any hammy's out there?

[nj158]

i scheduled for a class/test next month for technician license. so I'll start shopping around now for something to play with.

what is a good beginner radio to start off with. i have an rci, but will need something to go to the higher freq's, once i figure out which ones i will be allowed to use. something to get my feet wet with and if i have a ball with it, i will advance on up.

and how about an antenna? i assume i will need different ones for different freqs?

[MOONSHINER]

hammy here.

what kind of rci u got?

U will like to have 10m 28.3-28.5 usb use for local and dx.

a good dual band radio for 2m/70cm vhf/uhf might be good for local repeater use. there is many radios that are good, depending on budget.

[nj158]

i have my 2950 that is every bit of 13 years old, that will let me go from 26.000 upto 31.999, and talking on an A99 that is just as old

as far as budget, lets say in the neighborhood of $400. i have power supply's,, a 22 amp and a 12amp to run a mobile as a base.

[samskip]

I can volunteer my assistance ***HAMMY HERE*** Or I should say, amateur radio op....


Moonshiner is right, its all about budget. Radio's can go from $100 up to $12,000 bucks.

So give us....

-Your budget
-How your interested in using your ticket? (VHF/UHF repeaters, HF) You into local communications? Skip?
- Do you live in your own home? And if so how big is your lot, or do you live in a apartment or rent a room?

What are you looking to do with your ticket and on what budget ??? I have played around with about 12 different radios over the last 5 months trying to find the rig I wanted, I can give you a decent idea ..

[MOONSHINER]

i say use your 2950 for 10m dx and local, and get you a decent dual band 2m 70cm radio and you will be set (for a while).

[KI4MSJ]

HAM here also. The 2950 will be good for 28.300-500USB but will not give you the ability for Digital on 28.100-300 if you should decide to give it a try. In my opinion try to find yourself a Icom 706 or 706MKIIG. You can find the older 706 for slightly more than $400 on QTH. It will give you 2 meter, 222 and 440 also HF and 6 meter if you decide to upgrade to General, or maybe you will try for general when you go next month. I would also try for General at the same time if you pass your Tech, it will not cost you athing to try. You will be able to work 2 meter sideband and 6 meter also plus all the digital you want to do. Of course there are more radios out there for more money if you decide to save up some. The reason I did not suggest a duel band radio is because you will be limited to just two bands and will need to upgrade the radio or buy another should you get your General.

[copyguy]

I just passed my tech (on Wednesday), so I picked up a Yeasu VX-170, it's just a 2 meter handheld (I also have a 2950), I got good reports on it today with a friend ham being the "control operator", because I am still waiting for my name to show up on the FCC database. It was fun getting it on the air!

There are tons of radios out there, I just figured that a 2 meter HT would be a decent place to start, and should give plenty of entertainment for a while. Especially if I add a vhf antenna to my truck, could also even add a 2 meter amp to increase range.

Good luck with your ticket!

[nj158]

thanx alot for the reply's tomorrow when i have time i will check out every1's recommendations and see whats what. this is exactly what kind of info i was looking for.


samskip,

budget is looking to be around 400 for the radio,, which is flexible for the right rig might even be able to squeeze out 6. will primarily be interested in shooting skip, till i get to know a couple locals or so. currently i personally do not know any hammy's. live in own home, as far as room? not enough for a huge beam, if thats what your getting at,, could do about an 8footer. might be restricted in height though,, gotta check into it,, being I'm right next to McGuire AFB.

[linx]

Hi there, Ham here as well.

I use a 2950 at home, and a 2950dx mobile for 10 meter. It's not the most ideal radio, but it works for me to use on "freeband" channels.

As far as a 2m/70cm radio, I have a Yaesu 7800R. It's a good little radio. I have one mobile, and generally recieves from 108MHz all the way to 999MHz. You can MARS/CAP modify it if you need to. It's about half the size of the 2950, has the remote that you can fully funtion the radio with, and is only a $200 radio new. I recommend it.

Good luck on the test. Nex thing you know you'll be looking for a HF radio, and setting up a longwire or 5 sets of beams

[nj158]

thanx linx, now thats one swet little rig. found it online for 245, and that includes a free detachment kit.

that baby might just do the job. nice looking, lots of freq's and pretty simple looking.

