7 June 2021 – The Sherwood Ratings: Transceiver Performance for the HF DX & Contest Operator by Rob Sherwood, NC0B
Rob’s presentation
Rob Sherwood’s name has become something of a standard in the radio amateur equipment world as a trusted comparison guide to the technical performance of a wide range of transceivers.
This presentation will explain the process that Sherwood Engineering go through to produce detailed performance figures for a wide range of transceivers.
Rob will talk about the acquisition of a true random sample of the radio, through to the technical processes of measurement and the compilation and presentation of comparative results.
The presentation will also include details of Rob’s recent findings on the long awaited new Elecraft K4D.
Rob will also talk about how modern receivers have become very good but how generally many transmitters need attention to some aspects of their performance.
About Rob
Amateur radio began for Rob in 1961 in Cincinnati, Ohio, as both a novice and general-class operator.
After graduating college in 1969 with a degree in physics, he moved to Denver and worked for KOA radio as an engineer until 1987.
While at KOA, he maintained their 50 KW AM and FM transmitters, microwave links and studio equipment.
The year 1974 saw the beginning of Sherwood Engineering, offering roofing filters and upgrade kits for the Drake R-4C.
In 1976, Rob started measuring receiver performance on dozens of radios, since reviews in QST did not correlate with actual on-air observations at crunch time in CW contests.
In 1977, Ham Radio Magazine published the first of several of his articles on receiver problems and cures, vertical antenna ground systems and mobile antenna efficiency.
Those articles are available on their web site as PDF files.
Receiver test data is now web based with 150 transceiver and receiver listings.
Around 14years ago, Rob built his dream contest station on 10 acres east of Ft. Collins, Colorado on the Pawnee Grassland.
This has made it possible to evaluate top transceivers in major contests in a real-world environment to augment his laboratory data.
This rural setting has allowed Rob to focus his interest on effective antennas.
Six towers support nine mono-band HF Yagis, plus 6m, 2m and 70cm Yagis, plus wire antennas for 160, 40 and 30 metres.
Find out more
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