[Elecraft] Transverters

[Mark J. Dulcey]

Mike McCoy wrote:
> At the risk of appearing naive and/or dumb, I just don't 'get it' when it
> comes to transverters.
> 
> I guess if you wanted to convert from microwave 'inexpensively' you don't
> have much choice. But otherwise, if you want to listen/operate on a
> particular band why not just get a radio designed for that band instead of
> 'hacking' a rig that wasn't originally intended for it? First, as cheap as
> VHF rigs these days are I just can't see how umm... 'forcing' an HF rig to
> operate on VHF would be money better spent. I certainly can't think it would
> perform as well as a rig specifically designed for 2 mtrs. Secondly, given
> we're on the downward side of this solar cycle I'd say give it a year or two
> or so and I suspect 6 mtr rigs will be cheap too ;)

First - WHAT radios designed for the band?? VHF and UHF all-mode 
transceivers are a nearly defunct class of radio. None of the major 
radio manufacturers has so much as one of them in their product lineup 
currently; the only currently available VHF all-mode transceiver that I 
know of is the Ranger RCI-5054DX. True, we do have the new class of HF 
radios that include one or more VHF bands (and sometimes 440 MHz), such 
as the FT-100, the IC-706, and the QRP favorite, the FT-817 - but those 
are all considerably more costly than a single-band transverter.

Second, if you're interested in one specific band, a transverter may be 
a less costly approach than a radio designed for a specific band. The 
Ten-Tec transverter kits that people have been discussing, for example, 
sell for under $150. It just isn't possible to buy a good 6m or 2m 
all-mode radio for that amount of money, even used.

Third, the HF rig + transverter approach may actually work better than a 
dedicated VHF rig. Many of the all-mode transceivers that have been 
marketed over the years are seriously lacking in one or more ways. 
Limited dynamic range and poor IF filtering are common problems. The 
inexpensive Ten-Tec transverter may not outperform a typical all-mode, 
but the higher-priced spreads like the DEM transverters will.

Finally, you might be looking to get on 222 MHz. There isn't much out 
there in the way of all-mode radios designed for the band, aside from 
the rather scarce 222 MHz module for the FT-736; even the new 
HF-through-UHF radios skip over it. But you can buy a transverter for 
222 MHz; DEM has one designed for that band, and there is a published 
article on modifying the Ten-Tec 2m transverter for 222 MHz.