Posted: 4/5/2014 9:04:07 AM EDT
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Picked up a Kenwood TS-430S with mic and power cord for $300. Check it out at the testing station inside, puts out 100 watts on all bands. I have been general licensed for several years but have never purchased any sort of HF equipment. I have been lurking here and on eHam.net for a while and these seemed to have good reviews and it was in my budget.
How did I do? |
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Hi Mike, Probably just fine, does it have any filters in place or the FM board. I think there are three filter slots available plus the FM board was an "add on" . Those are icing on the cake if you got any of those. Most can be found with a bit of scrounging, the TS-430s is a very capable rig. 73, Rob |
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Not too bad. I have two of these that I picked up locally. Good radio, easy to operate, buy a signalink or easy-digi (available on eBay) and you're good for digital.
Only downside to the radio, is no computer control. $300 is a decent price espically being able to test it first. I had to clean a couple of the control pots on mine and once one had low output which was easily solved with reseating a couple of the harness connectors on the main board. The band relays can get dirty but there is a easy way to clean them. Google is your friend on that one. |
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No addon filters, plane jane as far as I can tell. As this is my first foray into HF, I have a 10m wire dipole and 50ft of rg58 with the appropriate connectors. My plan is to buy a
deep cycle marine type battery to run the radio on, and down the road look around for a good power supply. On the back of the radio is a wing nut that says ground, what do I need to do with that? |
| TS-430 Manual Download Choose the top listing. I know where there is a board for 10M FM if you want. 73, Rob |
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OP, congrats!
Other than a couple of rs 10m mobiles, the rig you got is what I grabbed as well foot my first "real" hf rig. I feed mine into an ocf dipole and have worked some good distances. Have fun! ...and if the gentleman has no interest in that fm board, I just may. :) |
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Quoted:
(trimmed) My plan is to buy a deep cycle marine type battery to run the radio on, and down the road look around for a good power supply. On the back of the radio is a wing nut that says ground, what do I need to do with that? Don't buy "deep cycle marine". Get an AGM type battery. It won't gas off O2 and H2 (explosive indoors!) or pill acid. I'm using for portable work a Gruber Power Services "Elite" 55 ah. it is about the size of a lawn tractor battery, but you can get larger. AGMs are as "deep cycle" as marine batteries. www.gruberpower.com Then for power supply, Samlex SEC-1223BBM. This is a 23 amp (25 amp surge) supply with battery backup module inside. It has two extra terminals on back to connect to your battery. The supply will keep the battery fully charged and at a maintenance float level, like a Battery Tender or other smart charger. Then when AC quits for some reason, the supply automatically switches over to battery. When power is restored, the supply switches back to AC and recharges the battery. Big wing nut... that is the ground connection. It is connected to the chassis, as well as negative electrical power connection. You need to run a ground strap from there to your station ground. You do have a ground, don't you? There are some threads here by Big Daddy and others on station grounding. Do a search. Need not be complicated nor expensive. |
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Good radio and about the normal price. It can go up if it has the add on boards and filters. I have had mine since they first came out. Mine is equipped with FM, 1.8 SSB filter and 250 CW filter. Microwave Modules 2 meter transverter make it an excellent weak signal 2 meter rig. I have worked 2 meter EME with it. Amp used with is is Heathkit SB200. Still my main home radio. Use the IC7000 and IC703+ for portable. |