[nj158]

also found for a few dollors more,,,,

The Yaesu FT-8900R quad bander gives you incredible power and flexibility on the road. Operate 10 meters, 6 meters, 2 meters and 70 centimeters. High power output is featured with 50 watts on 10, 6 and 2 meters and 35 watts on 430 MHz. It is like having two radios in one with dedicated Volume and Squelch controls on each side. Built in features include: duplexer and CTCSS/DCS Encode/Decode. Over 800 memories are available. It is WIRES compatible



any ideas on that model?

[dud muck]

also found for a few dollors more,,,,

The Yaesu FT-8900R quad bander gives you incredible power and flexibility on the road. Operate 10 meters, 6 meters, 2 meters and 70 centimeters. High power output is featured with 50 watts on 10, 6 and 2 meters and 35 watts on 430 MHz. It is like having two radios in one with dedicated Volume and Squelch controls on each side. Built in features include: duplexer and CTCSS/DCS Encode/Decode. Over 800 memories are available. It is WIRES compatible



any ideas on that model?

The 8900 is an FM only radio. Fine for 2m & 70cm, but not very useful on 10 or 6 meters.

I just got an ft-857d. After a few jumpers moved, it runs fine on CB, AM and SSB. Does the 2m and 70cm bands too, but its a $700 radio. Certainly a contender with the icom-706.

But if you're in the under-$300 price range, and only interested in 10/11 meters, then the magnum-257 or superstar-158edx are the rigs to look at. The 2950 is good, but its an older design.

[samskip]

thanx alot for the reply's tomorrow when i have time i will check out every1's recommendations and see whats what. this is exactly what kind of info i was looking for.


samskip,

budget is looking to be around 400 for the radio,, which is flexible for the right rig might even be able to squeeze out 6. will primarily be interested in shooting skip, till i get to know a couple locals or so. currently i personally do not know any hammy's. live in own home, as far as room? not enough for a huge beam, if thats what your getting at,, could do about an 8footer. might be restricted in height though,, gotta check into it,, being I'm right next to McGuire AFB.

Well hopefully I can give you a wealth of information from my own testing and checking the waters on radios...

Let's start with the classic, is X-brand better than Y-Brand (I.e. Icom vs Yaesu)

All in all, If you purchase a radio from either Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu your going to get a quality rig. These are big companies and know there stuff. Personally I would shy away from Kenwood a tad bit because they are going to be stopping production on all amateur equipment, so in the future it's going to be hard to find repair parts and other nice Kenwood equipment as you progress in the hobby years later. Don't mistake what I said as Kenwood is inferior, they make quality rigs for sure, however as the years go by repairs are going to be more costly and radios are going to be tougher to come by.

So why shy away from Kenwood even if you just want a plain jane VHF/UHF mobile for your first rig? You will find that first rig you purchase will set the tone for what you buy for many years to come. It's just like some guys are 'ford' guys, some guys are 'chevy'. If you buy an Icom you will get used to how they are laid out and find yourself buying all Icom gear for many years after. While running an Icom and say you use your buddies rig like a Yaesu, you will find yourself saying, "man this is laid out weird, I don't like this button here, or how this menu looks here. etc." It's just because your use to the Icom rigs and how they are laid out.

Now lets get into the three major brands and what your market is.....

First Icom.....

Icom has always been known to be durable, but usually a bit higher priced than their competition. I personally own an Icom and love it. I have an Icom VHF/UHF/HF rig the IC-706MKIIG , and a Icom HT and they both are top notch. The inside of Icom's are very tight and you better be very handy with a magnifying glass and soldiering iron. You wouldn't believe everything they cram in these radios, espcially Icom's. The surface diodes are SOOOO tiny it can be a real pain to remove surface diodes.

Now to Yaesu.....

Yaesu rigs are a 11 meter/hamop's wet dream. I know many 11 meter ops in my area run the Yaesu FT-857. What makes these such a unique advantage over Icom or Kenwood? You can perform mods on Yaesu's without ever opening up the radio! I am aware of mods for Yaesu radios where you just have to push certain buttons on the face of the Yaesu to change things, say like ummmmm, power output! Does it get any easier!? Yaesu's are the cheaper of the three, yet I know many who swear by them and I have never heard any horror stories either. They are a quality company!

