[bars] New Ham/new Radio recommendations

Fri Dec 27 14:55:28 CST 2024

Following up on Richie's comments, you should go down a path of exploring
areas that interest you. Have you been able to get some first-hand exposure
to any of the many different potential activities you could try?

As I'm writing this note, I literally just remembered that I have a radio
for sale that could be an option for you. It's a Yaesu FT-847. It is truly
the shack-in-a-box that you are thinking about. It can be
computer-controlled and it can operate from 160m to 70cm (except 60m). You
will need a separate computer interface to do the digital modes, but that's
not hard. It also works as a satellite ground station, if that is of any
interest. If you have a budget of $1000-1200, the price of this radio would
leave you some hundreds to spend on other accessories that you will
definitely need - power supply, antenna(s) and feedline(s).

Contact me directly if interested, Rick.

73 Jim K1IR

On Fri, Dec 27, 2024 at 2:12 AM Richard T <radiohamateur at gmail.com> wrote:

> Well Rick, congrats and welcome to the Fraternal order of Ham Radio. You
> pretty much have most of the research needed. But answer a few questions.
> 1. What bands interest you? If just 2 Meter ragchewing, a Vhf/Uhf rig may
> be all you need. Yaesu has  many rigs  that will serve you well. They have
> basic to full boat rigs available. If you like HF band work, Yarsu again
> has a wide choice of rigs, starting with their FT 710 AESS SDR rig or the
> FTdx10. The Icom 7300 is the Volkswagen of radios, good but now a bit
> dated. The Yaesu rigs offer more bang for ham buck IMHO. As for antennas,
> Diamond or Comet are good choices for Vhf/Uhf. For HF look at  Palomar
> Engineers for their wire units, especially their Off Center Fed or their
> Non Resonant End Fed models. If still unsure, trek up to HRO in Salem NH
> and play with the display models there and ask a salesman your questions.
> You may just be happy with a 2 Meter handheld. I own two (!) Baofeng UV 5RM
> HTs bought on Amazon. The complete pair cost $70. This is two radios,
> batteries, chargers and three different antennas plus earphone/mic and
> programming cable. Hope this gives you some ideas and welcome to BARS.
> RichieT
> W1RJT
>
> On Fri, Dec 27, 2024, 12:36 AM Richard Heckbert <
> richard.heckbert at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Happy Holidays everyone,
>>
>>
>>
>> I recently got into ham radio after retiring.  I purchased a QRZ-1
>> Explorer handheld soon after getting my license and have been using it to
>> check in to the Wednesday night net.  I replaced the stubby antenna with a
>> hamstuff one and seem to be getting out much better but occasionally I
>> still hear “I think I heard you say . . . “   My thought has always been to
>> get a decent base unit eventually although to be honest I’m not sure if ham
>> radio is for me (but I want to try!)  My wife asked for my Christmas list
>> this year and I mentioned several radios that had been recommended on the
>> hamradio and amateur radio subreddits on Reddit.  Unfortunately, if you
>> follow those subreddits, you’ll know that for each recommendation asked
>> you’ll get a hundred different suggestions that soon devolve into a Yaesu
>> vs ICOM vs Kenwood battle.  My wife was even more overwhelmed than I so
>> rather than purchase one she put aside a budget of $1,000-$1,200 and asked
>> me to purchase it myself.
>>
>>
>>
>> So, I’m not sure what I really want to do specifically, at this point I’d
>> just love to be heard a little better Wednesday nights!   I think I’d like
>> a rig that gives me the most options – a shack in a box as they say.  I
>> would also need an antenna and associated wiring although I’m not nearly as
>> spry as I once was and I’m not putting anything in a tree any more.  Maybe
>> an attic antenna?  I see ARRL has a new Indoor Antenna book out, has anyone
>> looked at it yet?
>>
>>
>>
>> I’d ask on Reddit but I don’t want 100+ different opinions from 100+
>> fellow Redditors so I figured you all (the local Elmers!) would be a much
>> better place to ask.  I did get my Amateur Extra ticket recently so no band
>> restrictions.  The rigs I’ve heard mentioned are (in no particular order)
>>
>>
>>
>> Yaesu FTdx-10 (might be too much of a stretch)
>>
>> Yaesu FT-991A (did see a nice used one on one of the forums for $875
>> shipped)
>>
>> ICOM-7300
>>
>>
>>
>> But I am definitely open to others.  I’ve looked at used rigs but besides
>> less features, there seem to be no bargains in that area!  I’ve thought
>> about asking to borrow the club loaner rig but I don’t want to set
>> something up only to have to take it down in a bit – it wouldn’t be fair to
>> other new users/members to keep it too long (in my opinion).
>>
>>
>>
>> In addition to choosing a rig, I need to choose where to order if from.
>> I primarily research and purchase online.  A few places I’ve heard about
>> are Gigaparts, DXEngineering, HRO in Salem, NH, any other good places to
>> buy? I did look on eBay but right now, it seems lower power Japanese
>> versions are the vast majority of offers.  I also worry about warranty
>> purchasing on eBay.
>>
>>
>>
>> Just to throw this out, I have a background in electronics courtesy of
>> the USN and I taught electronics at a trade school for a number of years as
>> well as retired from a career in IT so I have this crazy idea that pops up
>> occasionally to build my own gear?  Is this even done any more? I feel I
>> might be biting off way more than I can chew with that approach.
>>
>>
>>
>> This might be a dumb question but are the included microphones decent
>> enough?  In my way younger CB radio days the mic was the first thing you
>> upgraded
>>
>>
>>
>> So, thanks for taking the time to read through this and many, many thanks
>> to those who take the time to answer (and many thanks to everyone in BARS
>> who also made me feel welcome)
>>
>>
>>
>> 73s,
>>
>>
>>
>> Rick Heckbert
>>
>> W1OLU
>>
>>
>>
>>
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