receiver-reviews

From time-to-time, someone will ask my opinion about this or that. Usually the question comes from a
person just starting out in the hobby of SWLing. Or maybe it's a non-technical hobbyiest who is
experiencing difficulties or is dissatisfied with his/her current setup. Well, my opinion is no better, or
worse, than anyone else's opinion. However, I am flattered to share whatever it is that can, or may, help. I
am no more an expert than anyone else who has been doing this stuff for more than half-a-century. I
suppose my greatest assets are my notes and observations of the conditions, circumstances, and
situations and my subjective feelings of a particular device, born of it's lasting impressions - how much it
has affected me.

Read this three times slowly:
"I have never, ever, listened to a communication receiver's internal loudspeaker for any length of time, if I
could avoid it!"

The list of radios on the following pages is just a beginning. There are a lot more to talk about, but these are the ones I felt
compelled to discuss first. Here's my small print, disclaimers, qualifiers, and caveats:

Audio Caveat: It should be noted that all (I repeat, "ALL"), of my radios are connected to a suitable high
quality external speaker most of the time. Obviously, when enjoying a delightful beverage at poolside, or
lying supine in the hammock, then it's usually just the internal speaker playing.

Antenna caveat: Test Conditions: Over the years I have had many antennas, of wide and varying type,
size, and configuration. At this location (30+ years) I have always had the following three antennas. They
have been moved slightly up or down, repaired or replaced with different types of wire, and slightly
lengthened or shortened, but basically, they have remained "technically" unchanged.
1. An 80 meter (essentially a 120 (+/-) foot North/South (broadsided to E/W) dipole usually between 25 and
40 feet elevation, fed without a balun through either 50 or 75 Ohm coax..
2. An 80 meter sloper, which is about 65 feet long at 45 degrees, North-facing, and top fed against the 45
foot steel tower, without a balun through either 50 or 75 Ohm coax..
3. A 160 meter, 1/4 wavelength, end-fed, about 130 feet long over terrain that varies from 25 feet to 35
feet below. It is fed with a 9:1 transformer with opposed windings on a type 75 toroidal core in the
voltage-winding configuration. It is fed with 50 Ohm coax.

Very important: My ground system is a farm of many solid copper pipes around my home, which are
electrically bonded to the electrical service entrance, cable, telephone and fresh water (iron pipe from
the street) services, along with my tower, the metal antenna cable entrance window and the shack's
equipment bus bar. For the sake of signal quality, RF feedback, equipment protection and personal
safety, there are no grounds that are independent of the bonded system. Please read and learn about
proper grounding and bonding techniques and practices, which can be found on the Internet.

Receiver Reviews
All comments and remarks are my subjective and objective opinions, and
based on actual use, bench testing, and service experiences. -BB

La Cappo de Tutti:
Serious TSCM*-Grade Surveillance, Intercept,
and Monitoring Station Receivers.

*Technical Surveillance and Countermeasures

These receivers were variously employed by NSA, CIA, FEMA, NRO, FBI, DEA,
INS, et al ... etc, etc.
Any one of these radios would be an SWL's dream come true. Fortunately (and
quite by an accidental event), I have had the opportunity to service and
modify equipment for a government agency on a contractual basis. Some of
the units listed below, and others, have spent time in my repair shop (and
shack). That was about 97% fun and 3% labor, but don't tell the Feds.

Watkins-Johnson HF-1000
A real winner. It can be overloaded by a local flame thrower (sometimes) and
DSP needs some getting used to, but that's all fixable with proper adjustments
and/or aux. equipment.

Tentec RX-340
This is a TSCM sleeper that is up to the task. Similar to the HF-1000 -
sometimes better, sometimes a little worse. What a great radio!

Icom R-9000
This is the Godfather of all solid-state spy-type radios. It is now technically a
few generations removed from state-of-the-art, but what a performer. No DSP,
no sync AM ... you'll probably never miss it!

Collins R-390(A)
Ditto the above (for the R-9000) - but with tubes. This radio set all the
standards, and is still a contender - 1/2 Century later! Definitely worth a
serious love affair.

JRC NRD-545
This one is actually mine! A real governmental snoop candidate. I always loved
JRC's ergonomics. A panel layout you can use in the dark. They got it right
with superb DSP functions of everything. About one quarter or one fifth the
cost of the mil-spec candidates. No menu hassles. Very few performance flaws
- probably not worth discussing.

