My thirty year old Icom ICR7100 receiver has sat unused for well over 15 years. To my pleasant surprise, when I powered it up last week, it seemed to work ok and had no factory installed smoke leaks, but I did have to replace the memory batteries. After using it for a few weeks I noticed it is usable but seems to not have good sensitivity (at least compared to my IC820H with same antenna/frequency) and Icom will no longer service/tune it. After giving some brief thought to replacing it, the light bulb lit and I realized I have a good SDR that should not only out perform the R7100 but provide much greater frequency coverage including hf and many more very useful features. Nevertheless, probably because of spending well over 70 years with hardware boxes having tuning knobs etc., I really want something with knobs and not a mouse.
So, my question is: Is there any reasonably priced accessory hardware available (not an expensive full blown band limited SDR based radio) providing a traditional knob and switch based interface to use with an SDR like an SDRPlay and/or RTLSDR? In other words, I would still use a PC and monitor but for the major functions interface with a piece of real hardware instead of a mouse.
I miss the days in the 50s through the 70s when the HF Spectrum was rich in broadcast/utility/air/etc. signals. I was just recently reading a new edition of the Global Radio Guide and it suggested there is now somewhat of a resurgence in HF broadcasts due to the violence in Eastern Europe, China,s political agenda, etc. Since an SDR also covers HF it is more versatile than the R7100.
So, my question is: Is there any reasonably priced accessory hardware available (not an expensive full blown band limited SDR based radio) providing a traditional knob and switch based interface to use with an SDR like an SDRPlay and/or RTLSDR? In other words, I would still use a PC and monitor but for the major functions interface with a piece of real hardware instead of a mouse.
I miss the days in the 50s through the 70s when the HF Spectrum was rich in broadcast/utility/air/etc. signals. I was just recently reading a new edition of the Global Radio Guide and it suggested there is now somewhat of a resurgence in HF broadcasts due to the violence in Eastern Europe, China,s political agenda, etc. Since an SDR also covers HF it is more versatile than the R7100.
