What's a good transceiver for EME / Satellite work?

[aa3rq]

Hello!

I am re-entering this hobby after a nearly 20 year hiatus- good thing I kept my license renewed all this time! I am thinking of bypassing HF (sunspots, you know...) and going straight for the good stuff- Satellite and EME. For the former, I will probably tinker with the 70cm up / 2m down modes. For the latter, some preliminary Google searching yielded the JT65 (sp?) and similar modes that make EME more doable than ever. (JT65- now that is a good idea! Wish I'd thought of it!!)

I still have my ancient Kenwood TS-520, and a dusty Icom-706 that I bought in '96 but never really used. I figure that for EME I *might* be able to get away with the '706 and a good preamp/poweramp setup, if I couple that with a good antenna, patience, and luck. For satellite I could probably use a transverter with the '706 but without full duplex this would be difficult- I am better off with a new transceiver.

On the shortlist- Kenwood TS2000 (the HF to 1.2GHz rig), Icom 746/756, or Icom 910H.

The Kenwood looks the most versatile and perhaps has the biggest bang-for-the-buck, but I am worried that it's "all in one" may be somewhat gimmicky.

Thanks in advance!

PS. Electrical Engineer by training (microelectronics not telecom) so you can get somewhat technical.

 

[Radio Tech]

What you have would work. But I like my old Yaesu 726R rigs. One is used for sat/6 meters. The other has been converted for EME. On both bands. Each band has two (2) antenna jacks. Plus a GasFet preamp in both bands. This way your antenna is connected directly to the receiver so it is possible to hear you signal come back.

I also have the Yaesu 736. Two yaesu 221r's, two KLM multi 2700's and a KLM echo 70. All older rigs but work great .

 

[KingCobra_CDX882]

I like my IC910H

 

[Moleculo]

You might want to wait and look at the Icom IC-9100 when it starts shipping soon. It is replacing both the Icom 910H and the Icom 746 pro - sort of like combining the two rigs into one. The target price is rumored to be in the $3K range.