parnass@ihu1h.UUCP (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) (02/17/85)
x
Regency MX-4000 Scanner Exists!
The first synthesized scanner to cover the 800 MHz fre-
quency band is now available. I had a chance to try
the new Regency MX-4000 at Erickson's Communications
(Chicago) today. I'd have bought one instantly, but
the $530 discount price is way out of line for this
radio! Even the salesman cringed at the price, admit-
ting it wasn't worth that kind of money.
Unlike the MX-7000, which has been advertised for about
a year and hasn't yet been seen in public, the MX-4000
is more than a balsa wood and foam prototype.
My first impressions may be summed up in one word:
'peculiar'.
This 20 channel scanner covers the conventional bands,
including the commercial aircraft band, plus the new
allocations at 800 MHz. Too bad the coverage is not
continuous, like the MX-5000, which affords coverage of
military aircraft in the 200 - 400 MHz range, as well
as the little monitored 72 MHz band. MX-4000 users may
select between AM or FM modes on a channel-by-channel
basis. Scanning speed seems to meet the specifica-
tions: 15 ch/sec. This is a welcome change over the
MX-5000, that has a scanning speed several times slower
than published specifications. (The spec sheets for
the new HX-1000 and MX-5000 contain untruths.)
The speaker is on the bottom of the plastic case, which
rests at an angle, due to a plastic foot on the bottom
of the cabinet. This small scanner looks like a table
radio, is billed as a mobile radio, but contains NiCd
batteries! It's not shaped like a walkie-talkie, so
don't plan on wearing it your belt.
The instruction manual, written in Japan, is scanty at
best. For $530, you don't even get a schematic. An
errata sheet is included, but doesn't fill in all the
holes. The instruction sheet shows 2 antenna jacks on
the back of the scanner. It looks like the manufac-
turer cheapened the design at the last minute and plug-
ged up the hole where the SO239 was supposed to go,
leaving only a single Motorola-type jack.
There is an odd slide switch on the front panel which
doesn't appear in the pictures on Regency's sales
literature. Apparently, this switch offsets the
displayed frequency by 12.5 kHz, but the manual doesn't
elucidate this.
The rather large LCD display is crisp, and contains
several indicators. The 120 milliwatts of audio falls
far short of what a mobile scanner requires. The scan-
ner has to be operated with its slide volume control at
the highest setting. Even then, it's difficult to hear
well in all but the most quiet of rooms.
The MX-4000 contains another feature which no other
Regency unit has: in addition to the ability to lock
out channels from the scan list in the conventional
manner, the user can set the scanner to scan between
channels A and B, where A <= B, and A and B are between
1 and 20 inclusive. This is an odd way of implementing
scanning in "banks". Instead of fixed banks of 10
channels, as in the Bearcat scanners, one essentially
can choose his own logical bank.
I'm eager for someone, myself excluded, to buy one and
rave about it. If the price dropped by $230 or so, I'd
be more tempted.
--
===============================================================================
Bob Parnass, Bell Telephone Laboratories - ihnp4!ihu1h!parnass - (312)979-5414 parnass@ihu1h.UUCP (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) (02/18/85)
EGE, Inc, of Woodbridge, VA has the MX-4000 in stock now for $399. (Phone (800)336-4799 for order information.) The HX2000, a walkie-talkie shaped version of the MX-4000, minus 30 - 50 MHz coverage, is expected by March. EGE quotes a discount price of $359 for the HX2000. > Regency MX-4000 Scanner Exists! > > > The first synthesized scanner to cover the 800 MHz fre- > quency band is now available. I had a chance to try > the new Regency MX-4000 at Erickson's Communications > (Chicago) today. I'd have bought one instantly, but > the $530 discount price is way out of line for this > radio! -- =============================================================================== Bob Parnass, Bell Telephone Laboratories - ihnp4!ihu1h!parnass - (312)979-5414