Radios Back When...

[KE0SKN]

Back in the 1990s and below, Buying a two-way radio whether it was hand-held or Base, a mobile unit would cost a pretty penny. My first two-way radio crystal-controlled, two-channel HT cost me about $400.00. Nowadays I can get a cheap 127-channel radio for $30 bucks. Yes, the cheap radio build is not rugged like the Motorola radio but it does the job. My second radio was the Radio shack Transceiver HTX 202 HTX-202. What was your first Radio?

 

[mmckenna]

FT-470. Cost me something close to a month's paycheck back then.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Though I had a couple mobiles like a WABCO, a MICOR. My first portable was a VHF Unimetrics, then a VHF HT200, then a VHF HT220, and a UHF HT220 I built up. A slew of others UHF HT100, UHF MT500, UHF MX320's. A whole crazy collection. I have sort of stopped at Systems Saber's because in my opinion it was downhill from that point on!

 

[VK3RX]

My first "HT" was one of these. $150 - couple of weeks salary in 1974.

Then in about 1980, a technology leap to one of these.

 

[K7MEM]

I never actually owned a HT. My first radio on 2 Meters was a Heathkit Twoer, in 1967. It cost about $50, in kit form, which is probably about $350 in todays money. I had only one crystal that put me on 145.998 MHz (8.111 MHz x 18). It was AM, but there weren't any FM repeaters yet, so the operating frequency wasn't a issue. I had a ton of fun with it. The regen receiver worked fine, but I later replaced the receive function with a general coverage receiver and a 2 Meter converter.

 

[AK9R]

Yaesu FT-23R. 2m, 5 watts, 10 memory channels. Around $200 as I recall from a dealer at Dayton Hamvention in 1989.

 

[buddrousa]

1984 Motorola HT-90 VHF 4 Channel over $400
1988 Midland 16 Channel Programmable over $400

 

[fire38756]

1976 at age 17 was a volunteer with local civil defense. We used CB radios at first. 1978 bought a used Motorola Motrac one channel 100 watt high band from the Motorola man for $300.00. "Like a Rock". Loud and Clear.

 

[n0xvz]

My first was a used Santec ST-142. I probably paid around $200 for it. I wish I still had that radio.

 

[drdispatch]

I don't remember how much it cost, or what year I got it, but I may still have the receipt filed away somewhere, lol. My first ham HT was an Icom IC-2AT. Similar to the second one in VK3RX's post, biggest difference being a DTMF pad. It had hundreds of channels! One at a time of course, set by the little thumbwheels on the top...

(Edit) Here it is: RigPix Database - Icom - IC-2AT
Thanks, @VK3RX for pointing out that site!

 

[KB4MSZ]

These where my first base and handheld radios. The base had a switch inside the face of the radio which would enable general coverage transmitting, and it had outstanding (wide) AM audio. The handheld could be programmed from the front panel for transmitting on any frequency it received on, and my sheriff's deputy brother-in-law used it several times in that capacity. It came in real handy one night when we followed and cornered a rather sauced young lady who was driving in and out of apartment complexes trying to find her own.

Almost forgot my 2700RH mobile.

 

[Steve162]

Yaesu FT-227R, around 1978. Plus a Larsen 5/8 wave mag mount which I put on the fire escape outside my bedroom window.
$354.90 at Radiomasters in Englewood, NJ.

Still have the invoice! 10 Watts output. Built like a brick. Loved that radio.

Later on I got a Wilson Mark IV crystal-controlled portable from a place in Colorado. Just after I ordered it they got hit with a blizzard. Didn't see the radio for 3 weeks.

 

[merlin]

I bought tons of stuff from swap meets and hamfests, by '68 my station was mainly Heathkit TX1 Apache transmitter, RX1 mohawk receiver, and HA-10 warrior amp.
Mobile was a Gonstet G-76 (and base supply) with Heath HA-14 amp
Clegg 6 and 2er, 4 channel Motorola motrac.
Had, even then, an old Hallicrafters RX.
Remember those old Vibraplex keyers and D-104 mic's ?

