I was looking at the Drake website and I noticed several intriguing
developments. I reported a couple of weeks ago that the R8 speaker was
discontinued.

Now, there is no mention of the Sat. 800 on the website, you cannot buy
an R8B directly from Drake anymore, and the R8B now has only "limited
availability" from Drake dealers.

http://www.rldrake.com/swl/index.html

Is this Drake subtle way of saying that the R8B is riding off into the
sunset in the near future?

Whoops...it looks like you can still buy direct from Drake, but I don't
think you can place an order via the internet anymore.

mike0219116 wrote:
I was looking at the Drake website and I noticed several intriguing
developments. I reported a couple of weeks ago that the R8 speaker
was
discontinued.

Now, there is no mention of the Sat. 800 on the website, you cannot
buy
an R8B directly from Drake anymore, and the R8B now has only "limited
availability" from Drake dealers.

http://www.rldrake.com/swl/index.html

Is this Drake subtle way of saying that the R8B is riding off into
the
sunset in the near future?

I noticed the same thing. I, too, wonder what it means.

Steve

The more I think about it, the more concerned I am about the reference
to the "limited availability" of the R8B on Drake's website. I really
hope this isn't the beginning of the end of Drake receivers. That would
really be depressing.

Steve

Steve: The more I think about it, the more concerned I am about the
reference
to the "limited availability" of the R8B on Drake's website. I really
hope this isn't the beginning of the end of Drake receivers. That would

really be depressing.

mike0219116:

I totally agree. I'm glad I bought one last year considering how
things are starting to look. It's a fantastic radio.

wrote:

The more I think about it, the more concerned I am about the reference
to the "limited availability" of the R8B on Drake's website. I really
hope this isn't the beginning of the end of Drake receivers. That would
really be depressing.

Drake hasn't brought out a new model in quite some time. I doubt that
things are going well for the company. In fact, sales of all tabletops
have been going down while sales of cheap Chinese portables have been
going up. Passport said in their 2005 edition that the Sat 800 (which is
based on the Drake SW8 but made by Tecsun) will be discontinued shortly.
AOR no longer sells tabletops in the US or indeed anywhere else except
the UK. Maybe the end of tabletop makers in the west (including Japan)
will lead to Chinese makers filling the void-Degen for one is seriously
talking about a high end receiver, which would probably be too expensive
for its traditional domestic market. But it's possible that the DXer
market is at its saturation point and that demand for tabletops can be
satisfied by all the used models already out there. I don't think it's
the beginning of the end for shortwave radio in general-like I said
Degen and Tecsun seem to be doing well-but it may be the end of the
traditional DXer portion of SW.


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Universal recently announced that they are again selling the AOR AR7030
Plus which is very good news.

I do not want to get into an argument and I recognize that we all have
our favorites, however, it is my opinion that the AR7030 Plus is
positively the finest short wave radio ever designed and it is
certainly the best model under $2000. If you have or can get the 2005
edition of PASSPORT TO WORLD BAND RADIO, take a look at its
specifications on page 168. They are even better, in some key aspects,
than the "professional" Ten-Tec or Watkins-Johnson which cost far more.
Numbers certainly do not tell all, but you cannot ignore them either.

I hope, however, that the Drake R8B and, especially, the Grundig
Satellit 800 are not discontinued. It would seem to me that, at least
in the case of the Grundig, there is still considerable demand. I do
not understand why Eton does not put some advertsing money into it;
after all, its development costs have been amortized by now so each
sale is pure profit.

Best,

Joe

Joe Analssandrini wrote:
Universal recently announced that they are again selling the AOR
AR7030
Plus which is very good news.

I do not want to get into an argument and I recognize that we all
have
our favorites, however, it is my opinion that the AR7030 Plus is
positively the finest short wave radio ever designed and it is
certainly the best model under $2000. If you have or can get the 2005
edition of PASSPORT TO WORLD BAND RADIO, take a look at its
specifications on page 168. They are even better, in some key
aspects,
than the "professional" Ten-Tec or Watkins-Johnson which cost far
more.
Numbers certainly do not tell all, but you cannot ignore them either.

I hope, however, that the Drake R8B and, especially, the Grundig
Satellit 800 are not discontinued. It would seem to me that, at least
in the case of the Grundig, there is still considerable demand. I do
not understand why Eton does not put some advertsing money into it;
after all, its development costs have been amortized by now so each
sale is pure profit.

Best,

Joe

There's also a more general theme here, in my opinion. If Drake
discontinues the R8B, then there are fewer choices for all of us when
it comes time to buy a new, high quality receiver. In this respect,
it's not just bad for Drake lovers, but for anyone who might one day
have purchased a Drake. I felt the same way when AOR stopped selling
the 7030+ in the US, and am really happy that Universal is selling it
again!

While I don't care for the 800, some folks like it and I'd like Eton to
continue it for them...assuming Eton can't come up with something
better. It should be priced at around $300 though--not a penny more.

Steve

That 2:1 exchange rate for the pound is sure a killer. I got mine
years ago and bitched about the 1.4 or 1.5:1 rate.

In article . com,
"Joe Analssandrini" wrote:

Universal recently announced that they are again selling the AOR AR7030
Plus which is very good news.

I do not want to get into an argument and I recognize that we all have
our favorites, however, it is my opinion that the AR7030 Plus is
positively the finest short wave radio ever designed and it is
certainly the best model under $2000. If you have or can get the 2005
edition of PASSPORT TO WORLD BAND RADIO, take a look at its
specifications on page 168. They are even better, in some key aspects,
than the "professional" Ten-Tec or Watkins-Johnson which cost far more.
Numbers certainly do not tell all, but you cannot ignore them either.

I hope, however, that the Drake R8B and, especially, the Grundig
Satellit 800 are not discontinued. It would seem to me that, at least
in the case of the Grundig, there is still considerable demand. I do
not understand why Eton does not put some advertsing money into it;
after all, its development costs have been amortized by now so each
sale is pure profit.

I like my AOR7030+ and I'm a Drake owner and a Ten-Tec owner.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California