Can we identify transceivers having low transmit noise, high level receive performance, at a lower market-entry price, and that are rated with higher satisfaction by ham operators?
Here are the results of addressing this question using the transmit composite noise index, the Sherwood (receive) Performance Index, market-entry price, and average eHam rating. I used a technique called hierarchical cluster analysis which has a long history of being used by many disciplines to find groups in data. This method uses the four variables to identify meaningful “clusters” of similar transceivers. They are relatively homogeneous (similar) in terms of transmit composite noise, receive performance, price and consumer satisfaction. I experimented with several multi-group solutions as part of a “sensitivity analysis” but found that the 5-cluster one seemed to be optimal for these transceivers.
