On 3/8/10 10:07 , bpnjensen wrote:
the Kiwa-modified
S-AM on the R75 definitely helps soften the blow of the fades (the
distortion disappears for all practical purposes), and the AGC when
the RF Gain is turned back a wee bit fills in and remedies all but the
deepest fades.


The sync on R75 was not well implemented. It worked. And it
worked according to factory specs. But it was what the techs at Lowe
call 'fiddly' dialing it in was a job. And often more trouble than
it was worth. I played with R75 at the ICOM booth at the local
hamfest. Sync worked as described. But it took a lot of attention to
keep it in place.

The complaints did not go unheard. The rep I spoke to several
months after the release of R75 told me that ICOM had heard the
complaints, were very uhappy, and had made reimplementing the sync a
priority. Trouble was, that the firmware for the rig wasn't readily
upgradeable, and hardware modifications were going to be time
consuming and expensive. R&D costs would have been a significant
issue. And considering what ICOM went through with PBT on R71, they
were not eager to step on technology that may produce another
expensive and damaging legal skirmish.

This at a time when SW was in sharp decline among broadcasters,
and most users applying sync for broadcast listening, ICOM put the
reimplementation of the sync on a back burner.

I spoke to the same ICOM factory rep a couple of years later, and
when asked about the sync on R75, shook his head and changed the
subject pretty quickly. With KIWA doing the job, there was no
motivation for ICOM to reengineer the sync, themselves, and with
broadcasters abandoning SW, there was no reason to continue
development of receive-only general coverage SW radios.

On Mar 8, 8:41*am, "D. Peter Maus"
wrote:
On 3/8/10 10:07 , bpnjensen wrote:

the Kiwa-modified
S-AM on the R75 definitely helps soften the blow of the fades (the
distortion disappears for all practical purposes), and the AGC when
the RF Gain is turned back a wee bit fills in and remedies all but the
deepest fades.

* *The sync on R75 was not well implemented. It worked. And it
worked according to factory specs. But it was what the techs at Lowe
call 'fiddly' dialing it in was a job. And often more trouble than
it was worth. I played with R75 at the ICOM booth at the local
hamfest. Sync worked as described. But it took a lot of attention to
keep it in place.

* *The complaints did not go unheard. The rep I spoke to several
months after the release of R75 told me that ICOM had heard the
complaints, were very uhappy, and had made reimplementing the sync a
priority. Trouble was, that the firmware for the rig wasn't readily
upgradeable, and hardware modifications were going to be time
consuming and expensive. R&D costs would have been a significant
issue. And considering what ICOM went through with PBT on R71, they
were not eager to step on technology that may produce another
expensive and damaging legal skirmish.

* *This at a time when SW was in sharp decline among broadcasters,
and most users applying sync for broadcast listening, ICOM put the
reimplementation of the sync on a back burner.

* *I spoke to the same ICOM factory rep a couple of years later, and
when asked about the sync on R75, shook his head and changed the
subject pretty quickly. With KIWA doing the job, there was no
motivation for ICOM to reengineer the sync, themselves, and with
broadcasters abandoning SW, there was no reason to continue
development of receive-only general coverage SW radios.

Thanks - that's roughly the story I have heard.

BJ