Gesundheit.Quote:
Originally Posted by KG4CGC
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Gesundheit.Quote:
Originally Posted by KG4CGC
I saw a lot of really nice 30 year old radios on ebay. But that's just it. They're 30 years old. I even saw a lot of 20 year old radios on ebay. Again, they're 20 years old. I mean, if they were selling for a couple of hundred bucks, that would be one thing but they're not.
Would I love a Yaesu FT-920? Yes, but it will need another however many hundred $ to do a full cap replacement and then alignment.
I am not of that frame of mind.
Why not buy a brand new radio? For the price of the Icom 7300 or the Yaesu 710 plus the performance of newer technology, the only reason for an old rig has to be nostalgia.
I agree with you completely, which is why I sprung for the 7300. With the rebate, it didn’t cost that much more than I paid for a used 746PRO about ten years ago and the receiver is worlds ahead.Quote:
Originally Posted by KG4CGC
Some things to know before connecting a new Yaesu FT-DX10 or 710 to a monitor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBhtdbI0eY4
To PRESUME IS the MOTHER OF ALL Fxxx Uxx,
Please don't troll the technical forums. Thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by K8PG
There's a good reason for buying vintage gear of certain time frames:
One can usually get parts. If the rig in question doesn't use a lot of custom/bespoke components, or if the aftermarket offers suitable replacements (e.g., Drake 7-line digital displays)...or if a model was so popular that the required spare can be sourced from the various eBay parts sellers and the like, you're probably okay to purchase.
I'm set up to do high-pin-density QFP and BGA rework, so performing brain surgery on a late-model SDR-based rig isn't that big of a challenge. If Icom won't sell me the parts, I'm SOL just like everyone else.
That said, I'm still going to get an IC-7300, IC-9700 and R-8600 at some point; these for remote control (for when I'm not physically in the main shack). I also realize that purchase may be considered disposable if Icom stops service support of them at a future point.
I did not mention that. Yes, there is that. Parts and restoration.
First notes on receive audio.
The Yaesu FT-710 AESS (Acoustic Enhanced Speaker System) is simply the best audio coming from a dedicated ham radio I have ever heard. I have in the past experimented with many speaker configurations with my Ten-Tec Corsair, Kenwood 570D, Ten-Tec Argonaut V and various receivers and it just literally blows everything away.
The external speaker is 2.5 by 3 inches in diameter and 12 inches long. It works in conjunction with the radio's built in speaker and can be adjusted so the user can decide how much sound comes out of each speaker as well as listener frequency range. You can go from beautiful full range audio to narrow voice range and balance how much audio each speaker gets. It makes the guys on SSB sound like AM broadcasters during a ragchew and contesters sound like they're sitting right there next to you speaking in a normal voice.
If you're a fan of good listening audio then I think the FT-710 AESS is something you will want to add to your list when shopping for a rig in this class.
Next up: Getting the OCFD back up in the air and doing a real receiver signal test. Right now I'm using one of the 10m dipoles I have up and so far receiver performance is above par across the bands. Thus far, it beats both the Ten-Tecs on the same antenna. I no longer have the 570D but I think it would have come in 2nd place but that's based on old memory.
Last week I rebuilt the OCFD. My old 100 watt balun was not in the greatest shape. I did my best to tighten everything down inside the balun but it was a bit iffy. It is the kind that is built into a PVC pipe and PVC ends. I don't know what caused the mechanical issue other than strain relief may have failed the first time I had it up. I am expecting a new, aluminum cased, 1000 watt 4:1 current balun today.
My current SWR on the ham bands rests around 2.5 to 3.3. Not good even though the 710 comes with a state of the art high speed auto tuner.
However, that didn't stop me from testing it on receive and needless to say I was impressed. The low noise floor really helps bring out signals. I compared it on receive with the ArgoV and the Radio Shack DX-394 (my nostalgia radio) and even though the ArgoV has great receive and audio, the 710 pretty much blew it out of the park. The DX-394, not a great rig if one were to be totally honest, benefited greatly from a modern wide band preamp in line with the coax. On a small antenna, 30' and the preamp in line, it really woke it up. On the OCFD there were times when I would turn the preamp off or turn down the receive gain to about 20%.
