Posted: 5/6/2013 4:48:08 PM EDT
| Just got one of these from the other side of the pond. Took me about 30 minutes with the manual to get it "tuned" on 20M off my balcony with the manpack whip and made commo with some dude in missouri. They could also barely hear me in Florida. I'm impressed that is all. |
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Vessel QSOs
KB5YQ 4/30/13 14.332 2x2 1300Z Joan YLISSB 14.332 5x5 4/30/13 M0JWK John 17M 4/30/13 5x5 KB3ITJ 7.268 2322Z 5x5 0019 4/2/13 8888888888888888 7T9A 14.210mhz 0034 4/2/13 5x5 ALGERIA!!! Special Call For 50th Anniversary Of The Creation, 7T9A Of A.R.A. PO Box 1 Algiers RP 16000 Algeria 888888888888888 VO1DGP 18.158 1920Z 4x4 5/2/13 Newfoundland DJ9RQ 18.150 1901Z 5x5 5/3/13 germany KB9AGK 18.280 1925Z 4x4 5/3/13 DD2VO 18.1275 1934Z 5x5 5/3/13 germany 9K2VO 18.140 2316Z 5x5 5/3/13 KUWAIT!!! Kind man EA8YB 18.117 2338Z 5x5 5/3/13 Canary Islands UA9MA 14.242 0108Z 5x5 5/3/13 Asiatic Russia Kind guy 888888888888888888888888 6V7T 14.180 2216Z 5x5 5/4/13 Senegal QSL via F5RAV c/o LUC THIBAUDAT 15 rue de Moiscourt 27140 GISORS ( Upper Normandy ) France 88888888888888888888888888 Z320T 14.200 2251Z 5/4/13 5x5 Macedonia QSL through DJ0LZ Aco Jevremov P.O. Box 14 82378 Peissenberg Germany 88888888888888888888 J69DS 18.159 2340Z 5/5/13 5x5 St Lucia 888888888888888888888 GB617SQN 14.210 2258Z 5/5/13 5x5 QSL via: Thorpe Camp Vintage Radio Museum Thorpe Road B1192 Tattershal Thorpe Nr. Coningsby Lincolnshire LN44PE England 8888888888888888 YT1AA 7.127 0056Z 5/6/13 5x5 Serbia IS0RVH 14.240 0144Z 5/6/13 5x5 Sardania KD0DOE 14.202 0231Z 5/6/13 2x2 Arfcommer wants a MM card W4KCN 7.260 0246Z 5/6/13 5x5 arfcommer wants MM card 9A4W 21.285 1958Z 5/6/13 5x5 Isle of Brac, Croatia CN8QN 18.125 2228Z 5/6/13 5x5 Morocco 8P6NW 18.146 2258Z 5/6/13 5x5 Barbados &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& PR7CPK 14.222.6 0010Z 5/7/13 2x2 Brazil 47 meter end fed wire. Spare time 'nuff said? ETA Over the past couple of days there have been literally dozens of DXes I either have not logged or CQs I didn't answer because I have them and am concentrating on a DXCC. |
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Pic,
I've got other clansman sets, I usually use my prc319 so I know they work well, I was just impressed that the whip worked well enough off my balcony with no counterpoise on 20m to be heard 2000miles away. There is one issue, the 320 only works with my half dead OG clansman battery, but not with my re-celled one (which works with all my other clansman sets just fine) which I'm finding really really weird. |
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Quoted:
Pic, I've got other clansman sets, I usually use my prc319 so I know they work well, I was just impressed that the whip worked well enough off my balcony with no counterpoise on 20m to be heard 2000miles away. There is one issue, the 320 only works with my half dead OG clansman battery, but not with my re-celled one (which works with all my other clansman sets just fine) which I'm finding really really weird. Check your contacts. BTW I got Northern Ireland off of the whip a while back. |
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Quoted:
I've looked at these before, they look neat... Is there any particular vendor/place I should look for one for sale? Be careful what you wish for. These rigs are not for the average ham. FWIW I went shopping for this radio willing to gracefully lose up to $1000. |
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Quoted:
I've looked at these before, they look neat... Is there any particular vendor/place I should look for one for sale? Ebay UK is where I got mine. buyer beware applies as with all ebay transactions. Additional caveats are that shipping is absurdly expensive (100-200+) so make sure you get on big working package with everything included. An online source is army radio, but they are more expensive as is the shipping. Also mil radios are not general use radios and have major drawbacks compared to modern ham rigs. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Pic, I've got other clansman sets, I usually use my prc319 so I know they work well, I was just impressed that the whip worked well enough off my balcony with no counterpoise on 20m to be heard 2000miles away. There is one issue, the 320 only works with my half dead OG clansman battery, but not with my re-celled one (which works with all my other clansman sets just fine) which I'm finding really really weird. Check your contacts. BTW I got Northern Ireland off of the whip a while back. That's not it, contacts are fine with every other radio I got, its damn strange. Cool on the northern Ireland contact, was that off a ship or costal? |
