[Elecraft] Best Radio for a Scout Camp

[Mike Morrow]

Jeff wrote:

>A complete ham station has been donated to the local Boy Scout Council...
>
>This is a partial list of the equipment we have now:
>Kenwood 2m All-mode Transceiver TS - 700A
>Kenwood 2m Transceiver TR- 7400A
>Kenwood Communications Receiver R-1000
>Kenwood HF Transceiver TS - 520S


Hi Jeff,

There are few organizations of greater value to their community today than
the Boy Scouts of America.  They deserve the support of all.   I'm sure your
efforts will be well worthwhile.

You've been donated a very servicable array of gear.  Most of the gear seems
to be very late 70s, early 80s vintage.  Try to resist the idea that more
modern gear which requires no skill to use would be better for a BSA
station.  That very characteristic would assure that little interest will be
generated in amateur radio.

It's hard to beat the R-1000 as a great shortwave receiver.  It's nice to
have a decent shortwave receiver separate from the ham HF rig.

The TS-520S is a wonderful HF rig for a Scout station.  It lacks a digital
display, unless one has the very tempermental and unreliable DG-5 external
display.  It also lacks the three WARC 79 bands.  Everything else about it
is great for the type of operation you wish to set up.

It has two 6146B tubes (or equivalent) in the final, along with the
customary plate tune and load controls.  If it is attached to an
approximately resonant antenna, those controls will be all that is needed
for antenna matching (no external tuner, as nearly all solid state rigs
require).   It has the AC power supply built in, so you can have your
complete HF station in one box.  Just connect to AC and antenna and that's
it!

Operation of the TS-520S is much more like that of traditional radios before
everything became solid state automatic boxes that have more in common with
cell phones than with ham radios.  One learns much more with a radio that
you have to tune while watching final plate current.  Gotta' love those
tubes!

The TS-520S is one of the most reliable, yet easiest to repair radios ever
made.  There's not even *one* single integrated circuit in the set!  I've
had one for 25 years, and have loaned it out several times to new hams.
Aside from having to repair lightening damage once, the biggest problem I've
ever had with it was a scratchy audio pot.  It is far less tempermental than
several later model solid state rigs I have owned, especially in comparison
to the TS-120S and the TS-430S.

I agree with the several earlier postings that you'll get far more interest
in a rig like the TS-520S which requires a little learning to use, compared
to the ham/cb/cell phone sets which have become the norm in the last 20
years.  What young person is going to be intrigued by a small modern box
that sits on the table and requires no knowledge to use?  I'd suggest
installing and what you've got.  Besides, re-sale value will be well less
than utilization value.

I also like to emphasize to young people accustomed to easy instant
communications that all of the modern communications devices with which they
are familiar require a tremendous infrastructure to connect two parties
together, while direct radio communications requires nothing but the radios
on each end and the "physics of the ether" between them.  There's still
something magical about long-distance shortwave communications from an
isolated camp site!  (BTW, If your TS-520S has the DC power option and the
DC power cord, it'll work off 12 vdc power.)

73,
Mike / KK5F
(BSA 1964 - 1966)