There's a new kid on the block with the most amazing high end specs
and
rave reviews from new owners on eHam
It's the new Elecraft K3, see
http://www.elecraft.com/news.htm
http://www.elecraft.com/K3/K3_specs.htm
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/6673

The most amazing spec of this modestly priced radio (about US$1,850
with
extra filters) is its superb narrow spaced dynamic range. This spec is
supposed to make it a lot easier when you have our 9/10 khz MW splits,
when
say you are trying to get 1520 khz WWKB Buffalo N.Y. and 1521 khz
Saudi
Arabia is booming in next door. I can say from my own experience that
DXing
with my Icom IC-756PROIII is a hellava lot more convenient and easier
than
when I used to DX with my old Drake R8B.

Of course my top DX mate Gary Deacon puts the lie to that by DXing
with his
FRG7
and Icom R71 and getting the most amazing results and recordings, but
he has
immense skill and years of experience, whereas even a yobo like me can
pick
up a top end radio and get good results much more easily with one of
these
top spec jobs.

The K3 has other nice features like twin 32 bit DSP, only 1 amp drain
on 12v
DC and weighs in at only about 4 kgs/8 lbs, ideal for DXing at
Seefontein or
from your car.
It can also have various filter options and can be assembled yourself
at a
cheaper price if you want to. This saves about $200 and requires no
soldering, just component assembly that some do in 4 hours.

The only drawbacks I can see is that it doesn't have the marvellous
spectrascope of the top end Icoms and coverage starts on receive only
at 500
Khz, so LW DXing is out = pity!

Receiver test data 080215
from
S = Sherwood http://www.sherweng.com/table.html
P = Passport
Q = ARRL QST mag

2/5 KHZ DYNAMIC RANGE NARROW SPACED

dB
101S Elecraft K3 (with 200 Hz roofing filter)
100P/85S Icom IC-R9500 (100P is at 5 khz and 85S is at 2 khz
spacing)
96S Flexradio SDR 5000
93Q Flexradio SDR-1000
82S AOR7030
80S Icom R7800
78S Icom R781
78Q/75S Icom IC-R756 PRO III
77Q/75S Icom 756 PRO II
77P Drake R8A/B
77S NRD 515
75S Drake R7
75S WJ-1000
74P WJ-8711
71S Icom 756 PRO
71S Drake R8
68S/66P NRD545
67S Icom R75
67S Drake SW8
64S Yaesu 7700 (similar to FRG7)
63S Yaesu FT2000
62S Icom R70/R71
55P Eton E1 portable
46S Ten Tec 340
43P WinRadio 313i


Why these specs are of interest to listeners is that the number of top
end
receivers is fading fast, so the only alternative is to look for a
value for
money transceiver that will provide all the best that modern radio
technology can offer.

Have fun and good DX

John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8 & ERGO software
Sony 7600D, GE SRIII, Redsun RP2100
BW XCR 30, Sangean 803A.
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro Mk II, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop, PAORDT Roelof mini-whip
http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

PS - the Icom IC-7700 now has a delayed arrival in South Africa of end
April.