General Category > Amateur Radio
Equipment Recommendations?
Stretchyman:
Any hamradio will suit your needs and there's a lot out there second hand. It's down to personal preference so best to see if you can visit somewhere that sells older radios and try one for size. Older radios (valve hybrids) like the FT101ZD can be had quite cheaply now but recommended something less than 20 years old with a built in antenna tuner.
Good luck on your quest!
Str.
Elf36:
Yes, built-in tuners are great. I have one in my HF rig and also have an LDG auto-tuner if needed. At this point, I'm pretty spoiled. However, If you don't find a radio with a built-in tuner, you always have options of external ones. I'm not a huge fan of MFJ, but I must admit I've owned a few of their manual tuners and had no issues. Once you learn how to adjust the knobs, you can dial them in pretty quickly. Another great feature of these types of tuners is having a built-in antenna switch, with the option of 2 outgoing SO239's and another for ladder line or random wire.
RobRich:
Expect to spend like $300 to $500 for a basic used HF rig, but also be prepared to spend on maintenance and repairs. Replacing older caps has been mentioned. Other common fail parts in even popular HF rig models often include cooling fans, VFO encoders, and output transistors. Repairs can add up fast if not doing them yourself, and more so if you run into "nearly unobtanium" parts.
The Icom IC-718 is popular for the price, and AFAIK, its receiver side is similar to the popular R-75.
That said, consider taking a look at the Icom IC-7100. Yeah, it a shack-in-the-box rig, so often opined as being a "jack of all trades, master of none." Still it is under $1000 new for HF, 6m, 2m, and 440. It can do SSB on the VHF and UHF bands as well, assuming that is something that might interest you.
Agree with ya' Elf. LDG offers several popular external tuners, or alternatively a MFJ manual tuner if on a budget and/or needing a wide matching range.
I kind of missing Alinco in the HF desktop rig market. The Alinco DX-SR8T was another relatively decent ~$500 entry-level or backup 100w HF rig.
~SIGINT~:
The AGC on my ICOM IC-R75 is just as brutal otherwise it is a very nice receiver. I have owned well over 100+ receivers/transceivers and each one has their unique characteristics. For example, my Collins HF-2050 has one of the best squelch circuits I have encountered, my Harris RF-590 best ergonomics and is an overall great performing receiver and my Racals, by far, have had the best ever AGC circuits. Perfect time constances and smooth recovery.
ko4fki:
--- Quote from: Stretchyman on January 01, 2022, 1940 UTC ---Any hamradio will suit your needs and there's a lot out there second hand. It's down to personal preference so best to see if you can visit somewhere that sells older radios and try one for size. Older radios (valve hybrids) like the FT101ZD can be had quite cheaply now but recommended something less than 20 years old with a built in antenna tuner.
Good luck on your quest!
Str.
--- End quote ---
Thank you (and everybody else who helped out)!
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