reading between the lines of the Daiwa CN-101L eham review, I felt it was a winner......so, for me (at least), I found a great SWR/Power Meter, despite some negative reviews on eham.
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I typically consider eham.net's reviews.....but.............
- Thread starter Snake Eyes
- Start date
Reviews on eham should be used as a guide, but not gospel.
Whenever people get to offer their opinion on something, there will always be those who nitpick the hell out of something.
I will read a review on a piece of gear, and as long as it is not a complete piece of garbage, then I figure it will work for me, given budget constraints. If we all had $100 bills stuffed in our matresses, then maybe we could be extra picky about things, the way some of those reviewers are on eham, but in general, it serves a good function and may save you from buying a total POS.
I have a couple of MFJ & Diamond swr/rf meters. They work for me.
Whenever people get to offer their opinion on something, there will always be those who nitpick the hell out of something.
I will read a review on a piece of gear, and as long as it is not a complete piece of garbage, then I figure it will work for me, given budget constraints. If we all had $100 bills stuffed in our matresses, then maybe we could be extra picky about things, the way some of those reviewers are on eham, but in general, it serves a good function and may save you from buying a total POS.
I have a couple of MFJ & Diamond swr/rf meters. They work for me.
B
BOOTY MONSTER
Guest
i figgure if it can make nit-picky pefectionist happy that i shouldn't have any problem .
but i do agree with CDX8412 and Cindy Lauper ....... money changes everything .
but i do agree with CDX8412 and Cindy Lauper ....... money changes everything .
I like eham but they need to delete reviews like "I don't have one of these yet but if I did I would give it a five" (that was real), some of them are ridiculous.
73
73
The worst ones lately are the guys who buy $2k+ rigs and don't have the slightest clue how to operate one. Then they slam the rig saying it's broken.
A guy just posted to a Yaesu owners' list describing horrific RF in the shack and said he was waiting to borrow an SWR meter to see what is going on.....the rig has an SWR meter built right into it...described on page 3 of the manual. Give him a few weeks and he'll post a review about how lousy the radio is when he blows his finals.
The most amusing ones of late are Yaesu FT-950 and FT-2000 'reviews' . If you read the manuals, then read the reviews, you can clearly see the operators have no clue how to use their new rig.
They pay a crap-ton of money for all these features and they barely understand enough about the hobby to use an Icom 718...it's bizarre.
A guy just posted to a Yaesu owners' list describing horrific RF in the shack and said he was waiting to borrow an SWR meter to see what is going on.....the rig has an SWR meter built right into it...described on page 3 of the manual. Give him a few weeks and he'll post a review about how lousy the radio is when he blows his finals.
The most amusing ones of late are Yaesu FT-950 and FT-2000 'reviews' . If you read the manuals, then read the reviews, you can clearly see the operators have no clue how to use their new rig.
They pay a crap-ton of money for all these features and they barely understand enough about the hobby to use an Icom 718...it's bizarre.
SR385 said:
Since these are recent reviews it would be very interesting to see what qualifications these reviewers have. Perhaps they are new hams that simply memorized the question and answer pool and did not actually learn a thing.There have been a LOT more of these types getting tickets since the CW requirement was dropped.
Note: That last statement was meant as factual and not as a pro/anti code statement.
I have ran into a few operators like this myself and even though they have been licenced longer than me some of them still have issues with the basics of radio. :shock:
just as a heads up.... a lot of people who are on radio, are disabled. and, many who are disabled have a brain disease to a greater or lesser degree, which impairs memory - due to medication (for those who need it....and there are many).
thus, there can be more than one reason for the things in which you speak.
but, you all knew that, so..... it's all good!
thus, there can be more than one reason for the things in which you speak.
but, you all knew that, so..... it's all good!
There are a lot of reasons that reviews, such as those found on 'eham', should be taken with large doses of 'salt' (or 'Ex-Lax'). Once you start 'reading between the lines' you can generally get a fair approximation of whats sort of happening. That 'reading between the lines' is also subject to huge errors so it's still a 'close' thing, not really factual.
Do I read the reviews? Yes. Do I take them as 'fact'? No, not too much. But they do give me a sort of idea of the general 'feelings' about somethings. They also make me start wondering about one or two things that I have experience with, as in "What am I missing?". Typically, in very particular circumstances, I ain't 'missing' anything, and I start wondering about the 'qualifications' of the one doing the review. "Woo-pee", so what else is new? The only 'absolute' that can be drawn from all that is the number of items that have been sold/tried out. Not the worst indication in the world, but not something to spend your life savings on, right? Well, maybe...
