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Author Topic: Equipment Recommendations?  (Read 5418 times)

Elf36

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Re: Equipment Recommendations?
« Reply #15 on: January 10, 2022, 2034 UTC »
If I had a dollar for every station I've worked that was using a 7300, I could buy a 7300!

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: Equipment Recommendations?
« Reply #16 on: January 12, 2022, 1509 UTC »
I'll echo the 7300 as a good option. I have one, although with all the KiwiSDRs operating here I rarely get to use it on the bands. It's a great value for the price.
Chris Smolinski
Westminster, MD
eQSLs appreciated! csmolinski@blackcatsystems.com
netSDR / AFE822x / AirSpy HF+ / KiwiSDR / 900 ft Horz skyloop / 500 ft NE beverage / 250 ft V Beam / 58 ft T2FD / 120 ft T2FD / 400 ft south beverage / 43m, 20m, 10m  dipoles / Crossed Parallel Loop / Discone in a tree

Offline Looking-Glass

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Re: Equipment Recommendations?
« Reply #17 on: February 01, 2022, 0920 UTC »
Be careful buying any radio more than 10 or 15 years old as some manufacturers discontinue spare parts after so many years have elapsed, Yaesu for one... :(

Condobolin, NSW.

Grid Square:  QF37ub

Yaesu FT-1000D, Yaesu FT-2000D, ICOM IC-736 HF/50MHz, ICOM IC R75 & Tecsun S-2000 to 450 feet of wire, 27MHz 1/2 wave CB antenna converted to 21MHz & a multi band vertical of dubious reliability.

Offline zackers

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Re: Equipment Recommendations?
« Reply #18 on: April 10, 2022, 1615 UTC »
Hey, I'm new here and I wanted to know if anybody had some recommendations for a HF base station rig? Preferably something older to reduce the price. Another detail that should be noted is that I am not Extra Class yet, but I would like to have something that would last a while and that would still work well through different classes.

If you can  find a TS-850 or TS-940, they are both excellent rigs and aren't that expensive now. I've had a TS-850SAT for almost 30 years and it's been great and mostly trouble-free all that time. To this day it has the best audio of just about any rig.
East Central Illinois
TS-850S, 40 meter full-wave loop, various dipoles

Offline RobRich

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Re: Equipment Recommendations?
« Reply #19 on: April 11, 2022, 2012 UTC »
Something else to consider currently on the new market is the Yaesu FTDX-10. Possible ergonomics concerns aside, it has one of the best spec'd receivers available for the price.

http://www.sherweng.com/table.html
https://www.dj0ip.de/sherwood-forest/sherwood-hf-xcvr-tests/yaesu-ftdx-10/
Tampa, FL USA | US Map Grid EL88
Airspy HF+ Discovery | KiwiSDR 2 | 2x Msi2500 Msi001 | 2x RTL-SDR V3 + NE602 | 2x RTL-SDR V4
148' Loop-on-Ground | 31' Vertical | 18' End-Fed Vertical | 9' NCPL | PA0NHC MiniWhip

Offline Polar Bear

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Re: Equipment Recommendations?
« Reply #20 on: June 27, 2022, 1724 UTC »
I think that the right answer would be that you don't need a radio - you first need to find yourself a real ham - to Elmer you.

Most hams thinks economy - buy junk, save a couple of dollars now, pay a couple of dollars more later when it don't work.

In the old days - you would hop in your vehicle with friends, drive to the local amateur radio store - HRO / DX Engineering etc and go there to listen to the different rigs so you could make a opinion on which one sounds the best and which one works the best and which one would most suit your needs.

When you spend more than $1500 on a brand new Kenwood or ICOM - I would hope you would find a rig that has some sort of built in DSP Filtering and an auto tuner.

Forget About buying a Jesus radio - Yaaesu or any of the Chinese crap or anything more than 1 year old or used!

What ever POS you buy, you are going to be forced to use it the rest of your life, or at least until it breaks and you will be forced to make excuses for why it is a POS and why you don't operate more - because the audio is so crappy - you don't even like turning it on and you can't stand to listen to it.

