Hello!
I am re-entering this hobby after a nearly 20 year hiatus- good thing I kept my license renewed all this time! I am thinking of bypassing HF (sunspots, you know...) and going straight for the good stuff- Satellite and EME. For the former, I will probably tinker with the 70cm up / 2m down modes. For the latter, some preliminary Google searching yielded the JT65 (sp?) and similar modes that make EME more doable than ever. (JT65- now that is a good idea! Wish I'd thought of it!!)
I still have my ancient Kenwood TS-520, and a dusty Icom-706 that I bought in '96 but never really used. I figure that for EME I *might* be able to get away with the '706 and a good preamp/poweramp setup, if I couple that with a good antenna, patience, and luck. For satellite I could probably use a transverter with the '706 but without full duplex this would be difficult- I am better off with a new transceiver.
On the shortlist- Kenwood TS2000 (the HF to 1.2GHz rig), Icom 746/756, or Icom 910H.
The Kenwood looks the most versatile and perhaps has the biggest bang-for-the-buck, but I am worried that it's "all in one" may be somewhat gimmicky.
Thanks in advance!
PS. Electrical Engineer by training (microelectronics not telecom) so you can get somewhat technical.
I am re-entering this hobby after a nearly 20 year hiatus- good thing I kept my license renewed all this time! I am thinking of bypassing HF (sunspots, you know...) and going straight for the good stuff- Satellite and EME. For the former, I will probably tinker with the 70cm up / 2m down modes. For the latter, some preliminary Google searching yielded the JT65 (sp?) and similar modes that make EME more doable than ever. (JT65- now that is a good idea! Wish I'd thought of it!!)
I still have my ancient Kenwood TS-520, and a dusty Icom-706 that I bought in '96 but never really used. I figure that for EME I *might* be able to get away with the '706 and a good preamp/poweramp setup, if I couple that with a good antenna, patience, and luck. For satellite I could probably use a transverter with the '706 but without full duplex this would be difficult- I am better off with a new transceiver.
On the shortlist- Kenwood TS2000 (the HF to 1.2GHz rig), Icom 746/756, or Icom 910H.
The Kenwood looks the most versatile and perhaps has the biggest bang-for-the-buck, but I am worried that it's "all in one" may be somewhat gimmicky.
Thanks in advance!
PS. Electrical Engineer by training (microelectronics not telecom) so you can get somewhat technical.