New kid on the block

[chromecrow]

Hello all,

Just passed my tech exam waiting for a call sign.

Was a ham many years ago and let my license expire(novice)
Worked CW on 40m back then landlord put a new roof on and asked me not to put up my antenna.

Will be looking for a rig soon so what band(s) are good for mobile use (big truck) and dx.

Also prolly gonna go for general ASAP for the extra privileges.

73, John

 

[fourstringburn]

Welcome back to the Hobby!

Definitely go for your General class so you can really enjoy the HF bands! Good DX can happen on all the bands so it's good to be ready with a nice HF radio and antenna!

For mobile HF radios, I'm very partial to the Icom IC-7000 but unfortunately Icom discontinued them but you can shop around the used market. The Icom 706 series are always good used finds too. The newest Icom mobile is the IC-7100 which features a touch screen and separate radio/head configuration.

For other HF mobiles, there is the Kenwood TS 480 which has a 100 watt and 200 watt version but I think the remote head is kind of big but many people use them for mobiles.

There is the Yaesu 857D which I think is too small but is a fully featured radio with HF/VHF/UHF.

Yaesu came out with a FT991 which is a very nice looking rig with all the goodies but is expensive at $1500.

Look me up on QRZ.com. My call sign K5KNM and scroll down to see pics of my mobile station in my big rig.

73.

 

[sounds]

Welcome back to amateur radio, John!

 

[BBB]

Seconds on the Yaesu 857D. Around $500+ used. The 857D requires quite a bit of operator's manual and menu reading at first. This is common with newer "all in one" transceivers. There are classic HF multi-band rigs with little to no on-screen menus.

Next you'll want to look into multi-band mobile antennas, duplexers or triplexers (unless you get an adjustable screwdriver type antenna $$$.$$) A radio with a built in or attached automatic antenna tuner will help also.

10/11 meter coverage can be had by a single good quality mobile antenna like the Sirio 5000 series.

http://www.sirioantenna.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_19&products_id=363