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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!ucbvax!decwrl!daemon
From: daemon@decwrl.UUCP (The devil himself)
Newsgroups: net.ham-radio
Subject: New Equipment
Message-ID: <868@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 16-Oct-85 11:35:55 EDT
Article-I.D.: decwrl.868
Posted: Wed Oct 16 11:35:55 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 18-Oct-85 00:20:02 EDT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Lines: 63

Regarding the purchase of new equipment and reliability of same:

Let's take a closer look at what is on the market today. Its all solid
state and crammed with an assortment of integrated circuits and bells and
whistles. Nearly all transceivers manufactured by the "Big Three" contain
some form of CPU for controlling the radio. Take my ICOM gear for instance.
I have the whole shebang - IC-751, IC-271A, IC-471A, AT-500, IC-02AT, and
lots of accessories. The big rigs all have EX-309 parallel controller
interfaces installed, along with voice synthesizers, pre-amps, etc. I look
at that investment with all the frills, and believe me, if there was a Rusty
Jones for radio gear, I'd apply it! You can buy a stripped down Chevette,
or you can buy a loaded CPU controlled Corvette. The luxury and performance
comes with a price though. Chances are you'll keep that Corvette for many,
many years, but not without ocassional breakdowns associated with the
high-tech gadgetry that came with the auto. Same with today's ham gear.
You can still find 20 year old Heathkit rigs that works like new. No gadgetry,
no transistors - just a lot of tubes and point to point wiring. The tubes 
may have been replaced a half dozen times, but tube testers and Radio Shack
lifetime guarantee tubes made it all painless. The newer rigs pose greater
problems. It's difficult at best for even an Amateur Extra Class to use a
surgeon's dexterity to troubleshoot and repair some of the newer rigs. Its
unlikely that a transistor or IC will fail in them. But when they do, it's
back to the factory. Kenwood, Yaesu, and Icom have repair backlogs that are
very reasonable. Icom runs between 5 and 10 working days and they generally
extend the terms of their warranty. Consider the number of rigs out there that
have been sold by those companies over the past 10 years or more, and that 
turnaround time is impressive! Many of the repairs are glitches that appear
during the first few days or weeks of operation. Here's some history on my
gear:

     IC-720A     Worked like a zeke for 2 years before being sold
                 Went back to Icom because the frequency display
                 wouldn't zero on WWV (200 cycles off). Fixed.

     IC-751      In regular operation for 1 year now. Went back to
                 Icom during warranty period to correct a defective
                 transformer on the display board (Icom custom part).
                 No problems since. Have used it on AMTOR extensively
                 over past year (AMTOR does a number on any rig).
 
     IC-271A     In regular operation for 4 months. Minor problem
                 detected on transmitted FM signal. Sent back to Icom
                 for repair. Out of warranty but no charge by Icom.

     IC-471A     In regular operation for 4 months. No problems.

     IC-02AT     In regular operation for nearly 2 years without any
                 problems.

All my problems were caused by defective parts that could only have been
picked up after realtime use. I doubt if Icom does 100% reliability testing
on their assembly lines. However, I am 100% satisfied with the equipment,
the bells and whistles, and the computer interfacing capability of the Icom
gear. Sure get rid of the Hallicrafters and get some of the new fancy gear.
The receivers on these engineering marvels are outstanding. But keep the
coffee cup off the cabinets, and don't let the kids get their sticky hands
all over the front panel. I am sure you'll be satisfied with the quality,
service, and overall reliability.

73,  Paul - WA1OMM


Wed 16-Oct-1985 11:38 EST