Brian Denley wrote:
I still wonder what the sales level has been for shortwave receivers for the
last three or four years. I have never seen any data but I wonder how
dismal the sales were and how much the web hurt. The number of people
willing to shell out many hundreds of $$ for a shortwave radio may have
shrunk to a very small number. Anyone seen any sales data for the last crop
of receivers (R8B, R-75, RX-350, NRD-545)?

I don't know of a reliable source that would consolidate sales volume
for shortwave receivers. I'm sure the folks at WRTH, Grove and PBWR
have a pretty good sense for the way sales are going, getting them to
release anything might be impossible. Unfortunately we can infer
not-too-good-news about the volume of sales by looking at the number of
shortwave retail outlets that have closed and the number of companies
that dropped out of the shortwave market.

"Lucky" wrote in message
...

"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
Telamon wrote:
In article
,
D Peter Maus wrote:


Telamon wrote:

In article
,
D Peter Maus wrote:



wrote:


This is probably nothing, but I noticed that Universal has deleted
the message that once used to be on its R-75 ad, stating that the
R-75 is discontinued. I then went to the Icom America website, and
noticed that the R-75 is there, even though I seem to recall its
having been removed at one point.
Is there more to this than I think?

Steve



That's a good question. And one that bears investigating.

In the last few years, a number of the major manufacturers of
desktops have exited, or threatened to exit, the market. At least in
North America. AOR withdrew 7030 and its variants from the US market.
Icom announced the discontinuation of R-75. Drake appears to have
left the building. Yeasu had announced that it had gigged the Frog.

And yet, FRG-100B appears to be alive and well. AOR returned 7030+
to North America, and R-75's demise appears to be on hold.


It may be that with declining competition, some manufacturers are
rethinking their product life cycles. In the case of Icom, they're
still in production with a wide range of radio gear, some popular HF
ham gear included. With the appropriate economies of scale,
production of R-75 in a competition reduced market could remain
profitable.


Has anyone contacted Bellevue for a definitive position on R-75?


Maybe they did one last production run.




That's a good thought. And it's possible that Japan hasn't really
been clear with Retail. If you'll recall when R-75 was released, I
mentioned here a conversation with an ICOM rep I'd had at a ham show in
which the rep said that complaints as echoed here about R-75's sync
detector had been heard loud and clear in the hallowed halls. And that
there were, indeed, revisions coming. And that the case clearly
contained space for future hardware developments. Additional
conversations with other ICOM reps repeated these details.

But no such revisions have been forthcoming, to date.

Conversations I've had with Bellevue, over the years, have indicated
that they really don't know what the hell Japan is doing.

So, your thought is as good as any.


Oh! So they might actually fix it. That is good news. If it get fixed
right I might buy one. It would have to be offered with some filter
options good SWBC listening for me to consider it.


Don't hold your breath. The conversation referred took place several
years ago.


You know, I've played with R-75 on and off since it's release. It's not
a bad radio. Not a 'best in class', except that it's pretty much the only
one left in that class. For the money it wasn't exactly a bad value.

As has been pointed out here, though, a number of times, it's a start
out of the box, but requires finishing. If you have to drop coin to
modify it to get the radio it should have been all along, then there are
probably better alternatives.

Absent any competition in class, ICOM wouldn't be too highly motivated
to put forth the effort.

I've owned and still own a number of ICOM radios. Still use R-10 and
R-7000 every day. And I owned R-71a for years. Wouldn't mind having that
one back. But some of the corners cut by ICOM to save a few sheckels is
baffling on radios of their otherwise significant quality. The result is
a lot of promise, but, too often, short delivery.





Hi Peter,

I own several radios and for the money, the R75 just can't be beat. It
just can't. I paid $425 after specials for mine brand new w/DSP. The
performance outta that receiver is freaking amazing for me here in
Florida. If I need to pull a signal out of total garbage and can make out
what's being sent I can do it with the R75.

The Twin PBT with the coupling of different filters {I have a pair of
2.8's added} and the DSP that is not bad at all, makes this a superb unit
for the price. Add the remote control option and the UT-102 voice
synthesizer and it's a very fun unit.

I don't know how any SWL-DX'er in the know doesn't own one unless it's a
more expensive unit.