Now to Kenwood....

I have owned Kenwood HT's and loved them for their durability. Now as I stated Kenwood is stopping production of amateur gear to focus on Land Mobile/Business radio communications. So if you get hooked on Kenwood you could be hurting 5-10 years down the road finding quality rigs and repairing the Kenwood you own. One big advantage over any other company Kenwood holds is that their mobile radios can be controlled via a Kenwood HT using crossband repeat. Out in the country with your HT and you know your 5 watt handheld wont hit the repeater? You can use your mobile in the truck as a go-between with a crossband repeat capability. Your HT will transmit to your trucks radio, so though your on your HT your actually using your mobile rig and it's 50 watts to hit the repeater! Also something Kenwood holds over the other companies is a ready to go APRS capable radio that is pretty much plug and play. So what in the world is APRS ----

APRS is - Automatic Position Reporting System, or APRS™ is a multifaceted system for use with packet radio by Hams, it allows the monitoring of real time geographical information such as the position of vehicles, the status of weather, radio direction finding and much much more. It involves mapping, GPS tracking, packet radio, etc. It is a VERY interesting facet of packet radio and has much to offer most everyone including non-hams that just want to watch over the internet.

All you would to do is buy the Kenwood D700A and have a GPS receiver and your all set! However most people also run it with a laptop in the vehicle to send short text messages over the network.


So what should you be looking at?


Kenwood --- Low buck --- No APRS

TM-V708A (EXACT same radio as D700A from Kenwood, only difference is no built in TNC board for APRS)

Kenwood --- Decently Priced ---- APRS plug and play ready

TM-D700A

Yaesu ---- Low Buck ---

Yaesu FT-7800R (Very simple operation)
Yaesu FT-8800R (Similar to 7800R, some more features, Crossband repeat on this model)

Yaesu ---Middle of the road---

Yaesu FT-8900R (28mhz, 50mhz, 144mhz, 440mhz all wrapped into one!)

Yaesu --- Big $$$ investment --- BUT WORTH IT

Yaesu FT-857D (Push button power mod, great rig, used one personally for a couple days)


Icom --- Low Buck ----

IC-208H (No dual monitoring meaning you can't monitor a UHF and a VHF repeater at the same time)

IC2720H (Little more features, dual VFO so you can monitor UHF and VHF at the same time.)

Icom --- Investment radio ---

Icom 706mkiig (My personal radio and I LOVE IT. Can be had for about 700 used, just make sure its like new condition and the previous owner took great care of it)


So where do you look for used gear?? QRZ.com under their message boards for USED equipment is great
eham.net and their forums are great as well.....

Another thing you need to do before you make a decision is check the reviews on all these radios... I use this HEAVILY like many do. check out.... http://www.eham.net/reviews/ and look up all these radios and read the reviews .... Get an idea of what people are saying...


Sites.....

www.qrz.com
www.eham.net


Best of luck and keep us updated!


73s


So how do you decide and what should you be looking at .....

[djrebel236]

good luck with your test, im also slowly studying for mine...Dj

[linx]

But if you're in the under-$300 price range, and only interested in 10/11 meters, then the magnum-257 or superstar-158edx are the rigs to look at. The 2950 is good, but its an older design.

The 2950 is good but and old design? Sounds more like an opinion than a fact. Yes, the 2950's have been being made for 10 some-odd years, but the newer models, like my DX are rock solid impovements of the original. Don't knock the only radio I know of that is AS rock solid on SSB as it is on AM. With other radios, you usually get great AM performance with crappy SSB performance, or just the opposite rocking SSB and lowsy AM. The 2950 is a great platform to get great performance on both modes. .... I got rid of all my "CB" radios that were converted to 10m, and started buying real 10 radios and converting them to CB, lol. I believe the 2950 is a real 10m radio, with features a 10m user would like for instance the shift for the freq's, unlike others that market theirs as 10 meter radios so they can legally sell the high power CB's.

