B
BOOTY MONSTER
Guest
what are some good models of used ham radios that can be converted to 11 meters and work on AM as well as SSB ? not interested in exports . seems they have much much better ears/rx than cb's/export .
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Check out a Yaesu FT-757GX. Its conversion is easy; simply throw a little slide switch on the PC board behind the VFO knob, if I remember correctly.
Another good rig is the old Kenwood TS-430. I believe it is fairly simple to open up for general coverage transmit, too, although not as simple as the '757.
Don't pay more than two to three hundred bucks for them, though. Some parts for those old reliable workhorses are no longer available.
Another good rig is the old Kenwood TS-430. I believe it is fairly simple to open up for general coverage transmit, too, although not as simple as the '757.
Don't pay more than two to three hundred bucks for them, though. Some parts for those old reliable workhorses are no longer available.
I second the yaesu 757GX series radios...the GXII was a pretty nice one. I had one that I borrowed for years from Jay_in_the_Mojave and it was great. Here's one on ebay that's a fair price: ** YAESU FT-757GXII HF TRANSCEIVER ** - eBay (item 230333065616 end time Mar-28-09 17:54:50 PDT)
BOOTY MONSTER,
I'm afraid that you won't find many solid state ham radios that fit your requirements. By that, I mean that most of them are not going to do well on AM as most people would want. Almost all of them are AM capable (to the best of my memory), but not the best AM performers in the world, they were never intended for primary AM use, but for SSB.
Having said that, there are a bunch of ham radios that can be converted, some a lot easier than others. If they are fairly large radios, they will tend to be easier than the really smaller ones. That's because of the type of technology used to put them together, 'dead bug' type wiring versus 'SMT' type stuff. I think the others are right about the '757 being easier than most. What can you say about a brand that, "YAESU", has 'AES' in the middle of it? You know? (Sorry, couldn't resist!
) They are also right about radios that are older than about 8 years old having a parts problem, which can be a real headache. That 8 years old thingy had to do with manufacturers stocking or retaining parts, which used to be a requirement for import radios at one time, no idea about now.
And of course, if you've got more money than you know what to do with, you could consider one of the computer based radios! But you'd have to be a programmer to convert those things, aside from being a tech that can fiddle with swapping eproms etc. Won't that be so much fun??
- 'Doc
I'm afraid that you won't find many solid state ham radios that fit your requirements. By that, I mean that most of them are not going to do well on AM as most people would want. Almost all of them are AM capable (to the best of my memory), but not the best AM performers in the world, they were never intended for primary AM use, but for SSB.
Having said that, there are a bunch of ham radios that can be converted, some a lot easier than others. If they are fairly large radios, they will tend to be easier than the really smaller ones. That's because of the type of technology used to put them together, 'dead bug' type wiring versus 'SMT' type stuff. I think the others are right about the '757 being easier than most. What can you say about a brand that, "YAESU", has 'AES' in the middle of it? You know? (Sorry, couldn't resist!
) They are also right about radios that are older than about 8 years old having a parts problem, which can be a real headache. That 8 years old thingy had to do with manufacturers stocking or retaining parts, which used to be a requirement for import radios at one time, no idea about now.And of course, if you've got more money than you know what to do with, you could consider one of the computer based radios! But you'd have to be a programmer to convert those things, aside from being a tech that can fiddle with swapping eproms etc. Won't that be so much fun??
- 'Doc
I own a FT-757GX, and it works quite well on all modes, including AM. The thing to remember is to keep the AM carrier no more than 25% of the rig's full output.
I use a D-104 on the '757, and run about 20 Watts carrier, yielding around 80 Watts PEP output. I get excellent audio reports, too. You just can't drive those old solid state rigs too hard on AM.
Good luck!
I use a D-104 on the '757, and run about 20 Watts carrier, yielding around 80 Watts PEP output. I get excellent audio reports, too. You just can't drive those old solid state rigs too hard on AM.
Good luck!
Hey B Monster,
W5LZ is offering good information. I find that most or all of the older solid state rigs performed poorly on AM audio.
But there is hope. The industry realized that AM has its popularity and apparently made some circuitry changes to make them work better.
All I can tell you about for certain is the one I own and another I've heard.
I bought an Icom 746 the first year they came out. So it is like 10 years old now. It's on every day and I've never had a moment's trouble from it.
This 746, with no other mod than just the MARS/CAP (out of band), is loud and clear on AM. It is my only base rig and my everyday 11 meter rig. (I'm a ham as well.)
