[bars] Entry Level HF Rigs

Thu Feb 28 12:27:42 EST 2019

I have a mint condition Yaesu 950 I would sell at a good price.  Has very few hours on it.

Gary Frascarelli, Landscape Artist – Chelmsford, MA/Apopka, FL

garyfrascarelli.com

From: bars <bars-bounces at w1hh.org> On Behalf Of Andy Wallace
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2019 10:29 AM
To: Tony Brock-Fisher <barockteer at aol.com>; bars at w1hh.org
Subject: Re: [bars] Entry Level HF Rigs

Tony, please send that to me also - it sounds interesting. 

To the List, my thoughts for a new ham leaning toward HF that did not have a ready mentor were to save the frustration of an older rig where performance may be not up to spec due to aging and that new rigs are more self-protecting. 

Things like built in tuners and waterfall displays can help someone change frequency and operate there quickly, which I think is more important now that band activity is more sparse than decades ago (except contest days). 

But I agree that if someone can handle an older rig and work around limitations, and get on the air and enjoy the experience, all the better. Andy

On Feb 28, 2019, at 9:39 AM, Tony Brock-Fisher via bars <bars at w1hh.org <mailto:bars at w1hh.org> > wrote:

A few years ago I did a presentation for YCCC on getting on the air on HF for the first time. As well as rigs, the presentation included info on other needed accessories and how to get everything set up for that first QSO. My approach was more taking advantage of the lower prices/higher values of used rigs, with some guidelines for how to go about buying a used HF transceiver & accessories.

I sent a copy of the presentation to Bob off-line because I didn't think it would get thru the reflector.

If anyone else is interested, reply off-list and I'll send you a copy.

-Tony, K1KP

On 2/28/2019 9:25 AM, Andy Wallace wrote:

Bob, thanks for asking for advice on the List. I hope more folks chime in than just me! One of our members also asked for advice last year and I sent some of what’s below – I’ve now expanded on it.

I’d suggest going to Ham Radio Outlet in Salem NH (www.hamradio.com <http://www.hamradio.com/> ) and actually trying some rigs out in the store. Have the salesperson set each rig up adjusted properly for what you are going to try (in case a customer changed to weird settings). Try the cheap ones, try the expensive ones. You may find going “above” entry level fits your need better once you hear it.

Here’s the current crop of lesser priced rigs at HRO including rebates, ranked in  price, which I think looks like an interesting list. I’m only listing the “big three” Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood. (That leaves out Alinco.)

FT-991A $1139  HF, 6, VHF, UHF, Yaesu Fusion digital, tuner, waterfall

IC-7300 $1000  HF+6, SDR, waterfall, very popular, only touch screen of the bunch

FTDX-1200 $925  HF+6, tuner, waterfall option

TS-480SAT $830 HF+6, tuner

IC-7100 $800  HF, 6, VHF, UHF, D-Star digital, no tuner, can be used base or mobile

FT-450D $680 HF+6, tuner, very easy to use, mine is being used by KC1FTJ

IC-718 $600  HF only, no tuner, VERY long in the tooth, 20 years

First off, it’s good to have space for antennas because for HF you generally need space. Do you have a straight line between trees that is over 66’ long? That will get you on 40m (7 MHz) and up. If you have double that, you can get on 80m as well. I can give tips on what to put up, possibly better than buying a G5RV antenna in a bag. As a General you have access to many bands but some of them are more active than others. 40 and 20m are probably going to be your active spots. 10m is active locally in the Lowell area (a bunch of us get on 28.430 USB around 7:30 <x-apple-data-detectors://8>  or 8:30 <x-apple-data-detectors://9>  several nights a week). Having 6M in the rig is a plus too, because 6 is an unusual low VHF band and can sometimes open up for long distance comms at odd times.

I assume your primary mode will be HF SSB with the possibility of CW later. ANY of the above rigs would be adequate. Also, all the above are general coverage – they will cover from the broadcast AM band on up, so you can enjoy listening to more than just hams. There are broadcasters around the world on several bands between the ham ones.

As for rigs, I really try to keep the station simple. I like it when the rig has a built in antenna tuner. It will get you on more frequencies, in general. Without a tuner you have to either buy an external one (small boxes from LDG which are $150-200 or so) or use an antenna cut for the exact band you want. Oh don’t forget all of these rigs need a 12V power supply, generally $100-150.

If you want the waterfall display, I am not sure about the Yaesus above which have it. They may not be realtime – you may have to hit a button to have it sweep the band. So a waterfall is a nice feature, especially as implemented in the IC-7300 realtime, but adds expense and of course size (display) to the rig.

If you can live without waterfall, then I recommend the FT-450D. It has a built in tuner and covers 6m, and is easy to use, and small. At least two of my BARS friends love theirs, and it has a lot of features for filtering and also has I/O on the back if you want to connect it to the computer for digital modes.

If you are set on the waterfall I would say bite the bullet and get the IC-7300. It sure seems popular and it is current technology. It has a built in tuner and you can update the firmware on it, etc. and you will hear a lot being used on the air. And it has a USB port which allows direct connection to the PC to run digital etc.

Unfortunately there are no real cheap+good HF rigs. You are stuck at $600 and up not including the power supply.

If MY rig (which is older than ALL of the above) got hit by lightning I’d replace it with either an FT-450D if I wanted inexpensive, or the IC-7300 if I wanted something techy.

The good news is ALL modern rigs have decent performance and features and are self-protecting in case something goes wrong at the antenna. For a beginner, I would not recommend a 1990s or older rig, especially coupled with a hand-adjusted manual antenna tuner, unless you have an experienced ham to help show you the ropes. And eBay can be a quagmire as far as getting a working used rig. So go new! It will hold value.

I hope this helps you (and others on the List) about considering a new rig! Please ask more questions if you need to.

Andy

KA1GTT

On Feb 27, 2019, at 8:59 PM, Robert Sparkes <rsparkes at verizon.net <mailto:rsparkes at verizon.net> > wrote:

Greetings:

I didn't want to take up air time on the repeater.  I'm looking for suggestions on entry level HF rigs.  I'd like to get started but I have no idea what is appropriate for a new guy to the hobby with a General License.  I want to get my feet wet without jumping into quicksand!

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

Bob Sparkes
KC1KVY

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