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New Ham Here

H

Hurricane95

Member
Oct 28, 2015
42
17
18
55
Waterloo, IA
Hey all,

I am brand new to amature radio, having just passed my Tech exam. I'm hoping I can get some opinions/answers on a question I have.

I don't yet have a proper multi-band HF radio, still waiting for that sweet deal on an Icom 7000. The question I have is: are the RCI 2950/2970 an ok radio to start out on 10M?

I suspect the sidebands are quite a bit narrower and not centered like a real HF radio, but essentially will it work on 28.3-28.5 for USB voice? Will my TX sound bad or hard to tune?? How is the receive?

Do you run power or right out of the box?

After researching the real HF radios, I'm suspecting I may be better off waiting to get one, but I do have an old 2950 on hand and I'm getting kind of anxious to call my first CQ.

Thanks for any and all advice and input!
 

The old 2950 you have if not all peaked and tweaked out, should work on 10m just fine. As long as the antenna is setup for 10m, and radio works correctly, you should be just fine. Just keep the roger beep off and have at it! There is an article where this exact question is answered and as long as the radio is stock and not butchered up, use it. Here is the actual readings from the page.

By FCC rules, you, as a licensed ham radio operator, are allowed to use most any type of radio transmitter under your license class restrictions as long as it meets the rules and regulations of Part 97 which you fall under.

One excellent source of brand new 10/12 meter ham radio transceivers that are perfectly legal on the ham bands, (within your license class) are the Ranger series RCI-2950DX and the RCI-2970DX models which get good reviews and are very popular. They can be purchased online for HUNDREDS of dollars less than the multiband, multimode, full blown hf radios costing an arm and a leg. You can even get them with up to 150 watts of power!

I took this and copied and pasted it here, but the source of the article is from hamradiouniverse.com.
Hope this answers your question. Have fun!!
 
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But do get yourself a real HF radio at some point for sure!! You will then be happy. The Icom 7000 is a sweet radio, good luck on getting one!! There are other radios (HF), that are quite attainable for a good price and will do a lot more than you'd think. There are quite a few new radios coming out soon so keep an eye out as you might find a deal sooner than you think.;)(y)
 
No worries. I'm not licensed but do own 2 HF radios. An Icom 746 and a kenwood ts140s. My Icom had just come back from a full over haul when I obtained it and man has it served me well for the last couple years now! At any rate, I'm sure you'll love the Icom 7000. They also have some new radios coming out as well, so like I said, keep your eyes peeled for a good deal on the radio you want or might want. Have fun. I know the 11m band has been pretty dead, so I would think 10m would be about the same. You might make a few contacts, but if it's been like it has, man good luck! At any rate, congrats on getting your ticket. Best thing for you to do now is to study and keeo upgrading licenses!! This will then open you up to some form of making contacts majority of the time!!
 
I keep getting bugged to get my ticket as I know quite a few amateur radio op's, but I am happy where I am for now anyway. One day I'll get it!! My ticket that is!
 
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Hey, go for it. I studied for about 4 weeks ahead of the test, and found a free guide called " the no nonsense guide to getting your technician" online. I did a bunch of practice tests on eham.net and on test day, I only missed one question.

They talked me into taking the General test, and I missed it by 3 answers without studying any of the material.

I still enjoy 11 meters too, just decided to try the challenge of something new. Now if the snow ever melts off my roof, I can get the dipole put up and start having some fun!
 
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I'll get it one if these days! I'm still young @ 40, so I do have time LOL! That is unless the man up stairs has differnet plans for me! At any rate, enjoy and have fun on the 10m band!!
 
look on ebay, there's some good starter rigs for HF.Seen some really nice TS 430'S and 440's from kenwood.
 
Congratulations. It's already been said but the 2950/2970 will be fine if you already have one. I wouldn't go out and buy one for 10 meter work because if you get your general later you'll be buying another radio and the RCI will be on the shelf. Even if you don't upgrade you'll still want a better rig in the future. I personally don't like to use an export on 11 meters. I do own a few but rarely use them.

With a decent CB antenna you can work the world with a barefoot rig on 10 meters (other bands too). I use a 5/8 CB ground plane with a tuner for 10-17 meters and a wire antenna for the lower bands. Unless the rules have changed you are limited to 200 watts pep on 10 meters as a tech. Buying an amplifier at this point won't help you much.
 

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