Dear Jim,

I have a friend who owns one and I have heard it quite a bit. His is
modified "to the teeth" by ICOM, Kiwa and others; it's not bad, yet I
would still not buy one. Though more sensitive, I believe that
overall, in terms of "what you hear," it is inferior, at least to my
ears, to the Satellit 800, which I brought over to his house once for
side-by-side comparison. (Formal "true" A/B comparisons are not
possible as he has only one antenna connection, so the antenna must be
disconnected from one receiver and then hooked to the other. It
doesn't take long, but it's not true A/B.) That evening there was
nothing heard on the ICOM that could not also be heard on the Grundig
and the Grundig sounded much better (he uses a Radio Shack external
speaker; I used the Grundig's speaker). His radio cost much more than
mine.

My friend likes his ICOM.

Lawrence

"Jim Hackett" wrote in message link.net...
I'm assuming you have first hand experience with an R-75 and are not just
"parroting" what you've read or been told?


"Lawrence H. Bulk" wrote in message
m...
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

The Grundig Satellit 800, like all SW radios, is not perfect. But at
its price level, it is by far the best receiver available. It offers
FM and portability which other communication receivers do not. It is a
much better radio for program listening than the stock ICOM R75, the
SW receiver closest in price, which must be modified by "third-party"
companies (or yourself at your own risk) in order to function
properly.
{SNIPPED}

"Lawrence H. Bulk" wrote in message
om...
Dear Jim,

I have a friend who owns one and I have heard it quite a bit. His is
modified "to the teeth" by ICOM, Kiwa and others; it's not bad, yet I
would still not buy one. Though more sensitive, I believe that
overall, in terms of "what you hear," it is inferior, at least to my
ears, to the Satellit 800, which I brought over to his house once for
side-by-side comparison. (Formal "true" A/B comparisons are not
possible as he has only one antenna connection, so the antenna must be
disconnected from one receiver and then hooked to the other. It
doesn't take long, but it's not true A/B.) That evening there was
nothing heard on the ICOM that could not also be heard on the Grundig
and the Grundig sounded much better (he uses a Radio Shack external
speaker; I used the Grundig's speaker). His radio cost much more than
mine.

My friend likes his ICOM.

I feel that most receiver preferences are subjective. Comes down not to
specs, or even to features, but to what the listener personally likes. My
favorite portable radio of all time is a Grundig Transistor 1000. It has
LW/MW/SW1(49m Europa band)/SW2 (6-16 MHz)/FM. It has no SSB capabilities at
all. It is, however, an outstanding program listening radio, with excellent
sensitivity and selectivity. Not as selective, perhaps, as something with a
sharp ceramic filter, but I have no trouble separating stations on it. It
was made back when Grundig was at the top of it's form, sounds fantastic,
and is quite solidly built. It's no $700 radio, but it does everything
important to me in a SW receiver... (if I want to hear SSB signals, I'll
fire up my ham rig.. )

Dear Ms. Dyer,

You're absolutely right about preferences for radios (and other
possessions) really being subjective. (My two favorite portables are a
Hitachi KH-1108S [the South African version - don't ask; I've never
been to South Africa] which I bought back in 1969 and the Radio Shack
DX-375. Both are poor compared to what is available, but I still
really like using them [and I own many other portables].)

Re-reading my first posting I see I was unduly harsh on the ICOM
IC-R75 which, after all, is an excellent receiver and, as far as I
know, is properly assembled of quality parts (no q.c. problems). This
is very important and is a major problem with the Satellit. What I was
really trying to do was to offer people who aren't sure about
purchasing a Satellit some information based on my own experience.
When I sent my unit to Drake, I asked the technician to write the
measured sensitivity of my unit on my invoice; he did so, saying that
my unit measured 0.4 mcv for 10 db S/N on SSB. That's not bad for a
$500.00 receiver considering the other facilities offered for "digging
out" signals.

I personally just feel that at $500.00 the Grundig Satellit 800 is the
best receiver available at the price at this time. The q.c. problems
can be ameliorated with careful attention when purchasing. I don't
wish to "plug" a company on this newsgroup, but I have had very good
luck with Universal. They are helpful and informative. Their prices
are as good as any. They will test a piece of equipment for you before
shipment if you ask. (I haven't used Grove for major purchases, but I
exppect they would do the same.)

