Guys,

Need some help here. Do I sell the 706 mk I, roll some extra money with it, and get a 7000? The lack of a DSP is KILLING me in the car. I have a sub-optimal compromise antenna, and it really shows when I'm trying to hear people.

I'm looking at about $1000 for a 7000, which means I could roll another $150-200 into it and get a 7100. I figure I can get probably $500-600 out of the 706, which will offset it a bit.

Or do I just give up on the HF in the car and go straight for HF in the pickup (which should be quieter, because it's not a hybrid)?

Sigh.

ETA:
Or, a 480SAT and figure out how to make it work with my AH4?

What kind of truck?   It may end up being worse than your hybrid.

I'd exit out of the 706 just because some of the parts / assemblies are unobtainium. I have had a TS-480 HX, now a back up rig, for many years and highly recommend it with the add on filters and TCXO. Somebody may want to chime in on the newer ICOMS regarding overload on home station antennas, I had a IC706 MKII that over loaded on my home receive antenna resulting in strange artifacts etc. The TS-480 is still a great fixed or mobile radio. 73, Rob

Precisely why I'm hesitant to move anything to the truck. That and the hybrid is the "highway car" and the truck isn't, lol.
2000.5 GMC Sierra 1500 z71 5.3l v8




That's kinda what I'm thinking. I don't want to be $600+ into a radio that could require replacement of a FET that doesn't exist anymore. My instincts say ditch it and be done with it.

The problem with the 480sat/hx is that I'd have to hack something together for the AH4.

sell the AH-4 and get a LDG tuner for the kenwood

better yet, get a TARHEEL II and forget about a lossy tuner


or...

Why not hunt for the Icom DSP unit

My 706mkiig had the DSP installed


also....

throwing money at your noise problem by buying new radios is not the answer

( solve you noise problem)

The 706 series DSP while very good was only noise reduction, and maybe blanking. No BW filtering at all. 73, Rob

Noise problem now is the hybrid system... Unfortunately I can't do anything with it. Everything is bonded, I've got $150 in ferrites on things, and it's just gotten the non-hybrid noise floor down. If the hybrid system is turned off (there's a battery switch) there's no noise aside from some sub-s0 noise that I can hear (might be just wind/moisture/particles hitting the antenna) and the noise crops up when the assist gauge indicates power is being applied or received.

I'm going to take my 7100 and put it in the car tonight to see if a DSP will do anything with the noise, if it does, I'll look for a mkiig while I keep trying shielding and grounding all kinds of other bullshit in the car, lol.

I want a tarheel on the truck, not the car -- then I can use a full-size tarheel.

ETA:
What I'm getting is that a mkiig goes for about 900-1k, at that price, why not roll it up into a newer radio?

I regretted selling my 706. I replaced it years later with a 7100, loving my choice.

Well, I just tried the 7100 in the car. Same noise problems as the 706, and while the IF DSP makes it really nice to listen to, it doesn't do anything with the noise I've got.


The noise I have changes with the electric motor, whether it's charging or drawing from the battery, it makes some nasty noise. If I'm just cruising along at a constant speed, it's pretty quiet.

Part of the noise is the electrical system controlling everything in the car, the other part is the CANBUS noise. :/

I think you already answered your own question..
The Hybrid is not the best platform for you with a sub optimal antenna.
The Icom 706 is not a very good mobile.   You could try to add some mechanical and crystal filters  - but that would increase the cost to the point of diminishing returns.
The 7000's performance is marginal at best.
The 7100 - although newer - was not rated all of that high when the ARRL tested it.

Your best bet is to get rid of the 706 and buy a Kenwood TS 480 SAT = this would also give you the auto tuner option...
Then you can splurge and spend another $150 and buy yourself a decent Two Meter Mobile.
With the remote heads - you can pretty much put the radio part anywhere and mount the head unit on the console and be able to use it in any position as opposed to a huge radio that has to be mounted in the dash, under the dash or on or between the console.

You can buy the filters for the Kenwood from Sherwood Engineering and then you would have something...
http://www.sherweng.com/

Derek45 you forgot to log back into your other account.

You could try to filter out the noise using a Brute Force Capacitor, don't know if it would help with a HYBRID vehicle...

http://www.rfparts.com/

Plus Three for the TS-480 as HF mobile!

Dude,
 you're just gonna have to get rid of the hybrid-mobile

Park it at the Ferguson, MO QuickTrip and call state farm

also.....

Sweet, thanks. I'll burn down my current shack, light my car on fire, and buy exactly what you said. I'll get rid of my 2820h, because, you know, I'll get a decent mobile.

ETA:
Do you have a listing of your shack? I want to get exactly what you have to make sure I have all of the right equipment.

The hybrid stays. I don't have any family in the area, (three plus hours away) and I need it to drive to see them.

Trade it in for a Ford Fusion hybrid

Hippie Green cars hate HF radio.




Diesel HF mobiles are very RF friendly and quiet.

See, a diesel truck is in the cards, but I have to drive my gas truck into the ground first. Shouldn't be much longer though, lol.

It's really not as bad as everyone thinks it is. 40m is DEAD QUIET, and I actually work a lot of 40 mobile now. Mostly nets with people with god-knows-how-many-dBd-of-gain-arrays, but it works, and I can jot down their call, the time, my location, and the freq so I can try to log them later, heh.

I'm still shielding things, moving cables around, and otherwise mitigating the noise, a couple dB at a time. Slow work, but worth it, especially since I don't like to ride in a truck for hours, and I especially don't like to pay to drive said truck for hours, lol.