.

From what I can figure I'm going to need a General ticket and I am chipping away at the General question base and progressing nicely. I already run 90+s in the Technician base.

There's a local club I can probably get to test me, so I am on track license wise.

Now I need a set.

Please read this part carefully and think before posting as there is nothing worse than looking for a Ford and having someone send you off to see a Chevy.

This actually started when I went searching for an accent piece for my room, which looks a lot like an officers room on a WW2 Liberty ship. I found a Chinese 102e set that was in the price range and looked the part, or at least close.

When it occurred to me that the damned thing was NIB and worked I wondered about getting a license. I asked here and when I found out it was doable, I decided to go for it. I am doing that now.

Now, as far as the station I want to set up goes:

1. It must fit the room I want it in, meaning it must be or must look like something one might find on a Liberty ship. Truth be known, I would rather have it NOT work and match the decor than put a modern looking set in the space. Foreign military is OK.

2. Reasonably priced. I do not want to spend thousands.

3. Fairly simple to operate

4. It should have voice AND CW  capabilities.

5. I do not plan on using it 24/7, meaning I was thinking of it as something I could use when I am holed up for the winter.

6. I have neither the time nor inclination to rewire/rebuild an old boatanchor. It must be good to go upon reciept or at least be easily brought up into service.

7. The Chinese 102e set is still in the running, as would an Angry-9 if I can get one for under a million bucks.

OK, Boys,  have at it. Let's hear what you have to say.

1) get a non-working mil set, use it as a showpiece.

2) get a modern HF/VHF radio with a detachable front faceplate.  you can put the larger RF part anywhere you want, hidden from view, and all the cabling will be connected to it bar for a thin cable to the faceplate (about the thickness of a piece of CAT5 LAN cable).  the radio faceplate itself is about the size of a regular Hershey chocolate bar, and just a wee bit thicker.  btw, if you have a PC in the room you can also control a modern (>2005) radio completely by the PC.

the icom 703 and 706 are examples of radios that have removable faceplates.  pictures below.

ar-jedi

just thought of another idea –– get the most "mil-looking" radio on the market today, and get it painted.  icom ic7200.

contact BigDaddy0004 for details.  he's BTDT.  and/or see http://www.ab4oj.com/icom/ic7200/camo.html

ar-jedi

btw...

i don't care what anyone says after you see the pics above, BUT IT'S NOT MY FAULT.  

ar-jedi

I think ar-jedi is right when he suggests you "get both" because I think it's too much to ask to say you want a vintage WWII-looking rig that works and that doesn't require maintenance, restoration, extensive knowledge etc.

It would be so much simpler to buy a modern rig for hamming and a decorative rig for the room. I know that takes away a little cool-factor but I'd hate for you to expend all your energy trying to get a vintage rig working (without the technical background going into it) to the point that you burn out on ham radio before you ever have fun with it.

That said, there are plenty operational "hybrid" era radios out there in case you feel they are close enough to period for you. Check out the Kenwood hybrids (such as the TS-520/530/820/830) and the Yaesu FT-101 series. They're pretty vintage looking –– just not WWII vintage. More like 1970's to early 80's. They have tube finals (that provide the output power) and solid state electronics otherwise. Not hard to operate at all once you learn the process. I have a TS-520 that I score for a song at a hamfest and it's pretty fun to tune up. Work perfectly and you get SSB and CW on 80m/40m/20m/15m/10m.

Here's my TS-520

good suggestion.


nice setup, and a fine old rig.

OP, just for size comparison sake, behind and to the left of GlockTiger's TS-520 is a modern Yaesu FT857D, which also features a removable faceplate.  as with any "miniature" all band/all mode radio, there is some learning curve as you figure out the menu system.  the big dials and switches of yesteryear have been replaced with multi-function "soft keys".  

ar-jedi

A quick scouting on eBay tells me that there are quite a number of those Kenwoods floating around.

The appearance looks close enough fit and it's be a whole lot more powerful than the little 102e I was looking at.

Hell, they come in Navy Gray and if not, a coat of paint would do the trick.

A CW key is pretty basic, so an old one will work and maybe I can get some kind of retro mike.

What lind of antenna would work?

Is ther an antenna tuner out there that would turn a single antenna into a one size fits all deal?

I have so much to learn.............





ETA I don't shop a lot on eBay but it is a great reference to see things and check used availability.

Here's an easy to build multiband antenna with elements cut for 75 meters (the upper General portion of the 80/75 m band), 40 meters, and 17 meters.  With a tuner it easily works 17, 15, and 10 meters.

http://www.hamuniverse.com/ae5jumultibanddipole.html


While I use the LDG auto tuners, there are many manual tuners that would do as well, and probably look more appropriate for your room.

Daiwa made a nice looking little tuner, the 419, that sometimes came in OD that had a good "military" appearance.

There is a local that has a setup where he has an older mil surp radio on a small shelf that he uses at times. The shelf has a door that slides off and it reveals a modern rig that he uses on the bands that are not covered and the modes the surp radio does not support. A few rigs to look at would be the kenwood ts-440sat, ts-450sat, or the ts-570. The 570 is much more modern than the other rigs and they have tuners built into them. The only downside is that the tuners do not have the range that a manual tuner has for matching the antenna to the rig. There are tons of antennas you can build with simple wire from the hardware store or scrap you may have laying around. The easiest antenna support to use around a house is trees if you have them available.

