::)Judging by some of the responses it seems we as a group have become an use and throw away society.
New is better..More Bling!--like automobiles , they are making the engines smaller and alternators bigger to drive all the bling--that is what sells.
Never mind the real world performance.
To me Ham Radio is about keeping them oldies going, more knobs the better.
How much better is a newer rig compared to the old legacy rigs, On paper a lot apparently.
How good is a new rig vs. old side by side..? To me older sounds better..IF derived AGC, analogue noise blanker , pleasant audio, no audio pop, very little hiss, S meters that work like they should below S9.
None of that S meter on zero with loud station in the speaker. (S meters now have 20dB+ offset below S9)
Old rigs weigh a lot, for one reason, they are crammed with state of the art tech available at the time they were produced.
Analogue filters in RF and IF stages, lots of real world radio parts.
Repairs are possible still, just revamped an ft-2000.
There is a very real reason SDRs are punted to be so great-and for the most, I guess they are--simply it is cost.
Open it up, and you will wonder where all the parts have gone. You don't need many parts-all gets done in the A/D converter and DSP. If that blows your hair back that is fine, but big old rigs to me just sound Better!..
If you have to put anti slip pads on the feet of a rig , not to move around on the desk when you push a button, you can keep it!..
To me the smooth AM type sound you get from an older rig is just perfect.
As a last comment, The FT-1000d is great workhorse rig , same as most other rigs Yeasu have produced. I had one and loved it.
Still have the FT-2000, and 1000MP.
73 de William
ZS4L / ZS5WC