[NLRS] Transverters

[W0ZQ@aol.com]

Hi Dan, welcome to the NLRS reflector.   Looking forward to working you on 
2m's and up.    Regarding what is the cheapest way of getting on 2m, the answer 
to your question is dependent on what you may or may not have already in your 
shack.   Transverters are favored because they can be added to an existing HF 
rig to add a new band.   If you have to buy that HF rig for IF duty then it 
may not be as attractive.   Typically 28 MHz is the IF frequency for 6m, 2m, 
222, and 432 transverters while 144 MHz is the IF frequency for 902 and up.   You 
can indeed "chain" transverters as long as you pay attention to what you are 
doing (ie; use a 28 MHz IF rig to drive a 144 MHz transverter that then drives 
a 1296 transverter).     

In addition there is the issue regarding long range planning and performance. 
  Regarding long range planning, if you are thinking of adding 6m, 432, and 
1296, when you look at the total cost for all transverters you may have been 
better off buying a used (or new) all-in-one rig in the beginning (plus you 
don't have the tangle of cables and controls lines and roving is a bit easier).   
Regarding performance, if you live in the Twin Cites, be prepared for some 
very strong local signals from time to time that will punish the front end of a 
lower performance receiver ..... there is a reason that the big contesters run 
high performance transverters with high performance IF rigs.

One issue that you may have with the HTX010 is that it does not have CW.    
CW is used during aurora propagation and when signals get weak.   Yes you can 
have lots of fun on 2m without CW, and people do, but there will be times when 
you will hear people working DX that you will not be able to work.   CW is an 
important mode for weak signal work.   Slow CW is just fine.

DEMI makes some good transverters that work well .... they are fun to build 
.... I've built the 2m, 902, and 2304 versions.   The good news is that there 
is lots of help available locally should it not work for some reason.

73, Jon
W0ZQ


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