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Reviews For: McKay Dymek DR33C-6

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : McKay Dymek DR33C-6
Reviews: 1MSRP: $1,000-$1,995
Description:
General Coverage Communications Receiver
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0015
N1KPR Rating: 2011-09-17
Unsung Beauty Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
There was no listing for this model, so I decided to photograph mine and add this one.
I gave this receiver a "5" only for how it executes what it is and was intended to be. As a comms product design engineer I am very sensitive to design details; mechanical, electrical, and cosmetic. This radio gets an "A+" from me based on its intended market and original 1980's MSRP. The radio was manufactured from 1975 through 1987 in various revision iterations. Today's (2011) value for one in decent operational and cosmetic shape is about $600 to $900 USD. I have seen these go for more than a kilobuck in pristine condition.
Before I ever put a radio on the test bench to check for all the service manual specifications, I put it in the shack and play it with known antennas, propagation conditions, and familiar broadcasters. Subjective analysis really means a lot, not only for performance, but ergonomics and just plain friendliness.
I first try to get a feel of a receiver's four basic qualities; sensitivity, selectivity, dynamic range, and noise floor. The DR33C-6 excells in all those areas. It does not have some of the usual tweeker knobs, like movable notch, bandpass tuning, and AGC timing, but to this point I really haven't missed them - those fixed quantities seemingly executed within quite well for any given mode.
The recovered audio at 6 KHz on AM is superb. Be sure to use a good quality external speaker otherwise you'll never appreciate the potential fidelity this thing has ... even with the 4KHz filter.
SSB is absolutely fine as is CW.
If you are familiar with decade tuning, like some offerings from its namesake Mackay-ITT (no connection), then you won't mind the new (but fast) learning curve.
I especially like the fact that the designers were thoughtful enough to provide an IF output. This allows the potential of unlimited experimentation with various demodulators.
One additional thing is that this radio is a child of its period in apperance. Its overall design is befitting any "family" locational decor without looking like something that Dad brought up from the old Ham shack - it's uncluttered and just plain pretty.
McKay had made a serious mark with other models on the commercial, marine, government, and I suppose, embassy, and military markets. Their repackaging of excellent, proven professional designs into a a more civilian presentation deserves commendation.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by N1KPR on 2011-09-17

There was no listing for this model, so I decided to photograph mine and add this one.
I gave this receiver a "5" only for how it executes what it is and was intended to be. As a comms product design engineer I am very sensitive to design details; mechanical, electrical, and cosmetic. This radio gets an "A+" from me based on its intended market and original 1980's MSRP. The radio was manufactured from 1975 through 1987 in various revision iterations. Today's (2011) value for one in decent operational and cosmetic shape is about $600 to $900 USD. I have seen these go for more than a kilobuck in pristine condition.
Before I ever put a radio on the test bench to check for all the service manual specifications, I put it in the shack and play it with known antennas, propagation conditions, and familiar broadcasters. Subjective analysis really means a lot, not only for performance, but ergonomics and just plain friendliness.
I first try to get a feel of a receiver's four basic qualities; sensitivity, selectivity, dynamic range, and noise floor. The DR33C-6 excells in all those areas. It does not have some of the usual tweeker knobs, like movable notch, bandpass tuning, and AGC timing, but to this point I really haven't missed them - those fixed quantities seemingly executed within quite well for any given mode.
The recovered audio at 6 KHz on AM is superb. Be sure to use a good quality external speaker otherwise you'll never appreciate the potential fidelity this thing has ... even with the 4KHz filter.
SSB is absolutely fine as is CW.
If you are familiar with decade tuning, like some offerings from its namesake Mackay-ITT (no connection), then you won't mind the new (but fast) learning curve.
I especially like the fact that the designers were thoughtful enough to provide an IF output. This allows the potential of unlimited experimentation with various demodulators.
One additional thing is that this radio is a child of its period in apperance. Its overall design is befitting any "family" locational decor without looking like something that Dad brought up from the old Ham shack - it's uncluttered and just plain pretty.
McKay had made a serious mark with other models on the commercial, marine, government, and I suppose, embassy, and military markets. Their repackaging of excellent, proven professional designs into a a more civilian presentation deserves commendation.