My recommendations would be A Kenwood TS 590 - there is lot's of them out there and you can buy a brand new one for a reasonable amount of money.

Then you don't need to buy all the garbage you would need to interface the cheap crappy radios most of the other people has recommended for you..


Old mobiles and crappy low power radios - are the ones you need to stay away from - there hold no value to no one except the idiot that bought it and would like to get their money back out of it - because they don't know how to operaTE qrp and they don't understand antennas.

There is what you need to concern yourself with - buying a good first antenna.

Offline .

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Re: Equipment Recommendations?
« Reply #21 on: July 29, 2022, 0514 UTC »
I'd head straight for a 7300, get it new on sale as the capitalists are trying to sell used ones for almost as much as new. Then all you need is a dipole, a psu, a pc, and off you go. So much capability and you miss out on the fun of bad caps, misalignment, stressed components, etc malaise of the typical used rig.
+1

Offline Polar Bear

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Re: Equipment Recommendations?
« Reply #22 on: August 01, 2022, 1543 UTC »
The ICOM 7300 is purchased by the person that knows little about amateur radio and believes that by buying it - it will solve all of your problems.

Icom's does two things - they sound loud - which is desirable in a pile up, and they show an honest 100 watts on the meter into a resonant antenna..

That appeases the cb'r in most hams.  The person that feels like they paid for 100 watts and they want to see 100 watts on the meter...

It's usually followed by the Heil Microphone people - the ones that do not have a radio voice, that thinks that they can solve all of their problems by buying a expensive microphone.

I've used the stock Kenwood hand microphone for so long that it doesn't even make sense to step on the pedal and talk on the boom mic anymore.

You can always tell who is on a ICOM radio because their audio sounds like crap!  Once you learn what to listen for, you will be able to predict who is on a icom.

Offline Stretchyman

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Re: Equipment Recommendations?
« Reply #23 on: September 07, 2022, 2018 UTC »
Nearly a year on....

What did you decide on I wonder?

Str.
'It's better to give than receive' so why Rx when you can Tx!

                                              ;)

Offline Pigmeat

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Re: Equipment Recommendations?
« Reply #24 on: September 08, 2022, 1155 UTC »
Nearly a year on....

What did you decide on I wonder?

Str.

And just where have you been?

Offline Stretchyman

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Re: Equipment Recommendations?
« Reply #25 on: September 08, 2022, 1225 UTC »
I could say the same to you my friend.

Good to see you back with the happy family!!
'It's better to give than receive' so why Rx when you can Tx!

                                              ;)

Offline Pigmeat

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Re: Equipment Recommendations?
« Reply #26 on: September 09, 2022, 0018 UTC »
Are you finally going to reveal yourself as the Tudor claimant to the throne now that Elizabeth Saxe Coburg has passed on? The Saudi's gave her son Chuck a big sack of money a few weeks back, maybe they'll back your claim and buy you the BBC.

Offline Pigmeat

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Re: Equipment Recommendations?
« Reply #27 on: September 09, 2022, 0027 UTC »
To the original poster, if you're going buy used, buy heavy metal and invest in the Globe King line of transmitters. You'll be loud, wide, and won't have to worry about heating your house. Isn't that what everyone really wants from a rig?

Offline Stretchyman

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Re: Equipment Recommendations?
« Reply #28 on: September 09, 2022, 0714 UTC »
Yes Liz has passed and ol' Big Ears has the throne. I think he should secede and pass it on to the younger generation. Don't think he will however as he's been waiting a while...

Radio wise yes the venerable valve things are still available.

We would like to know what was chosen?

Str

Long live the King!
'It's better to give than receive' so why Rx when you can Tx!

                                              ;)

Offline Pigmeat

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Re: Equipment Recommendations?
« Reply #29 on: September 10, 2022, 1100 UTC »
Yes Liz has passed and ol' Big Ears has the throne. I think he should secede and pass it on to the younger generation. Don't think he will however as he's been waiting a while...

Well, it is his first real job.

 

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