The Icoms also are set up for 40 watts AM while all the other guys are only 25. And the AM power can be turned up although I wouldn't turn it up past 50 watts dk. From here, it swings to double the dk. I haven't turned mine up so the 40 swings to 80. The finals are 100 watt rated so I have no doubt that if I turned it up to 50 it would swing to 100.
The 746 is one heckofa rig. 1.6 ~ 60mhz straight through, and then again 108~174mhz straight through. Does the full 100W on the VHF range, FM & SSB.
So you can see it also covers the MURS VHF channels as well and many others.
I've talked to another local ham on his modern mobile Icom 706 M II G and it sound loud and clear on AM too.
So I can give the thumbs up on modern late model Icoms for being good AM talkers.
A used 746 may be had for under $700 now and they came out at over $1,250
So.....an "inexpensive" ham rig that is a very good with AM audio? I'm not sure there is one that I know of. Depends on what you price limit is.....but I'd much rather wait and keep saving up a little more money and get something you'll really like than to buy cheaper and get something that won't do what you want it to do.
Good luck!
W5LZ is offering good information. I find that most or all of the older solid state rigs performed poorly on AM audio.
But there is hope. The industry realized that AM has its popularity and apparently made some circuitry changes to make them work better.
All I can tell you about for certain is the one I own and another I've heard.
I bought an Icom 746 the first year they came out. So it is like 10 years old now. It's on every day and I've never had a moment's trouble from it.
This 746, with no other mod than just the MARS/CAP (out of band), is loud and clear on AM. It is my only base rig and my everyday 11 meter rig. (I'm a ham as well.)
The Icoms also are set up for 40 watts AM while all the other guys are only 25. And the AM power can be turned up although I wouldn't turn it up past 50 watts dk. From here, it swings to double the dk. I haven't turned mine up so the 40 swings to 80. The finals are 100 watt rated so I have no doubt that if I turned it up to 50 it would swing to 100.
The 746 is one heckofa rig. 1.6 ~ 60mhz straight through, and then again 108~174mhz straight through. Does the full 100W on the VHF range, FM & SSB.
So you can see it also covers the MURS VHF channels as well and many others.
I've talked to another local ham on his modern mobile Icom 706 M II G and it sound loud and clear on AM too.
So I can give the thumbs up on modern late model Icoms for being good AM talkers.
A used 746 may be had for under $700 now and they came out at over $1,250
So.....an "inexpensive" ham rig that is a very good with AM audio? I'm not sure there is one that I know of. Depends on what you price limit is.....but I'd much rather wait and keep saving up a little more money and get something you'll really like than to buy cheaper and get something that won't do what you want it to do.
Good luck!
What do you consider cheap?
You can get a stryker 490 for $300 and have it converted in 5 minutes and have a 100 watt CB.
You can get a stryker 490 for $300 and have it converted in 5 minutes and have a 100 watt CB.
B
BOOTY MONSTER
Guest
LOL im very poor . as yall may have noticed i ask a ton or 2 of questions befor i buy stuff . i was hoping for something under 150ish . i had decided that a maco 5/8 was gonna be my antena to order next month but now that jay is comming out with something in a not too dissimillar price range ill wait to see how that pans out . i was thinking an older president/uniden/cobra with ssb (or something using their guts) would be my next radio upgrade so i thought id see if one of these used ham riggs might be something that could offer better performance and still be something i could afford . guess ill stick with cb's . maybe a 2950 or 257 but i doubt ill find one in my price range . sure wish i had got that nomad tuned 2950 for a C note from 2020 when i got that 500v from him last year !!
thanks guys .
thanks guys .
If you don't mind a little advice why don't you get your Tech license and buy a used 2 meter rig and talk on the local repeaters ? The FM audio is much better than am, you can talk farther legally, and the quality of people you talk to is much better than the foul mouth CB'ers. I have been a trucker for 33 years and was tired of conversations that ended up in name calling or worse. If I want I can turn my Yaesu FT1000 MP Mark V into a 200 watt CB by just holding a couple of buttons when I turn on the power, but the audo on 2 meter FM is almost like a cell phone. If you get a chance contact the local Amature radio club and have them give you a demonstration.
Im only telling you this because I was once where you are except I was given a base CB with a 1000 watt linear, I went to the local cb shop and asked how to set it up and the owner took me into the back and showed his 2 meter rig and explained how it worked. That was almost 20 years ago, now I am a Amateur Exta Class and having a lot of fun. I owe it to that guy that showed me how it works and who to contact to get started.
