[Icom] Re: ic 2at

[Gary Pearce KN4AQ]

Well, SOMEBODY's got to say this, so it might as well be me!

Why would you WANT to put PL in a 2AT, here in 2002?

Sure, it's a great old workhorse (and Icom's never equaled the transmit 
audio quality).  I still have mine from '79, and I bought a used 3AT in 
great shape just last year.

But the manufacturers are practically giving their two meter ht's away 
today.  They all have tone that can be set and stored in each memory 
channel.  Not to mention all the other features.

Too complicated to operate?  Not as complicated as adding a pl deck to a 
2AT and programming it to the proper tone each time you change frequencies.

Won't use all those features?  Well, if you had them, you might, and you 
barely paid anything for them, so no loss if you don't.

OK, it's a great ham radio tradition to stretch the life of the old stuff 
as long as possible.  And that's wonderful, to a point.  If that's your 
goal, go for it and stuff a tone deck in the 2AT, memorize the BCD code to 
program it and glow with pride when you're done.  My fingers did recover 
from all the "scanning" I did with the 2AT long ago.

But if you're just unfamiliar with the advances made in the last 25 years, 
it's worth it to get up to date.  When I marveled at the 2AT's stable 
synthesizer and solid construction, I never dreamed of where things would 
be going.  And how cheap they'd get (a 2AT would be, what, over $1000 in 
1980 dollars?).

And the manufacturers and dealers can use the business today.

73,
Gary KN4AQ