Hi. I'm totally new to this side of things and have recently sold all my gear. I'm now looking to get back into dxing and wondered if anyone could recommend an all mode HF/VHF/UHF transceiver that is also very good [infact excellent for sensitivity and selectivity] for receiving. I don't have my license yet and so thought it may be economical to buy a transceiver to use as a receiver until I get my license and then I can use it for both rather than buy a receiver now and then a transceiver in a few months time. Thanks.
All mode transciever. Please Reply
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N0IU
Member
Do you have a budget in mind?
Keep in mind that you will also need a power supply and of course, some sort of antenna.
Keep in mind that you will also need a power supply and of course, some sort of antenna.
N5TWB
Member
Here's what's in current production that meets your description:
Icom IC-9100: Ham & Amateur Radios - Equipment, Parts and Supply | AES
Kenwood TS-2000: Ham & Amateur Radios - Equipment, Parts and Supply | AES
Yaesu FT-857D: Ham & Amateur Radios - Equipment, Parts and Supply | AES
Yaesu FT-897D: Ham & Amateur Radios - Equipment, Parts and Supply | AES
The Kenwood has a couple of variants with the same capabilities. The Yaesus share several components and the operating system/menu. I have an older model Yaesu with your desired attributes (FT-847) so you might want to consider it as a possibility. If I were in the market for new with those attributes, I'd personally consider the Icom.
Icom IC-9100: Ham & Amateur Radios - Equipment, Parts and Supply | AES
Kenwood TS-2000: Ham & Amateur Radios - Equipment, Parts and Supply | AES
Yaesu FT-857D: Ham & Amateur Radios - Equipment, Parts and Supply | AES
Yaesu FT-897D: Ham & Amateur Radios - Equipment, Parts and Supply | AES
The Kenwood has a couple of variants with the same capabilities. The Yaesus share several components and the operating system/menu. I have an older model Yaesu with your desired attributes (FT-847) so you might want to consider it as a possibility. If I were in the market for new with those attributes, I'd personally consider the Icom.
elk2370bruce
Member
A word to the wise. You're better off purchasing a new rig from a local ham or nearby club member or shop. In this way, you get a chance to try out the rig and discover any deficiencies before plunking down some heavy coin. Some radios on-line are good ones and others should be sold in sleazebay.
OK. Thanks for the advice. I am going to buy one of the Yaesu's new. Are there any performance issues between the two as one costs over £100 more brand new than the other. I will be using whichever one I choose for dx receive only to begin with.
KD0PEZ
Member
I personally own a Kenwood TS-2000 which is a base station/portable all mode rig, and I also own a Yaesu FT857 which is a mobile/portable all mode rig. Either will suit your needs, the Yaesu is smaller and cheaper but the Kenwood offers 50 watts more on the VHF band and 30 watts more on the UHF band, yet the Kenwood doesn't have all the menus.
And yes, count on a good 20 amp power supply, a dual band antenna + duplexer, and whatever all mode HF antenna you want to go with, be it a multi band dipole or something like a Terlin Outbacker antenna.
And yes, count on a good 20 amp power supply, a dual band antenna + duplexer, and whatever all mode HF antenna you want to go with, be it a multi band dipole or something like a Terlin Outbacker antenna.
The Yaesu 857 / 897 are basically the same radio inside, although the 897 being larger is a bit easier to operate, and also has internal battery and matching power supply options if you want to go that route. You can only do one at a time however. Fortunately, the switching supply for the 897 was very rf quiet.
Both have the Collins mechanical filter options for ssb and cw. While some say they don't make a difference, I feel that they do, and switching between the stock and collins mechanical filters is very noticeable when chasing dx. Of course, this increases the overall purchase price.
Out of the box, the audio is wide-open and has led some to believe that the audio is lacking. One should do two things in the menu structure:
First:
DBF - turn this bandpass filter on! I normally leave it engaged all the time.
Second:
Go into the menu structure, and set your audio lowpass and highpass frequencies. 220 for the low, and 2450 hz for the highpass is a nice start. Note that if you forget to enable DBF, then when you make adjustments here, you won't notice any difference. Did I mention to turn DBF on?
When I got these radios and was perusing the manuals, before I got to these sections I thought I had a bad radio - nope - it was just that the audio was wide open hi-fi, which isn't needed for typical ssb/cw comms.
This is easy to overlook, and if you see your typical comparison videos of these radios sounding bad, take a look to see if >DBF is engaged, and of course the internal speakers are always utility-grade. Invest in a quality speaker and/or headphones like the Yaesu YH-77 cans which have 35 ohm impedance which mates up nicely to the audio sections on both radios.
Both have the Collins mechanical filter options for ssb and cw. While some say they don't make a difference, I feel that they do, and switching between the stock and collins mechanical filters is very noticeable when chasing dx. Of course, this increases the overall purchase price.
Out of the box, the audio is wide-open and has led some to believe that the audio is lacking. One should do two things in the menu structure:
First:
DBF - turn this bandpass filter on! I normally leave it engaged all the time.
Second:
Go into the menu structure, and set your audio lowpass and highpass frequencies. 220 for the low, and 2450 hz for the highpass is a nice start. Note that if you forget to enable DBF, then when you make adjustments here, you won't notice any difference. Did I mention to turn DBF on?