Good luck
Im only telling you this because I was once where you are except I was given a base CB with a 1000 watt linear, I went to the local cb shop and asked how to set it up and the owner took me into the back and showed his 2 meter rig and explained how it worked. That was almost 20 years ago, now I am a Amateur Exta Class and having a lot of fun. I owe it to that guy that showed me how it works and who to contact to get started.
Good luck
W
W9WD
Guest
Ranger RCI-2950-70DX Amateur 10 & 12 Meter Mobile Radio from Ranger Communications
Once you insert the provided "E-chip" you will have 24mhz-32mhz
$270 (with shipping) for the 2950DX if you shop it
Once you insert the provided "E-chip" you will have 24mhz-32mhz
$270 (with shipping) for the 2950DX if you shop it
I see that you live in Richmond VA, here is a link to the Richmond Amateur Radio Club
Richmond Amateur Radio Club
There are a lot of radio clubs in Virgina, here is a link to a list of them and their links
HamDepot - Virginia Ham Radio Clubs | Virginia Amateur Radio Clubs
Good luck
Richmond Amateur Radio Club
There are a lot of radio clubs in Virgina, here is a link to a list of them and their links
HamDepot - Virginia Ham Radio Clubs | Virginia Amateur Radio Clubs
Good luck
used=kenwood ts 50 ..no longer manufactured fair on am but not a screamer
new/used icom 718..fair audio on this aswell on am
if ya use ssb most to all the time i reccommend getting one of therse
but if its only 50/50 id just get a export.magnum 257 is the
best deal going.and 50 watts pep
new/used icom 718..fair audio on this aswell on am
if ya use ssb most to all the time i reccommend getting one of therse
but if its only 50/50 id just get a export.magnum 257 is the
best deal going.and 50 watts pep
B
BOOTY MONSTER
Guest
thanks for the additional replies . i have kinda in my mind flirted with the idea of getting a ticket and i find im thinking about it more lately . thanks for the links to local info for me . i may very well put them to use and go meet some local pork butts .
I guess it's all in how you look at it. Most people don't think it's completely outrageous to spend something like $100 for a single band radio that'll do about 20 - 50 watts output. So a 10 band radio with the same power output would be worth $1000? I don't know about quite that much. How about half of that for a 10 band radio, seem like a better deal? let's see, AM, FM, SSB, digital capable, even that nasty CW, computer controlled with a cable or two, about the size of an UPS for a computer. Not too bad, huh? Oh, what the #&((, throw in another $20 for a 10 year license to use all of that stuff legally. And then, usually a simple diode clip and you got 11 bands. Something like $40 - $50 dollars and you got enough wire for an antenna on all of them bands.
Hmm... Naw, too good to be true.
- 'Doc
Hmm... Naw, too good to be true.
- 'Doc
SteveInOregon
Old School CB'er & Ham
I "kinda" agree with WILDWEST46 about Ham vs CB
I am both a Ham and a 11meter CB-SSB "LSB CH 38'er".
I like both for different reasons.
HAM: You will find it kind of "stuffy" on 2meter & 440 mhz Ham FM , the guys on FH repeaters tend to be majority white collar techno-geek oriented and much older in general than the more blue collar younger dudes on CB.
I would say the most Ham guys are 45 to 85 years old and most CB & 11 meter SSB guys are 25 to 50 years old. CB -SSB has a younger crowd.
Ya it's true AM CB and 11 meter SSB have a lot of older A-hole teen's, marginaly functional drunks, meth losers, momma's boys living on Mommies front porch, homeless living in van's and anti social types out in the Mojave desert, but it also has a bunch of "average joes" who like to hunt fish drive Jeeps up into the mountains and shoot skip, truckers and old fasioned American guys who are relaxed easy to shoot the shit with.
Ham has more classy guys who never get speeding tickets, who wash there car ever week like clock work, they are very very conservative as a whole, they are good honest law & order type people who in general don't cuss, don't drink, don't smoke cigars under $10 bucks a stick, and they don't like to talk about tits and beer, in other words they are "classy".....lol, BUT they tend to be "tite asses" who demand strict protocol wich make a conversation feel slow and constrictive, its kind of like having a conversation in front of You grandma, you feel like you cant relax ,fart or let an casual F word slip out.
On Ham You will be speaking to mostly retired guys , lawyers, IT professionals, CPA's, Radio Tech's,etc......
