[CQ-Contest] radio evaluation: lab measurements?

[Wayne E. Wright]

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 at 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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