When I got these radios and was perusing the manuals, before I got to these sections I thought I had a bad radio - nope - it was just that the audio was wide open hi-fi, which isn't needed for typical ssb/cw comms.
This is easy to overlook, and if you see your typical comparison videos of these radios sounding bad, take a look to see if >DBF is engaged, and of course the internal speakers are always utility-grade. Invest in a quality speaker and/or headphones like the Yaesu YH-77 cans which have 35 ohm impedance which mates up nicely to the audio sections on both radios.
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Thanks for all of this. Just one last question. As I haven't got my license yet are these Yaesu's good to be used as communications receiver's? I'm guessing as they are good quality transceivers they must by nature be more than up to the job when it comes to this.
NOTE/I'm planning on buying a wellbrook loop to attach to it for HF dx receive.
NOTE/I'm planning on buying a wellbrook loop to attach to it for HF dx receive.
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The 857/897's are good transceivers, but excel primarily for mobile / portable operations, so some specs are not as good as full fledged desktops, and full-time fixed operations may become frustrating with a lot of button-pushing and menu navigating. I've gotten used to it, but still....
For a fixed operation, I'd second the Kenwood TS-2000 for your needs. Or perhaps the newer Icoms as mentioned above. The Wellbrook would fit perfectly into the rx-only antenna jacks on these rigs still leaving plenty of connectors for your other antennas to come. Of course an external switch would take care of that too on the 857/897's..
There are too many variables to really make a definitive recommendation, so you'll just have to look at the features and know that this won't be your last purchase. We all want our latest acquisition to be our last, but it never seems to work out that way...
For a fixed operation, I'd second the Kenwood TS-2000 for your needs. Or perhaps the newer Icoms as mentioned above. The Wellbrook would fit perfectly into the rx-only antenna jacks on these rigs still leaving plenty of connectors for your other antennas to come. Of course an external switch would take care of that too on the 857/897's..
There are too many variables to really make a definitive recommendation, so you'll just have to look at the features and know that this won't be your last purchase.
We all want our latest acquisition to be our last, but it never seems to work out that way...
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The all-in-one transceivers, like the Yaesu FT-897 and Kenwood TS-2000, are popular, but I'm not a fan of putting all your eggs in one basket. If one part fails and you have to send the radio in for repair, you are totally off the air until the rig returns.
If you only plan to run FM on VHF/UHF, then it may be more practical and more economical to get an all-mode radio that covers 160 through 10 or 160 through 6 meters and also get a dual-band VHF/UHF FM mobile to cover the 2m and 440 MHz bands. For HF, you could consider the Icom IC-718 or IC-7200 or the Yaesu FT-450. For VHF/UHF, the Kenwood TM-V71 or Yaesu FT-8800 would be good choices.
If you only plan to run FM on VHF/UHF, then it may be more practical and more economical to get an all-mode radio that covers 160 through 10 or 160 through 6 meters and also get a dual-band VHF/UHF FM mobile to cover the 2m and 440 MHz bands. For HF, you could consider the Icom IC-718 or IC-7200 or the Yaesu FT-450. For VHF/UHF, the Kenwood TM-V71 or Yaesu FT-8800 would be good choices.
majoco
Stirrer
But IMHO you may not be able to buy a transceiver without a licence........
Under U.S. regulations, you do not need an amateur radio license in order to purchase amateur radio transmitters. Some dealers in the U.S. enforce this as a store policy, but it is not U.S. law. I do not know what U.K. or New Zealand law says on this matter.
Ok, the 7000 will do the job nicely.
I agree with W9BU about not taking the risk about putting all your eggs in one basket. However, if we take that risk, one thing it affords is convenience, ie an uncluttered environment, and exposure to vhf/uhf ssb/cw modes, which is typically what you won't get with a seperate HF only and v/uhf FM-only combos.
At the very least, when you zone in on your particular favorite mode/bands, then the multimode wideband rig makes a good backup for your next rig.
So many variables keeps it fun AND frustrating .
I agree with W9BU about not taking the risk about putting all your eggs in one basket. However, if we take that risk, one thing it affords is convenience, ie an uncluttered environment, and exposure to vhf/uhf ssb/cw modes, which is typically what you won't get with a seperate HF only and v/uhf FM-only combos.
At the very least, when you zone in on your particular favorite mode/bands, then the multimode wideband rig makes a good backup for your next rig.
So many variables keeps it fun AND frustrating .
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KG4NEL
Member
I've liked this configuration, if for no other reason it allows local repeaters to be set on scan while I tool around HF for QSOs
KG4NEL
Member
With the DSP, the passband is adjustable: ICOM IC-7000 IF Filters
For VHF/UHF FM, it's all "NFM" (at least, what used to be known as NFM before the commercial narrowbanding edict). FM is channelized, even on long-range simplex...so either you have someone on the same channel or not. A narrow passband isn't going to help things.
For VHF/UHF FM, it's all "NFM" (at least, what used to be known as NFM before the commercial narrowbanding edict). FM is channelized, even on long-range simplex...so either you have someone on the same channel or not. A narrow passband isn't going to help things.
Thanks for the info. Can't wait to get it now. One important thing I must ask, as somebody who has never owned a transceiver before and who doesn't yet have a license what is the safest thing to do whilst using it as a receiver. I plan on leaving the mic in the box until I legally qualify but is there anything else? I don't want to accidently transmit in ignorance and blow my machine or break the law.
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