Yaesu FT 840

[AE5RD]

I love my Yaesu FT 840. It operates way beter than My 101e, but i'm still wanting to get a better HF radio. Which Yaesu radio should I step up to with more bells and whistles and would it be worth it? Maybe I should work on the antenna side of things. I'm currently using a homebrew G5RV. I was thinking of selling both my older yaesu radios(101e and 101b) and trying to get another higher end radio and keep the 840 as my second HF rig. Anybody chime in.

 

[sp5it]

I think you really should improve your antenna system.
Pumping kilowatt into a wire is waste of power.
Mike

 

[kd-5-bgt]

Any of those radios that you have are great rigs and they all will get out just fine...if the bands are open you can get out just fine with any of those radios,but if the band is closed hooking your radio to a nuclear power plant wont help you....If it were me in your shoes.....I would look at the antenna side.

The g5rv antenna works....but is not the best at transfering your power from the radio to the air.

Most all wire type antennas are a comprimize,they will work great for the band they are made for ,but the other bands will suffer to some point .....even just swapping to a different type of wire antenna could make a difference .

If you choose to run a wire,the best thing you could do is to cut an antenna for each band and switch between them as needed. But the down side to that is it will start looking like a spider web above your house if you do that...not to mention get some strange looks from your neighbours

I am looking at making a loop antenna sometime in the future..I know a guy in the area that uses one and that thing really works well in all directions

I personally use a Buxcomm 80 to 6 meter off center fed windom that handles 1200 watts.The only bands that my radio has trouble tuning is 160 and 15 meters,other than that no trouble to speak of...Usually if I have a decent copy on them I can work them unless I am trying to get through a pile up,then it is a waiting game till the big guns get out of the way..I chose that antenna mainly because it is more or less a copy of the Buckmaster off center fed antenna at half the price.

I looked at the write up on the Buckmaster and the Buxcomm ...the write ups were very close to each other,but to me not enough of a difference to warrent paying $200+ for the Buckmaster...so I chose the Buxcomm antenna

The Buckmaster touts not having to use a tuner for the bands that are in their specs..and I know a couple of guys in my area that uses that antenna and they will back up that claim...I have yet to try my antenna without a tuner,and just to be safe I am not going to


I dont have an amp....just the 100 watts that my Icom 736 with a built in tuner puts out and I was really surprised at how well the Buxcomm antenna does work..I have logged Russia,Luxemburg,Italy,Sweden,Hungary,as well as all over the states just to name a few without looking at the log book...needless to say I have been pleasently surprised

The antenna is a very important item for your station,without a decent antenna you will not get out reguardless of the power you are running

 

[Moleculo]

Working on the antenna is always important, but putting up the best for each band isn't always realistic for everyone, especially if you live in the middle of the city. Regardless, there are better choices for a wire antenna than a G5RV.

If you decide to replace the rig, you have to establish a budget first. Absent that, I would start by looking at the Yaesu FT-950, since you like Yaesu rigs. It's about $1250. If you're not afraid to try a computer based system, look at the Flex-3000. You might want to wait a bit and compare these rigs to the Icom IC-9100 when it comes out. If your budget is bigger than the mid-price point radios I've indicated, you have a lot of options.

 

[TonyV225]

I agree with Mole I was gonna basically say the same thing here. A G5RV is ok for a portable or for a starting point but you have to advance in antenna design or step up so to speak.

You can have the best radio money can buy and if your antenna is something to get you by then thats exactly whats its gonna do for the fancy radio (ITS JUST GOING TO GET BY).

I have a G5RV here I used for some time but I had got a better antenna built and put that up and it was night and day difference on hearing transmitting I repaired the G5RV and and it will be here as a backup or for another setup for the kids ETC.

Start with a better antenna and work your way up to a better radio because after you get a better antenna it will seem as if that FT-840 is a new radio all B.S. aside I have several radios here and 2 of them being FT-840 there nice radios.