Mark S. Holden wrote:
Michael Lawson wrote:
snip

b) The R8B is it. There is currently nothing in the works
for a replacement, like an R9.


I'm sorry to hear this.

I'd love to try a Drake with a DSP based IF.

Well, they may not presently have a plan for an R9, but that doesn't
mean it'll never happen. My guess is that sales of the R8B are still
plenty strong. If R8B sales begin to taper off, this might generate
enthusiasm for a successor.

Steve

"Mark S. Holden" wrote in message
...
wrote:

Mark S. Holden wrote:
Michael Lawson wrote:
snip

b) The R8B is it. There is currently nothing in the works
for a replacement, like an R9.


I'm sorry to hear this.

I'd love to try a Drake with a DSP based IF.

Well, they may not presently have a plan for an R9, but that
doesn't
mean it'll never happen. My guess is that sales of the R8B are
still
plenty strong. If R8B sales begin to taper off, this might
generate
enthusiasm for a successor.

Steve

I wonder what "strong sales" are for something like an R8b these
days.

If I were to hazard a guess, it's probably nothing like the
"strong sales" for a Sat 800, some of the Degens and
some of the Sonys. Due to the saturation point, I'd bet
that the strongest sales in the SW business is for the
Grundig 200, the hand crank one. You can find those
everywhere, and people would buy them mainly for the
interest in having an emergency radio, not the SW bands.

This isn't to speak ill of the R8B, but just a recognition that
the market for DXers and harder core broadcast SWLers
is what the R8B is designed for, not the regular SWLers
or casual listeners. A radio like a Sat 800, a SW2 or SW8,
or one of the newer Etons or Degens would be more than
enough for the average listener.

I also wonder what R&D costs would be for a suitable replacement.

Probably pretty steep. If Drake were to stay with SW
long term, they'd probably do design work and sell
it to another company, so that they don't have to give up
the plant space to a new radio.

Ten-tec is the only US company I can think of that's
brought out new models in the last 5 years or so. I imagine
they're spreading some r&d costs across shortwave and
ham product lines.

Ten-tec is also in the professional category as well, which
is essentially radios for things like embassies and whatnot.
I'm sure that they've gotten their money back on the
development costs on their professional offering a long
time ago.

On the bright side, I think products like the Sat 800, and
lower cost chinese portables will help expand the market
for higher end radios.

For a while, the portables helped to drive changes in the
tabletops. The sync, for example, swept through the
tabletop area after the Sony 2010 proved it's effectiveness.
Now, maybe the tabletops will drive the development of
the portables, with the Sat 800 being a smaller cousin of
the R8B and the new Eton E1 being a similar descendent.
It wouldn't surprise me if someone contracted out to
Japan Radio, for instance, to build the circuitry for a
portatop or large portable with DSP filtering, with the
requirement that it be "smart" filtering with a minimum
of human intervention.

--Mike L.

Maybe I am mistaken but weren't the first wind up radios made in Africa
and then they were made in China and of poorer quality too? And those
wind up springs in the Chinese radios do not last as long as the wind up
springs in the African made wind up radios? I think I once read
something about that a few years ago.
cuhulin

Mark S. Holden wrote:

The Palstar R30 is a very compact tabletop that can run on 10 internal AA batteries. People with fat fingers say the buttons are a bit too small or close together, but it's got a reputation as a simple radio that performs quite well. They run $575-$650
depending on if you get one or two Collins brand filters with it.

When I was looking for a better "portable", I looked for a Lowe HF-150 Europa - never found one. The regular HF-150's turn up used reasonably often. The HF-150 has appreciated in value over the last few years.

There've been a couple of discussions of the HF225 lately. That's
also a good candidate for portable operation. There was a battery
pack option that held 8 rechargeable C cells. You probably can't find
the battery pack around anymore (hell, you probably can't find too many
225's for that matter), but you can easily duplicate one with about $5
worth of radioshack battery holders.

You might find a used AOR AR7030+ for about $1,000. AOR sold a lead acid battery that could fit inside - I run mine off NIMH RC car battery packs - it's a very nice radio.

