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Thread: Can anyone explain to me...

  1. #1
    Conch Master KJ3N's Avatar
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    Can anyone explain to me...

    ... why some people seem to think a "better" radio will cure all their ills?

    Case in point....
    Last edited by KJ3N; 12-04-2014 at 03:05 PM.
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    Orca Whisperer PA5COR's Avatar
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    Antenna's, if you have noise, hunt it down and remove.
    I run the Ft 847 with Collins filters, an low entry radio for HF, but work the world, on 160 10K miles or more with 400 watts SSB in a city....
    Thanks to the antenna's i can, not for the radio...

    Going for a FT 5000 will boost the looks on the table, but will not really add in new DX.
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    Pope Carlo l NQ6U's Avatar
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    Hell, I worked VK and JA stations this morning on a fifteen-year-old Icom IC-736. It ain't the radio.
    All the world’s a stage, but obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.

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    Orca Whisperer W3WN's Avatar
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    Newest is always better. Otherwise, why bother. So marketing gurus would have you believe.

    Some people, or should I say induhviduals (thank you, Dogbert), accept postulate that unconditionally.

    That said, while some models of radios are better than others -- a lot depends on the design, age, condition (soft tubes, bad transistors, etc) and extras -- filters for one. And there are external factors -- such as coax, antenna, and antenna placement. To say nothing of local QRM & QRN.

    The reality is that most new radios show only incremental improvements, if that, over their predecessors. Most updates are in the bells & whistles (computer interface, menu screens, detachable head, ergonomic changes, other cosmetics). Sometimes, the new radio is actually a step down. And sometimes the new model is mandated by a part or key component becoming Unobtanium; for example, a driving factor in the Orion II design was that manufacture of a key CPU used in the Orion was about to be discontinued.

    All else being equal, give me a good (let alone great) antenna and a 10 or 25 watt rig, and I ought to be able to run rings around the Latest&Greatest 100 W rig on a mediocre one.

    Some have yet to figure this out.
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    Orca Whisperer W3WN's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KJ6BSO View Post
    Hell, I worked VK and JA stations this morning on a fifteen-year-old Icom IC-736. It ain't the radio.
    I worked S51V on 160 the other night on a ~25 year old Corsair II. Sometimes, it IS the radio. (That Corsair heard things that my "brand new" TS-480SAT didn't even detect)
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    Conch Master KJ3N's Avatar
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    I'm waiting to see if the OP responds. Usually when I suggest they have to do any actual work, they fall silent, or ignore what I've posted.

    It's all my fault for being "flashy", you know..... ;)
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    "If someone tells you he believes in and talks to an invisible bunny named Harvey, you put him on medication and a regimen of therapy. If someone tells you he believes in and talks to God, well, that's perfectly acceptable. Why that's the case is impossible for me to fathom." - WP2XX



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  7. #7
    Orca Whisperer W3WN's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KJ3N View Post
    I'm waiting to see if the OP responds. Usually when I suggest they have to do any actual work, they fall silent, or ignore what I've posted.

    It's all my fault for being "flashy", you know..... ;)
    What? Ask that they actually work? Do something for themselves? Buddy, that will get you infarction points fer sure!
    “Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. 90% of the people don’t care, the other 10% are glad it happened.” — Clint Hurdle, 2019

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  8. #8
    Conch Master KJ3N's Avatar
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    As I suspected, he was really just looking for an excuse to buy a new radio.

    Wait until he finds out that it's not going to make any real difference. :roll:

    A G5RV @ 35 feet on a TS-480 isn't going to be any better than a TS-570 on a G5RV @ 35 feet.
    "People Who Don't Want Their Beliefs Laughed at Shouldn't Have Such Funny Beliefs" -AD5MB

    "If someone tells you he believes in and talks to an invisible bunny named Harvey, you put him on medication and a regimen of therapy. If someone tells you he believes in and talks to God, well, that's perfectly acceptable. Why that's the case is impossible for me to fathom." - WP2XX



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  9. #9
    Conch Master W5GA's Avatar
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    Well, there's DX and then there's DX. While I agree with the general principles about the antenna, if you're into low band work - the radio makes a world of difference. If there wasn't a valid market for the huge IP3 numbers, people wouldn't buy them. And they do make a big difference if you're somewhere in the pile for 3Y0X.

    The first year I did 160, I was using an inverted vee with the apex about 40'. The rig was a TT Omni-6 with the version 3 upgrades, all the filter slots filled, and the Inrad 600Hz. roofing filter. Worked 93 entities using that...wouldn't have come even close to that with a TS-570/480 or even an IC-7000. The RX just isn't there in those rigs.
    Last edited by W5GA; 02-17-2011 at 05:19 PM.
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  10. #10
    Conch Master KJ3N's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by W5GA View Post
    Well, there's DX and then there's DX. While I agree with the general principles about the antenna, if you're into low band work - the radio makes a world of difference.
    I've found that depends on whether you're working 75m, 160m, or a contest. Beyond that, most radios are quite capable of working DX.

    My IC-746Pro has work a hell of a lot of DX, but it can't separate big signals on 160m. That's part of the reason I have a K3.

    Now if I could just get a small lot RX antenna set up for 160m.....
    "People Who Don't Want Their Beliefs Laughed at Shouldn't Have Such Funny Beliefs" -AD5MB

    "If someone tells you he believes in and talks to an invisible bunny named Harvey, you put him on medication and a regimen of therapy. If someone tells you he believes in and talks to God, well, that's perfectly acceptable. Why that's the case is impossible for me to fathom." - WP2XX



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