 

[MTS2000des]

Kenwood TH-75A, I still have one- though not my first. Introduced in 1988, it had true dual band operation, a whopping 10 memories per band, CTCSS encode/decode, and with the 12v NiCAD battery, stood tall like a phallic symbol. It even dwarfs modern LMR gear for stature.
This one still works, puts out rated power, and has incredible sensitivity, and unlike turdby Baoturds, laughs at anything out of band and doesn't get desensed from wireless routers. It also has good audio in and out. IIRC in 1992, I bought one on clearance as the TH-77 replaced it, for a low low price of $479.95.

 

[wd9ewk]

My first HT was a Kenwood TH-215, purchased in 1989 - and I still have it. Battery packs replaced over the years, and I have the AA case and vinyl case for the radio. Back then, I bought a Larsen 2m long duckie, an improvement over the shorter duckie that came with the radio. It was around $325 when I bought it, mainly due to the built-in PL encoder (decoder was optional, and I didn't get it). It still works!



Around 1991, I bought my first 2m/70cm HT, a Kenwood TH-75. Nice radio, but I don't have it anymore. I sold it when I got the TH-77 a couple of years later, and I don't have that one either.

 

[MTS2000des]

I loved the TH-215/225/314/415s. Classic Kenwoods. I had a TH-225 and a TH-415 pair in the mid 1990s as primary radios. Bought both at the Atlanta hamfest in 1993/1994 when it was at City Hall east (which no longer exists). Paid $100 each and they came with tons of batteries, rapid charger, and an RSM. These radios were well made, QUALITY.

 

[wd9ewk]

I loved the TH-215/225/314/415s. Classic Kenwoods.

In the 90s, I had a TH-315, but never got the TH-415. As you said, classic Kenwood radios.

Later in the 90s, I bought an Icom IC-W32A. Sold it, then bought another one when Icom brought them back into production in the early 2000s before killing it off once and for all (and in preparation of Icom's first D-Star HTs). The original IC-W32As included 800 MHz reception, which was removed in the later versions. Still had to do the modification to transmit on UHF below 440 MHz (yank a small diode off a board - needed for FM satellites, and repeaters in much of the world), but a good radio. I still have one, and use it on FM satellites from time to time. Aftermarket battery packs had higher capacities than the stock Icom packs, and one vendor has a 6-cell AA case (Icom's only held 4).

 

[smason]

First handheld Icom IC-02AT. Used I think it was $300 in the late 80s.
1st new FT-470 then a 530. Both a big $ purchase for me.
1st Mobile, Kenwood 7950 off of Ebay. I still have it. Very solid.
1st and last HF - FT-757, was used, and in horrible shape. Steaming pile. Spent more time fixing it than using it.
Donated it to a Youtube repair guy.

 

[n0xvz]

My first ham HT was an Icom IC-2AT.

I loved that radio! I pick up a 2AT to use for packet many years ago. Eventually, it went "deaf", but it was still able to transmit. I'm not sure what happened. I'd held on to it for many years even though it was unusable but eventually tossed it. I regret that today. Actually, I wish I had kept all the radios I've parted with over the years...

 

[alcahuete]

My first HT was a Kenwood TH-215, purchased in 1989 - and I still have it. Battery packs replaced over the years, and I have the AA case and vinyl case for the radio. Back then, I bought a Larsen 2m long duckie, an improvement over the shorter duckie that came with the radio. It was around $325 when I bought it, mainly due to the built-in PL encoder (decoder was optional, and I didn't get it). It still works!

View attachment 137627

Around 1991, I bought my first 2m/70cm HT, a Kenwood TH-75. Nice radio, but I don't have it anymore. I sold it when I got the TH-77 a couple of years later, and I don't have that one either.

Looks basically identical to the HTX-202. Were they made by Kenwood? I don't even remember this Kenwood radio TBH.