Rebuilding my shack- best HF rig for under $200
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Rebuilding my shack- best HF rig for under $200
Starting to put my shack back together. All I have had for the last 18 months is a cheap 2M handheld.
Wanting to get back on HF, but funding is going to be tight. Want to keep it under 200 bucks (less if possible).
I used to have a Yaesu FT-737 that served me well with a home brew wire dipole above my house. Loved to run RTTY and PSK with that thing!
Any suggestions for a cheap rig that will get me the best bang for the buck?
Wanting to get back on HF, but funding is going to be tight. Want to keep it under 200 bucks (less if possible).
I used to have a Yaesu FT-737 that served me well with a home brew wire dipole above my house. Loved to run RTTY and PSK with that thing!
Any suggestions for a cheap rig that will get me the best bang for the buck?
al2n- Charter Member
- Posts : 20
Join date : 2011-11-29
Age : 53
Re: Rebuilding my shack- best HF rig for under $200
$200 is really pushing it, Mike. Adjust that figure to $400 and a number of possibilities open up.
TS130S, TS440SAT, FT-980, IC-745, IC-751A, bare-bones TR7, Omni B/C/D, Corsair/Corsair II...Cubic Astro 150, Astro 102BXA/103. I purposefully left all the tube hybrids and all-tube varieties as they're more of a niche market item these days.
$350 at Dayton this year could have netted a fellow a sweet Corsair II and matching PSU. I would have bought the thing but was more focused on test gear - and selling off some of my existing inventory.
TS130S, TS440SAT, FT-980, IC-745, IC-751A, bare-bones TR7, Omni B/C/D, Corsair/Corsair II...Cubic Astro 150, Astro 102BXA/103. I purposefully left all the tube hybrids and all-tube varieties as they're more of a niche market item these days.
$350 at Dayton this year could have netted a fellow a sweet Corsair II and matching PSU. I would have bought the thing but was more focused on test gear - and selling off some of my existing inventory.
N8YX- Charter Member
- Posts : 26
Join date : 2013-07-21
Re: Rebuilding my shack- best HF rig for under $200
400 you say?
That means I will have to wait till this winter before I can pull the trigger. That means setting up an antenna in the winter time. That means.....well, it means I will be ready for spring contests and such.
That means I will have to wait till this winter before I can pull the trigger. That means setting up an antenna in the winter time. That means.....well, it means I will be ready for spring contests and such.
al2n- Charter Member
- Posts : 20
Join date : 2011-11-29
Age : 53
Re: Rebuilding my shack- best HF rig for under $200
Put your antennas up now and plan for the shack come winter.
I left out a few rigs on purpose. The more I play with my FT-301s, the more I like them. All analog signal chain - and I have to find one more analog example of the radio for my conversion project. There is a spare -D model kicking around the basement which I may or may not resurrect then sell; this will be determined on what else I can source in the way of parts. Ultimately, one area of the operating bench will consist of an analog 100w transceiver/receiver pair (with scope, PSU, external speaker and antenna tuner), a digital version of same, an analog receiver which covers SWBC allocations, 10 and 11M - and an FT-221 for 2M. Each of those spots get a speaker and YO-301 as I find them.
There is a way to crunch-proof the front end of a '301 but in doing so you have to replace the radio's transceive mixer with one from an FT-90x...and thus it'll no longer function as a transceiver. Which is fine, as the receiver portion of the twins can be used when the going is tough - much like a TR7/R7 combination.
I left out a few rigs on purpose. The more I play with my FT-301s, the more I like them. All analog signal chain - and I have to find one more analog example of the radio for my conversion project. There is a spare -D model kicking around the basement which I may or may not resurrect then sell; this will be determined on what else I can source in the way of parts. Ultimately, one area of the operating bench will consist of an analog 100w transceiver/receiver pair (with scope, PSU, external speaker and antenna tuner), a digital version of same, an analog receiver which covers SWBC allocations, 10 and 11M - and an FT-221 for 2M. Each of those spots get a speaker and YO-301 as I find them.
There is a way to crunch-proof the front end of a '301 but in doing so you have to replace the radio's transceive mixer with one from an FT-90x...and thus it'll no longer function as a transceiver. Which is fine, as the receiver portion of the twins can be used when the going is tough - much like a TR7/R7 combination.
N8YX- Charter Member
- Posts : 26
Join date : 2013-07-21
Re: Rebuilding my shack- best HF rig for under $200
Putting up an antenna in the summer? That is crazy talk!
All antennas must be installed with either bad weather or lack of proper tools. It is in the handbook.
All antennas must be installed with either bad weather or lack of proper tools. It is in the handbook.
al2n- Charter Member
- Posts : 20
Join date : 2011-11-29
Age : 53
Re: Rebuilding my shack- best HF rig for under $200
I was going to say k3 until you said $200.
N2RJ- Charter Member
- Posts : 17
Join date : 2013-08-05
Re: Rebuilding my shack- best HF rig for under $200
Yeah, I am cheap. If I spend too much money I will feel guilty.
al2n- Charter Member
- Posts : 20
Join date : 2011-11-29
Age : 53
Re: Rebuilding my shack- best HF rig for under $200
So feel guilty and enjoy it!
W5GA- Moderator
- Posts : 12
Join date : 2013-05-27
Age : 68
Location : Oklahoma
Re: Rebuilding my shack- best HF rig for under $200
Well I did get a Kenwood TS440s with CW filters for $250 a few years ago. Excellent rig for the price. So yeah, it's doable, but barely.
N2RJ- Charter Member
- Posts : 17
Join date : 2013-08-05
Re: Rebuilding my shack- best HF rig for under $200
You must have gotten the same deal I did, although mine has a scratched-up case and had a nicked front panel and tuning knob. I managed to get hold of some NOS replacements, the balance of the filters and the IF232 interface chips.N2RJ wrote:Well I did get a Kenwood TS440s with CW filters for $250 a few years ago. Excellent rig for the price. So yeah, it's doable, but barely.
A neat radio but with the exception of memory channel count (100 vs 32) it really doesn't do much more than my IC-751As. Thus, I'll eventually sell the thing.
Should one find an example of the "A" model Icom and can get either an AT100 or AT500 along with an AH2/AH2B tuner combo you'll be loaded for bear. All three tuners are remote-controllable by the '751; the AT- series are set up for coaxial feed whereas the AH2B is an unbalanced, random wire type. Use the former for feeding your dipoles and tribander; the latter for a flagpole vertical, inverted L or similar construct. The tuner assembly itself can be mounted at the antenna, as it's enclosed in a water resistant box. RF feed and band/tune info from the radio-mounted AH2 controller are supplied through separate cabling.
N8YX- Charter Member
- Posts : 26
Join date : 2013-07-21
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