http://www.universal-radio.com/catal...rxvr/0070.html

Note the 'may be available'.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

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. and, there are only a few of
us who would spend the money on a new receiver in
this day and age. most people just don't have the
extra income right now for something like this. and
with design and manufacture, i wonder how many must
be made and sold before they can even brake even.
so, a group of us are keeping fingers crossed.
ya know, a new AOR would look real good sitting
next to your Drake's.

Drifter...

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. and, there are only a few of
us who would spend the money on a new receiver in
this day and age. most people just don't have the
extra income right now for something like this. and
with design and manufacture, i wonder how many must
be made and sold before they can even brake even.
so, a group of us are keeping fingers crossed.
ya know, a new AOR would look real good sitting
next to your Drake's.

I'd look better sitting in Florida right about now ;-)

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. and, there are only a few of
us who would spend the money on a new receiver in
this day and age. most people just don't have the
extra income right now for something like this. and
with design and manufacture, i wonder how many must
be made and sold before they can even brake even.
so, a group of us are keeping fingers crossed.
ya know, a new AOR would look real good sitting
next to your Drake's.

Drifter...


Seems a little late to the game. I don't know how they expect to
compete in a field where the best performer costs a mere $500 (and a
host PC). I predict they sell 100-150 tops.

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.

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.

Peter, you and Dave are both right. Icom has a bunch of trouble. the R75
no longer has a DSP board because of this. at this date i don't believe
they have a replacement yet. so, where do we go from here? i think in
a few years the newer receivers will mostly be SDR. which, maybe down
the road, but as of today, is not a real receiver to me. BTW, yes Dave,
i know some of the high buck jobs are mostly computer inside.

Drifter...

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.

Design your radio around cellphone chips.

Drifter wrote:


Peter, you and Dave are both right. Icom has a bunch of trouble. the R75
no longer has a DSP board because of this. at this date i don't believe
they have a replacement yet. so, where do we go from here? i think in
a few years the newer receivers will mostly be SDR. which, maybe down
the road, but as of today, is not a real receiver to me. BTW, yes Dave,
i know some of the high buck jobs are mostly computer inside.

Drifter...

My Ten-Tec SDR feels very old school analog.

I think I'm going to build me a K2.

There are lots of great receivers. Most have transmitters associated
with them.

http://www.sherweng.com/table.html

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.

Steve wrote:
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.

Eventually you won't be able to maintain them. For example, tubes and capacitors
don't last forever, even if stored in relatively safe conditions. Tubes made
in the 1960's are starting to show leakage problems, and that's good brands
such as RCA.

Many tubes made in the 1940's are still good after 60 years, but in 30 years
they will be pushing 100.

The other question is ergonomics and function. Will a radio made in the 1940's
or 1950's be able to compete with the noise and other problems encountered
with signals.

My first shortwave radio was fished out of the trash. It was a Nordmonde
(Nordmende?) AM/FM/SW portable that had been dropped and the IF transformers
literally had to be glued back together. But it worked with a short wire
in Philly, now would it?

Will any SW radio work without a special outdoor noise canceling antenna
system in 30 years?

As for ergonomics, I recently aquired a Drake SPR-4. It is the best in terms
of reception SW radio I have ever owned, and in terms of sound equal to the
Grundig 650 I lusted after in the 1980's.

Ergonimicly, by today's standards, it sucks. To tune a frequency, you have
to turn a knob to select the band (a-h), the crystal (1 of 14) and then tune
the preselector. Only then can you spin the frequency dial to tune in a station.

The preselector is narrow enough that you have to tweak it after about 100kHz,
which is really annoying scanning the AM broadcast band.

This is fine for me, I like to pick a band and tune around, but can you
imagine someone who is used to direct frequency entry and memories using it?
It would drive them nuts.

While the chance of either of my younger sons becoming a ham or even SWL is
pretty small, I expect that neither of them will ever show any interest in
it, except maybe for looks.

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM