When I ventured into ham radio I first went on the air with a surplus PRC 320. I actually managed to work all states and bagged over 100 DX entities with the simple little low powered rig. I still have it and use it occasionally. It's a fun rig. I once set it up at a Starbucks in the outside section.
I developed a certain style with it and in certain circles was duly noticed. One time I called a WW2 memorial ship that was on the air and requested naval gunfire on an imaginary target. The operator on the ship was sharp. He patched me through to the Fire Direction Center and the vets manning it for the weekend plotted the imaginary fire mission. The kids got to see how the old stuff there worked. Win/win.
My QSL cards for running portable are still sought after in certain small circles.
However it has very limited capabilities. I wanted to set up a modest barefoot home station. At the time I was ignorant as are most people. I thought I would be sticking to voice with a dabbling of CW. Digital communications didn't interest me. I opted for an IC 718 which proved to be an ideal rig fo voice and CW. I was happy with that for a while. The IC 718 provided me with excellent service however it was limited.
Eventually I got talked into trying digital communications. I did balk at first until I discovered that a lot of otherwise DX stations could be had in the low powered digital modes. I decided to see what I could do.
I mentioned that the IC 718 could not be plugged into a laptop and three or four days later a mysterious package arrived in the mail containing an adapter wire and some detailed instructions. It had been designed specifically for the IC 718. I tried fooling with it and recall I got on the air with it a time or two but it proved to be more trouble than it was worth.
At the time Icom was marketing the IC 7200. It was 'digital ready' and could be connected directly to a laptop with a simple printer cord. Icom was pushing these rigs for a fairly low price. On top of that, with an optional handle set the damned thing looked tacticool. Some people were painting them tan or OD. Besides being the darling of the tacticool set it rapidly became the darling of a lot of hams. It was pretty much plug and play.
Now at this time it had been over a years since I had gotten into a knife fight with a coworker so I got a bonus. It was enough for an IC 7200 AND a 43' DXE vertical with about a 6-pack or two left over.
Of course I caught a sale and picked up the IC 7200.
Somewhere along the line I had acquired an Icom AH-4 antenna tuner. I was running it to tune a wire antenna on the IC 718. The original tuner I bought with the IC 718 was collecting dust.
The IC 7200 I ran off of the vertical with the AN-4 tuner. I dusted off the old tuner, an LDG ProII, and hooked it up to the wire and the IC 718. The 43 foot vertical would not tune on 160 meters which is common. Everything is a compromise. However I could easily tune 160 on the longwire.
I now had two rigs and ran this way for years, happy as a lark.
I ran digital through a (then) free software program called Ham Radio DeLuxe and enjoyed the waterfall for 'target aquisition' on the 7200. The 7200 is pretty much plug and play.
I'd still be this way if I hadn't been thinking down the road.
About a year ago I started planning for retirement and figured that while I was still making pretty good money I should gear up for a long period of reduced income. Besides, I had the annual bonus coming in and because they could never pin a murder on me I was going to get it. (I buried the bastard and planted endangered plants on the grave so it's illegal to dig him up.)
The IC 7300 had come out and it got spectacular raves. I saw one anothe ham had and realized it was an incredible deal. A similar rig would sell for over twise the MSRP!
I out out the word I wanted one and started shopping around. A couple of the guys sent me factory rebate coupons, specially marked box tops and such. I found a dealer offered another hundred bucks off of it and I got it for well under a grand.
I resold the IC 718 for about 2/3s of what I paid for it. Purchasing it had been a mitake. For an additional $200 or so I could have bought the IC 7200 and set up for Ham Radio DeLuxe and digital communications with simply a printer cord.
Mistakes made:
The first mistake was not giving myself room to grow. The IC 718, while an excellent radio for what it is, was too limited. I outgrew it fast. I also lucked out when I went to resell it. I should have bit the bullet and paid the extra $200 or so for the IC 7200. Almost ten years later I would still be pleased to have that as my primary home rig.
The IC 7300 was a retirement gift to myself. Knowing what I know now, it I was just getting started I would go out and buy one. It should last me and is curently the best bang for the buck.
Brands. The Big Three are Icom, Yaesu and Kenwood. From what I gather Icom is the easiest to use, Yaesu is supposedly menu driven which means complex. I know NOTHING about Kenwood.
I went the Icom route for simplicity as that route was recommended for me. You have to remember that ALL ham rigs are designed for techies and are fairly complex. Techies are techies and their very nature prohibits them from taking a leak without having to run a computer program to insure everything comes out OK.
All basic ham radios are designed by techies and geeks and as such are generally overcomplicated. Still, it isn't too difficult to get one up and running for basic voice. Go to Youtube. There are plenty of videos there.
I am a Luddite and after running the IC 7200 for a decade I still have not really scratched the surface of what the 7200 has to offer. Even though the model is over 10 years old it's still quite a rig. It also holds a pretty high resale value which is a double edged sword.
I haven't even started digging through the capabilities of the IC 7300. I run it on voice and very rarely code. Sometime when I get time I'll set it up for digital....maybe.
Incidentally both of there rigs are extremely popular so there are Youtube tutorials that cover EVERYTHING for both sets.
Whatever you do, don't buy a rig that's not computer ready. You'll outgrow it rather fast.
No comments:
Post a Comment