Where to buy used ham transceivers?

[Shortwave_Listener]

I am currently studying for my amateur radio exam (going for basic with honours) and I may want to purchase an HF transceiver some time. Used equipment because new stuff is a bit more than I want to spend. Where are some good places to look? It seems like nearly everything on eBay is untested which sucks.

[RobRich]

A few links here:

https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,109729.msg343677.html#msg343677

Buy used can be okay, just do not put yourself into the position of buying a radio with common-fail, yet "unobtanium" parts.

You might also want to check the clearance, open box, and used sections at the usual amateur radio suppliers like Gigaparts, HRO, etc.

There are a few decent deals in the new market IMO, especially for the QRP segment. For example an assembled (tr)uSDX (not a half-cooked clone!) is under $150USD new. That is 5w on 80/60/40/30/20m using CW or SSB. The display lacks somewhat, and headphones are definitely recommended due to the very tiny speaker, but look at the price.

https://dl2man.de/
https://dl2man.de/where-to-buy-trusdx/

Whatever ya' end up picking, good luck on the exam.

[Shortwave_Listener]

Thanks! I saw your post in the "Advice" thread and those are very helpful too!

These ones:
https://swap.qth.com/
https://www.eham.net/classifieds
https://forums.qrz.com/index.php

Lots of good stuff on eHam it looks like.

I know what you mean about the used stuff, ideally I can find used equipment that works.

[Dr. Strangelove]

What kind of transceiver are you looking for?  Old tube stuff?  Newer stuff?  How much do you want to spend?  I would get something that has general coverage receive which a lot of the old tube stuff doesn't have.

[Shortwave_Listener]

What kind of transceiver are you looking for?  Old tube stuff?  Newer stuff?  How much do you want to spend?  I would get something that has general coverage receive which a lot of the old tube stuff doesn't have.

Something that is solid state and has digital tuning with general coverage (so generally 1980s onwards). Nothing tube because (as you said) no general coverage receive most of the time, probably will need work, and analog tuning SSB signals sucks. Looking to spend around $500 CAD ($375 USD) or less.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Two that come to mind, and I own both, are the Kenwood TS-430 and the Yaesu FT-890AT.  The 430 is probably one of the best ever made.  Great Kenwood audio, tough and easy to repair.  The 890AT is more radio as it has probably one of the best internal antenna tuners I've ever used.  If you look around and are patient you can probably fine one between 350-450.  It probably wouldn't hurt to place a wanted ad on qth classified and just say what you are looking for.  Most of us old hams have a bunch of stuff sitting around not getting used and some of them might want to rehome some of their stuff.

[Dr. Strangelove]

There is a 430s on qrz.com right now for 300 shipped

[PIGS KNUCKLES]

THE BEST PLACE I FOUND              https://swap.qth.com/

[ThaDood]

I've done pretty well with MTC Radio in Paris, TX. Look under their USED GEAR:    https://www.mtcradio.com/  It's where I bought a used Xiegu G90 for under $400.00, a.k.a. my jump-in to an SDR rig.

[tech53]

I'm going to ask the question that for some reason nobody has asked you yet: What do you want to use it for?

if you want to be mobile with it - you need to purchase something that fits your level of mobility. Should it have a built in battery? Do you want to power it off your car or a car battery?
What frequencies? Are you doing microwave? SHF? Satcomms? VHF/UHF sideband?
Are you doing weak signal work?
How is your area for noise and strong signals? Are there nearby radio towers? Are you in the city?
What kind of antenna connectors do you want and how many?
Do you intent to transmit or just receive?
Are you DX ing?
Should your radio have built in digital decoding?
Do you want an SDR?
Do you care how your radio works? (superheterodyne, regenerative, crystal based, synthesized, whatever)
What do you intend your primary operating modes to be? Do you know?

This and so many more things will inform your decision. So here's a little about how i decide what radios I want:

My radio should always have several antenna inputs of different kinds if possible - I like to build antennas.
My radio should usually be pretty sensitive - I like hunting for weak signals
If possible it should handle strong signals and noise well, I'm near lots of radio towers and I'm in a rather rf noisy city --- BUT I'm also good at building filters/preselectors so I can deal with it if that's not a possibility.
I like flexibility with modes because I'm into Utility DX - so my radio needs to be able to do most or all modes in all bands, not just the standard ones either. This has led me to get an airspy hf discovery +. I like it a lot - but it gets a bit too sensitive sometimes and I need to pop in a filter.
I also have other radios - you should probably just accept that you're going to have several radios at some point in your life. We all do, each is good at it's own thing. Anyway - I'm sure I added to the confusion but hopefully it helps you ask the right questions. Also - if you're like me I highly recommend the airspy hf+ discovery. It's a in a whole other league, no sport even, from what an rtl-sdr is, or even a lot of commercial radios.