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First ham base
- Thread starter redbeast
- Start date
I have had several radios. My favorite is the Kenwood 590SG. It is ‘old school’ as it has no spectrum scope/waterfall built in, but the receive and transmit audio are fantastic. And, it’s a great looking rig.
https://www.kenwood.com/usa/com/amateur/ts-590sg/
If, in the other hand, you feel the need for one with a scope, or will be doing 2 meters and/or 440 in addition to HF, my recommendation would be the Yaesu 991A. It works great and like the 590SG, all of the buttons and knobs are in sensible locations, making it a snap to operate.
https://www.yaesu.com/downloadFile.cfm?FileID=9550&FileCatID=156&FileName=FT-991A_EN_web.pdf&FileContentType=application/pdf
Good luck and welcome to the hobby!
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Thanks Riverman,. Been doing some checking around, and if course have found the typical blizzard of offerings for used equipment. Being more than a little long in the tooth to start in a new thing, my general plan was to start with a fairly wideband Omni and my 148 gtl, and add to that a ham base base for my initial steps. Once initial footsteps covered, figured I'd add antennas as needed, and/ or tuner. Trying to keep initial cost down, as retired and prevailing climate looking real uncertain. For instance, just saw an icon 7410 for sale for $600, and a Kenwood 790a for $300. Trying to stay away from older tube models, as little experience with them, much less ham base rigs.I have had several radios. My favorite is the Kenwood 590SG. It is ‘old school’ as it has no spectrum scope/waterfall built in, but the receive and transmit audio are fantastic. And, it’s a great looking rig.
https://www.kenwood.com/usa/com/amateur/ts-590sg/
If, in the other hand, you feel the need for one with a scope, or will be doing 2 meters and/or 440 in addition to HF, my recommendation would be the Yaesu 991A. It works great and like the 590SG, all of the buttons and knobs are in sensible locations, making it a snap to operate.
https://www.yaesu.com/downloadFile.cfm?FileID=9550&FileCatID=156&FileName=FT-991A_EN_web.pdf&FileContentType=application/pdf
Good luck and welcome to the hobby!
I don’t have experience with those partcular radios but someone here will likely chime in. Perhaps a member will have a good used rig to sell at a great price to help you out.
I would try very hard to get something as new as possible even if it is used. Just less possible trouble over the long run. IC-7300 or a Kenwood TS-590 should be trouble free for a long time if cared for. I still use a IC-7600 that I bought when they first came out. I've been a ham for 53 years, mostly a DXer, and don't see any need for anything newer.
Older tube or hybrid rigs are well, old! A full on tube rig may need some repairs once in a while. They should be something you are familiar with somewhat or know that they are in good working condition when you buy it at least. I have been around them a lot in the past but have no desire to own any of them again.
Most all of the more current solid state rigs are pretty feature rich and always have been. There are features in my 7600 I hardly ever use. Just don't worry about those features until you you think that you might like to try them out. You don't have to know everything about the rig from the first day.
That being said, the antenna is the most important thing so do what you can to put up a pretty good one! It makes the most difference. Antennas for most of us are a process. Put something up and when it isn't doing the job you want it to anymore, try to improve it or move on to something that you know will work better.
Older tube or hybrid rigs are well, old! A full on tube rig may need some repairs once in a while. They should be something you are familiar with somewhat or know that they are in good working condition when you buy it at least. I have been around them a lot in the past but have no desire to own any of them again.
Most all of the more current solid state rigs are pretty feature rich and always have been. There are features in my 7600 I hardly ever use. Just don't worry about those features until you you think that you might like to try them out. You don't have to know everything about the rig from the first day.
That being said, the antenna is the most important thing so do what you can to put up a pretty good one! It makes the most difference. Antennas for most of us are a process. Put something up and when it isn't doing the job you want it to anymore, try to improve it or move on to something that you know will work better.
Ham waters can be deep and wide depending on which bands and modes you're thinking of swimming in. You haven't been specific but I'm guessing you're leaning towards HF. A good starter radio, without bells and whistles is the Icom IC-718. Good used ones can be had for $400 to $500. It does not go above the 10m band and does not have the best noise filtering but does great on SSB.
