wich is best on VHF ??

[Kenneth Jensen]

Wich of the following radios would you consider as the best performer (RX sensitivity) on analog VHF - Motorola Spectra - or Astro Spectra - or MCS2000???

[George]

None of the above....X9000! X9000! X9000! (with preamp)


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[Jim202]

Your asking a loaded question here. Your liable to get a bunch of different answers.

First off, the Spectra is an older radio. It has an great receiver. I have a bunch of them and it always amazes me
just how well the receiver works. The down side of the Spectra is that it has a leaky capacitor issue. Over time,
the electrolytic capacitors start to ooze out the chemical in them and it starts to attack the circuit board. If not
caught in time, the circuit board can be destroyed by the chemical reaction. Normally the radio will start to show
some signs of a failure from the leaking caps. You will see VCO problems, error messages when you turn the
radio on or when transmitting, or hear audio pops. The radio is no longer supported by Motorola.

The Astro Spectra also has a good receiver. It hasn't shown an issue with the caps like the Spectra. Again the
support life of this radio is in question.

The MCS2000 is also a good radio. It is older and again has reached the end of the support life. Some people like
them for some of the functions it will provide. As a general radio, it works fine.

The X9000 that was mentioned by the other person is also a good radio. The only drawback is in it's wide band
frequency coverage. If you have any VHF pager activity around you, I would recommend that you try the radio
before you buy it. You may end up with some intermod issues due to the wide bandwidth on the RX front end.

Jim

Wich of the following radios would you consider as the best performer (RX sensitivity) on analog VHF - Motorola Spectra - or Astro Spectra - or MCS2000???

[com501]

Astro Spectra Plus with W12 option. Newer radio, uses Astro 25 software, and is reasonably new enough to not have too many issues.

[Will]

Of the radios mentioned, the Spectra. Astro or plane jane Spectra has the same RF frontend with lots of filtering.

The MCS is just a walki-talki in a box. It lacks good frontend filtering.

A pre-amp rf frontend is available for the Spectras in VHF and also UHF too. If you do not have a lot of RF, or any high powered stations nearby, the pre amp is a good choice. I have several types here for VHF.

[Kenneth Jensen]

Thanks - I have them all - but just wanted to hear other peopeles oppinions - I feel that the good ol spectra is a little better than the Astro Spectra (on analog).