Many of us don't like computer SDR
receivers, but prefer the traditional radio with lots of knobs and
buttons.

OTOH ham transceivers continue to sell like hot cross buns at Easter
with
new and advanced models coming out all the time. Mainly the ham
transceivers
also represent good value for money, even for listeners only. So
listeners
wanting the latest technology are moving forward in two directions;
some are
migrating to the new computer SDR receivers and some,like me, have
migrated
to using the latest ham transceivers.

To get a feeling for this I referred to the popular eHam website
reviews,
that has hundreds of reviews of both receivers and transceivers.
http://www.eham.net/reviews/
When looking at the number of reviews I quote below, consider that
they are
a reflection of what sales are like for the various radio's. When I
was at
marketing/advertising school years ago, I was taught that for everyone
who
wrote in, some many more didn't. If I remember rightly the figure was
about
25:1, so for everyone who wrote a review there are about another 25
who
didn't, and that is why I believe the figures for the number of
reviews
gives some indication of the sales volumes and popularity for each
radio.

Number of reviews = R (receivers vs. transceivers)
Drake R8/A/B - R33 versus Icom 746PRO series - R241
Icom R75 - R62 vs. Icom 718 - R301
AOR7030 - R17 vs. Kenwood TS-2000 - R370
Yaesu FRG100 - R14 vs. compact transceivers - R643
JR NRD545 - R10 vs. Icom 756PRO series - R449
Ten Tec RX340 - R12 of which there is no such expensive transceiver,
but it
may interest you that the coming Icom 7700 has attracted over 40,000
views
on the You Tube website, an enormous response and interest! This top
end
transceiver will sell at $6300.

Other popular transceivers in the $2000/3000 category that reviewed
well:
Yaesu FT-1000 - R440
Yaesu FT-2000 - R136
Elecraft K2/3 series - R229

So the conclusion to be drawn is that ham transceivers are hugely
popular
and attractive for manufacturers who can turn them out in good
volumes,
whereas even the most popular receivers have very limited popularity
and
there manufacture cannot be very profitable or economical. I wonder
therefore if Mr. Thorpe will be allowed to make another high end
replacement
receiver for the AOR7030, or if AOR UK will find the prospect
unattractive
commercially?

John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8 & ERGO software
Sony 7600D, GE SRIII, Redsun RP2100
BW XCR 30, Sangean 803A.
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro Mk II, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop, PAORDT Roelof mini-whip
http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

Bart Bailey wrote:

In

posted on Sat, 23 Feb 2008 11:10:55 -0800 (PST),
wrote: Begin

and some,like me, have
migrated
to using the latest ham transceivers.

When I assembled my latest radio room almost three years ago,
XCVRs were a given and the RCV only eTón E1 was an afterthought,
now in retrospect it seem to have been a good allocation of resources as
an SWL station too. I seldom tune in for scheduled broadcasts these days
like back in the 2010 days of yore (1980s) with most current SWLing
being a cursory sweep of the bands while doing some HAMming, so the E1
that serves for casual AM/FM-BCB listening is more than adequate even
with its lack of noise reduction capabilities. I suppose serious HF
monitoring would include a backyard Wullenwebber, but I have my limited
antenna farm space dedicated to HAM band application (resonances) and
SWL RCV is a compromise of whatever gets the most metal into the air.
The disparity of reviews between XCVRs and RCVRs could also have to do
with the orientation of that site (eHam) and its awareness in the
amateur community versus SWLers, whom might not frequent HAM pages as
much.

I'd have to agree that few SWL's are going to frequent eHam, so therefore the
number of reviews is going to be skewed toward transceivers.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

I had already pondered deeply on whether eHam was popular with SWL's
and came to the conclusion that it was. It's coverage of portable
reviews is quite the most comprehensive public entry forum available.
You can try my theory for yourself by entering something like "Grundig
S350 review" on a Google search and it will come up with eHam tops.

Since Google rank your search findings according to popular views it
is an indication of a sites overall popularity with the public.

I don't know of any other site that gives such a comprehensive
coverage of shortwave radio's as eHam, and the hundreds of shortwave
radio reviews attest to that.

thank's to Bart and Ace for responding

John Plimmer, MONTAGU, South Africa

On Feb 25, 1:52*pm, dxAce wrote:
Bart Bailey wrote:
In

posted on Sat, 23 Feb 2008 11:10:55 -0800 (PST),
wrote: Begin

and some,like me, have
migrated
to using the latest ham transceivers.

