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In the market for new HF rig, but which one?

Kruser

Kruser

Member
Oct 12, 2009
18
0
11
South-East Kentucky
This is a loaded question I know but seriously I have looked and read and looked some more to the point I don't know what to do. My situation is this: I am considering sellling an expensive item I have that I don't use or need any longer. I would like to take some of the money and just spend it on a new radio setup for HF and maybe 6 meters. If it costs 6,000.00 to 7,000.00 and does the job reliably then that is fine. I just demand excellent audio in and out. I use an Icom 718 now. I have talked to some stations that sound like they in a broadcast studio they are so great. I am leaning toward Ten-Tec as they are made in the US and close to me but I have never operated any of their equipment. I did have a Kenwood one time that actually had better audio than my Icom. I gues I am just asking: If you had the money, WHAT would you buy?
Kruser :unsure:
 

HF/6 meter rig?

For that kind of money you can buy a NEW ICOM 7600,7700 or a USED 7800! What more could ANYONE want?ALL in one HF/6 meter radio with a SWEET "REAL TIME" bandscope & GREAT audio BOTH ways. :eek:

SIX-SHOOTER
"ICOM RULES"
 
K3? :D

Seriously, it has excellent audio with external speakers. Right now I'm on a round table on 160m and everyone sounds great through the 2.7 kHz filter. I am using a Yaesu MD-100A8X mic with it and get good audio reports.

Keep in mind that I have a face for radio and a voice for CW.
 
You're right, it's a loaded question, and I think you are the only one that can answer it. The best suggestion I can think of is to get your hands on every radio you possibly can. I don't mean buy them, but sit in front of them and see what you think of them. It also means listening to them, see what you think of them on that end of it. Until you do that, you basically have to take someone's word for things, and/or take a chance on something you may not like very much.
And while you may have all your pockets full of money, nothing says you have to spend it all, and there are certainly some 'older' radios that are very nice too. And a bizarre 'catch' to things is that how do you know you've got a good one, if you've never had a bad one? If you wind up with the absolute most bestest radio in the world on the first try, you will be luckier than anyone I've ever known.
Good luck.
- 'Doc

(and as everybody knows, if you ain't got Kenwood, you got squat!) :)
 
Is all of this money for the transceiver or do you need part of the funds for the antenna setup also?
 
The only problem with sitting in front of someone else's radio is that they will have tailored it in subtle and not so subtle ways to their liking. While I would definitely enjoy showing my K3 to anyone who wants to take a closer look, I will back up the configuration first so I can restore it later because the only way the other op can make a true decision is to play with things like RX equalization and the sort. For me, at least, after six weeks I'm pretty much leaving the configuration in my K3 alone. The first couple of weeks I was changing things every day. No way do I wish to loan my radio for six weeks nor have another ham move in for that period of time! :laugh:

I'd suggest reading the eham.net reviews, but also advise to read some of them with a huge grain of salt as I'm convinced there are hams who could break an anvil with a rubber mallet. ARRL and other magazine reviews are also good resources. Even after all that, you really have to live with a radio day in and day out for years before you truly know its personality. And trust me, they have personalities.

What is tricky is to determine your intended use. Are you a phone operator? Look for features that make phone operation stand out. How about digi modes or CW? Likewise, look for features that stand out for your interests. That is tricky when first starting out as it may not be immediately obvious how those features will be an asset. Also, don't just focus on how pretty the diplay/front panel are or price. Considerations should also include receiver performance and transmitter performance. Often overlooked are transmitted phase noise and other artifacts which impact our neighbors on the bands. While the specs may meet Part 97, the cleaner our signal is, the better we meet the spirit of the regulations as it should be our goal to exceed the minimum standards.

At any rate, don't get into a rush and do your homework. Above all, enjoy the experience.

P.S. Personally, I'd rather spend a pile of money on several radios than on one.
 
Thanks for the suggestions so far.

I appreciate all the input. I have been reading through QST and even their back issues to get the reviews on transceivers. Someone asked if I needed to spend part of the money on antenna equipment and to answer that: No, not right at the present. What I have now is doing a great job the way I have it set up and there are very few QSO's where I can't hear all parties involved.
The December issue of QST had a great write-up on the Yaesu FTDS5000D HF. I thought the author, Rick Lindquist, was going to pee himself there toward the end he was so excited. Many of the tests were off the scale and the monitor scope would be a great addition audio wise. I will keep up with the thread and what I should do is just ask those clear broadcast quality operators what they are running. But then an operator is just as good as the buttons he knows how to push and some of those radios like the 9000 models have plenty of buttons, knobs, lights and screens.
Kruser
 
First of it all you should think about antennas. 5k $ radio connected to random wire antenna is worth nothing.
Antenna system is a key to success, not a shiny box in front of you.
Mike
 
Kruser said:
I just demand excellent audio in and out. I use an Icom 718 now. I have talked to some stations that sound like they in a broadcast studio they are so great.
Click to expand...

The main thrust of amateur radio is long-distance communication, not necessarily broadcast-studio quality of audio.
But perhaps are you are referring to AM on the ham bands? Perhaps you refer to those AM stations operated by former broadcast engineers. This is a small facet of ham radio, yet a big deal to AM enthusiasts.

By far the greatest demand in ham radio is to operate DX using lower bandwidth modes, such as SSB for voice, or even better for DX: PSK31 or CW.
The real cost driver for high-end ham rigs is in the receiver. When you are above the $1500 to $2000 price range for ham rigs, the transmitter is already top notch. The extra dough is paying for the receiver quality and ability to reject strong adjacent signals, which is essential to work DX on crowded ham bands.
 
With that kind of budget you really could have ANYTHING out there.

I'd suggest either Icom IC-7600, or Yaesu FTDX-5000 series. I'd also heed the suggestions to put some $$$ towards your antenna setup(s).

If multi-band / multi-mode is your thing, look at Kenwood TS-2000 series, or new Icom IC-9100? (when it hits the mkt), or a fully blown Elecraft K3 with transverters, or even a Flex Radio (although I dunno if Flex will get you into VHF/UHF territory or not).

I guess I'm 'old school' when it comes to TenTec; meaning that unless your a bigtime CW aficinado, there are better SSB rigs out there; notwithstanding, I've heard many a TenTec Orion on SSB and not too many rigs sound sweeter!

Good luck & happy DX'ing!
 
I would lean towards looking at an antenna set up as well.I know you said that the antenna you are using works very well... You dont have to go to a really huge antenna system to get a good improvement.

And for a radio,do your homework.... and if there is a ham radio retailer within a few hours from where you live,it would be time well spent to go to that shop and play with their demo radios and ask alot of questions.

Get a radio that 'fits' you,....All the big name radios work well ..Kenwood,Icom,Yeasu,Ten Tec ..... Just depends on what you are looking for ......

And enjoy the shopping !!
 
My vote is for the Elecraft K3. You can spend more on a few of the high end Yaesus and Icom's, but you wont' really get anything more for your dollar. Plus with the K3, you continually get updates, bug fixes, and new features on every firmware release that comes out every few months.
 

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