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http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clansman-prc-320-hf-radio-uk-rt-320-transceiver-hf-radio-/290907671385?pt=UK_Mobile_Phones_Communication_Ham_Radio_Receivers_Transceivers&hash=item43bb72cb59
You will also need either a power supply or a charger. If you go with a PS you should get a battery remote cable to make it easy. As for antennas, a random wire will work nicely and you can make your own counterpoise. here's another and this one has the LSB modification. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clansman-prc-320-hf-radio-uk-rt-320-transceiver-hf-radio-/330918829939?pt=UK_Mobile_Phones_Communication_Ham_Radio_Receivers_Transceivers&hash=item4d0c4c9f73 |
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I'm familiar with the operation of the radio, as well as the various drawbacks when compared to current production dedicated amateur transceivers. I already have one of those, I just want a playtoy.
Piccolo - I'm pretty sure I've heard you on 40M, so I take it you've had the LSB mod done. My research shows several ways of accomplishing this, which route did you take? |
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Quoted:
I'm familiar with the operation of the radio, as well as the various drawbacks when compared to current production dedicated amateur transceivers. I already have one of those, I just want a playtoy. Piccolo - I'm pretty sure I've heard you on 40M, so I take it you've had the LSB mod done. My research shows several ways of accomplishing this, which route did you take? I had it done when I bought the set from the UK. It arrived that way. |
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Quoted:
These really interest me, though I must admit I don't know much about .mil radios. Your range with the whip seems amazing, and makes me even more interested. This looks to be a very versatile rig. Any DX you get on any whip is just a fluke of propagation. Generally I use at least an end fed with and counterpoise. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
These really interest me, though I must admit I don't know much about .mil radios. Your range with the whip seems amazing, and makes me even more interested. This looks to be a very versatile rig. Any DX you get on any whip is just a fluke of propagation. Generally I use at least an end fed with and counterpoise. Also being costal or on a ship REALLY helps with getting low angle radiation... I'm in the high desert, ask me how much awesome that is... At least we have hills. |
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Quoted:
These really interest me, though I must admit I don't know much about .mil radios. Your range with the whip seems amazing, and makes me even more interested. This looks to be a very versatile rig. Versatile is not the word you would use to describe it. It cannot do 90% of what most modern HF HAM receivers do. For what it is its a neat niche radio, if you can get it cheap. Also generally the whips are sort of resonant on 10m, otherwise its largely a fluke if you get any low angle skywave propagation, you need a different or better antenna for that. Also the 320s put out 30W, while most modern "mobile" ham rigs put out 100W, weigh ALOT less, have superior audio quality (trust me, if your audio sucks, no one wants to talk to you), and have the ability to rapidly scan across the band for someone to talk to (critical). My normal "MO" with my PRC319 is to pack a Yaesu FT817 along with it (whats another 1lb when I have 25-30lbs+ on my back), and use the mini radio to actually find someone to talk to, then I punch up the frequency on the 319 and try to make commo with em. The 320 has alot better ability to "tune" than a 319(digital) but it still really sucks compared to a normal HAM radio where you can scan a band in a minute or two. Also most mil-packs don't as rule do LSB which means you are limited to 20 meters an up, unless you mod yours. Generally the mil-packs are best used on their dedicated nets and frequencies if you can get on at the specified time. They are however cool in their own right. Caveat, most hams I've talked to could care less that you have milpack rig, they just bitch that your audio sounds bad. So its a pretty select group as to the people that appreciate em. |