[nj158]

wow samskip,, heckof a post,, thanx for the time to write that one up. and now it just got all that much harder. good thing i got a couple weeks yet.

[dud muck]

But if you're in the under-$300 price range, and only interested in 10/11 meters, then the magnum-257 or superstar-158edx are the rigs to look at. The 2950 is good, but its an older design.

The 2950 is good but and old design? Sounds more like an opinion than a fact. Yes, the 2950's have been being made for 10 some-odd years, but the newer models, like my DX are rock solid impovements of the original. Don't knock the only radio I know of that is AS rock solid on SSB as it is on AM. With other radios, you usually get great AM performance with crappy SSB performance, or just the opposite rocking SSB and lowsy AM. The 2950 is a great platform to get great performance on both modes. .... I got rid of all my "CB" radios that were converted to 10m, and started buying real 10 radios and converting them to CB, lol. I believe the 2950 is a real 10m radio, with features a 10m user would like for instance the shift for the freq's, unlike others that market theirs as 10 meter radios so they can legally sell the high power CB's.

True, It is my opinion. The guts of the 2950/2970 is certainly an improvement over the "jumble of wires" (on the inside) that is many of the other 10-meter rigs. I just think the magnum-257 looks nicer on the outside. Or if you prefer the chrome CB look, the superstar 158edx is your SSB/AM radio. Its worth comparing the performance of those rigs to the rci-2950. I just personally don't prefer the look of the 2950, but inside its great.

None of these radios can hold a candle against the icom-706mkiig or yaesu ft-857d, but now those are in a completely different price range.

samskip: great post!

[Spitfire 441]

also found for a few dollors more,,,,

The Yaesu FT-8900R quad bander gives you incredible power and flexibility on the road. Operate 10 meters, 6 meters, 2 meters and 70 centimeters. High power output is featured with 50 watts on 10, 6 and 2 meters and 35 watts on 430 MHz. It is like having two radios in one with dedicated Volume and Squelch controls on each side. Built in features include: duplexer and CTCSS/DCS Encode/Decode. Over 800 memories are available. It is WIRES compatible



any ideas on that model?

Ham Bone here also.
I have two FT-8900's. One mobile one base. LOVE the radio. And It does crossband repeat. Awesome feature if you like to get out like a big radio w/ a hand held. Drawback is FM only,AM RX. But still a blast. Will not be much use on 10 m until you upgrade to General. However for the price you still have 3 usable bands for $40 dollars more than a dual-bander. 6m FM is good for DX, as well as 10m FM when the skip is rolling.
PS on the QT, remove a little diode and it transmits just about everywhere it receives. IE> MURS,GMRS,FRS.

[Spitfire 441]

OH< I forgot to add.....CONGRATULATIONS on getting your ticket.!

[samskip]

also found for a few dollors more,,,,

The Yaesu FT-8900R quad bander gives you incredible power and flexibility on the road. Operate 10 meters, 6 meters, 2 meters and 70 centimeters. High power output is featured with 50 watts on 10, 6 and 2 meters and 35 watts on 430 MHz. It is like having two radios in one with dedicated Volume and Squelch controls on each side. Built in features include: duplexer and CTCSS/DCS Encode/Decode. Over 800 memories are available. It is WIRES compatible



any ideas on that model?

Ham Bone here also.
I have two FT-8900's. One mobile one base. LOVE the radio. And It does crossband repeat. Awesome feature if you like to get out like a big radio w/ a hand held. Drawback is FM only,AM RX. But still a blast. Will not be much use on 10 m until you upgrade to General. However for the price you still have 3 usable bands for $40 dollars more than a dual-bander. 6m FM is good for DX, as well as 10m FM when the skip is rolling.
PS on the QT, remove a little diode and it transmits just about everywhere it receives. IE> MURS,GMRS,FRS.

It really sucks the 8900 doesn't have SSB! That is your main mode of operation on 10m no matter what the license in my opinion and pretty much your only one when your a technician. I wish Yaesu would have put it on that radio. If it had SSB AM, FM on TX/RX that would be one nice lil' complete rig



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Now let's get into that antenna thing =-), because no matter what the rig, the antenna is what makes the station hot or not!