As I said in my first sentence on my first posting, the Satellit, like
all radios (and I don't care the price), is not perfect. But if one is
contemplating purchase, I think that it is a fine receiver with good
sensitivity, good facilities, and good sound.

If my comments about the ICOM offended anyone, I apologize sincerely.

Lawrence

"Brenda Ann Dyer" wrote in message ...
"Lawrence H. Bulk" wrote in message
om...
Dear Jim,

I have a friend who owns one and I have heard it quite a bit. His is
modified "to the teeth" by ICOM, Kiwa and others; it's not bad, yet I
would still not buy one. Though more sensitive, I believe that
overall, in terms of "what you hear," it is inferior, at least to my
ears, to the Satellit 800, which I brought over to his house once for
side-by-side comparison. (Formal "true" A/B comparisons are not
possible as he has only one antenna connection, so the antenna must be
disconnected from one receiver and then hooked to the other. It
doesn't take long, but it's not true A/B.) That evening there was
nothing heard on the ICOM that could not also be heard on the Grundig
and the Grundig sounded much better (he uses a Radio Shack external
speaker; I used the Grundig's speaker). His radio cost much more than
mine.

My friend likes his ICOM.

I feel that most receiver preferences are subjective. Comes down not to
specs, or even to features, but to what the listener personally likes. My
favorite portable radio of all time is a Grundig Transistor 1000. It has
LW/MW/SW1(49m Europa band)/SW2 (6-16 MHz)/FM. It has no SSB capabilities at
all. It is, however, an outstanding program listening radio, with excellent
sensitivity and selectivity. Not as selective, perhaps, as something with a
sharp ceramic filter, but I have no trouble separating stations on it. It
was made back when Grundig was at the top of it's form, sounds fantastic,
and is quite solidly built. It's no $700 radio, but it does everything
important to me in a SW receiver... (if I want to hear SSB signals, I'll
fire up my ham rig.. )

I see. I personally own both and in MY opinion, the sat-800 is nowhere near
the performer the STOCK R-75 is. It does "sound" better [.]
The R-75 will hear things the 800 NEVER could. I could go on but you've
obviously made up your mind and I hope your happy with your Sat800. I am.
It makes a dandy clock-radio...



"Lawrence H. Bulk" wrote in message
om...
Dear Jim,

I have a friend who owns one...

[SNIPPED]

He doesn't need to own both radios to evaluate them. You conveniently
snipped the part where he made a direct comparison using the same
antenna and found that the 800 could hear anything the R75 was receiving
and with better audio. He made up his mind based on real world evidence.
That's the best anyone can do.

Jim Hackett wrote:

I see. I personally own both and in MY opinion, the sat-800 is nowhere near
the performer the STOCK R-75 is. It does "sound" better [.]
The R-75 will hear things the 800 NEVER could. I could go on but you've
obviously made up your mind and I hope your happy with your Sat800. I am.
It makes a dandy clock-radio...

"Lawrence H. Bulk" wrote in message
om...
Dear Jim,

I have a friend who owns one...

[SNIPPED]


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In article ,
longwave wrote:

He doesn't need to own both radios to evaluate them. You conveniently
snipped the part where he made a direct comparison using the same
antenna and found that the 800 could hear anything the R75 was receiving
and with better audio. He made up his mind based on real world evidence.
That's the best anyone can do.

Indeed.

If anyone cares, I will be taking delivery of a new 800 and a little
used 700 this week (probably Tuesday, 4/13). I will be doing extensive
comparisons with my other radios, and will be happy to report my
findings.

Dan

Drake R8, Radio Shack DX-440,
Grundig S650, S700, S800, YB400
Tecsun PL-230 (YB550PE), Kaito KA1102
Hallicraters S-120 (1962)
Zenith black dial 5 tube Tombstone (1937)
E. H. Scott 23 tube Imperial Allwave in Tasman cabinet (1936)

I'd appreciate your opinion, Dan.

