parnass@ihu1h.UUCP (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) (10/25/84)
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THE "NEW" REGENCY SCANNERS - 1 YEAR LATER
On June 23, 1983, I posted an article describing some of the
new scanners Regency announced. Here's an update:
- The HX1000 was supposed to be a 20 channel portable.
The real HX1000 just became available a couple of
months ago. It is built in the same case as the Azden
2m walkie-talkie, and contains 30 channels, not 20.
The factory spec sheet boasted 2 watts of audio output,
but the real HX1000 has only 0.2 watts! The two
HX1000's my friends own have very good sensitivity.
This unit being sold now at the Downers Grove (IL)
McDade store! Regency doesn't have the facilities to
repair the HX1000 yet, so they are giving customers
brand new ones in exchange for units sent in for repair
under warrantee!
- The MX5000, a 20 channel scanner with continuous 25-550
MHz coverage, has become available during the last few
months. It is built in Japan by AOR, the same company
that produces the Tempo S5 walkie-talkie.
Users appear happy with the good sensitivity and wide
coverage, but the scanning rate comes nowhere near
meeting advertised claims. To quote a recent "Moni-
toring Times" article: "The SLOW scan and search rate
(11 seconds for 20 channels) earns the unit its first
design Edsel. it's ridiculous, unnecessary and totally
useless."
Its high level of internally generated noise wipes out
reception when using the supplied antenna: "on frequen-
cies below 300 MHz - especially between 25 and 88 MHz -
you'll find the unit almost unusable on this antenna."
- The MX7000, the first programmable scanner to cover the
800 MHz band is STILL not available. Current specula-
tion is that this radio is really a Japanese MX-5000
with the additional 800 MHz converter components stuf-
fed on the board. The factory spec sheet showed a com-
pletely different scanner (likely an early mockup of
what was supposed to be an American built radio).
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Bob Parnass, Bell Telephone Laboratories - ihnp4!ihu1h!parnass - (312)979-5414