Brian Denley wrote:

Bob Bonneville wrote:
I am interested in getting back into SWL (This is what lead me into
ham radio back in 1963.) I have narrowed my selection to four
receivers over a rather large price difference. My choices were the
result of reading many conflicting reviews, along with some bias from
my days as a ham. I was hoping that some of you may have owned
various combinations of these over the years, that could result in a
first hand opinion.

The choices I have made are, in no particular order a
Drake R8B
Icom R8500
Ten Tec RX-350D
Icom R75

The Drake's a top gun HF receiver wit all the tools with all filters
included. The Ten-Tec is all DSP, also with a great set of DX tools and
about 34 filters included. The R75 is a good dx receiver but apparently
need several mods in order to work well and the other filters are optional.
The R8500 is an excellent wideband receiver but will not keep up with the
others on HF.

--
Brian Denley



Brian's advice is solid. It's best to ask yourself what
features/capabilities are really important to you, and which are "window
dressing", if any. If you want it all - top drawer - no matter what
your DX interests are, the Drake is leader of the pack (with a price tag
to match). The Icom R-75's biggest liability is the synchronous AM
which is best described with a "shrug". On the Drake, it's excellent.
The Icom can be modded for much better synch AM performance, but that's
hassle, money, and time with the receiver away from you, if you have it
done by a pro. Aside from that, for straight SW DX, the Icom R-75 and
the Drake are very, very close in performance, all other things being
equal. Brian nailed it on the R8500. I have no experience with the
Ten-Tec, so I'll remain mute on that.

Basically, it comes down to this: ANY of those you have listed will
give good performance, period. The Drake is the best of the lot, but
you are paying mucho more for perhaps 10-15% better performance,
head-to-head - that is typical of most things in the "next-to-highest"
vs. "highest" price range. The point of diminishing returns, as they
say. The good news is that there isn't a "loser" among the receivers
you have named. If possible, try to get hands-on with all four of them
- the ergonomics is no small part of it. Good luck, and enjoy your
ultimate purchase!

Tony


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