On 7/10/2013 5:24 PM, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP wrote:
Hey, let's be clear on one point.
Rob Sherwood does NOT rate rigs.
His list is NOT a ranking of performance of the radios.
It is only a ranking of close-in DR3 of all of these radios.
Oh, my... er... um... are you SURE? ;-)
THIS IS WHAT IS OFTEN CALLED A
"DISTINCTION WITHOUT A DIFFERENCE."
The Sherwood list is obviously intended to
rank radios according to a single factor.
(Not a bad thing... but that is what it is.)
Many other things contribute to the overall performance of a radio and it is
not possible to list rigs in order of overall performance, because we all
have different performance needs.
Quite right, but that does not belie
the fact the Sherwood list IS a ranking
of radios according to a single factor,
albeit a factor of great interest to
many operators. But it IS a ranking.
Sidebar:
I rest confident I rarely encounter
circumstances situations where that
ranking is relevant, and my radios,
including a TT Omni VII, and KW TS-590s
both of which have competitive figures on
the other factors and measurements included
Sherwood's chart.
So, unless I am facing a situation where
3d order intercept dynamic range is of
critical importance, my best radios rate
as high or higher (are at least on a par with)
the the radios ranked above it on the list.
Therefore, I won't lose any sleep over the
fact I don't own the rig with the best score.
If I ignore the 3d order intercept column,
there is very little difference among all the
top radios on the chart, which explains, to
me at least, why other guys are working DX
and enjoying contests with those "other"
"inferior" radios. I concede there might
be a few instances where I wish I had spent
another $X,000 dollars to make a few extra
very difficult contacts, but that makes
those contacts very expensive!
An analogy: I have a couple of sports cars.
A Corvette guy once chided me about my choice
of vehicle, and I asked him if he really
thought he was getting $30,000 more fun out
of his car than I was getting out of mine.
Similarly, would I really get $X,000 more fun
out of a higher-rated radio? Would those few
rare and difficult contacts be worth the
extra cost?
Well... as Bob suggests in a couple posts, it
is all relative and each of us must decide these
matters for ourselves, and this is, after all,
only a hobby, and we do not all have the same
resources to throw at it, so maybe we are tilting
at windmills and becoming more worried about rig
specifications, and less interested in making
contacts.
My ONLY objection is to the posturing and chest
beating we sometimes see as guys debate one rig
or antenna versus another.
So, I in the words of the great moral philosopher
and social commentator, Alfred E. Neuman:
"What,...me worry?" ;-)
-------------------- K8JHR ----------------
.
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