junius wrote:
HFguy wrote:


Because ham's use mostly SSB on the HF bands. A sync' detector is not
useful for that mode.


Sure, I realize and appreciate that. But as I said earlier, these
transceivers have a general coverage receiver section...it's not as
though amateur communications is of any account, for instance, in the
MW BCB or the int'l SW BCBs. Through these online fora, it's apparent
that a significant number of radio amateurs have an interest in the
reception of signals in these bands. Moreover, how much of a further
investment would be required to give a transceiver a greater edge in
this area? From what I can see, this might be done simply with the
addition of AM Sync detector circuitry and the expansion of the DSP
variable bandwidth control from the SSB range on up to 6.0 kHz or so.
The technology already there, so...

Although it doesn't cost that much these days to extend the range of an
HF-transceiver for general coverage, it could be harder to come up with
a good sync' detector that doesn't infringe on another manufacturers
design. Look what happened to the R-75. I'm sure Icom knows how to
design a good sync' detector but there may have been legal limitations
to what they could implement. This could be the main reason the
manufacturers are not interested in adding a sync' detector to a general
coverage HF-transceiver. I also don't think it's really so "apparent
that a significant number of radio amateurs have an interest" in
listening to international shortwave broadcasts. It's been my experience
that few do.