On Ham l have to remember the other guys call sign and repeat it and yours every so often , if you deviate in the slightest they will correct you , they all will all look up your call sign and check up on you, you also have to repeat your call sign at the beginning & end and if You don't your looked upon as a heretic or Satanist who is trying to defile the Christian virginity of the repeater system.
The good things is they tend to be "signal zealots" they will put an antenna farm / repeater station on every 5 to 10 thousand foot mountain peak and make sure they will all cover & overlap each others signal radiation pattern and then link them up to each other to where you can transmit on all of them at the same time giving you a thousand circualr mile radius of talk are on a Hand held walkie talkie !!!.
You will have 10 times better TX & RX than even the best cell phone systems and even better coverage and marginal signal than an rural Police Fire and Highway patrol, so you are never out of range of a repeater even with small 2meter 1 watt mini pocket walkie talkie / HT out it in the boondocks you can usually "hit a repeater" / "get into a repeater" and make contact with a Ham in the most remote areas all around the country.
On CB SSB CH 38LSB I dont have the marginal area reception for obvious reasons, but I can usually make contact with someone when I go thru any small to mid sized little American town that has a WalMart , any small town usually has a half dozen sidbanders who are regulars to shoot the shit with & shoot skip without worrying if I am wearing an imaginary suit and tie.
I like both when I get boored of CB noise I pop on my dual band Ham rig, when I get boored with stuffy call signs and protocol I jump back on the SB CB.
take care
Both have there up side and down side, so why not do both ?
I am both a Ham and a 11meter CB-SSB "LSB CH 38'er".
I like both for different reasons.
HAM: You will find it kind of "stuffy" on 2meter & 440 mhz Ham FM , the guys on FH repeaters tend to be majority white collar techno-geek oriented and much older in general than the more blue collar younger dudes on CB.
I would say the most Ham guys are 45 to 85 years old and most CB & 11 meter SSB guys are 25 to 50 years old. CB -SSB has a younger crowd.
Ya it's true AM CB and 11 meter SSB have a lot of older A-hole teen's, marginaly functional drunks, meth losers, momma's boys living on Mommies front porch, homeless living in van's and anti social types out in the Mojave desert, but it also has a bunch of "average joes" who like to hunt fish drive Jeeps up into the mountains and shoot skip, truckers and old fasioned American guys who are relaxed easy to shoot the shit with.
Ham has more classy guys who never get speeding tickets, who wash there car ever week like clock work, they are very very conservative as a whole, they are good honest law & order type people who in general don't cuss, don't drink, don't smoke cigars under $10 bucks a stick, and they don't like to talk about tits and beer, in other words they are "classy".....lol, BUT they tend to be "tite asses" who demand strict protocol wich make a conversation feel slow and constrictive, its kind of like having a conversation in front of You grandma, you feel like you cant relax ,fart or let an casual F word slip out.
On Ham You will be speaking to mostly retired guys , lawyers, IT professionals, CPA's, Radio Tech's,etc......
On Ham l have to remember the other guys call sign and repeat it and yours every so often , if you deviate in the slightest they will correct you , they all will all look up your call sign and check up on you, you also have to repeat your call sign at the beginning & end and if You don't your looked upon as a heretic or Satanist who is trying to defile the Christian virginity of the repeater system.
The good things is they tend to be "signal zealots" they will put an antenna farm / repeater station on every 5 to 10 thousand foot mountain peak and make sure they will all cover & overlap each others signal radiation pattern and then link them up to each other to where you can transmit on all of them at the same time giving you a thousand circualr mile radius of talk are on a Hand held walkie talkie !!!.
You will have 10 times better TX & RX than even the best cell phone systems and even better coverage and marginal signal than an rural Police Fire and Highway patrol, so you are never out of range of a repeater even with small 2meter 1 watt mini pocket walkie talkie / HT out it in the boondocks you can usually "hit a repeater" / "get into a repeater" and make contact with a Ham in the most remote areas all around the country.
On CB SSB CH 38LSB I dont have the marginal area reception for obvious reasons, but I can usually make contact with someone when I go thru any small to mid sized little American town that has a WalMart , any small town usually has a half dozen sidbanders who are regulars to shoot the shit with & shoot skip without worrying if I am wearing an imaginary suit and tie.
I like both when I get boored of CB noise I pop on my dual band Ham rig, when I get boored with stuffy call signs and protocol I jump back on the SB CB.
take care
Both have there up side and down side, so why not do both ?