Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Nick Booras, who writes:
I just picked up a Harris 505A and I made a couple videos your viewers might like.
This radio is extremely sensitive as you can see in the comparison videos. I am very lucky to have picked it up. I will add that in the comparison to the Kenwood TS890 I didn’t try the 15 kHz filter on video. I did try it afterwards and I was surprised to receive the weak 6.085 signal with similar results to the 505. I thought for sure that that huge width would only let in more noise but I was wrong. I learned something new! But the 505A is still a super sweet machine.
Thank you for sharing this, Nick! What a wonderful addition to your radio collection. I’ve always loved the incredibly simple design of the 505A and have assumed it would have a very low noise floor.
Thanks again!
This article brought to mind the countless hours I spent tuning an R-390-A receiver as a Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves. I/we get comfortable tweaking the knobs to pull a signal of interest out of the noise. I eventually mastered the art of ‘split can’ headphone operations – scanning for signals on two receivers at the same time.
Interesting comparison between that Harris 505A and the new Kenwood TS-890S. (I’ve been looking at that rig myself for consideration, the TS-890S.). Thus far, my best hard catches RX is an Icom IC-745. I mainly have been using a Kenwood TS-2000X. The Kenwood will tune and hear pretty much everything the Icom does, but the IC-745 certainly is much more listenable in deep noise and weak situations. Where does the Kenwood win? Audio quality of a mild, to strong, signal on a pair of AKG K240 headphones and a Radio Shack Nova-15 speaker. (That rigs has spoiled me, sound-wise.) The IC-745 will give you listener fatigue. What I thought to be more interesting was the difference to the Harris 505A compared to the WJ 8711 RX. Wow!!!! Neat, what out USA tax $$$ has paid for.