As a kid, what was your most "drooled over" communications receiver? (Include photo)

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I remember lusting after one of those. I bought a R8500. And I still have and use it!
The IC7410 I have is better on AM BCB and LW. Everywhere else on HF too.


Unfortunately my cheap plastic Airspy HF+discovery destroys them on LF and HF. Depressing actually...a tiny plastic thing working so much better. The horror!

You would need to add some sort of external RF preselector to the SDR to approach the performance of a receiver such as the R8500.

 

[cistercian]

Yea, but tune up the oldies, its like a breath of fresh air.

I bought a JRC NRD 515 a couple of years ago. It is just wonderful to use! It really reminds me of my old Mackay Marine 3031A ships receivers.
It has a very nice tuning knob and fully professional feeling controls. It is a very hot receiver. When I feel nostalgic I put it on the operating
position and go nuts with it. It is one of the very best radios I have ever used. Not bad for 80's tech!

 

[w2xq]

I've had more than a few receivers over the years. I started with a Hallicrafters S-38. Comments and pictures of the toys on the tabletop over the years in a PDF: W2XQ.com : Radio

 

[zob-slantzero]

I bought a JRC NRD 515 a couple of years ago. It is just wonderful to use! It really reminds me of my old Mackay Marine 3031A ships receivers.
It has a very nice tuning knob and fully professional feeling controls. It is a very hot receiver. When I feel nostalgic I put it on the operating
position and go nuts with it. It is one of the very best radios I have ever used. Not bad for 80's tech!

Three thumbs up (my parents had a heck of a time buying me gloves as a kid) for the NRD 515. Beautiful receiver, fun to operate and still has the ears of a teenager.

 

[KevinC]

Heathkit GR-78...only because I built it.

Also built a VF-2031 and somehow managed to get it RX around 155. Yeah, I was a teenager with a job and hadn't discovered girls yet so I had lots of spare cash...NSM these days. The guy at the Heathkit store didn't want to sell it to me at first since I didn't have a license, but finally gave in. I think he figured I'd never get it to work so what the heck, it's a sale.

 

[hamstang]

For me it was the Radio Shack Realistic DX 160. I obsessed over that radio so much the catalog would simply fall open to that page of the catalog. Years later when I was finally able to afford one, sadly the performance never lived up to my dreamed of expectations.

View attachment 156743

$160 50 years ago. How much would that be in today's dollars? Folks whine and complain about radio prices these days! Point being $500-$700 IS a lot of money these days, but probably in line with the times, especially considering the features available on many radios.

 

[n0esc]

$160 50 years ago. How much would that be in today's dollars? Folks whine and complain about radio prices these days! Point being $500-$700 IS a lot of money these days, but probably in line with the times, especially considering the features available on many radios.

$1100 or so...

 

[Omega-TI]

$160 50 years ago. How much would that be in today's dollars? Folks whine and complain about radio prices these days! Point being $500-$700 IS a lot of money these days, but probably in line with the times, especially considering the features available on many radios.

Yeah, we actually have it BETTER than back then. For instance...



Now I distinctly remember paying $750.00 for a 25" console television in 1985, but in 2020 I paid only $400.00 for a 42" flat screen, the equivalent of $163.58 in 1985 money. So when people complain about spending $650.00 on an SDS100 or SDS200 I look back at what we paid "back in the day" and realize we never had it so good.

 

[Omega-TI]

For instance on page seven of the 1990 Radio Shack "SALE" catalog, a Radio Shack PRO-2005 was going for $369.95, in current dollars that is $895.60 or $245.60 less and we get more bang for the buck to boot!

 

[prcguy]

When I was about 15 and before I got a couple of R-390s I somehow pulled off a deal and ended up with a Hallicrafters SX-101. It was beautiful and soo smooth to operate. It spent more time in the CB band back then and worked really well, I could full duplex at the far ends of the CB band with it using a stock CB. I can't remember if it covered CB off the low end of 10m or if I tweaked the LO a bit to move it down.

 

[ems55]

That would have to be the Collins R-390A-URR.
Finally got one at a ham swap meet in 1969.

Yep, still have one !!!

 

[N4DJC]

One of my older friends had one, along with a TR4-CW. It was expensive but it sounded wonderful.

 

[TAC4]

As a kid it was the Kenwood R-5000 as seen on the back cover
of Popular Communication Magazine that I received every month. I would of given a kidney for that radio.

 

[PACNWDude]

It was one of these Zenith 3000's.....not the older or newer ones as the older ones were too big to carry around and the newer ones just did not look right to me. I bought this one a year or so ago.

 

[blantonl]

It is, of course, the R9000

 

[k7ng]

I thought the coolest receiver around was the Hammarlund HQ-180. A family friend had one and I got to turn knobs a couple times. They were still in the ham radio catalogs back when I was just getting started learning Morse Code.

 

[MDScanFan]

For me it was the Ten Tec Rx-340

 

[teedee911]

For me it was the Radio Shack Pro-2006, I was lucky enough to get one from a buddy who was in a pinch for cash for his
wedding. He wanted $150 but I gave him $200 because I wanted to help him out, it was basically new, box and all. Over
the years I probably bought and sold a dozen of them, Opto boards etc. The only analog scanner left on the rack is a
BC9000XLT, the rest as they say, are history.

 

[PACNWDude]

For me it was the Radio Shack Pro-2006, I was lucky enough to get one from a buddy who was in a pinch for cash for his
wedding. He wanted $150 but I gave him $200 because I wanted to help him out, it was basically new, box and all. Over
the years I probably bought and sold a dozen of them, Opto boards etc. The only analog scanner left on the rack is a
BC9000XLT, the rest as they say, are history.

Have several Pro-20xx scanners myself, and still use them too. But, the heyday of listening to analog cell phones in the 1990's with them is sadly long gone

 

[teedee911]

Have several Pro-20xx scanners myself, and still use them too. But, the heyday of listening to analog cell phones in the 1990's with them is sadly long gone

Oh yeah, the old analog cell phones, you couldn't get through the cell band without hitting 50-100 calls. One of the many dumb FCC laws, you can "own" the equipment, you just can't "listen". Yeah, okie dokie!