When I assembled my latest radio room almost three years ago,
XCVRs were a given and the RCV only eTón E1 was an afterthought,
now in retrospect it seem to have been a good allocation of resources as
an SWL station too. I seldom tune in for scheduled broadcasts these days
like back in the 2010 days of yore (1980s) with most current SWLing
being a cursory sweep of the bands while doing some HAMming, so the E1
that serves for casual AM/FM-BCB listening is more than adequate even
with its lack of noise reduction capabilities. I suppose serious HF
monitoring would include a backyard Wullenwebber, but I have my limited
antenna farm space dedicated to HAM band application (resonances) and
SWL RCV is a compromise of whatever gets the most metal into the air.
The disparity of reviews between XCVRs and RCVRs could also have to do
with the orientation of that site (eHam) and its awareness in the
amateur community versus SWLers, whom might not frequent HAM pages as
much.

I'd have to agree that few SWL's are going to frequent eHam, so therefore the
number of reviews is going to be skewed toward transceivers.

dxAce
Michigan
USA- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

On Feb 23, 2:10*pm, wrote:
My interests was aroused to do a little research on why shortwave HF
radio
receivers are steadily going off the market. The only new receivers
coming
on the market these days with upmarket features are the computer based
SDR's (Software Defined Radio). Many of us don't like computer SDR
receivers, but prefer the traditional radio with lots of knobs and
buttons.

OTOH ham transceivers continue to sell like hot cross buns at Easter
with
new and advanced models coming out all the time. Mainly the ham
transceivers
also represent good value for money, even for listeners only. So
listeners
wanting the latest technology are moving forward in two directions;
some are
migrating to the new computer SDR receivers and some,like me, have
migrated
to using the latest ham transceivers.

To get a feeling for this I referred to the popular eHam website
reviews,
that has hundreds of reviews of both receivers and transceivers.http://www..eham.net/reviews/
When looking at the number of reviews I quote below, consider that
they are
a reflection of what sales are like for the various radio's. When I
was at
marketing/advertising school years ago, I was taught that for everyone
who
wrote in, some many more didn't. If I remember rightly the figure was
about
25:1, so for everyone who wrote a review there are about another 25
who
didn't, and that is why I believe the figures for the number of
reviews
gives some indication of the sales volumes and popularity for each
radio.

Number of reviews = R (receivers vs. transceivers)
Drake R8/A/B - R33 versus Icom 746PRO series - R241
Icom R75 - R62 vs. Icom 718 - R301
AOR7030 - R17 vs. Kenwood TS-2000 - R370
Yaesu FRG100 - R14 vs. compact transceivers - R643
JR NRD545 - R10 vs. Icom 756PRO series - R449
Ten Tec RX340 - R12 of which there is no such expensive transceiver,
but it
may interest you that the coming Icom 7700 has attracted over 40,000
views
on the You Tube website, an enormous response and interest! This top
end
transceiver will sell at $6300.

Other popular transceivers in the $2000/3000 category that reviewed
well:
Yaesu FT-1000 - R440
Yaesu FT-2000 - R136
Elecraft K2/3 series - R229

So the conclusion to be drawn is that ham transceivers are hugely
popular
and attractive for manufacturers who can turn them out in good
volumes,
whereas even the most popular receivers have very limited popularity
and
there manufacture cannot be very profitable or economical. I wonder
therefore if Mr. Thorpe will be allowed to make another high end
replacement
receiver for the AOR7030, or if AOR UK will find the prospect
unattractive
commercially?

John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8 & ERGO software
Sony 7600D, GE SRIII, Redsun RP2100
BW XCR 30, Sangean 803A.
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro Mk II, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop, PAORDT Roelof mini-whiphttp://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

I think that the reason for the rapid decline in the number of new
receivers for sale is tied to demand. There just are not enough
people interested in shortwave listening that are willing to spend
money on a new receiver. And low demand means radio companies won't
spend the money to set up a production line.

The reasons for declining demand are many and pretty well documented
so there is no real need to go into them.

I think that there are still quite a few SWL's out there, but as a
group they are making do with perfectly good used equipment and
purchasing the dual purpose gear you mentioned. A good transceiver
will handle the needs of both ham and swl very well. And a few swl's
with deeper pockets are helping to keep the market for high-end
receivers alive.