Racal 3702 (3701)
Professional/commercial/military/embassy/shipboard quality.
Very solid, Cadillac feel, easy to use - a 24/7 radio.

Racal RA 6790/GM
Ditto above. The "6790" is an icon from the 1980s. This radio is very flexible in
many various build configurations. Choose the Racal faceplate you like and
buy the radio...it's that simple...all models seem to perform fantastically - they
just look different.

Harris R-590
I finally got to borrow one for a few weeks. Sounds, feels and works like an RA
6790, but possibly slightly more flexible. This one is right up there on top.

Drake R-8B
I had one of these for a few weeks. The moment you fire it up, you know that
Drake has a commercial linage. This one is very quiet, easy to use, has flexible
controls, and feels like the solid performer that it is. More info here.

GOOD, SOLID PERFORMERS

JRC NRD-535D
If I was stuck on an island, this is the one I'd have with me. By all rights, it should be in the
category above, but it is a little outdated compared to its younger brother, the 545, and anyhow, I
needed a leader for this category. JRC did it all correctly. Even the ergo aspect is better than the
DSP version 545. It's a pretty radio and about as business-like as a front panel can be, save the
NRD-515. My personal 535 was one of the beta test models for the designers of the radio and
came straight out of their labs in New Jersey several years ago.
Dollar-per-performance; ya jes can't beat it ... period!

NRD-515
This is truly a classic. No DSP, no sync detector, no memories (without add-on unit), but just a
cast iron (actually aluminum) super performer. No one can 'not like' this radio. It's 2 generations
removed from the fantastic 535, but fundamentally the same baseline performance in a pre-digital
world. I'll never sell this one!

Icom R-75
This one is a real sleeper. Out of the box it is a fantastic performer - and for about one third to half
the money you'd expect to pay for the performance, features, and functions. If you buy this radio,
you must buy the plug-in DSP Noise Reduction board - if you don't, you are only cheating yourself.
It has SAM, sync AM and that is not really executed very well, but kind of works. If I need that
function, I tune with ECSS and forget the rest - presto - no QSB! I have seen better ergonomics
from Icom, but this one is (just) okay in my book. The S/W driven menu options and setup are easy
enough to access and adjust, but I still like to have a knob, dial or switch for every function (call
me old fashioned). If you want the best that $500.00 can buy - this is the one.

Good Old Standbys That Perform Very Well

Kenwood R-5000
Solid, selective, sensitive, stable. For a general purpose receiver, this is the do all-be all for not
much money.
Mine serves for long-term AM broadcast listening, shortwave broadcast surfing, and just general
easy chair relaxing. I love my 5000. This is my sweetheart #2, along side the 535D.

FRG-7700
My personal opinion is that Yaesu never made a better all-around (receive-only) package, for the
time and dollars. Appearance, layout, convenience, performance, and audio - all very nice. There's
no pretense with this set - it's just tune the dial and listen. I am not a big fan of Yaesu's receivers
in general, since they never seem to quite hit the mark in Noise Floor, MDS, and sensitivity when
compared to competitively priced Icom and (even) Kenwood receivers. In that genre, I feel that
everything they have done over the years (receivers and transceivers), for the same money has
been done better by Icom and Kenwood - just an opinion. The radio is pretty nice, I could let mine
go without too much remorse, but I think I'm gonna keep it. All-in-all, it is of good utility, service,
and value.

Icom R-71A
Matching companion to the VHF/UHF R-7000. Many governmental agencies have used this guy -
both these guys. The 71A was never a "super radio" in terms of noise, audio quality, selectivity
and sensitivity. And whoever decided on it's volitle ROM operating system should be arrested. I
have mine extensively modified with some gain and filter mods. I also added the non-volitle after
market ROM option (www.willcoele.com) . It is now quieter and listens like a champ! The radio is
layed out in an excellent fashion, with easy to find and use controls. Mine is currently in my shop
as a general coverage, casual listener for those all-day episodes at the work bench. I will never
willingly part with this one.

Philips / Magnavox D-2999
I'm going to rate this along side the Yaesu 7700. It's a fun, good quality radio for general use. Fed
with an adequate antenna, it performs well across the bands. It is much more friendly than the
Yaesu for travel, although big and heavy as a portable, it would be no problem to take along on a
picnic or to the beach. If you are a "modifier" like me, it has some great potential for adding
goodies like a preamp, true RF gain, and filter experimentation.