Otherwise, I'd go with the post '96 Drake SW8 over the Grundig Satellite 800 in part because the Drake has nice build quality, and in part because the Sat 800 is about the size of an "Urban Assault" boom box. A few years back there was a guy named Phil
who did a funny photo edit of a Sat 800 to show a built in microwave oven.

One of the reasons it was funny is the radio is large enough that you could almost believe it.

I wonder what the guys on "Pimp My Ride" could do with one.

Oz

I wonder what "strong sales" are for something like an R8b these days.

I also wonder what R&D costs would be for a suitable replacement.

Ten-tec is the only US company I can think of that's brought out new models in the last 5 years or so. I imagine they're spreading some r&d costs across shortwave and ham product lines.

On the bright side, I think products like the Sat 800, and lower cost chinese portables will help expand the market for higher end radios.

Well, I agree that a high end receiver probably isn't going to be a
cash cow, but wasn't this equally true when the R8 and R8A were
introduced? The market for such items has been very small for a long
time. I don't know what explains Drake's interest in high end
receivers unless they just like building them.

Maybe they'll drop out of the market after the R8B runs its course,
but I'd like to see them stick around. Best case scenario: the 800
does so well that Drake figures it can fund the R&D for a new
receiver. If, as I imagine, the Sony SW77 was the 800's primary
competitor, this scenario might not be so far fetched.

Steve

Mark S. Holden wrote:

On the bright side, I think products like the Sat 800,
and lower cost chinese portables will help expand the
market for higher end radios.

I think the opposite. They will kill all the competitors with
extremely low pricing. Once the 'communist' Chinese target an
industry, it's doomed. Go to a store like Home Hardware and try to
find a NON Chinese light fixture.

The Chinese state factories are the biggest threat to a free market
place that there is. It's the human equivalent of the Borg's "You WILL
be assimilated"

The politicians here are too easily bought. They're handing over the
keys to the monopolists in return for a few under the table shekels.
You, the citizen can get screwed for all they care, because 'They got
theirs'.




mike

m II wrote:
Mark S. Holden wrote:

On the bright side, I think products like the Sat 800, and lower cost
chinese portables will help expand the

market for higher end radios.

I think the opposite. They will kill all the competitors with extremely
low pricing. Once the 'communist' Chinese target an industry, it's
doomed. Go to a store like Home Hardware and try to find a NON Chinese
light fixture.

The Chinese state factories are the biggest threat to a free market
place that there is. It's the human equivalent of the Borg's "You WILL
be assimilated"

The politicians here are too easily bought. They're handing over the
keys to the monopolists in return for a few under the table shekels.
You, the citizen can get screwed for all they care, because 'They got
theirs'.




mike

My guess is the mass market chinese radios will help bring more people
into the hobby.

Some of them will be happy with the low cost radios, but some will want
to upgrade to a better radio than they can buy from China. A certain
percentage will end up going for the best they can find.

You can still buy high quality light fixtures. You just need to go to a
specialty store.

"RivaScoot" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 01 Dec 2004 23:46:14 -0500, "Mark S. Holden"
wrote:

RivaScoot wrote:

snip


Does the fact that the Satellit 800 and the SW8 have the same
reception circuitry mean a third-party company makes the
internals and
that Grundig and Drake simply slap their name on the product?

I'm probably way off on base about this, but I was just curious.

Thanks,


RivaScoot


Drake designed and built the SW8 in the USA.

Lextronix bought the rights to the electronic design of the SW8,
and the
rights to the Grundig name in the USA, they hired Techsun in China
to
build them. Presumably modifications to the Drake design were done
by
Techsun.

Lextronics is now using the name Eton.


Got 'cha!

Hehe...it all sounds like a shortwave soap opera. ;)

It's not that bad. Although Drake's past was in the
amateur and shortwave radio hobbies, it's only a
small part of their business today. Commercial
satellite equipment is their moneymaker currently.

Bill Frost told me that if you go to a motel/hotel
that has any sort of "cable", it's probably controlled
on their equipment. He mentioned that they even
signed a recent deal with SBC to provide some equipment.

--Mike L.