Geez, this is depressing. I saw this comming but I guess I was in
denial to an extent.

I bought a new one from Universal last year and I love it. It's a
fantastic radio.

I've got a JRC NRD-545, but it mostly collects dust while my R8B gets
most of the use in my shack.

I am sorry to hear of the demise of the R8B. I have an Icom R-75, love
it, and wouldn't part with it. But I still think the Drake was the best
receiver I ever had a chance to use, though briefly. A wonderful machine.

Somewhere down the road, some company, likely an extant one, but
perhaps a "new face", will come out with a receiver that will quickly
become the new benchmark in the field. It will be interesting to see
what this future receiver will be like. I honestly think that's
inevitable. Though the market for high-end receivers is getting
smaller, it is not going to disappear anytime soon.

I also think - in fact I'm willing to bet on it - that when that
receiver appears in the marketplace, if people thought the R8B was
expensive . . .

Tony

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dxAce wrote:
Fresh from the Universal site:

http://www.universal-radio.com/catal...rxvr/0082.html

Scroll down and read the sorry news.

This is a sad day indeed.

dxAce
Michigan
USA


Indeed it is Steve. Having owned the R8 and R8B (I passed on the R8A)
and having owned an SPR-4, 2B, R4, R4A, R4B, R4C and R7 over the years,
I can say without a doubt, R. L. Drake was a leader in manufacturing
excellent receivers. I do think however, the R8B was the best of the
line with reservations. That tuning knob and the lousy mechanical
encoder turned me off. Of course, that didn't preclude me from many
pleasurable hours sitting in front of that otherwise fine receiver.
Having said that, it is a sad day for shortwave enthusiasts when you
think that the Japanese manufacturers haven't ever produced one that
didn't need agc, filter, synchronous detector and audio modifications
to make it perform. I realize that we all had to modify our beloved
hollow state receivers over the years, but the Japanese have led the
free world in crappy audio, filters and agc's for decades. Shortwave
receivers are but a minute drop in the bucket of electronics. If and
when a manufacturer can sell shortwave receivers in the numbers such as
dvd players, tv's etc., we will see this sort of thing happen.

Just my 2 cents.

Les Locklear
Monitoring since ' 57
Monitoring from the Gulf of Mexico
Hammarlund R-274C/FRR (SP-600JX-14)
R-1051B/URR
Ten Tec RX-340
Alpha Delta Sloper
Quantum QX Loop
Various Longwires
CU-2279/BRC Multicoupler
http://www.hammarlund.info/homepage.html

wrote:

My guess is they'll be gone by the end of the day!

Wonder who got the highest or most recent serial number? That one will
be a collectors item. I suppose Drake kept a few too.

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I wish MFJ Enterprises www.MFJEnterprises.com would start building
shortwave radios and other kinds of radios too.I would certainly buy one
or two,if I could afford it.I can't speak for the performance of their
products because I don't own any of their products,,, yet.I am going to
MFJ Enterprises in a couple of months (they are just up the road from
me,so to speak) and buy one of their antennas.I think their products do
look great though.
cuhulin

Tony Meloche wrote:

I am sorry to hear of the demise of the R8B. I have an Icom R-75, love
it, and wouldn't part with it. But I still think the Drake was the best
receiver I ever had a chance to use, though briefly. A wonderful machine.

Somewhere down the road, some company, likely an extant one, but
perhaps a "new face", will come out with a receiver that will quickly
become the new benchmark in the field. It will be interesting to see
what this future receiver will be like. I honestly think that's
inevitable. Though the market for high-end receivers is getting
smaller, it is not going to disappear anytime soon.

I also think - in fact I'm willing to bet on it - that when that
receiver appears in the marketplace, if people thought the R8B was
expensive . . .

Degen is already talking about a high end receiver, much more high end
than their usual $50 portables. It will probably be marketed to the
West, since it will likely cost much more than anybody in Degen's
traditional market (domestic China) will be able to pay. That indicates
to me that Degen must have pretty strong sales of its portables like the
1102 and 1103 in the West.


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In article ,
dxAce wrote:

Fresh from the Universal site:

http://www.universal-radio.com/catal...rxvr/0082.html

Scroll down and read the sorry news.

This is a sad day indeed.

I was having a good day until I read this.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

In article . com,
says...
Sad to see yet another maker of high end receivers pull out of the
market. Especially one with so many historic ties to the SWL hobbyist.
It is as the old Petula Clark song goes: A Sign of the Times.


dxAce wrote:
Fresh from the Universal site:

http://www.universal-radio.com/catal...rxvr/0082.html

Scroll down and read the sorry news.

This is a sad day indeed.

dxAce
Michigan
USA




You have to remember, there was about a ten year gap from when the R7A
was discontinued, until when the R8 came out, so an R9 may show up
someday...

BDK

Tony Meloche wrote:
I am sorry to hear of the demise of the R8B. I have an Icom R-75,
love
it, and wouldn't part with it. But I still think the Drake was the
best
receiver I ever had a chance to use, though briefly. A wonderful
machine.

Somewhere down the road, some company, likely an extant one, but
perhaps a "new face", will come out with a receiver that will quickly

become the new benchmark in the field. It will be interesting to see

what this future receiver will be like. I honestly think that's
inevitable. Though the market for high-end receivers is getting
smaller, it is not going to disappear anytime soon.

I also think - in fact I'm willing to bet on it - that when that
receiver appears in the marketplace, if people thought the R8B was
expensive . . .

Tony

I agree. Hmmm...I wonder what John Thorpe is doing these days...

Steve

wrote in message
...
I wish MFJ Enterprises www.MFJEnterprises.com would start building
shortwave radios and other kinds of radios too.I would certainly buy one
or two,if I could afford it.I can't speak for the performance of their
products because I don't own any of their products,,, yet.I am going to
MFJ Enterprises in a couple of months (they are just up the road from
me,so to speak) and buy one of their antennas.I think their products do
look great though.
cuhulin


There is a reason they are known as Mighty Fine Junk.