*I've always considered it underwhelming to get a
distant station playing an American music program like Lady Gaga when
what I wanted to hear was Fela Kuti.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC


Respect! :-)

I'll be sure to report back my findings.

Since posting this I've started to wonder if I really need a radio of the 7030 caliber. Thoughts on that? Am i going to find a substantial difference between something like the Grundig sat.750 and the AOR7030? Or even the little g5 portable? Seems like between this I might start to focus more on speaker quality as the reports are that they are all great radios? I'd love to hear what you all think about that idea.

On Mon, 22 Nov 2010 20:28:52 +0000, Bajamatic
wrote:

as the reports are that they are all
great radios? I'd love to hear what you all think about that idea.

For hearing about how products perform, I put them into Amazon, and
look at the customer reviews, and pay attention to the ones yelling
MURDER!

For some products, those folks are lost at sea and asking for table
napkins - or they are dead-on. Very easy to differentiate. When I
looked at those complaining of Grundig quality, they sounded
knowledgeable for some things, and hyper-sensitive about other things.

Amazon doesn't sell my Radio Shack 20-125, but it, too, finds web
sites that offer a spread of reviews where, again, I look at the ones
yelling MURDER! When I encounter one complaining that there was no
tuning knob, I have to wonder. This sucker cost me $40, and I could
easily see that feature missing before I pushed the credit card across
the display case. Others complain of lack of sensitivity (I saw no
evidence of them using anything but the whip). I've already heard
more African stations in a day on my RS20-125 than they will in a
lifetime on theirs - unless they go to Africa like I did. Another
complains of bandwidth - c'mon, it is a consumer radio, not a
communications receiver.

And then there is the class of disgruntled customer who grumbles about
the poor fit of controls made by Chinese sources. They can find these
problems with any product.

Being the type to expand upon this kind of grief, I would suspect from
the from all comments considered that Grundig put a RS 20-125 inside
their magnificent case which, perhaps, suffered some fit and feel
problems (being Chinese made, after all - give me a break! Do they
think they are Swiss Watches?). With a price ratio of 7:1, is that
magnificent case something you need?

At the end of the day, you really need to visit the show room floor,
look at the various models to appreciate how they are going to fit
into your lifestyle - and then take them for a test drive. That is,
put them on a known antenna, at the usual listening time, and listen.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

On Nov 22, 2:28*pm, Bajamatic
wrote:
I'll be sure to report back my findings.

Since posting this I've started to wonder if I really need a radio of
the 7030 caliber. Thoughts on that? *Am i going to find a substantial
difference between something like the Grundig sat.750 and the AOR7030?
Or even the little g5 portable? *Seems like between this I might start
to focus more on speaker quality as the reports are that they are all
great radios? *I'd love to hear what you all think about that idea.

--
Bajamatic

Depends what you are listening to. AM broadcast, almost anything
will work. SSB, and weaker utility stations, a better receiver can pay
off. Not so much sensitivity, but filtering, image rejection with
larger
antennas, etc.. Often more stable too..
I've got loads of receivers, some of which I never use and forget
I even have.. IE: I've got three or four "portables", but never use
them.
But for SW/MW-BC, I could pick up any one of them, and have
no problems with a little more wire clipped to them.
But most of the reception I do is SSB, and listening to other
hams. So naturally, I usually prefer a bit better radio with
better selectivity. Some of my cheaper portables don't even
have SSB mode.. Some do though..
I've got several Drake receivers. The cheapest one being a
Drake SW-1, which does not have SSB capability.
But it's great for casual SW-BC, and MW-BC. It's S/S
and can run off 12v.
But useless for ham use, except for maybe catching a few
AMer's. For SSB use, I'd be grabbing one of my older Drakes.
Or.. maybe if I were trying to dig out some weak station
packed in between a bunch of powerhouses.
I've got a Drake 2C and 2 CQ, one of the original R4's, "0058
serial", and also a R4C. I've got one of the very first R4's built,
and one of the last.. :/ Both are pretty good radios.
My little IC-706mk2g is great for almost any kind of listening.
It's filtered tight enough for average SSB, but it's wide in
the AM mode, unless the filter is on. So the AM audio
sounds real good on it. The AM filter is actually too tight,
and almost useless so I almost never use it.
One thing I like about it, is it's general coverage and goes
up to UHF. So I can listen from LW, up through MW/SW
and on up through the air band, police bands, etc..
Makes a great scanner.
So many receivers, so little time.. Or money in some cases..
:/
You just have to decide mostly on what you want to
listen to.