A good rig if it doesn't develop display faults.Originally Posted by KD8TUT
Dave and Charles love the Corsair/Corsair II line. As do l, though you're limited to SSB/CW with one. An Omni D is another decent choice - classic looks.
There's also something to be said about a Cubic Astro 103. When mine is in the lineup I run it with a Shure 444. The audio reports are many and are unsolicited; everyone I've worked loves the way that radio sounds on the air.
My all-time favorite "vintage" set has a few faults I'd consider correcting before placing it in 24x7 operation. That is, the Yaesu FT-980. Its main Achilles Heel is the internal 24v PSU which runs warm. I've designed an accessory cooling system as a supplement to the PA fan which should eliminate heat as a failure point. Another gotcha is its ALC circuit: There's a runaway point at which the power cannot be reduced smoothly. A partial re-design may be necessary.
QST remarked on a noisy synthesizer in their review of the rig. In practice, this has never been noticeable.
If you're into SWLing or BCB monitoring, the rig is very enjoyable to listen to - especially with its companion SP-980 speaker. All of mine have the AM filter installed (it's the one used in the FT-90x series) and work great on that mode. Yaesu provided transverter functionality in the form of a modification kit for the FTV-901R; it'll cover all of 6 and 2 plus the SSB/Sat portions of 70cm. You can also use the FC-757AT automatic antenna tuner with the rig. Both applications require a special cable with an Unobtanium 28-pin connector at the radio end.
The only other drawback I can see is lack of a wideband IF output for use with a panadapter, such as the YO-901 station scope. I'm going to address that as well and will post something to the "Mods and Repairs" area when done.
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