Japan Radio Company tabletop receivers
The Japan Radio Company had an excellent reputation for it's maritime communications equipment, until 1977, when JRC launched a line designed for the amateur radio market, offering cleanly manufactured professional technology at an acceptable price. The company immediately earned an excellent reputation among radio amateurs.
In the mid-1960s, a tube receiver with linear frequency dial 1 was already available: the NRD-1 and a slightly slimmed-down version, the NRD-2. The NRD-10 series appearing 1974 was equipped with a digital frequency display.
Parallel to the NRD-71 series of double conversion receivers with digital frequency display, the NRD-505 appeared in 1977 as JRC's first receiver built for the amateur market, the standard version covered the range up to 30 MHz and had a price of US$ 2250 and could be equipped with a 4-memory option for an additional charge. This receiver, as well as its popular successor NRD-515, could be operated in conjunction with a corresponding transmitter and was distinguished by its extremely simple operation and excellent signal post-processing as well as mechanical workmanship. The NRD-515 also had an external memory option with 24 or 96 memory channels and a today very rare external frequency input keypad available for a hefty surcharge.
The NRD-525, which was presented in 1986 was considered as a reference receiver for a long time, it had a built-in frequency input keypad and 200 memories, search options and passband tuning. After the NRD-535, the NRD-545, the first receiver with digital signal processing (DSP), was introduced in 1998. In parallel, a lower-end set, the NRD-345, was sold since 1997 as an entry-level model. On the other side of the spectrum, the professional receiver NRD-301A/302A was affordable for a few enthousiasts at a price of around US$10,000.
Tabletop receivers from JRC
NRD-1E | 1965 / 67 | Triple conversion | 90 kHz - 30 MHz | linear analogue display | |
NRD-10 | 1974 | Triple conversion | 100 kHz - 30 MHz | digital display, 16 memories, solid state | |
NRD-1107 | 1977 | Double conversion | 1.6 - 25 MHz marine radio bands | Digital display, frequency selection with decade switches | |
NRD-71 | ca. 1979 | Double conversion | 100 kHz - 30 MHz | digital display, memory option | |
NRD-93 | approx. 1984 | Double conversion | 90 kHz - 30 MHz | digital display, 60 memories | |
NRD-301A | approx. 1977 | Double conversion | 90 kHz - 30 MHz | digital display, 300 memories, no keypad | |
NRD-505 | 1977 | Double conversion | 100 kHz - 30 MHz | digital display, optional 4 memories, matching transmitter NSD-500 | |
NRD-515 | 1979 | Double conversion | 100 kHz - 34 MHz | Digital display, PBT, optional 24 / 96 memories, optional external frequency keypad, matching transmitter NSD-515 | |
NRD-525 | 1986 | Double conversion | 90 kHz - 34 MHz | Digital display, 200 memories, PBT, noise blanker, optional PC control board & RTTY decoder | |
NRD-535 | 1991 | Triple conversion | 100 kHz - 30 MHz | Digital display, 200 memories, PBT, noise blanker, ECSS, PC interface, optional RTTY decoder | |
NRD-545 | 1998 | Triple conversion | 100 kHz - 30 MHz | Digital display, 1000 memories, PBT, DSP, ECSS, PC interface, integrated RTTY decoder | |
NRD-345 | 1997 | Double conversion | 100 kHz - 30 MHz | Digital display, 100 memories, noise blanker, synchronous detector, PC interface |