[Amps] FCC Denies Expert Linears' Request for Waiver of 15 dB Rule

[Catherine James]

Manfred wrote:
> "As long as enough hams prefer to buy radios loaded with multiple features, while not understanding their technical specs, the manufacturers will serve this market and make their business. They will make radios full of features, bells and whistles, and they will make radios that try to cover DC to daylight in all modes, and they will sacrifice performance as much as they have to in order to meet a pre-determined price limit. And many hams will keep buying them."

Well, to be fair, we don't have any choice given the options available from the manufacturers.  (I'm ignoring homebrew for purposes of discussion.)

I have seen many, many online posts asking for an all-mode VHF/UHF rig that doesn't include HF.  These used to be available, but have disappeared.  Today, if you want to do VHF SSB, you have three choices:

-- Modern HF rig plus a transverter
-- Discontinued old tech rig such as an IC-275 or IC-821
-- Modern DC to daylight rig

And the reason they don't exist is that the manufacturers have not found a cost-effective way to manufacture them.  So even those willing to spend more for a modern, up-to-date version of the IC-275 don't have that option.

Bells and whistles are cheap, cheap, cheap.  The cost of adding them is negligible because they're mostly just firmware. But when you want higher power, better filtering, higher frequencies, etc. -- anything that could be called "performance" -- the cost rises because the cost of the raw components needed rises.

73,
Cathy
N5WVR