I'd like some insight into how much weight to assign to lab measurements when
choosing a new rig. One of the steps I'm trying is a pair-wise comparison of
the ARRL published lab measurements in their product reviews of various rigs
that I consider to be candidates, and among these are the FT-1000MP and the
Omni VI.
The FT-1000MP (April 96 QST) is clearly a popular high-end radio among
contesters. The Omni VI (January 93) appears to not enjoy the same level of
enthusiasm, so I figured I'd find lab measurements to back that preference. Its
been 15 years since I was at the controls of a spectum analyzer, network
analyzer or other mega-buck test equipment, but I'm pretty sure I remember what
a dB is and the Omni VI appears to consistently, although narrowly, win the
numbers game in all the important categories (e.g. two tone IMD figures 3 dB
better) and the transmitted phase noise graphs show the Omni VI solidly better.
Trying to find quantitative reasons to chose, then, there's a strong hint that
I'd better look beyond the measurements. Feature wise, the Yaesu clearly wins
the contest of maximizing the count of knobs and switches, but only the
sub-receiver qualifies in my mind as a feature that could contribute decisively
to contesting. And another number I'm comparing, of course, is the price and,
while its slightly cheaper, I don't consider the Omni VI a winner in this
comparison because feature-wise it seems to be about $1K out of line with the
feature-comparable imports (i.e. its more like an FT-990 or TS-850).
So, unless cost is the whole story, I still haven't found any numbers to
support the relative popularity. I do not have any personal experience with
either of these radios and am not trying to endorse either. I WOULD like to
know how contesters interpret the lab measurements. I have been trained to
trust the numbers (electrical engineer) but thats clearly not the whole story
or apparently even the biggest part of it.
Thanks,
Wayne, W5XD
w5xd@delphi.com
PSI apologize if this email appears to have an attachment. I'm using MS
Exchange as a POP client and it works great for me, but lots of folks on the
receiving end report receipt of an empty text attachment that I don't think I
control.
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