-- Stinger

"Dan" wrote in message
...
In article ,
longwave wrote:

He doesn't need to own both radios to evaluate them. You conveniently
snipped the part where he made a direct comparison using the same
antenna and found that the 800 could hear anything the R75 was receiving
and with better audio. He made up his mind based on real world evidence.
That's the best anyone can do.

Indeed.

If anyone cares, I will be taking delivery of a new 800 and a little
used 700 this week (probably Tuesday, 4/13). I will be doing extensive
comparisons with my other radios, and will be happy to report my
findings.

Dan

Drake R8, Radio Shack DX-440,
Grundig S650, S700, S800, YB400
Tecsun PL-230 (YB550PE), Kaito KA1102
Hallicraters S-120 (1962)
Zenith black dial 5 tube Tombstone (1937)
E. H. Scott 23 tube Imperial Allwave in Tasman cabinet (1936)

From: "Stinger"

I'd appreciate your opinion, Dan.

-- Stinger

Most of us would. My own personal opinion from such tests is that there were
all kinds of signals that I can hear on my R75 that the Sat800 couldn't hear.
My SW77 and 2010 are also more sensitve than than the S800.

Maybe my S800 is defective. But, it was a refurb....


Michael Bryant, WA4009SWL
Louisville, KY
R75, S800, RX320, SW77, ICF2010K,
DX398, 7600G, 6800W, RF2200, 7600A
GE SRll, Pro-2006, Pro-2010, Pro-76
(remove "nojunk" to reply)

In article ,
Dan wrote:

In article ,
longwave wrote:

He doesn't need to own both radios to evaluate them. You conveniently
snipped the part where he made a direct comparison using the same
antenna and found that the 800 could hear anything the R75 was receiving
and with better audio. He made up his mind based on real world evidence.
That's the best anyone can do.

Indeed.

If anyone cares, I will be taking delivery of a new 800 and a little
used 700 this week (probably Tuesday, 4/13). I will be doing extensive
comparisons with my other radios, and will be happy to report my
findings.

What I find interesting is in another thread someone compared his $60
dollar Chinese portable to his IC-R75 and found that it heard everything
the IC-R75 did.

I've done some thinking on this "one radio hears a station and the other
didn't" situation when the sensitivity of the radios are within a few
dBm of each other. Normally it would not be reasonable to expect this
result.

I think the reason has to do with the radios input impedance changing
over frequency and not looking like a resistive load. With an antenna
not matched well on one end of a coax and the radio not being a good
match on some frequencies on the other end results can be unpredictable
with resonances at different frequencies for the different radios. This
will lead to unpredictable results.

In order to flatten out the response of the antenna / coax an attenuator
could be used absorb the reflections in the antenna system.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

"Telamon" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Dan wrote:

In article ,
longwave wrote:

He doesn't need to own both radios to evaluate them. You conveniently
snipped the part where he made a direct comparison using the same
antenna and found that the 800 could hear anything the R75 was
receiving
and with better audio. He made up his mind based on real world
evidence.
That's the best anyone can do.

Indeed.

If anyone cares, I will be taking delivery of a new 800 and a little
used 700 this week (probably Tuesday, 4/13). I will be doing extensive
comparisons with my other radios, and will be happy to report my
findings.

What I find interesting is in another thread someone compared his $60
dollar Chinese portable to his IC-R75 and found that it heard everything
the IC-R75 did.

I've done some thinking on this "one radio hears a station and the other
didn't" situation when the sensitivity of the radios are within a few
dBm of each other. Normally it would not be reasonable to expect this
result.

I think the reason has to do with the radios input impedance changing
over frequency and not looking like a resistive load. With an antenna
not matched well on one end of a coax and the radio not being a good
match on some frequencies on the other end results can be unpredictable
with resonances at different frequencies for the different radios. This
will lead to unpredictable results.

In order to flatten out the response of the antenna / coax an attenuator
could be used absorb the reflections in the antenna system.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

Could be -- but I think it's more likely just a combination of wishful
thinking and enthusiasm getting in the way of objectivity.

The radios they're talking about (Kaito 1102 / Degen 1102) are extremely
good values at twice their price (I have the Kaito 1102). But some of the
stuff I was reading made me laugh out loud.

-- Stinger