You said you have your own place and that's a good thing, but you live next to an AFB and they probably won't like a 50 or 100' tower =-)!

So what are you options while still managing to get that worldwide swing and local talk? Plenty!

So what about being able to this those local or maybe not so local repeaters? You don't need a 2m beam antenna to get out loud and proud over a distance. Unless you need to hit repeaters 70-100 miles away, it's just not needed!

2m/440 base antenna - I HIGHLY recommend a simple J-pole built from copper pipe! It mean seem primitive but simply put, these damn things just work fantastic! I live in slightly hilly suburban area and I have my J-pole about 10 feet up in the air on a mast and hit repeaters 40-50 miles away no problem. It's also easy to taken down and take on hill topping trips or emergency use.

Don't know how to build one or don't have the time to try? I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend KB9VBR's J-pole's. KB9VBR is a GREAT guy who builds some real QUALITY antennas! You won't regret any of his antennas! He was also featured in Popular Communications with his antennas. I recommend the 2 meter 'breakaway' j-pole since it can be broke down for fitting it in your vehicle with ease. His 2meter J-Pole is outstanding on 2m, and is 'decent' on 440. check out... http://www.kb9vbr.com/products.php#2meter

Maybe you don't feel so good about buying someones 'handcrafted' antenna, although I beg you to reconsider that! You can purchase the Arrow OSJ Model J146/440 which is the exact thing KB9VBR builds, but from a major company, that's all! Plus from the company its going to run you about $12 more all in all.

You can read the reviews on KB9VBR's antenna's and Arrows OSJ J146/440 on eham.net!

Now how about that HF?! Just because you live near a military base don't fret! If you have an Antron 99, or Imax2000, or any 11 meter vertical, it most likely can be used on 10 meters! I use my 5/8 wave vertical on 10 meters and have pounded into stations all over the country, and even Chile, South America a week and a half ago! All that DX work with my antenna only 12 feet off the ground at the coaxial feed point! The tip of my vertical is only about 32 feet at the tip! You'll find that you won't need a 10 element beam and 500 watts to break over the 'screaming and noise' like on 11 meters.

But what about those 'other' HF bands once you get your general? No height for a tower? Time for a dipole! You can find dipole antennas or 'doublets' online for about 40-60$ that cover all HF bands! MFJ makes a doublet that covers 160m through 6 meters! Dipoles are just antenna made from ladder line or coax that you can hang anywhere on your property! You can string them up in a tree vertically, or you can run the from one tree to another horizontally for horizontal radiation. Then you can have all sorts of fun trying really unique, funny ways of hanging the wire and seeing the results on the bands! It can be really fun experimenting with how you string these up to see results! See http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/5699 for a doublet that will cover all HF bands!

Don't think just because it's a wire laid up in a tree, it will be a junk antenna, most everyone I know runs a dipole on HF along with either another vertical or beam. And many times say there dipole out performs their other antennas.

The only concerns you'd have around a base would be antenna height I believe, also you may want to ask other hams if there are any 'quiet zones' or freqs amateur are not allowed to operate due to interference with the base. You could run a small beam maybe only 15-20 feet up.

Hope this helps, any questions nj, just post up!

73s

[PONY EXPRESS]

If your going to spend 400.00 just save a few more $$$s and get a radio that will do 6-160 VHF and UHF bands in 1 radio

Yaesu has a nice one called FT 897d or 857 Icom has the Icom 706 mkiig or Ic 7000.
Whats nice about this multi band radios is you can detach the head controller from main body and its out of sight out of mind.
Sell that RCI when time comes and get a real radio

That way you can operate all modes ssb/fm/am/cw on all bands you have privileges on and not be stuck on FM on 2 440 and 6 meters oh yea they are easily modified for cb radio 100 watts out

[samskip]

If your going to spend 400.00 just save a few more $$$s and get a radio that will do 6-160 VHF and UHF bands in 1 radio

Yaesu has a nice one called FT 897d or 857 Icom has the Icom 706 mkiig or Ic 7000.
Whats nice about this multi band radios is you can detach the head controller from main body and its out of sight out of mind.
Sell that RCI when time comes and get a real radio

That way you can operate all modes ssb/fm/am/cw on all bands you have privileges on and not be stuck on FM on 2 440 and 6 meters oh yea they are easily modified for cb radio 100 watts out

I wouldn't say easy to modify for 11 meter..... I never again want to open my case to my 706MKIIG! Smallest surface mounted diode I've EVER seen! Very nerve racking pulling that baby out on a $1000 rig, not like mod'ing a $100 Cobra!

