Radio (or ensemble) you can't do without?

[WØTKX]

My Flex 3K or my TS-850SAT.

Well, I dunno. Probably my FT-847. Because it does HF OK, not great. And I'd miss VHF/UHF as well.

It is my real Swiss Army Knife radio.

[N8YX]

It is my real Swiss Army Knife radio.

I guess that's why I keep going back to a couple of different ensembles I own - particularly the FT-90x and FT-980. With the accompanying monitor scope, RTTY/CW reader/keyer, transverter and antenna tuner I can access all HF bands, all VHF/UHF bands through 432 MHZ...play RTTY/ASCII...work repeaters on 10, 6 and 2...and with the '980, it's a general coverage RX as well.

Both rigs use 8.9875MHz filters in their IF, so I can keep a common set of filters on hand. It also means that IF-specific peripherals (i.e., the YO-901's panadapter) will work with both transceivers.

Kenwood's 820 lineup is almost as flexible...sadly, no AM or FM TX and no FM RX (R-820).

I wish Drake would have offered a monitor scope/panadapter for their 7-line setup.