Hi Avery - nice post = thanks for that.
Like you I loved my boatanchors and was weaned on them, but sadly i
had to give them away (no aftermarket for boatanchors here in South
Africa) to a friend after I retired to Montagu.

I agree with you that good ergonomics is one of the most important
factors in choosing and enjoying a radio. My Drake R8A and later the B
were superb if it was not for the cheap rubbery buttons and overall
cheap finish. The Icom radio's OTOH are superbly engineered, but
sometimes I suspect the engineers who desigh them are not radio
enthusiasts and leave us hobbyist's with some qustionable ergonomics.

I too love the spectrum displays and my new 7700's is just superb,
although not a patch on the SDR's like the latest Perseus.

JP

On Jun 14, 2:51*pm, Avery W3AVE wrote:
John, thanks for this suggestion. I read a few of the reviews. I also
read yours, and suspect that you not only have saved me from myself
but gave me relief that I did not go for the R9000. I refer to this
excerpt from your review:

What I don't like and that irritates me:
# The cramped controls, some of the most used ones like the VFO swap/
change, and VFO to Mem are so small that you need to operate the radio
in bright light in order not to push the wrong button, and then you
often do anyway.
# During the day when DX is not present, I listen to my favourite AM
BCB and BBC stations, but I miss the Drakes lovely sound and rock
solid synchronous detector. On the Icom I have to listen in SSB to
avoid fading, but the sound, despite eighteen months of fiddling and
trying to optimise it, is not very good.

#2 isn't a huge deal, although I think a synchronous detector is
desirable. But #1 was a useful reminder of my acute distaste for
panels stuffed with lots of small knobs and switches. My true love is
at the other extreme--big old boatanchors, Hammarlunds and Nationals
and such. Part of their appeal is simply that I grew up with tube
gear, love the glow and dusty smell, and appreciate that there is
usually enough room under the chassis for me to grub around replacing
parts and such.

But the other part is that playing with even relatively control-happy
receivers--say a Hammarlund HQ-180--was easy. The radios were much
larger, of course, with much more front-panel acreage, and the
smallest knobs and switches were probably twice the size of those on
most of the packed panels of the modern era. Add the problematic
labeling you mention, and throw in that on many receivers nowadays,
multiple-function controls are typical.

I've done hands-on reviews of several new receivers for Passport, not
technical by any means--more about ergonomics: how friendly a radio is
or isn't to operate. Do your hands fall in the right places
automatically; is tuning rubbery or too fast or slow, or smooth and
reasonably paced; do you have to hunt up the manual if you haven't
used the radio for a week and have forgotton how to do something or
other--these kinds of considerations.

If you look at the first Passport review of the AOR 7030 and read how
those who checked out the radio fell into one of two camps, you'll
quickly see language that reflects my report to Larry. Conversely,
when the Satellit 800 appeared, my report lauded the large,
intuitively located knobs and big display (although the tuning felt
rubbery and loose on the first release).

All of which should have told me, what the hell am I doing even
thinking about a receiver like the R9000? I think it's because I've
always had the hots for spectrum displays. Whatever, it shouldn't have
been, and receivers like it shouldn't be, on my wanted list. My Sony
GR7600 is as close as I should get, and that's not very close.

As I said, thanks for helping to maintain my savings and future
sanity.