sullivan@acf4.UUCP (06/09/84)
Last Friday (June 1) I bought a ICOM IC-R71A for $700. I have only played with it for a few days (this being Monday), so I haven't really put it through its paces. My previous receiver was a Sony ICF-2001, which is helplessly out-classed by the ICOM. I'll post a follow up review later. My primary interest is in Medium Wave DXing. I saw wonderful reviews of the R70 which said that it was superb for BCB work. I also saw the reports of poor quality control which caused some R70's to die, as well as hearing that they were extremely succeptable to static build-up which would fry the front end. So, I waited. When my eyes caught the first R71A add, I fell into immediate, and deep love. I had to have it. Then I read a six or seven page review of the R71A by a Australian DX club in DX News (the publication of the National Radio Club) which was quite detailed and pointed out the good and the bad of the radio. All in all, it fixes most (but not all) of the R70's quirks. More importantly the review stated that in their opinion this was the best performance for the money that could be had in the $500 to $3000 prrice range. I was sold, and I waited until my wallet caught up. It is a fantastic receiver. I find it very enjoyable to operate, and I have been having so much fun with the shortwave spectrum that I haven't really gotten down into the BCB too often, though when I did I caught a few new stations where I had previously heard static. This receiver works very well in ECSS mode, which then provides full access to the PBT and notch. Also, the noise blanker works extremely well at getting rid of ac line hash, which made low frequency (100-500KHz) work almost impossible before. If you can stand the wait, save up and buy this radio. More later. David J. Sullivan, WA1TNS ...!floyd!cmcl2!sullivan New York University SULLIVAN@NYU.ARPA