If you want more, such as a waterfall display and access to the 6m band my recommendation is a Yaesu FT-710. It's just an all around excellent rig with very good receive, great transmit audio and it's very easy to operate after a bit of practice. They sell new for just over or under a G, or can be found used on QRZ.com, eHam, QTH, etc for around $800 to $850.
Then you'll have to start thinking antennas and taking the General class exam to get access to the HF bands other than 10m.
Good luck
7 3
If you want more, such as a waterfall display and access to the 6m band my recommendation is a Yaesu FT-710. It's just an all around excellent rig with very good receive, great transmit audio and it's very easy to operate after a bit of practice. They sell new for just over or under a G, or can be found used on QRZ.com, eHam, QTH, etc for around $800 to $850.
Then you'll have to start thinking antennas and taking the General class exam to get access to the HF bands other than 10m.
Good luck
7 3
Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it. As you pretty much can tell, I'm figuring on starting on the kiddie side of the pool, but know that starting with a good low end unit is better than going the export cb route. And knowing that antennas are the real key is a plus side for me, as that would seem to be the most enjoyment of the whole deal. And also working through available bands aids a slow start, so we'll see how it goes. I figure if I can get a mast up about 30' at a present elevation of about 750 amsl I should have pretty good luck. Never too old to learn, or try!!
I second the 718, good , solid entry level rig, my friend Tracy, KE6OYE runs one and it sounds good on the air.
73
Jeff
I'm still using the Icom 735 I bought back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
eBay says they're worth $250 and up, plus shipping, without power supply. You'll need 20 amps of 12-13.8 volts if you want full power out (200 watts PEP).
The receiver covers 100 kHz to 30 MHz. You can mod it to transmit over that range — not that anyone really needs such a mod.
Anything this age is likely to need its backup battery (CR 2032) replaced. I've done mine twice. It's not difficult, but the one that's in there has soldered-in wires, spot-welded to the battery.
I pulled off the spot-welds, stripped the wire back a bit, then put the battery in some snug shrink-wrap, with the wires carefully positioned on either side of the battery. Electrical tape would probably work, as well.
It will work without the battery, but you won't be able to save and recall memories. If you find one with this symptom, you can probably dicker the price down.
It's a nice compact rig that doesn't take up much desk space, and it can be used mobile. I also have the AH-2 random wire automatic tuner, which is nice.
eBay says they're worth $250 and up, plus shipping, without power supply. You'll need 20 amps of 12-13.8 volts if you want full power out (200 watts PEP).
The receiver covers 100 kHz to 30 MHz. You can mod it to transmit over that range — not that anyone really needs such a mod.
Anything this age is likely to need its backup battery (CR 2032) replaced. I've done mine twice. It's not difficult, but the one that's in there has soldered-in wires, spot-welded to the battery.
I pulled off the spot-welds, stripped the wire back a bit, then put the battery in some snug shrink-wrap, with the wires carefully positioned on either side of the battery. Electrical tape would probably work, as well.
It will work without the battery, but you won't be able to save and recall memories. If you find one with this symptom, you can probably dicker the price down.
It's a nice compact rig that doesn't take up much desk space, and it can be used mobile. I also have the AH-2 random wire automatic tuner, which is nice.
With your Tech license most of what you will do is 2m, 6m, 10m, and 70cm. A hand held radio will cover 2m and 70cm for you easily. For a base radio I would at least get a radio with a built in tuner. There are some new options that are great deals and you can make them long term radio's. (have the MARS mod done too) Once you get your General license the HF bands really open up for you. When you plan ahead and buy the best radio you can up front your ready to go now and down the road. Good luck and enjoy.
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I agree with most of what you wrote, but for someone who wants to experiment with antennas, I suggest an external automatic tuner.
An internal tuner protects your final transistors, but may cause your coax to radiate under higher VSWR, and may result in high voltage on your coax.
With an external auto-tuner, located near the antenna feed point, you'll put more power into the antenna and less into the feed line, and you'll avoid high feedline voltage on antennas like random-length long wires, or on tuned antennas used far from their design frequency. These are typically weather-hardened, designed to be mounted outside, near the feed point.
If you're going to use a tuned antenna on the frequencies for which it was designed, a built in tuner is simple and works fine for matching relatively low SWR.
But for a beginner who is likely to have a random length of wire, nothing beats a feed-point tuner!