XTS3000 vs XTS5000 UHF Analog RX Shootout

[g8tzl2004]

I have compared the analog RX sensitivity performance of a UHF (403-470 MHz) XTS3000 vs XTS5000 using both wide (25KHz spacing) and narrow band (12.5KHz spacing).

Overall, the XTS3000 blows away the XTS5000....and I've compared the XTS3000 to three XTS5000's!!!! I was expecting the XTS5000 to outperform the XTS3000 but the opposite was the case!!!!

Using 25 KHz spacing, analog RX performance is very similar...hardly any difference. But when you switch to narrow band, the XTS3000 significantly outperforms the XTS5000. With the "fake" squelch OPEN on both radios, a weak but copyable signal on the XTS3000 does not even trigger the analog to digital converter on the XTS5000..you just hear the fake white noise. I tested 2 other XTS5000's and got identical results.

I think the issue with the XTS5000 is the way it handles 12.5KHz narrow band using DSP.

In theory, when you use 12.5KHz narrow band and switch in narrow IF filters (7.8KHz or 5.76KHz), you should get around a 2-3 dB increase in sensitivity (more than 3dB if you use the ultra narrow 5.76KHz IF filter). With the XTS3000, this improvement in sensitivity is very noticeable. However, with the XTS5000, when you use 12.5KHz spacing, the sensitivity is worse compared to 25KHz spacing (15KHz IF filter)...I guess the reason is maybe due to the way the XTS5000's DSP handles narrow band??

Has anybody else found that their XTS3000's performs better than an XTS5000 using analog narrow band mode?

Any other comments?