Bentley Continental Gran Tourismo gone
Yes, my magnificent Icom IC-7700 has been sold. It was definitely the
finest and best radio I will ever own, but at the end it was a huge overkill in my small town and not being able to go to the coast for DXpeditions sounded its death knell. It would not run on batteries and at 35kg's/80lbs packed it was just too heavy to take anywhere. So it will be replaced with an Icom IC-7600, a portable radio that will run on 12v DC auto batteries. It has many of the fine features of the 7700 and is quite pricey at $4000, but aw shucks, you only live once and you can't take it with you. Unfortunately the dealer has no stock in Joburg and it may be a few months before he gets new stock in, So I will just have to be patient and hope the ball and chain doesn't get her hands on the boodle from the 7700. Also I will sell the old Icom IC-756PROIII that I am currently DXing with, and that will be replaced with a laptop and Perseus SDR - then I will be fully up-to-date with the world's other top MW DXer's. Later in August it is DXpedition time again, this time the beautiful Jongensgat, so I hope for good weather and wonderful propagation. John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s Icom IC-7600 coming, Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods ERGO software Drake SW8. Sangean 803A Sony 7600D, GE SRIII, Redsun RP2100 Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro Mk II, Datong AD-270 Kiwa MW Loop. http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx |
Bentley Continental Gran Tourismo gone
John Plimmer wrote: Yes, my magnificent Icom IC-7700 has been sold. It was definitely the finest and best radio I will ever own, but at the end it was a huge overkill in my small town and not being able to go to the coast for DXpeditions sounded its death knell. It would not run on batteries and at 35kg's/80lbs packed it was just too heavy to take anywhere. So it will be replaced with an Icom IC-7600, a portable radio that will run on 12v DC auto batteries. It has many of the fine features of the 7700 and is quite pricey at $4000, but aw shucks, you only live once and you can't take it with you. Unfortunately the dealer has no stock in Joburg and it may be a few months before he gets new stock in, So I will just have to be patient and hope the ball and chain doesn't get her hands on the boodle from the 7700. Also I will sell the old Icom IC-756PROIII that I am currently DXing with, and that will be replaced with a laptop and Perseus SDR - then I will be fully up-to-date with the world's other top MW DXer's. Later in August it is DXpedition time again, this time the beautiful Jongensgat, so I hope for good weather and wonderful propagation. A question John, Not having dealt with much of this in the past, but would it be possible, and/or less costly to have someone here in the USA purchase what you need and ship it to you? |
Bentley Continental Gran Tourismo gone
On Aug 4, 10:16*pm, Bob Dobbs wrote:
I always thought successful MW-DXing was more about persistence than gear, although good equipment is a requisite, so if off loading some ballast will allow more time to devote, then so be it. And when you decide on a price range for those nice Icoms, be sure to post a heads up in this forum. -- Operator Bob Echo Charlie 42 Bob, in old style conventional MW DXing, persistence was indeed one of the criteria, plus operator skill and experience. The radio is down about fifth on the list of requirements. However the Perseus SDR has changed the whole outlook for MW DXing and perhaps has taken a lot of the persistence out of the equation. The top prime time on a DXpedition at the coast is the magical TOH top of hour just around sunrise. With a conventional radio you may snaffle up as many as four ID's if you are good, but since Perseus records the WHOLE MW spectrum for later playback, you can thus capture everything that is going, perhaps twenty rare stations or more. So the Perseus has changed the whole ballgame and I've got to get into that. The Icom 7700 sold for $6250 and the 756PROIII is up for $1900 asking. regards JP |
Bentley Continental Gran Tourismo gone
"Bob Dobbs" Not trying to give you a hard time, just always thought of you as old school, where manually diddling the knobs to tweak out that elusive signal was the bulk of the pleasure. -- Operator Bob Echo Charlie 42 Ya Bob, I like to turn the knobs. I DX for myself, I enjoy what I listen to and I don't care what anyone thinks about "my-way" I started DXing with an Oat Meal box, my little Sony 7600 with a 100 feet of wire was my main friend in NAM, we spent a lot of time together. I have an antenna farm here and I had one in Ca. also. Loving it, Burr |
Bentley Continental Gran Tourismo gone
