Posted: 8/26/2010 5:45:49 PM EDT
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I am studying for General and the test is next Saturday. The sections on radio propagation and circuits are pretty tough. I think if I had a radio to lust after I would be more motivated. Can someone recommend to me a used rig in the 4 to 5 hundred dollar range? I will most likely be operating portable due to my lack of home ownership.
So what is a good used starter HF radio? Age doesn't bother me, I am most interested in a radio that will work for a fair price range. Thanks |
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The Icom 718 is often found for $400-$500 used. Keep an eye out here:
http://forums.qrz.com/forumdisplay.php?f=7 http://www.eham.net/classifieds/results/39 http://swap.qth.com/c_radiohf.php I can't think of a better radio for the money. Nor one easier to operate. I just put one of these in our club radio room. |
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I maybe able to buy a 718 new (my Christmas tree job is starting soon), it is only 599 at AES. Would new be better than used? I am unsure of the warranty on radios.
I am not having trouble with anyone one question, it just seems the General material is less exciting than the tech stuff was. I have the ARRL Q&A book, it explains everything well. The stumbling point is me being motivated to read it. |
| Yaesu FT-840 Nice simple rig wih an analog S-meter. If you do the simple mod to open up tx it will do 60 meters also. If no filters it pretty much a SSB radio. You really need the filter for CW. You can get by on AM without but better with one by far. FM is an add on module also. Best to find one with filters if doing anything other than SSB. They are expensive by themselves. |
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Icom 718
I got a used one on the EHam classified for around $400. Built my own antennas for around $25. Added a tuner for another $150 The 718 is a great radio to start with....simple to use, has everything you need to get on the bands, and the audio circuit seems to perform very well. I get continually great signal reports and mentions that my audio is full and rich.....and that is using a bone stock 718. Want motivation? Here is a list of just the DX contacts I've made in the past few months with my IC-718. This doesnt include contacts in the U.S. (made lots of them), and I'm not on the radio much at all...a few hours during the week at night and a few hours each weekend...and I missed several weekends due to vacations over the summer... 500Km South of Moscow, Russia LIVRAMENTO (Azores), Portugal Fredericton, Canada Nowa Sol, Poland Ontario, Canada Pernik, Bulgaria San Jose, Costa Rica Caracas, Venezuela Bridgeport P.O, Portmore, Jamaica Ripoli Cascina Pisa, Italy Faro, Portugal TORREVECCHIA CH, Italy LJUBLJANA, Slovenia S. Martinho da Gândara, Portugal York, England Caracas, Venezuela Santa Clara, Cuba GAILLAN, France Leszno, Poland Dublin, Ireland Kiev, Ukraine SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela OWEN SOUND, Otario Canada EK VLAARDINGEN, NETHERLANDS Shadrinsk, Russia Békéscsaba, Hungary Barcelona, Spain SANTA MARIA, Brasil Legionowo, Poland Sao Paulo, Brazil SCHÄRDING, Austria Limeshain, Germany Moita, Portugal Vienna, Austria Them, Denmark Balearic Islands Volano, Italy Ontario, Canada |
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My concern with the 718 is the lack of VHF/UHF and 10 meter. I only have a 2 meter mobile right now and I was wanting something that did all the bands. I guess I could remove the mobile and run it as a base.
My yard is around 40 by 100 feet. However, I will not be able to run a permenant antenna. It is not practical to put up a dipole each time I want to use HF? |
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Quoted:
My concern with the 718 is the lack of VHF/UHF and 10 meter. I only have a 2 meter mobile right now and I was wanting something that did all the bands. I guess I could remove the mobile and run it as a base. My yard is around 40 by 100 feet. However, I will not be able to run a permenant antenna. It is not practical to put up a dipole each time I want to use HF? The 718 does cover 10m (though SSB not FM, though most don't think that's a serious limitation). So that leaves UHF. Are there many UHF repeaters in your area? |
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Although I have an Icom 706mk2g, I also have a 2m rig in the shack too. I prefer the VHF/UHF rig be separate from the HF rig so I can monitor 2m while on HF.
As others have recommended, the 718 and and a separate 2m rig would be my choice. The 781 I posted earlier is one I have lusted for since 1991... 
Oh, and I didn't know the 718 wouldn't do FM on 10 meters....bummer. |
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All of the activity now on HF is 15 meters and below.
