Howdy rig warriors!
I have been QRL, but reading some of the arguments about equipment testing,
evaluation, comparisons. ARRL is doing decent job with reviews, tests, but
still looking at things through rose colored glasses, being careful not to
offend
the supplier out of the advertising. Still the best reviews on this side of
the pond.
I have been hoarding rigs for the purpose of testing and comparisons from the
top user's -- contesters point of view. I wanted to select the rig that I
would end up owning, with possible modifications and use as my prime
competitive
contest rig. Among important criteria is strong signal handling, flexibility
-- ergonomics, low phase noise, QRM fighting arsenal, reliability, etc.
Unfortunately I have been (again) QRL with mundane life things that keep
popping up.
Fortunately Orion came on the scene promising to save me some effort by having
more important features already implemented, but ... I am not as "nice" in my
opinion after some use and exposure to this $3.6k radio. I offered my "race
driver" assistance to work with some manufacturers, but none are interested,
"they know better," so back to the bench.
Reviews can be done on as "I feel and have time" basis, or more seriously and
timely with some support from the readers (contributions). I have no ties to
any manufacturer, my ties are to contesting and high performance. In the past
I have always used second hand radios, modified them and was happier than with
raw, as from manufacturer. Anyone following the history of rig problems and
modifications can see that there was no rig that was perfect or could not be
improved. Today it is impractical to build radios from scratch, but picking the
"right" rig and modifying it is the most effective approach. I would have
besides reviews also modifications and some techniques for optimum use. None of
the today's radios equal my old Drake - 2 RX - 1TX modified combo for single
band contesting (some 20 world records to "prove" it :-) So far, from today's
rigs, Orion is the closest candidate for two radios on the same band operation
(low phase noise, strong signal handling), and that's what I am shooting for.
So the question is: is ti feasible and in demand to do more thorough reviews
(like K7LXC has done with antennas) for a buck, or fuggetaboutit, QST, CQ,
eHam, feel good reviews are fine and sufficient?
Yuri, K3BU, VE3BMV
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