YABA (Yet Another Boat Anchor)

[N8YX]

Don't know if this rig plus accessories can really be classed as such...but I finally got hold of one of my "Grail" radios. Actually, a pair of them plus several accessories.

A little back story is in order, one supposes: I've always liked the Yaesu 'two-meter' product lines. That is, FT-726R (of which I own several), the FT-980 (ditto) and the FT-One (which has nice styling but is troublesome to maintain). The other rig of this genre I didn't have is an FT-102. Over Christmas I managed to score an FV-102, FC-102 and several SP-102s so that put me on the hunt.

One bazillion scammers later I managed to connect with a gent who actually had a rig plus a second FC-102; he was the original owner of the radio. During this time I was in contact with Mal, NC4L about buying another from one of his customers; that radio is now in his queue for updates.

Now, to rearrange the shack to accommodate the new arrivals. I'll probably keep one inline and the other as a backup. George and John, be listening for me on 75/40/10M AM - I'll have a whole 150-200w to work with there.

[KG4CGC]

:giggity::giggity:

[AA1OH]

My first store bought rig was a FT-227R. Got it at Henry Radio. I think they were on Beach Blvd or Ball road, no wait Ball road was the Heathkit store. I still like Yaesu, my mobile rig is a FT-100. But I do have a Icom IC-720a as my boat anchor. Your FT-102, that's a early 80s vintage?

[N8YX]

...Your FT-102, that's a early 80s vintage?

Yes - '83-'84 time frame. Same with the FT-980, '726R. The latter two have gotten a bad rap due to noisy or fast-tuning synthesizers - but honestly, I really don't see a problem with either. Maybe if I was in an environment with much higher adjacent channel/out-of-band RF levels, though at my current place they hear just fine.

Interesting bit about the '980: Its 1st IF scheme (including conversion frequencies, IF shift and filtering) is the same as the FT-90x series. The '90x is no slouch in the receiver department, and putting a '980 side-by-side on a crowded band, I really can't hear any difference in the recovered signals - intermod, synthesizer hash or otherwise.

For those times when I have to have a high-end, amateur-bands-only receiver I'll gravitate to the '102.

[AA1OH]

If you look to my picture you will see the black radio is a National NC-101X ham band receiver and its matching speaker. Circa 1934. It was a cool radio to operate, a little drifty but not as bad as most of that era. Pic was taken at "the flea at MIT".

[N8YX]

I liked my HQ-180AC when I had the thing in the lineup, especially on the AM BCB and for frequencies up to around 4 or so MHz.

Never had a S-line to see how good a tube rig could actually be. Know plenty of people who swear by them but suppose my hybrids will have to do until I get more shack space!

[WZ7U]

Yaba daba do!

[N8YX]

The Malcolmized FT-102 arrived today. It's going to have some rather interesting company in the form of its chief competitor: The TS-830S. I managed to get ahold of a Gold Label version that looks almost new, along with a couple of SP-230 speakers and a VFO-230.

There's a bit of history with me and the Kenwood hybrids. In the early 80s a buddy of mine traded a TS-520S to me for some boat-anchorish equipment (Gonset GSB-100, Hammarlund HQ-100, Realistic DX-160, etc). He didn't need it because he'd just bought a TS-830S and wanted some nostalgia around the radio room in addition to the modern (at the time) gear. A couple of years later, I ended up with his '830 as payment for house renovations.

The year afterward (35 years ago this month, to be exact) I sold both Kenwoods to finance the purchase of my first street motorcycle. Ham radio went by the wayside for several years then returned in the form of a TS-820S plus accessories. I've had that particular '820 since 1987 and have modded it for WARC transception; in 1989 I added an R-820 to the lineup and they've been in almost non-stop service ever since.

Both top-end hybrids have been on my mind for a number of years and the purchase of each set of gear started off with an acquisition of the remote, synthesized VFO - the hardest accessory piece to locate with either line. It's always fun to do A/B comparisons with my TS-820S/R-820 setup and one of my FT-90x rigs, and a '102/'830 shootout will be enjoyable as well.

Ironically, I bought an AT-230 tuner at one of our local hamfests not long after acquiring the TS-820S. I'd thought about selling the thing many times over the years but kept it around for whatever reason...probably to justify completing an '830 station.

[W2NAP]

wot, no pics?

[N8YX]

wot, no pics?
Gotta tear the existing shack down first. Probably a Memorial Day weekend project.