"ve3..." wrote:

Over the years I have purchased way too many short wave radios, most of
which ended up in the garage. A few I keep at hand for various needs
and I thought my experience might be of interest to those bitten by the
"gotta have it" bug.

Well, my radio collection has been distilled down to the keepers, but
I don't know that I will claim that they are ultimate keepers since
the one I've had the longest has been with me only 9 years.

Not enough time, in my opinion, to consider it a "forever" radio. For
all I know, it may still die of some flaw.

BTW, R-392, IC-R8500, RX-340.

R-392: Built like a tank, weatherproof, easy to repair.

IC-R8500: Excellent fundamentals, built like a tank. Possible fatal
flaw: component in PLL often blows out, but I've not had it happen to
me.

RX-340: Built reasonably well, does just about everything you could
ask of a radio.

--
Eric F. Richards

"Nature abhors a vacuum tube." -- Myron Glass,
often attributed to J. R. Pierce, Bell Labs, c. 1940