If you get a tube or tube hybrid rig (like my TS-520), you'll need a dummy load to give the radio 50 ohms for tuning the finals. (Different than "tuning" the antenna, which comes later)

I bought an MFJ-949E which is a manual antenna tuner with a built-in dummy load. Works great, and it's a pretty flexible tuner to boot. Has a built-in balun for open wire lines, dual coax connections for hooking up 2 antennas at a time. Has a built-in light on the meter (you provide the 12v) but the glowing meter would look cool with the glowing meter and dial of the 520. It has a cross-needle meter to display forward and reflected power and SWR.

Manuf link
eHam reviews

Note –– you'll always see mixed review of MFJ stuff. It's sort of a company hams love to hate, but they make so much darn handy stuff it's hard to get too snobby about them. Most of the QC problems I've heard over the years have to do with sloppy assembly, like cold solder joints that are fairly easy to fix. When you get it, you might want to pop the cover off and make sure everything looks connected inside.

I love my LDG Z-11 Pro autotuner, but it was the need for a dummy load that lead me to buy the 949. Not to mention I can dedicate one tuner to each radio.

Check around for some old J-38 Morse keys. They're the most popular (as in available) of the vintage keys.

Pretty much any straight key (even a brand new one) will have a vintage look to it, and there are some nice makers out there. Some command hundreds of $!

Cheapest new key is about $15-20 (Ameco or MFJ-550) but they're pretty lacking. My Ameco has a very bendy lever arm and the bearings stink pretty bad. It helped when I replaced the flat knob with a big brass drawer knob. If you can find a German "Junker" key, buy it –– very very well-made key with almost micrometer-like gap adjustment. If you want a very solid key for less than $100, check out the Nye Viking Speed-X (also pictured in my avatar) (link). I inherited my grandfather's and it's really great. Sturdy and bombproof at about $58 currently.

I just finished swapping email with the guy selling 102Es

He was kind enough to send me a schematic, parts list and a couple of pictures of a power supply I could make to run the unit on 110vac.

He also told me that if I felt uncomfortable building it (and I do, even though I could probably figure it out over a coouple of weeks time) that the 102E was not the radio for me.

I'm going to pass on that one.


I might go with something along the lines of an older Kenwood or something that 'looks official' and if I have to, throw a coat of black, gray or OD paint on it.



Gotta go, we're tying up........


more later

My Dad, AA9FM, had an FT-101 like that...

The FT-101 series would also be a good choice. The face is already grey and a coat of OD green on the case would be about perfect. E-bat brings a premium for these rigs. Look on QRZ , QTH or e-ham classifieds first.

Some of the older Yaesu and Kenwoods look pretty good.

OK, I just bought one from Betty Lou Thelma Liz at her garage sale and Billy Joe Bob checked it out and it is in 100% perfect condition and I have an antenna built out back.

What else do I need?


(10 years ago when the neighborhood kids were growing up I'd have snagged a 103E in a heartbeat. They came with a hand powered generator. C'mere, kid....turn this crank.....Send the little yard ape home tired and on his way to 19 inch biceps.)

You already have an appropriate antenna for the band(s) you intend to use? If so, then proper feed line and connectors.



 

Is it really that simple?

I figured that for 80 meters you need such and such a length, for 20 another (shorter length) and 10 a different length yet.

Isn't there some kind of switching mechanism that swaps these out?

Yep, you'll need an antenna for each band. http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/switch.html



ETA:




If the antenna is not mounted correctly, or at the correct height, it won't work as designed. Different antenna types require different mounting and/or height above ground.



 

You can use one antenna on multiple bands with an antenna tuner.  I've done it since I was first licensed.  There are also some antennas you can use on multiple bands without a tuner.  I've never heard of a ham that uses 10 bands and has 10 separate antennas, but it's possible.  

With the multiband dipole I had given the link to above, there is "automatic switching" so to speak.  The three bands (or more) are simply hooked up in parallel.  The impedance is good only on the elements closest to the transmitted frequency.  So, those elements are resonant, and the other elements are high impedance.  The radio only "sees" the closest resonant elements.

A tuner can force the 20 meter (14 mhz) elements to work on 17 meters (18 mhz).  The 15 meter band (21 mhz) works as a harmonic off the 40 meter (7 mhz) elements... 7 mhz x 3 = 21 mhz.  

I don't know why 10 meters works as well as it does, but the middle to upper part of 10 meters will tune with a tuner.

There is also the "Windom" or OCF (Offset Center Fed) Dipole which works just the even harmonics.  The legs are cut 1/3 - 2/3, and it requires a 4:1 current balun.  It will work 80, 40, 20, 17, 10, and 6 meters with minor touchup from a tuner.  It will not work 30 or 15 meters as it is, but there is a mod of adding another pair of elements for 30 meters, and it will then work 15 meters, too.  The OCF Dipole is excellent for getting the most bands from the least number of wires.