Just MHO

Lucky

I agree with you 100 %. I use an R-75 as my primary radio. It is a great
radio for DX. I got mine brand new for under $500.00 with the free UT-106
unit included. I almost always use ecss tuning with the R-75 in ssb mode
when I scout for DX. I find that there isn't anything that I can hear with
the R-75 that I can hear with more expensive radios. Earlier in the year, I
was considering getting a new radio as an upgrade to the R-75. I was lucky
enough to be able to borrow an NRD-545 from a friend to do some
experimenting. I found that the R-75 was just as capable as the NRD-545.
The experimentation convinced me not to spend more money on a new radio. I
came up with the conclusion that regardless of what radio I get, I wont be
able to hear anything that I cant hear on my R-75. This is partly a
compliment to the R-75 and partly a realization that my geographic area is
not a good area to DX in. I live in a highly populated area in NJ with lots
of noise sources. No matter how expensive of a receiver I get, it wont
matter one bit !!! My DX bottle-neck is my area and not my radio. Still...
The R-75 does quite well considering !!!

Michael

Michael wrote:


I agree with you 100 %. I use an R-75 as my primary radio. It is a great
radio for DX. I got mine brand new for under $500.00 with the free UT-106
unit included. I almost always use ecss tuning with the R-75 in ssb mode
when I scout for DX. I find that there isn't anything that I can hear with
the R-75 that I can hear with more expensive radios. Earlier in the year, I
was considering getting a new radio as an upgrade to the R-75. I was lucky
enough to be able to borrow an NRD-545 from a friend to do some
experimenting. I found that the R-75 was just as capable as the NRD-545.
The experimentation convinced me not to spend more money on a new radio. I
came up with the conclusion that regardless of what radio I get, I wont be
able to hear anything that I cant hear on my R-75. This is partly a
compliment to the R-75 and partly a realization that my geographic area is
not a good area to DX in. I live in a highly populated area in NJ with lots
of noise sources. No matter how expensive of a receiver I get, it wont
matter one bit !!! My DX bottle-neck is my area and not my radio. Still...
The R-75 does quite well considering !!!

Michael

I think this is true of most people. It's hard to find truly quiet
reception anymore. Recently I visited family in West Central Kentucky.
I was about a mile outside of a small town with a population of
approximately 3000. I was all psyched up, thinking that it would be a
super quiet spot for a little DXing. However, it seemed only marginally
quieter than Brooklyn--at least during the week I spent there! It's
just harder and harder to find quiet places.

Steve

wrote in message
oups.com...


Michael wrote:


I agree with you 100 %. I use an R-75 as my primary radio. It is a
great
radio for DX. I got mine brand new for under $500.00 with the free
UT-106
unit included. I almost always use ecss tuning with the R-75 in ssb
mode
when I scout for DX. I find that there isn't anything that I can hear
with
the R-75 that I can hear with more expensive radios. Earlier in the
year, I
was considering getting a new radio as an upgrade to the R-75. I was
lucky
enough to be able to borrow an NRD-545 from a friend to do some
experimenting. I found that the R-75 was just as capable as the NRD-545.
The experimentation convinced me not to spend more money on a new radio.
I
came up with the conclusion that regardless of what radio I get, I wont
be
able to hear anything that I cant hear on my R-75. This is partly a
compliment to the R-75 and partly a realization that my geographic area
is
not a good area to DX in. I live in a highly populated area in NJ with
lots
of noise sources. No matter how expensive of a receiver I get, it wont
matter one bit !!! My DX bottle-neck is my area and not my radio.
Still...
The R-75 does quite well considering !!!

Michael

I think this is true of most people. It's hard to find truly quiet
reception anymore. Recently I visited family in West Central Kentucky.
I was about a mile outside of a small town with a population of
approximately 3000. I was all psyched up, thinking that it would be a
super quiet spot for a little DXing. However, it seemed only marginally
quieter than Brooklyn--at least during the week I spent there! It's
just harder and harder to find quiet places.

