New radio on a budget

[Mudfoot]

I bought an Alinco DX-SR8T off a CB dude this afternoon for $250. They must have upgraded the encoder shaft, this one is not all floppy like the first one I bought.

It's in great shape and works as it should (so far). I have a West Mountain DSP unit that helps things.

I might actually keep this one for awhile.

 

[doctor]

sr8t

Have you run digital with it yet?, and where did you get the cables for it, the one thing I detest about ALINCO is that they have NO data terminal in the back as other manufactures, just through the microphone plug.
I do have a DX70T since they came out and it works like a champ but NO digital ever tried...
CHEERS
DOCTOR

 

[k3cfc]

if read correctly he is wanting a new radio with a warranty. Personally the radio I would get if I was you is the TS480SAT which is a nice radio for mobile or base operation.

I have the ts480hx with dsp and 200 watts out. wouldn't trade it for any yaesu but this just me.

 

[w9cll]

The one thing i would never do in the shack is the all in one radio. I much prefer to have the vhf/uhf separate from the hf stuff. Why? because when the radio wonks out and needs to go for repair you are out all the bands unless you have backups. In the car this is a different story as room becomes an issue. I am having this issue now, my 706 is acting up on VHF/HF at times and needs to go in.

 

[Mudfoot]

I haven't fiddled with digital modes for a few years.

 

[Mudfoot]

I was talking with a friend on 40 meters earlier tonight. All of a sudden, my power output went kaput. I now have about 1 watt output on 40-160.

My wire is completely fine. Don't know whether to junk it or have it fixed.

Bummer!

 

[unit248]

I was talking with a friend on 40 meters earlier tonight. All of a sudden, my power output went kaput. I now have about 1 watt output on 40-160.

My wire is completely fine. Don't know whether to junk it or have it fixed.

Bummer!

HF rigs usually have multiple output filters (low pass) for different bands. Sometimes they're switched with relays, other times with PIN diodes. If 40-160 is shot, but you still get full output on 20 through 10 meters, you may have a bad relay or blown diode that's causing the wrong filter (or no filter) to be selected. It's also possible one of the filter components itself is bad. A long time ago, I ended up with a shorted capacitor in the top-most filter (10-15 meters) on my Kenwood TS-430S. Once I replaced the cap the rig was fine again, though getting the filter unit out was a huge pain.

So yeah, if the rig still seems to put out full power above 40 meters, then it's probably worth fixing.

(Oh yeah: you should probably test the transmitter on a dummy load too, just as a sanity check.)

-Bill

 

[Mudfoot]

Thanks for the reply.

I might invest in a repair. Rig does same on a dummy load.

 

[Mudfoot]

Well...

The SR8T is up and running with full output on all bands.

A fellow ham (ex TV repairman and all around electronics geek) found a bad capacitor on the PA board.

I'm happy now. I took him and his daughter out for lunch today.

Yay!

 

[TonyV225]

IU can tell you that out of all my radios and rigs my Yaesu FT-857 and Yaesu FT-897 are 2 of my favorites. all mode multiband you just cant ask for more