On Feb 25, 5:53*am, wrote:
I had already pondered deeply on whether eHam was popular with SWL's
and came to the conclusion that it was. It's coverage of portable
reviews is quite the most comprehensive public entry forum available.
You can try my theory for yourself by entering something like "Grundig
S350 review" on a Google search and it will come up with eHam tops.

Since Google rank your search findings according to popular views it
is an indication of a sites overall popularity with the public.

I don't know of any other site that gives such a comprehensive
coverage of shortwave radio's as eHam, and the hundreds of shortwave
radio reviews attest to that.

thank's to Bart and Ace for responding

John Plimmer, MONTAGU, South Africa

On Feb 25, 1:52*pm, dxAce wrote:



Bart Bailey wrote:
In

posted on Sat, 23 Feb 2008 11:10:55 -0800 (PST),
wrote: Begin

and some,like me, have
migrated
to using the latest ham transceivers.

When I assembled my latest radio room almost three years ago,
XCVRs were a given and the RCV only eTón E1 was an afterthought,
now in retrospect it seem to have been a good allocation of resources as
an SWL station too. I seldom tune in for scheduled broadcasts these days
like back in the 2010 days of yore (1980s) with most current SWLing
being a cursory sweep of the bands while doing some HAMming, so the E1
that serves for casual AM/FM-BCB listening is more than adequate even
with its lack of noise reduction capabilities. I suppose serious HF
monitoring would include a backyard Wullenwebber, but I have my limited
antenna farm space dedicated to HAM band application (resonances) and
SWL RCV is a compromise of whatever gets the most metal into the air.
The disparity of reviews between XCVRs and RCVRs could also have to do
with the orientation of that site (eHam) and its awareness in the
amateur community versus SWLers, whom might not frequent HAM pages as
much.

I'd have to agree that few SWL's are going to frequent eHam, so therefore the
number of reviews is going to be skewed toward transceivers.

dxAce
Michigan
USA- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

DX Ace and John Plimmer,

With respect to the 'difference' in the Number of Reviews
that are Posted to eHAM; could it be partially due to the
simple Fact that :

* Shortwave Radio Listeners (SWL) like to Listen to
their Radios which is a 'passive' activity.
{Meaning / Making Them Readers 'Quiet' by Nature.}

* While the Amateur Radio Operators {Hams} like to
Talk on their Radios - Which is an "Active" Activity
{Meaning / Making Them Writers 'Braggers' by Nature.}

one man's opinion ~ RHF

On Feb 25, 1:29*pm, Bart Bailey wrote:
[ Was : Popular radios]
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.r...f6657c0256af3f
In

posted on Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:59:18 -0800 (PST),
RHF wrote: Begin *
- -
- - With respect to the 'difference' in the Number of Reviews
- - that are Posted to eHAM; could it be partially due to the
- - simple Fact that :
- -
- - * Shortwave Radio Listeners (SWL) like to Listen to
- - their Radios which is a 'passive' activity.
- - {Meaning / Making Them Readers 'Quiet' by Nature.}
- -
- - * While the Amateur Radio Operators {Hams} like to
- - Talk on their Radios - Which is an "Active" Activity
- - {Meaning / Making Them Writers 'Braggers' by Nature.}
- -
- - one man's opinion ~ RHF
-
- IOW: the SWLers are so appalled by the magnitude of
- bull**** flying on the Ham bands, they just sit there
- mesmerized, too stunned to go over and click on eHam?
-

BB,

NO - That would be an extreme exaggeration; and have no 'basis'
to be drawn from my original statements.

For those who simply remain Shortwave Radio Listeners (SWLs) :
It is their "Nature"* to Listen - They are Listeners and many/most
of them simply Listen to the International Radio Broadcast Bands;
and not the Amateur Radio Bands.
* Basic Personality Type who mostly Listens and Reads
and Talks and Writes less.

For those who become Amateur Radio Operators {Hams} :
It is in their "Nature"* to Talk - They are Talkers {Morse Code is
also a form of Talk/Writing} and the "Two-Way" Communication
of the Amateur Radio Bands attracts them to Ham Radio. Some/
many may also Listen to the International Radio Broadcast Bands.
* Basic Personality Type who Talks and Writes equally along with
Listening and Read as forms of "Two-Way" Communication.

It's about the 'basic' Human Nature of individuals in the Two Groups
and how that may pre-select the individual who natually are attracted
to each of the groups.

FWIW - There is a clear and fundamental 'difference' between
"Bragging" and Out-Right "Bull-****". -and- that is no 'bs' ;-}

it is simply my opinion - no facts or science is claimed ~ RHF