Steve


I'd be psyched too at the prospect of trying out my gear in a rural area.
I'm surprised you didn't get better results in KY as compared to Brooklyn.
A few years back I took a Sony 7600g and 100' of wire with me on a trip to
up state NY. I was amazed at how low the noise floor was in comparison to
what I'm used to here in north NJ. Along with that, I was also astounded
by the number of stars that I could see in the night sky.

Michael

"Michael" wrote:

I find that there isn't anything that I can hear with
the R-75 that I can hear with more expensive radios.

That's true. Images, birdies, artifacts, intermodulation products --
it's all there.

The R-75 is dumpster fodder. Value? yep. Value for money? yep.
Absolutely a good value? Not even close.

You need to experience a truly good radio. See
http://www.sherweng.com for some guidelines.

For the category of SWBC listening and DXing, the satellit 800 is a far
superior product, really there is no comparison

1) better sound
2) better selectivity in the stock versions
3) FAR better sync detector, even if it is a fixed version !



Hi Peter,

I own several radios and for the money, the R75 just can't be beat. It
just can't. I paid $425 after specials for mine brand new w/DSP. The
performance outta that receiver is freaking amazing for me here in
Florida. If I need to pull a signal out of total garbage and can make out
what's being sent I can do it with the R75.

The Twin PBT with the coupling of different filters {I have a pair of
2.8's added} and the DSP that is not bad at all, makes this a superb unit
for the price. Add the remote control option and the UT-102 voice
synthesizer and it's a very fun unit.

I don't know how any SWL-DX'er in the know doesn't own one unless it's a
more expensive unit.

Just MHO

Lucky

"mike maghakian" wrote in message
...
For the category of SWBC listening and DXing, the satellit 800 is a far
superior product, really there is no comparison

1) better sound
2) better selectivity in the stock versions
3) FAR better sync detector, even if it is a fixed version !



Your saying the Sat 800 is a better radio then the R-75 for DX'ing ???

"Medication time"

Michael

"Eric F. Richards" wrote in message
...
"Michael" wrote:

I find that there isn't anything that I can hear with
the R-75 that I can hear with more expensive radios.

That's true. Images, birdies, artifacts, intermodulation products --
it's all there.

The R-75 is dumpster fodder. Value? yep. Value for money? yep.
Absolutely a good value? Not even close.

You need to experience a truly good radio. See
http://www.sherweng.com for some guidelines.


Let me get this straight..... "Dumpster Fodder ???" Your getting carried
away....

Recommend a better radio that will have a PRACTICAL improvement over an R-75
without spending over $ 1,000.00 Please dont spit out specs that hardly
differ from that of the R-75 and are not statistically significant
PRACTICALLY speaking.

Tell me what radio NEW out of the box will give me a PRACTICAL improvement
on my R-75 for under $1,000.00 and I'll buy it this week. Remember, this is
for DX'ing. I dont want a boom box.

Michael

Michael wrote:

"Eric F. Richards" wrote in message
...
"Michael" wrote:

I find that there isn't anything that I can hear with
the R-75 that I can hear with more expensive radios.

That's true. Images, birdies, artifacts, intermodulation products --
it's all there.

The R-75 is dumpster fodder. Value? yep. Value for money? yep.
Absolutely a good value? Not even close.

You need to experience a truly good radio. See
http://www.sherweng.com for some guidelines.


Let me get this straight..... "Dumpster Fodder ???" Your getting carried
away....

Personally, I wouldn't even have one around for use as a doorstop.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

http://www.iserv.net/~n8kdv/dxpage.htm

"dxAce" wrote in message
...


Michael wrote:

"Eric F. Richards" wrote in message
...
"Michael" wrote:

I find that there isn't anything that I can hear with
the R-75 that I can hear with more expensive radios.

That's true. Images, birdies, artifacts, intermodulation products --
it's all there.

The R-75 is dumpster fodder. Value? yep. Value for money? yep.
Absolutely a good value? Not even close.

You need to experience a truly good radio. See
http://www.sherweng.com for some guidelines.


Let me get this straight..... "Dumpster Fodder ???" Your getting carried
away....

Personally, I wouldn't even have one around for use as a doorstop.


Yes... I understand your reasoning here. In your case having an R-75 to
use as a doorstop would be redundant. You've already got you head to act in
that capacity. And, it is far better suited to the task.