If you really don't care for the RCI and could part with it, I would agree on selling it and finding a nice used 706 or 857D....

Your looking at 600-750 for a nice used one, just search SEARCH SEARCH SEARCH until you find exactly what your looking for in your price range. Oh, and with the Icom 706, if you choose to go that route make sure it's an ICOM 706 MKIIG !! There are 3 different series of 706's

- The original "706"
- The 706MKII
- The 706MKIIG

You'll want the MKIIG ---It has some filtering improvements and also gives you 440mhz....

Trust me I was in your shoes, I needed my first radio and wanted so bad to just go drop $250 on a low budget dual bander. But I saved my money a bit more, searched till my eyes bled, and finally found that perfect MKIIG like new!!!! It's an investment and I wont need to buy another radio as I upgrade my license for many years to come!

[doctor]

All good ideas, but I guess your after the tech ticket, just take your hard earned cash and get a icom 706 probably an older model, it will have hf and vhf then you dont have to buy a bunch of radios just one, as someone said qth.com has a lot or the other qrz.com.
Antenna wise for hf..use your cb antenna on ten I do, and the other bands just make up a end fed zepp for starters, if your just going to operate a tech license for a while go to the following and get omni directional antennas....p a r e l e c t r o n i c s. , and if your antenna restricted you can put these in your attic.

If you want to get on soon as you pass and get your license call get on
echo link on computer
or
hf
at qso net dot com, it is free for 90 days..

73

DOCTOR/795 :D

[linx]

Sell that RCI when time comes and get a real radio

Don't get me wrong, I love my yaesu, and have thought about selling all my cb/10 meter equip like amps and whatnot and buying a good all-mode rig, but I've never heard a Icom/KW/Yaesu/Allinco sound anything close to the 11 meter power of a SWP 2950DX from Radio Active. You find me a radio with some 11m balls and I'll sell everything I have for base and mobile operations and buy new base/mobile rigs. I definatly am open to opinions, and have changed setups multiple times, but I just don't think an all mode all band ham radio will sound like one of Mike's radios. That is why I have one...and I get just as many complements on 10m SSB as I do on 11m AM.

Sorry, I know this thread is not about me, nor is this thread for me. Just buy what you can/allowed to afford.

[samskip]

Sell that RCI when time comes and get a real radio

Don't get me wrong, I love my yaesu, and have thought about selling all my cb/10 meter equip like amps and whatnot and buying a good all-mode rig, but I've never heard a Icom/KW/Yaesu/Allinco sound anything close to the 11 meter power of a SWP 2950DX from Radio Active. You find me a radio with some 11m balls and I'll sell everything I have for base and mobile operations and buy new base/mobile rigs. I definatly am open to opinions, and have changed setups multiple times, but I just don't think an all mode all band ham radio will sound like one of Mike's radios. That is why I have one...and I get just as many complements on 10m SSB as I do on 11m AM.

Sorry, I know this thread is not about me, nor is this thread for me. Just buy what you can/allowed to afford.

That apparent '11m balls' sound comes with some downsides.

A. - Your frequency range is limited (All mode rig....Mine...0.030 Mhz on up to 970Mhz...TX anywhere in there)
B. - You will end up getting complaints on ten because your 'super swing' is splattering multiple Khz around your QSO. Remember channel spacing on 11 meters is pretty wide and modded radios for modulation and power can bleed pretty bad there even, when on 10 meters everyone is pretty packed in tight. On 11 meters no one ever says I am running a cb radio, they say 'thats a ham radio isnt it' .. They can tell the modulation difference and have always said it sounded extremely good. Not just 'pounding loud' good but strong, clear and crisp only running 5/10 on the Mic modulation setting and no speech compression. Just wait till the cycle picks up and you use your modulation modded radio on 10m, I promise people will complain that your splattering over their QSO...