[NLRS] question of transverters vs radios

[John P. Toscano]

Mike (KB0OZN) wrote:
> 
>    I was thinking
>    of buying a 222 MHz module for my 736r at a cost of $375 from ebay.  A
>    similar  transverter  from  DEM  would  be ~$400 but require alot more
>    effort to interface it.

The DEMI 222-28CK (complete kit) is only $295 ($100 savings) and I found 
it very easy to assemble, even though I would not have the courage to 
tackle something like their 10368 MHz transverter kit.  My fingers are 
just not that nimble.  If you also bought the AOS-28 interface ($70) or 
the TIBCK interface ($50 kit, trivial to assemble) then you would need 
nearly no effort at all to interface it to the IC-706.  And if the 
SDR1000 urge does finally overtake you, then you are basically ready to 
go with one transverter already, just remove the AOS-28 or TIB and make 
a few simple connections.  If your 1296 MHz transverter requires very 
low drive power (milliwatts instead of watts), it would be fairly easy 
to interface to the SDR1000.  To connect to the IC-706, you still need a 
way to drop the transmit power low enough and (probably) split the IF 
Tx/Rx, such as the AOS-144 or another TIB.  Then you'd have 222 and 1296 
on the SDR quickly, and still have the other radio(s) for 50, 144, and 
432 MHz.  And for VHF & up contesting, I find it really handy to split 
the bands over at least 2 radios, so I can use one band for liasion 
while working on the others.  That's probably less of an issue with the 
SDR1000 as the IF, either you see the other guy's signal on the 
bandscope and click on it to tune immediately to it, or if no signal is 
seen, flip back to the liasion frequency and tell him it's a bust. 
Still, unless you need to sell everything else to afford the SDR1000, 
you can keep one or more of the other radios on the air too, e.g. IC706 
for 50 MHz, FT736 for 144 and 432 MHz, SDR1000 for 222 and 1296, etc. 
Then, as you crave higher performance on existing bands or more bands, 
add more tranverters at will.

I will grant you, however, that it is nice to have one radio that does 
as much as possible, so it is enticing to simply plug in a 222 module 
into the FT736 and be done with it all.  (I wish my FT847 and/or 
IC706MkIIG could do 222 also, along with the existing 50, 144, and 432 
bands.  But as the old saying goes, "jack of all trades, master of none"...)

The other upside of adding the 222 module is that it would probably 
enhance the resale value of the radio if you ever do decide to part with 
it, since the band modules are not easy to find.  And I really hope that 
Jerry finds some free time to write up the module modifications for the 
2006 Proceedings of the Central States VHF Society.  I'm sure we would 
love to publish a well-done writeup of the sort.

Good luck on the quest!
73 de W0JT