Good luck!

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Good luck!

Same here.

At the risk of being redundant:

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I looked at the suggested radios and now I have more questions than answers.  OP, would you prefer discussion on what to get to go here or in a new thread?

In my opinion, anything can possibly help a new ham out should go here. What are your questions?

Here is fine or you can IM me your number.

ETA My answer 95% of the time is going to be to get a FT-991A. It will do everything that you might want to do except D-Star and DMR. It will do more than any other single radio. Even if and when you graduate from the 991A, you'll want to keep it and upgrade to another HF radio.

I'm getting the impression that Yaesu vs ICOM is a Ford v Chevy thing. I'm seeing a lot of reviews saying that the IC-7300 is more user friendly than the ft991a.  I like the shack in a box idea, but I'm also interested in portability. Also there is a little sticker shock going on, but i am willing to spend the same as I would on a nice rifle (non KAC nice though )
Any thoughts on the IC-7100? Or a ft891 and a UHF/VHF?
How big of a deal is the fancy display?  I have no experience other than my UV5R and using SINCGARS in the Army.

Icom set the standard with the 7300 to get thousands of people into a good radio at a good price. It is a good radio.

The Yaesu 991A is a shack in the box. Like the 7300, it is a good radio, but neither are GREAT radios.

Any Shack in the box radio will be good, but never great.

The Icom 7300 is the Iphone of the ham radio world. They make good, simple to use products for the masses.

Yaesu's generally have better features to allow the user to use the radio the way they want to use the radio.

Kenwood fell off the planet and has done nothing new in 10+ years.

if you want a simple, easy to use radio, Icom 7300 is a good radio.

If you want a radio that allows you to really tweak things and get the most out of the radio a Yaesu FT-710 or FTdx10 is the radio for you.

At this point, I would not recommend a FT-991A. Older technology, and the convenience is not worth the sacrifice in quality anymore with the FT-710 being cheaper and 4 times HF radio but without VHF/UHF. You can get a FT-710 and a FTM-6000 for the price of a FT-991A and have better radios for both HF & VHF/UHF.

The IC-7300 is a joy to use really. Very easy to set up with digital and better ergos than the 991A. They are about the same size and weight. The FTDX10 and FT-710 are both newer and better receivers than the IC-7300. The FTDX10 is about 4 lbs heavier. Still portable, but getting on the heavy side at 14 lbs.

The IC-7100 is weird. I had one for a little over a year and just sold it to fund a third FT-991A. The detachable head thing makes it cumbersome for portable, but it has it's place on a desk or mobile (vehicle mounted). It has no waterfall, but otherwise the menu system is similar to the IC-7300. The FT-891 is my go to for portable, but it doesn't have an antenna tuner and neither does the IC-7100. That means that you are limited to resonant antenna designs or getting an external tuner. The last thing I want in the field is more cables and external boxes.

There are currently no mobile dual band UHF/VHF radios that offer modes other than FM. That means no SSB. Not a big deal, as it's not very commonly used, but still a good option to have. Portability wise, the FT-991A is the clear winner if all modes are desired. To get HF/VHF/UHF otherwise you're looking at an IC-7300/FT-710 plus a dual band radio, plus a power splitter or limited to using one at a time. You are now 2-3 lbs heavier than an FT-991A and have 2 radios with associated mics, power cables etc. You are also ~$100+ more than an FT-991A. To do so with an FT-891 you're about the same weight and cost, but more cumbersome, especially if you add a tuner. To do digital with the FT-891 you need an external sound card box like the SignalLink. The FT-991A has a built in sound card, so USB from the radio to the computer and you're done. Just like guns, 1 usually isn't enough, but if you only have 1, the FT-991A is the most capable and versatile.

Brand wise, the big 3 (Yaesu, Kenwood, Icom) are all fine. I'm a Yaesu fan, but I enjoy and value my TS-590SG and TM-V71A's. I think the Yaesu's sound better and have better receivers and DSP's than the Icom's. I think the Icom's are a little easier to use. I think the Kenwood's are built a little better.

My shack/fleet is as follows:

Shack:

FTDX101D Main HF Rig - best transceiver I've owned. It's a keeper and IMO the one to get if you're a buy once, cry once guy.
TS-590SG Backup HF Rig
FT-991A Third Backup, dedicated digital and all mode VHF/UHF
FTM-300D Dual Band monitors 2 local repeaters and can receive 108MHz-999MH
FT-8900R Dual Band monitors 146.52 and 446.000
TM-V71A Dedicated cross band repeat
FT-2980R Dedicated high power 2M simplex

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Go Box:

FT-991A
TM-V71A

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Backpack Portable options:

FT-991A
FT-891
FT-857D (backup use)
FT-818ND
IC-705
IC-2300H
FT-8800R

Backup/Spares/RV rigs:

IC-7300
FTDX10
FT-7250DR

2nd shack:

FTDX3000
FTM-6000
FT-2980R

My progression path to my current (hopefully final for now) main HF rig was FT-991A>TS-590SG>FTDX3000>FTDX10>FTDX101D. I really see no reason or path to upgrade from the 101D, to me it's the ultimate. My reasons are fantastic receiver, 3 antenna inputs (you can't effectively cover 6m-160m with just one antenna especially when you factor in the desire for DX and NVIS communications.

Mobiles are a bit weird to mount in the shack. Most need screwed down to something. Some have detachable heads that you can get a stand for. Otherwise they are just weird to set on a desk loose as most don't have feet or a bail or anything.

