Epiphany

[TESLA]

So two weeks ago I went to the Forestdale RI Hamfest, nice small quaint affair. Ran into a kind elderly gentleman that I had met a couple of weeks before at the Woonsocket fest. He had a friend that had passed and had his nice old clean station that consisted of a TS520SE. One hundred dollars later I was the new proud owner, he said it worked flawlessly but for a hundred bucks I didn't expect much, did I mention it has the CW narrow filter? Well this morning I finally got a chance to fire it up, tune, dip the plate, load and off we go. Tune around and hear stations everywhere, bands are great. I work a few SA stations on 10M and decide to see how it compares to some of the new rigs. I turn on my TS570SG and can barely here the station I just worked, WTF? I fire up the IC746pro, same thing, weak and in the noise, back to the 520 and he's loud and clear, only an S2 but fine copy. Now I'm upset and conduct a few more tests and confirm that the old 520 receiver is outperforming ALL my newer radios. Do I need to spend $5000 now to get a receiver that will out perform a 30 year old radio? Anyone else experience this? Now I really need to send the old TS940SAT out to get the PLL unlock fixed, damn.

[NY3V]

So two weeks ago I went to the Forestdale RI Hamfest, nice small quaint affair. Ran into a kind elderly gentleman that I had met a couple of weeks before at the Woonsocket fest. He had a friend that had passed and had his nice old clean station that consisted of a TS520SE. One hundred dollars later I was the new proud owner, he said it worked flawlessly but for a hundred bucks I didn't expect much, did I mention it has the CW narrow filter? Well this morning I finally got a chance to fire it up, tune, dip the plate, load and off we go. Tune around and hear stations everywhere, bands are great. I work a few SA stations on 10M and decide to see how it compares to some of the new rigs. I turn on my TS570SG and can barely here the station I just worked, WTF? I fire up the IC746pro, same thing, weak and in the noise, back to the 520 and he's loud and clear, only an S2 but fine copy. Now I'm upset and conduct a few more tests and confirm that the old 520 receiver is outperforming ALL my newer radios. Do I need to spend $5000 now to get a receiver that will out perform a 30 year old radio? Anyone else experience this? Now I really need to send the old TS940SAT out to get the PLL unlock fixed, damn.

The 520 rcvr sensitivity spec is .25 uV for a S+N/N ratio of 10 or more.

The '570, on 10 meters is about half of that. The '570 should be about 1 S Unit more than the '520.

(dB=20 Log V1/V2 = 20 Log .25/.125 = 20 Log 2 = 6 dB = 1 S Unit )

Did you look inside for the Secret Mod? ;)

[W3WN]

New is not always better.

Bells and whistles do not beat pure performance.

Any given unit of a particular model can be a lemon. The next given unit of the same model can be the best thing since... since... since God talked to Moses (sorry, Superman is running on one of the movie channels right now).

And even lemons can sometimes be improved with small but significant mods, not all of which are documented.

[WØTKX]

This is why some 80's era Ten Tec and Kenwood rigs intrigue me.

Even a lowly Omni D is spooky with the SNR. TS-850 is a joy.

[KC9ECI]

None of my rigs here can touch my 520SE for audio quality. It is just plain nice to listen to. Paid $100 for mine as well.

[TESLA]

Glad to hear it's not just me. I know what the specs and numbers say, and yes the same station was S3 on the 570, only S2 on the 520 but the INTELLIGIBILITY and S/N of the receiver was dramatically better on the 520. Maybe tomorrow I'll try to shoot a short video so you guys can SEE what I'm HEARING, :) Could just be I got a 520 with a really smoking front end, I hope so!

[KG4CGC]

Glad to hear it's not just me. I know what the specs and numbers say, and yes the same station was S3 on the 570, only S2 on the 520 but the INTELLIGIBILITY and S/N of the receiver was dramatically better on the 520. Maybe tomorrow I'll try to shoot a short video so you guys can SEE what I'm HEARING, :) Could just be I got a 520 with a really smoking front end, I hope so!

Or it could have been one that our own Fred had his hands on at some point in the past.

[W2NAP]

you can send that 570 my way :stickpoke:

[W5GA]

Yes those old receivers do sound good....right up until you put them in a really crowded band, then they fold up like a wet blanket unless they say Drake on them.

[TESLA]

Yes those old receivers do sound good....right up until you put them in a really crowded band, then they fold up like a wet blanket unless they say Drake on them.

This may indeed be the case, I'll need to give it a workout on 20M during a contest just for kicks but the CW filter sure seems sharp.

[NY3V]

Glad to hear it's not just me. I know what the specs and numbers say, and yes the same station was S3 on the 570, only S2 on the 520 but the INTELLIGIBILITY and S/N of the receiver was dramatically better on the 520. Maybe tomorrow I'll try to shoot a short video so you guys can SEE what I'm HEARING, :) Could just be I got a 520 with a really smoking front end, I hope so!

Did you have the '520 Noise Blanker on?

Did you have the AGC Off? If not, they probably have different AGC threshold levels.

On my TS140S, I can't turn the AGC off.

I have a high noise level at my QTH and can significantly see it reduced on my S Meter using my external MFJ1026 Noise Canceller. The problem is that my ear can hardly tell any difference due to my AGC threshold!

Of course, turning my RF Gain down and my AF gain up helps slightly.

[NQ6U]

Yes those old receivers do sound good....right up until you put them in a really crowded band, then they fold up like a wet blanket unless they say Drake on them.

I agree. The R-4A is pretty good, comparable to my much newer ricebox. The TR-7 kicks ass, especially on CW.

[W5GA]

I agree. The R-4A is pretty good, comparable to my much newer ricebox. The TR-7 kicks ass, especially on CW.
You should try a TT Omni-6+ on cw...it's a revelation.

[HUGH]

The TS520 has a nice, tuned front end rather than any sort of bandpass arrangement so it has to be good, never mind the specs.
I'd get another if I could find one.