[HCARC] What Radio To Recommend to a Newbie - Be An Elmer

Sun Aug 5 10:35:20 EDT 2012

All:

I'll echo Kerry's thoughts.

When I teach the Club Ed Tech license class I'm often asked by my students
which rig is "best" or which one I would recommend. It's really easy to get
lost in the different manufacturers specs. I always suggest looking at an
entry level HF rig, like the IC-718 or its Kenwood or Yaesu equivalents.
They don't have all the fancy bells and whistles but they have the advantage
of (a) not costing an arm and a leg and (b) simplicity of use. The main
thing is to get on the air and have fun!

For example, my backup rig is an IC-718. I often bring it to the tech
license class to demo. It's not fancy, but it gets the job done. I got it
for less than $500 used from another ham several years ago. I've done DXCC
multiple times on it - sometimes on a single contest weekend. And that was
done using simple wire antennas or a Cushcraft R7 vertical.

Same deal with antennas. It's nice to have a tall tower and giant multi-band
Yagi, but simple wire antennas will get the job done. You can build a G5RV
for just a few $$$ and it will tune up on 80-10m with a simple tuner. I have
an off-center dipole design that was published in QST a number of years ago
that covers 40-20-15-10m which requires only some wire, insulators and coax
to feed it and requires no tuner.

FWIW, band conditions/propagation will be the biggest determinant of whether
you can make a contact on a particular band. Certainly a multi-element Yagi
up high in the sky will let you stay on a band longer and hear weaker
signals when propagation is marginal on a band, but when a band is open even
low wire antennas will get the job done.

The point I make to my students is that they should find something that fits
their budget and get on the air, make contacts and have fun. 

My two cents worth...

73,

Dale - K4DG

-----Original Message-----
From: Kerry Sandstrom [mailto:kerryk5ks at hughes.net] 
Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2012 8:54 AM
To: Gary and Arlene Johnson; HCARC at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [HCARC] What Radio To Recommend to a Newbie - Be An Elmer

Gary and other guys just starting out,

This is personal opinion again and many would disagree, but if you really
want to get on a radio and talk to people, VHF/UHF is the wrong place to
start.  If it were me, I would look for a good used synthesized 2 meter FM
transceiver with tone capability and 25-50 W output .  That will allow you
to get on the club repeater, N5HR.  There really isn't much to work on
VHF/UHF except the club guys unless you put up a pretty big station.  I
don't think you will find anyone on 70 cm (or 440) that you don't find on 2
meters.  As far as 6 and 10 meters go, for long periods of time there are
very few signals on those bands.  What do I use on 2 meters?  A Clegg FM-DX
from the mid-70's.  Its synthesized , 2 meters only, abou 30 W output, and
(unfortunately) no tones.  My antenna is a second hand CushCraft 4 el yagi
($15 at a swapfest in NM) on a ten foot pole tied to my fence.  That is all
you need to work the club Monday night net and a few of the guys on simplex.

You should be able to get a good used 2 meter mobile and a 12 VDC power
supply and a small antenna for under a $100.

Now if you really want to be able to "work the world", you need to be able
to get on 40 and 20 meters.  80/75 is good, but not much activity during the
daytime.  15 is at times no better than 10.  CW is not as popular as SSB
now, however, if you have a simple antenna and not much power, CW is less
crowded and you don't need as much power.

Don't be tempted by QRP.  Working QRP is not that easy.  At times you end up
calling a lot of stations, but only working a couple of them.  CW is much
more practical for QRP than SSB.

What would I be looking for in the way of an HF rig?  I don't have any real
experience with new rigs.  I currently use a Drake TR5 and a Ten Tec OMNI-D.

Both are from the early 1980's and are easy to use and work well.  I have no
real experience with the Japanese manufacturers.  However, if I was looking
for a good starter HF rig, I would probably be looking at an Icom IC718 or
the Kenwood and Yaesu equivalents.  There seem to be a few of these simpler
rigs for sale used from time to time.  The IC706 is also a very popular rig.

Years ago QST periodically ran an article or two on how to find a used rig. 
Suggestions I remember were to pick one whose manufacturer was still in
business.  Make sure it comes with whatever accessories you need because
they might be impossible to find later.  A model that is still in production
is also a good idea, but not essential.  Older rigs are fun, however, you
have to be ready to repair them yourselves, not usually something a beginner
can do, especially when exact replacement parts aren't available.  I would
also suggest a good external manual antenna tuner and a simple wire dipole
for 40 and 20 meters.  I would hope that you could get on the air for
perhaps $500 and you should have a good time.  As you gain experience you
can try different antennas and decide if you need a rig with more features.

When I was a novice, I already had a shortwave receiver, a Lafayette HE-30,
a very basic receiver that cost $100 new.  I bought a used Johnson
Adventurer for $50.  My antenna was an 80/40 twin lead dipole fed with
RG58/U that probably had $15 worth of materials.  It was about 20 feet above
the ground at its highest point.  I had fun with it and that is probably
equivalent to a $500 station today.  The first 2 meter equipment i had was a
Heathkit Twoer borrowed from a local club.  Eventually I got a Gonset Comm 2
for 2 meters.  It was fine for working the locals of which there were a lot
in Mass in those days.  You really should start off small and see what part
of ham radio you really like and get some experience before you drop big
money on a fancy rig.  You may find that for what you want to do, you never
need a big fancy rig.

If you are really set on VHF/UHF, I think you should talk to several guys to
find out what is really on those bands and what kind of equipment is really
required to work them and how much activity is really there on a typical
weekday or week evening.

Kerry

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