Bob Dobbs wrote: John Plimmer wrote: However the Perseus SDR has changed the whole outlook for MW DXing and perhaps has taken a lot of the persistence out of the equation. SDR is to old fashioned tune and listen DXing is like a gill net is to a rod and reel. The top prime time on a DXpedition at the coast is the magical TOH top of hour just around sunrise. With a conventional radio you may snaffle up as many as four ID's if you are good, but since Perseus records the WHOLE MW spectrum for later playback, you can thus capture everything that is going, perhaps twenty rare stations or more. I can see where compiling a DXers guide could benefit from a method so comprehensive, but where's the sport? So the Perseus has changed the whole ballgame and I've got to get into that. Only difference between that and draining the whole pond to count the fish, is that the stations will still be alive tomorrow. the 756PROIII is up for $1900 asking. Sounds fair enough for a radio not used for transmitting. Not trying to give you a hard time, just always thought of you as old school, where manually diddling the knobs to tweak out that elusive signal was the bulk of the pleasure. I'm old school myself in many ways, however, when I returned to the SWBC hobby circa 1981 or so, the one thing that got me was digital readout and recording capabilities. I was able, using the FRG-7700 that I purchased from Gilfer SW , to set the radio to a particular frequency, set the timer, and have the next day a recording on cassette of what happened on the frequency. A whole new world of DX'ing! I do get and understand your 'gill net' analogy. dxAce Michigan USA Drake R7, R8, R8A and R8B 70' and 200' wires 239 countries heard and 224 QSL'd (veried, for those in Glendale) using the NASWA Country List. And, as always, don't let your children attend the Sullivan College of Technology & Design. They've hired at least one dufus who once claimed to have a PhD and lied about being arrested, and who knows, there may be more dufi there. |
Bentley Continental Gran Tourismo gone
On Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:07:30 -0700, Bushcraftgregg wrote:
On Aug 4, 10:42Â*am, John Plimmer wrote: Yes, my magnificent Icom IC-7700 has been sold. It was definitely the finest and best radio I will ever own, but at the end it was a huge overkill in my small town and not being able to go to the coast for DXpeditions sounded its death knell. It would not run on batteries and at 35kg's/80lbs packed it was just too heavy to take anywhere. So it will be replaced with an Icom IC-7600, a portable radio that will run on 12v DC auto batteries. It has many of the fine features of the 7700 and is quite pricey at $4000, but aw shucks, you only live once and you can't take it with you. Unfortunately the dealer has no stock in Joburg and it may be a few months before he gets new stock in, So I will just have to be patient and hope the ball and chain doesn't get her hands on the boodle from the 7700. Also I will sell the old Icom IC-756PROIII that I am currently DXing with, and that will be replaced with a laptop and Perseus SDR - then I will be fully up-to-date with the world's other top MW DXer's. Later in August it is DXpedition time again, this time the beautiful Jongensgat, so I hope for good weather and wonderful propagation. Good job John, that is a pretty good chunk of change. I got my Hammarlund 129X with Heathkit Q Mutiplier back yesterday, totally recapped and realigned. The fella even added on for me a new digital readout for an extra $30.00 Total cost $152 - why the extra two dollars I will never know. But I know my Hammar really likes the broadcast bands.:-) I have a great HQ-145XC. It has been totally gone over. Who did your digital readout? That sounds like something I would be interested in for my old HQ! -- "What do you mean there's no movie?" |
Bentley Continental Gran Tourismo gone
Magnetic Poles Drift.
Don't let em fool you, there is Nothing much to it.I just now checked my old Compass. cuhulin |
Bentley Continental Gran Tourismo gone
On Aug 5, 9:38*pm, CountFloyd
wrote: On Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:07:30 -0700, Bushcraftgregg wrote: On Aug 4, 10:42*am, John Plimmer wrote: Yes, my magnificent Icom IC-7700 has been sold. It was definitely the finest and best radio I will ever own, but at the end it was a huge overkill in my small town and not being able to go to the coast for DXpeditions sounded its death knell. It would not run on batteries and at 35kg's/80lbs packed it was just too heavy to take anywhere. So it will be replaced with an Icom IC-7600, a portable radio that will run on 12v DC auto batteries. It has many of the fine features of the 7700 and is quite pricey at $4000, but aw shucks, you only live once and you can't take it with you. Unfortunately the dealer has no stock in Joburg and it may be a few months before he gets new stock in, So I will just have to be patient and hope the ball and chain doesn't get her hands on the boodle from the 7700. Also I will sell the old Icom IC-756PROIII that I am currently DXing with, and that will be replaced with a laptop and Perseus SDR - then I will be fully up-to-date with the world's other top MW DXer's. Later in August it is DXpedition time again, this time the beautiful Jongensgat, so I hope for good weather and wonderful propagation. Good job John, that is a pretty good chunk of change. I got my Hammarlund 129X with Heathkit Q Mutiplier back yesterday, totally recapped and realigned. The fella even added on for me a new digital readout for an extra $30.00 Total cost $152 - why the extra two dollars I will never know. But I know my Hammar really likes the broadcast bands.:-) I have a great HQ-145XC. *It has been totally gone over. *Who did your digital readout? *That sounds like something I would be interested in for my old HQ! Yeah, I have the 140X also, that will be next in getting tuned up. There's all kinds of people all over the internet that do that type of work, apparently there is nothing to it. |
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