I hope this is helpful and saves you and others some time and money in the long run.

What do you guys use for leveling the audio output?  If you are on a channel with loud_guy and quiet_guy.   You need to turn up the volume to hear the quiet guy, and then loud guy booms in and you have torque it back down.  Is there a setting on the FT-710 that I need to RTFM that will level it out a bit?

I use the HF Gain/Squelch knob to find a happy medium.

Doesn't the receiver ALC help with this or am I misunderstanding the function?

I use the AGC on the Xiegu.

ALC is used for a Amplifier. Are you thinking about AGC? Automatic Gain Control?

Gain RX gain settings will balance out RX signals. A strong signal will always be high, so to balance a low signal with a strong signal, you use the gain function.

And on the FT-710 it is labeled as the "HF Gain/SQL" knob. I have my AGC set to "FAST" but tweaking is always needed to balance out signals, which is done with the aforementioned knob.

Passed this morning.

Congrats, Me too.

Congrats Guys!

Good job to you both!

Now I've got to sell a Thermal so I can get a radio.

@MHIDPA
Do tell? What thermal?

Congrats to the new licensee's! I'll try to work on this thread some more this weekend.

Sent you an IM, don't want to get in trouble for selling in tech.

I appreciate this thread already mimicking your portable setup for 2M, already got the IC2300H and the Armoloq frame and waiting on the rest to arrive.

Phenomenal thread.   Thank you OP!

I got a cheap Baofeng with chirp, what's the next step for an upgrade?

After passing the general exam I've been looking around but am unsure.

I’d buy a Yaesu FT-991A

If it were me and I wanted a rig for the home/shack I would buy an Icom 7300 or Yeasu 710.  With the 710 have a few more features, and the 7300 while older is likely still easier to use/understand.  Both good, with many wonderful features.   I am not a fan of adding the VHF/UHF in the same box. Everyone has an opinion. It doesn't mean mine is "best".


Also, anyone that wants to talk to me, new guy or old hand, I am happy to do that. I will talk with you on the phone or text/email and I will also be happy to do screen shares with you for digital questions using the free screen sharing program called "Anydesk".  PM me, email me etc for a phone number.  I don't have ALL of the answers, but I have been a ham for 52 years, and I have some of them. :)

James K0UA

This too. Depends on what you want to do, but in the name of simplicity I think you should buy a FT-991A, IC-7300 or FT-710. Those are really the 3 solid 100w starter choices and there's no wrong answers there.

I'm really enjoying the 991A for portable use.

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I don't know if this is redundant info given some of the other map links already posted, but I found this to be helpful in explaining why I can't seem to talk to Europe

Azimuthal map generator

You can plug in your grid square and it will generate a map of the world (or any distance) showing the azimuth from your location.  This is useful to determine if a nearby mountain might be blocking signals from a DX entity you wish to work.

Congrats, guys! While you are in study and test mode, go get your Extra for the added bandwidth. You'll like having it.

Good resource! I’ll add it. New one for me

Bump for the new guys

Regarding antennas, start here: https://home.arrl.org/action/Store/Product-Details/productId/114288
The book contains over 1000 pages of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the various antennas and propagation available to ham operators. The book doesn't change much from edition to edition, so you'll be using it for a long, long time.

Antennas and propagation are (to me, at least) the most fascinating part of ham radio.

100%
My uncle just gifted me his hand me down antenna books from 1987. You won't find an efhw in that edition but there is tons of good info in them

The last few years have seen a lot of new designs and ideas being developed. OCFs, EFHWs, and mag loops were barely mentioned. There's also a lot of new insights into propagation phenomena that are being presented, especially important as Cycle 25 ramps up.

Here is a cut chart for antennas, I use it for the DX Commander, and the efhw. It is pretty accurate, but I cut long and trim. It is easier, and reserves some cussing for throw lines.
Cut chart

I've been buying buying all my co-ax connectors & adapters  from Max-Gain systems. they sell quality silver plated Teflon connectors at a decent price, far better than Amazon crap and they are the supplier for many resellers. They also supply fiberglass tubing for Hex-Beam construction. The website is a little clunky to find some stuff like elbows & whatnot but they carry all of it. Shipping is fast & reasonable too.

Added, thank you. I like it

Great resource! Thank you, I needed that.

Here is that same spreadsheet that I modified a couple years ago to also show Ft & Inches.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YYvsHdR5L32eOTQE5E6xkI7YV4vujDX3Me_xCVFruAI/edit?usp=sharing

Information overload on propagation, feedlines, and antennas: https://www.hamuniverse.com/n4jaantennabook.html
It's a lot to swallow, so o0u might want to print it out (it's in PDF format) and keep it handy for casual reading in your spare time.

Wolf River Coils - long collapsing whip.

As tested with a 25' counterpoise and 50' of feed line. Antenna mounted on a ground spike into the earth. All 1.5swr or less on the FT-8 frequency.

6m - 2 sections
10m - 4.5 sections
12m - 5.75 sections
15m - 6.5 sections
17m - 8 sections.
20m - CW/Digital all the way up, push about 1/2 section down for middle of voice.

Alligator clip a piece of wire about 22' long to the top in an inverted L, and you will have a fine 40m antenna.

I plan on at least making a wire for 30m.

I use a sporty forty coil for 40m, but i could combine that with a wire for 80m maybe. At least for something narrow like Ft-8 or JS-8 frequ.

Maybe look into that soon.