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Quick! Icom R-71a vs JRC NRD-525 vs Kenwood R-1000/5000

Nightshade

Nightshade

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Sep 16, 2009
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These are the radios it has come down to once I looked beyond the Realistic DX-160. " Icom R-71a vs JRC NRD-525 vs Kenwood R-1000/5000"

The thing is I have no experience with any of them and only have what I can find on the web to form an opinion with. If anyone here as any had experience with any of these then please......WHICH ONE IS THE BETTER CHOICE FOR A RETIRED GEEZER'S CASUAL DEPENDABLE LISTENING? (Note: Just ONE of these radios I can buy so I must not be able to out grow it too soon, please.)

I need the advice ASAP since I need to move on to learning the antenna end of this hobby.

Thanks in advance. ;)
 

IMHO go with the JRC NRD-525. Better all way around. JRC makes some really nice stuff. I think you will find it has better AM performance than the Icom. This coming from an R-1000 owner BTW. Go with the NRD-525 and be happy. (y)
 
QRN said:
IMHO go with the JRC NRD-525. Better all way around. JRC makes some really nice stuff. I think you will find it has better AM performance than the Icom. This coming from an R-1000 owner BTW. Go with the NRD-525 and be happy. (y)
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Advice noted, thank you. Now I need to get lucky enough to find one. :eek:
 
I've owned several R71As. The detector performance is sub standard on AM. There are mods on the web for that. Otherwise OK but eventually the memory board will need replacement.

Dunno about the others.
 
QRN said:
Oh crap! When I saw the word "Quick" in the thread title I thought you had your eyes on one and waiting to make an offer. Ummm......er..... good luck.
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I do but the price is rapidly going out of my range.:eek:

On another note............
I've been watching the Kenwood R-1000's and noticed that they are running in a more affordable range. That said, since I'm not sure where my interest will go yet I've pretty much decided to invest in a Kenwood R-1000 since it is simple, solid and reliable for an newbie to learn on or stay with. R-1000' also seem to be more plentyfull in the used market so supply doesn't seem to be a problem. Who know's maybe I'll luck onto a good one like you have!!
 
N8YX said:
R-5000.

If you're really serious about tropical-band (6 MHz and down) SWLing and can do without memories or FM, find a Drake R7. Or locate an R8B if those are "must-haves".
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The Drake I could live with but not so with the R-5000.They had an annoying problem with the microprocessor that resulted in lots of birdies across the entire tuning range. :thumbdown: Now and then someone would get lucky and get a quiet one. :cry:
 
How about the Drake R8 with sync detector?

If I were into SWLing AM stuff a sync detector would be one feature needed.
 
Drake made some pretty decent stuff and the R8 with sync was no exception. I would take one.

On a slightly off note, I am looking for a Kenwood R-820 receiver if anyone has one in GOOD shape.The interface cables to operate with the TS-820S tranceiver would be great as well. I have a Kenwood TS-820S station with an MC-50,VFO-820,SP-820, and AT-200 but would LOVE to have an R-820 to go with it. It was arguably the best receiver Kenwood ever made. (y)
 
QRN said:
The Drake I could live with but not so with the R-5000.They had an annoying problem with the microprocessor that resulted in lots of birdies across the entire tuning range. :thumbdown: Now and then someone would get lucky and get a quiet one. :cry:
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I have two such animals in my shack. Along with a TS-440S which is similarly quiet. Paying CLOSE attention to logic-board shielding and lead dress within the set goes a long way to eliminate the birdies.

The fact that some samples are quiet and some are noisy tends to indicate that the problem is one of fabrication procedure, not a design deficiency.

TenTec had a similar problem with display noise in their original Omni-series transceivers. Power-lead rerouting fixed the issue.
 
N8YX said:
The fact that some samples are quiet and some are noisy tends to indicate that the problem is one of fabrication procedure, not a design deficiency.
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True but the end result to the user is the same. Probably 99% of the users have no idea of the differance and therefore in 99% of the cases I would recommend the 5000 be avoided.
 

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