On Jun 3, 8:40*am, dave wrote:
Mike wrote:

And Gregg, as usual, is wrong about sync. It is very important to
DXers trying to hear weak signals adjacent to much stronger signals.

A serious DXer would not use a crappy plastic portable.

Dave,

How DXAcish of you!

1. Not everyone has your vast resources.
2. Some of us just like cheap crappy radios.
3. DXing with a portable is a skill unto ittself, kind of like
UltraLite DXing.

Now go decode some .01 watt PSK from the opposite side of the planet.

Mike

Mike "I'm a college professor with a PhD" Bryant wrote:

On Jun 3, 8:40 am, dave wrote:
Mike wrote:

And Gregg, as usual, is wrong about sync. It is very important to
DXers trying to hear weak signals adjacent to much stronger signals.

A serious DXer would not use a crappy plastic portable.

Dave,

How DXAcish of you!

Stuff a sock in it, 'tard boy.

Mike wrote:
On Jun 3, 8:40 am, wrote:
Mike wrote:

And Gregg, as usual, is wrong about sync. It is very important to
DXers trying to hear weak signals adjacent to much stronger signals.

A serious DXer would not use a crappy plastic portable.

Dave,

How DXAcish of you!

1. Not everyone has your vast resources.
2. Some of us just like cheap crappy radios.
3. DXing with a portable is a skill unto ittself, kind of like
UltraLite DXing.

Now go decode some .01 watt PSK from the opposite side of the planet.

Mike

A $50 boatanchor like an S-38 would outperform any of those radios for
weak signals. I have a National NC-125 with a Q multiplier that'll
out-HFBC DX almost all transistor radios. It drifts a litlle, but what
do you want for $50?

I'm not being a snob, but there are physical realities to deal with
here. All but the very finest solid state front ends suck. They appear
slightly deaf. That's all. I'm not trying to insult anyone.

On 6/3/2010 11:04 AM, dave wrote:

A $50 boatanchor like an S-38 would outperform any of those radios for
weak signals. I have a National NC-125 with a Q multiplier that'll
out-HFBC DX almost all transistor radios. It drifts a litlle, but what
do you want for $50?

Well, the S-38 may be a bad example to choose and sounds like you may
have never used one.

On a fundamental level, there are three key characteristics of a
receiver, the three S's: sensitivity, selectivity and stability.
Unfortunately, the S-38 has "None of the above". No insult intended, the
S-38 was a nice (and nostalgic) radio, typical of the most very basic
entry level radios of the day.

I hesitate to speak in general terms because there are so many
exceptions, but most modern, inexpensive solid state radios (what you
call 'crappy'), have better sensitivity and stability than the
inexpensive old-timers, while sorta kinda lacking in selectivity.

Just my 2 cents...

P.S.

You say above the S-38 would perform well with weak signals -- implying
they had good sensitivity. I would disagree, as they had -NO- RF stage,
just dumped the antenna into the mixer/oscillator stage like the typical
"All-American Five" because, well, that's what they were, but just
re-tuned to cover short wave.

On Jun 3, 11:04*am, dave wrote:
Mike wrote:
On Jun 3, 8:40 am, *wrote:
Mike wrote:

And Gregg, as usual, is wrong about sync. It is very important to
DXers trying to hear weak signals adjacent to much stronger signals.

A serious DXer would not use a crappy plastic portable.

Dave,

How DXAcish of you!

1. Not everyone has your vast resources.
2. Some of us just like cheap crappy radios.
3. DXing with a portable is a skill unto ittself, kind of like
UltraLite DXing.

Now go decode some .01 watt PSK from the opposite side of the planet.

Mike

A $50 boatanchor like an S-38 would outperform any of those radios for
weak signals. *I have a National NC-125 with a Q multiplier that'll
out-HFBC DX almost all transistor radios. *It drifts a litlle, but what
do you want for $50?

I'm not being a snob, but there are physical realities to deal with
here. *All but the very finest solid state front ends suck. *They appear
slightly deaf. *That's all. *I'm not trying to insult anyone.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I hear you. When I want to try an copy some dude from Guam keying
three watts from a coat hanger mounted to his pie pan plate - - I can
copy it with the HQ129X with the Q Multiplier. If I want to DX the BCB
I use either the 129X or 140. Hammarlund knew what they were doing
when they made certain receivers no doubt.