- 'Doc
Do I read the reviews? Yes. Do I take them as 'fact'? No, not too much. But they do give me a sort of idea of the general 'feelings' about somethings. They also make me start wondering about one or two things that I have experience with, as in "What am I missing?". Typically, in very particular circumstances, I ain't 'missing' anything, and I start wondering about the 'qualifications' of the one doing the review. "Woo-pee", so what else is new? The only 'absolute' that can be drawn from all that is the number of items that have been sold/tried out. Not the worst indication in the world, but not something to spend your life savings on, right? Well, maybe...
- 'Doc
psycho,
I think if you read that again you'll find that I didn't say that 'eham' reviews were bad. What I did say was that they are not something that I'd bet my life savings on, as in more opinion than anything. Not very many people can do an 'in-depth', factual review of equipment, they just don't have the equipment to do it with and typically also don't have the knowledge it requires (me included). These reviews are more of a "how easy is it to use, and live with" thingy, which is also very important, at least to me, and is a quality that is infinitely variable! (Ever used something you really liked, but no one else in the world did?)
As for the '4 out of 5' for the Bird, I'm afraid I'd have to agree with that one!
- 'Doc
PS - If you really dig deep enough, you might find a review with my call on it. Not too sure I'd dig that deep for anything, but whatever...
I think if you read that again you'll find that I didn't say that 'eham' reviews were bad. What I did say was that they are not something that I'd bet my life savings on, as in more opinion than anything. Not very many people can do an 'in-depth', factual review of equipment, they just don't have the equipment to do it with and typically also don't have the knowledge it requires (me included). These reviews are more of a "how easy is it to use, and live with" thingy, which is also very important, at least to me, and is a quality that is infinitely variable! (Ever used something you really liked, but no one else in the world did?)
As for the '4 out of 5' for the Bird, I'm afraid I'd have to agree with that one!
- 'Doc
PS - If you really dig deep enough, you might find a review with my call on it. Not too sure I'd dig that deep for anything, but whatever...
I'd have to agree with what others have said some of the people offering reviews, should actually read the user manuals and try again. I also agree with the people posting that they don't actually own, have or used it and giving reviews should be deleted. But for the most part the reviews are good to use as another tool in your decision on what to spend your hard earned cash on.
I have the CN-101L too, and wrote an review there after tinkering it for an while, comparing it to my Bird meter.
I also have one of the first Yaesu FT 847 that arrived in Europe, almost 10 years back, with Collins filters, done the lot of modifications on it, wrot about that too, referrence xtal oven, diode bandswitch mod, fan mod, audio mods, including an mod to improve FM modulation, etc.
I do own an FT 100 (no D version) wich after the mods needed works like an charm.
People don't build an lot themselves anymore, don't dare to go in SMD transcievers etc, i started in tube gear in the 70's up till now in SMD, learning all the way.
Every item on the review has "followers" and enemies of that particular brand/model etc.
There is not one transciever out there that is newly introduced that has no flaws or weak points, needing updated software down the line to improve the transciever as time goed by.
Look at the improvement of the FT 100 to FT 100 D, or from my MFJ 993-B auto tuner...
I do own the Heathkit SB-1000 bought as junker, completely overhauled it and is working (and looks) like it came out of the factory yesterday.
That is part of my hobby, trying to improve the gear, and rather spending time to build my antenna farm, because there is the biggest gain to get, not by buying another ricebox with improved specs and an lousy antenna system.
Reviews? use an few grains of salt, dispose of the obvious haters/fans of the item the review is about, and listen to people using it for an longer time.
Just my 2p
I also have one of the first Yaesu FT 847 that arrived in Europe, almost 10 years back, with Collins filters, done the lot of modifications on it, wrot about that too, referrence xtal oven, diode bandswitch mod, fan mod, audio mods, including an mod to improve FM modulation, etc.
I do own an FT 100 (no D version) wich after the mods needed works like an charm.
People don't build an lot themselves anymore, don't dare to go in SMD transcievers etc, i started in tube gear in the 70's up till now in SMD, learning all the way.
Every item on the review has "followers" and enemies of that particular brand/model etc.
There is not one transciever out there that is newly introduced that has no flaws or weak points, needing updated software down the line to improve the transciever as time goed by.
Look at the improvement of the FT 100 to FT 100 D, or from my MFJ 993-B auto tuner...
I do own the Heathkit SB-1000 bought as junker, completely overhauled it and is working (and looks) like it came out of the factory yesterday.
That is part of my hobby, trying to improve the gear, and rather spending time to build my antenna farm, because there is the biggest gain to get, not by buying another ricebox with improved specs and an lousy antenna system.
Reviews? use an few grains of salt, dispose of the obvious haters/fans of the item the review is about, and listen to people using it for an longer time.
Just my 2p