Last NRD-545 Sold This Afternoon
Today marks the apparent end of Japan Radio?s 31-year foray into receivers
for the shortwave listener/DXer market. This era began in 1977 with the
pioneering NRD-505, which established Japan Radio as the rightful heir to the
legendary Collins when it came to construction quality. Lessons were learned
from that initial model, whereupon the NRD-515 (photo, with outboard speaker and
presets) took its place. Many consider the ?515 to be JRC?s finest such
offering, and most units appear to be operating faithfully even to this day.
This was followed by the slightly disappointing NRD-525 and its improved successor, the NRD-535. These were all conventional receivers, but with the final model, the NRD-545 (Passport 2009, pp. 135-138), Japan Radio entered the dicey realm of digitally operated receivers.
As we warned recently, the last place the ?545 could still be obtained, Universal Radio, was down to its final shipment from JRC. Unsurprisingly, buyers flocked to snap these up.
The last ?545 went out Universal?s door to Don Jensen of Wisconsin. Jensen tells Passport that this took place today at exactly 1:56 PM EDT (1756 UTC). Although no replacement is anticipated, Japan Radio continues to offer pricey models for professional markets. One, the $8,000 NRD-630, is reviewed on pp. 162-165 of Passport 2008.
Sayonara! ?David Zantow