Yes, a separate 2m rig is really better. I was told this when I first got into ham, but it took some usage to convince me of it. VHF/UHF is really a different use from HF. I often run both, monitoring 2m while working HF. Sunday evenings I literally have a mic in each hand, doing a 75 meter net at the same time as a 2 meter net. That's fun! Temporary antenna... look at the Buddipole. www.buddipole.com |
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Quoted:
My concern with the 718 is the lack of VHF/UHF and 10 meter. I only have a 2 meter mobile right now and I was wanting something that did all the bands. I guess I could remove the mobile and run it as a base. My yard is around 40 by 100 feet. However, I will not be able to run a permenant antenna. It is not practical to put up a dipole each time I want to use HF? When I was buying my radio, having 'all in one' was my primary concern as well. I wanted one radio to do it all. After some research I realized that different tools are better for different jobs. I went with a dedicated 2m / 70cm radio and then use the IC-718 for HF. At least for me, once I broke into HF, I spent a lot less time on the local repeaters. 10m on SSB works just fine on the 718, but 10m isnt really widely open these days. 10m and 15m will hopefully be better next summer, for now there isnt a lot of traffic there. If you think you will into DX, 17m, 20m, and 40m are going to be your main bands (and 20m probably being the most used) If you can find an 'all in one' radio that works for you by all means go for it. When I was shopping I read a lot of reviews.....and in most cases people had split up their VHF and HF equipment....I havent talked to many Hams with the combo units. Not saying they dont do the trick, I just dont stumble across many of there units. Whatever you go with, get out on the bands and just have fun 
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I bought a new rig a few months ago and part of my criteria was for it to be something somewhat compact and luggable for portable operation. The "shack in a box" rigs with HF + VHF/UHF are tempting but as others have said, we find ourselves operating HF and VHF at the same time quite often and the lower end rigs (such as the 857/897 and the 706) won't do that very well.
I agree with others in thinking the 718 a most excellent starter rig among the current models (and it was actually on my short list as a 30 year Ham). The drawback to it is it doesn't have FM and it's not available as an option - but honestly there is not much 10M FM activity right now and probably won't be for a few years. The FT840 was mentioned as one of the older rigs that's a simple operator yet somewhat more expandable and I would second that. I actually had it's predecessor, the FT747GX (and still do) with the FM unit (the 840 uses the same FM unit) and that rig was dirt simple to operate & over the years I had a lot of fun with it. If you buy used you'll want to get one with the options you want already there because they are hard to find now. Among used rigs though, the list is long and for the money you can buy a lot more HF rig than what's contained in the FT840 or the 718. There are tons of good compact solid state rigs made 10-25 years ago that can be had for $250 - $300 and you can use the savings to buy up station accessories (i.e. power supply & antenna tuner) you will need. Among the earlier solid state rigs, the various Icom models are still going strong and the Kenwoods of the era, TS50, 130, and 140, are nice rigs too. The Yaesu 757 is a nice older rig that can be had cheap but IMO it is more difficult to obtain captive parts & repair service for the older Yaesus - and actually that goes for the 840 too. But if you buy cheap and figure on it being a throwaway once something blows that's beyond your ability to fix with common parts, something like that might please you. My old 747 has needed a lot of TLC lately and so far I have been able to do my own repairs, but the writing on the wall says it is approaching the end of it's useful life. Incidentally, for my new purchase earlier this year I ended up choosing the FT-450AT. It has a bit more of what I wanted in terms of advanced features than the 718 - but as I said I have been at this for over 30 years. I think it's a good step up from the starter rig that kept me happy for 20 years, and still compact & portable enough to suit my preferences. Used, I think that rig is fetching about $600 or so right now. |
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Oh - the trick to installing antennas at a rental house is to be judiciously non-invasive (i.e. don't affect the dwelling structure in a major way with holes, things mounted to the siding or roofing & so forth), but otherwise don't ask & don't tell - and just let any enforcement be complaint driven. Some landlords & PM outfits have a canned set of restrictions in the contract, but on the ground they really don't care. You could try a vertical mounted to a vent pipe in the roof with 3 or 4 wire radials going down to the corners of the eaves, or maybe a less then optimum height inverted vee on, say, a 10' mast clamped to a vent pipe (or chimney). The vertical would work fairly well on the DX bands, the inverted vee would be better for 40 & 80.
I am presently in temporary quarters in an apartment with a small fenced patio. I have a small multiband vertical on a video camera tripod on the back patio. We have wind here so the vertical element is fastened to the eave of the building with a plastic clamp and a single picture hanging nail, and the radials are 6 wires (2 ea 8', 16', and 33') that are just hanging from the inside of the patio fence. I put a through-hole for feedline just above the baseboard in a back room closet, exiting in the outside storage closet on the patio, and purchased covers to put over the hole when we leave, and I'm in business! A vertical really works well when mounted above ground and doesn't need nearly as many radials as a ground mount. My vertical element is 18' tall and has a loading coil at the feedpoint I can tap to make the system resonant on any band. Of course it works best on 20M and above, but it is very decent on 40M and not all that bad on 80. This setup is very portable and can be installed and working anywhere in about 5 minutes. Described on the Zed: http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?t=210442 |