Other testing included trying the OCFD on the dedicated 10 meter set up. I was able to load up the antenna using an MFJ tuner and get an SWR reading of 1.25. Receive-wise I had to run a preamp to hear like I normally do on the dedicated 10 meter dipoles. I tried about 50 watts through it and no more. Peak reading meter showed an excess of 120 watts USB on 28.406 (a local ragchew frequency) PEP and while I was able to make contacts I shut everything down because even at the lowest setting (about 18 watts) I was still getting up to 90 watts PEP on USB. I don't know if that's good or bad.
I will install the new balun tomorrow and do all the tests over. If the SWR is still high on the ham bands I will take the next step and adjust wire lengths. If that fails I will go to the local Tractor Supply and get a quarter mile roll of steel electric fence wire. Yep, that's the smallest roll they have and it's really cheap! A tiny fraction of the cost of a roll of 12 gauge copper wire from the hardware store. The only drawback is dealing with uninsulated steel wire where it passes over black walnut tree branches. This tree is about 100' tall, has 3 trunks and a lot of top branches to use as support. Based on my lot logistics a good bit of the antenna has to go through branches. About half the antenna has to go through branches.
I use a 9 foot heavy duty fishing rod with 65 lb braid to get the initial small rope up in the tree, then attach that to the heavier main rope (UV Dacron about double the diameter of 550 paracord). The weight on the end of the 65 lb braid is 4.5 ounces attached to 2 heavy duty steel leaders in parallel. Ask me why I use 2 like that. My aim is pretty good but some days it take a couple of tries! If you don't get your target then remove the weight before reeling your line back in. Pro tip: Wrap your weight in bright orange or yellow tape. When the neighbors ask, I just tell them I'm squirrel fishing! :lol:
Well I was right to suspect the balun! I dropped the OCFD today and inspected solder joints in the wire where I made previous adjustments. I inspected rope. I redid a couple of joints and made them stronger with more wire and solder. Not that it necessarily needed it. It was just to make myself feel better.
The SWR readings ranged from 1 to 2.5. 2.5 being the highest on the voice portion of 75/80 meters. 40m was 1.8. 20m was 1.5. 17m was 1.2. 12m through 10m was nearly 100% flat and even 6m was reading at 1.3. I did not even build it for 6m.
[edit]: At no time did I have to use any preamp on any frequency during the auditory receive test. 10 and 12 meters were booming in from all over. 11m was impossible to listen to because I could hear Michigan stations as clearly as I could the Aussies.
Dimensions: 88.7' long side. 42.2' short side. 4:1 KB2 balun from Amazon. I noticed that some antenna builders used a 1:1 choke wired directly to the 4:1 balun. I did not consider this practice but I could change my mind next week.
I have never built a balun. I have built chokes that acted as 1:1 baluns, sort of. Here is the Amazon link to the balun I'm using. Looks like it was designed and built in America but it's 100% Chinese. So far in my limited testing it is a very good product and is in the price range of flimsy, 100 to 300w PVC enclose baluns.
https://www.amazon.com/KB2-Enterpris...0B754CC14?th=1
Using the original Fritzel OCF here, with 1:6.7 balun and incorporated 1:1 choke and 1500 watt version,worst swr 1; 1.4 80/40/20 17, 12 10 and 6 meter worked sardinie on 6 yesterday, columbia last week.
Indesructable,airplane stainless steel wire with 4 copper wires intertwined, UV resisant plastic covering.
Works fine for me.
I've been reading up on those, Cor. Apparently they are legendary and hold up for many many years, scores of years or until a very bad storm comes through. One account of a ham in Missouri was able to find his after a bad tornado went through his neighborhood. He spotted it on top of a debris pile that was accumulated together for the county to collect. It looked a mess but after laying it out and inspecting it he took out the kinks and he was able to use it again!Quote:
Originally Posted by PA5COR
When he house was renovated i took the old one down after 20 years abuse... still worked well.
I had a spare new one that was put up now, not planning many trips on the roof at 71 years young.
Expensive? yes 175 euro here from Hofi, that still makes hem with original parts.
Saying up here through storms winter/summer and 20 years without problems is good in my book...
For 10/12/15 i use an Imax 2000 5/8 on 10/12 and a half wave on 15.
160 has it's own vertical.
That way i can chose between FD-4 horizontal and vertical on 10/12/15, both have no problem with my normal 100 watt or if i use the Heathkit SB 1000.
Build like a tank....;)