I would take a CB with channel kit and a small amp any day over any "10 meter" radio that looks like a Cobra 29 on crack.
I saw what would have been a great deal on craigslist today for a Superstar with SSB (great deal as in I could turn around and sell it on ebay tomorrow and double my money) but I might have to eat peanut butter and spam for lunch and dinner all next week, then I got to thinking about how screwed up they are to use, and read a FAVORABLE review that admits they drift like raft from cuba.
My biggest complaints.
(1) 12khz dual unlocked "clarifier".
WTF???? This is 30% of the reason these things drift so bad. On AM people used to call such a thing a "SLIDER", and they expect me to get this thing on freq at 27.520 or 28.400 when I got no freq display or........................
(2) A 6 digit frequency counter.
Just die, I cannot hate enough anyone would actually put such a thing into a radio, especially when the freq counter board is designed for SEVEN DIGITS. Are they trying to save money or just retarded by not adding that last digit that makes all the difference on sideband. They make a $500 overpriced radio that can mount in a rack with a server or on a cell phone remote base station but only put a 6 digit counter in it. fewjfwqeoifjweoifjwefoij
(3) +10khz jump switc
should be entirely unnecessary, why the hell could they not have wired it up to automatically cover those alpha channels, +5 khz would have been much more useful, especially if you want to use it as a "10 meter radio"
Lescom makes a conversion kit that does cover the alpha channels continuously and its relatively cheap, why cant the usual suspects make a radio that does.
(4) talkback
chances are it cannot be switched off, or if it can be you loose echo and other voice mods. if the radio has been peaked the talkback will sound distorted anyway or it might not be possible to disable at all. I could understand limited use for talkback but I tend to get tired of hearing myself talk.
(5) poor and improper coverage of the 10 meter amateur band. They rarely go above 28.305. Ok I understand the upper upper 11 channels of the outband are there but for a "10 meter" radio this is crap. A few go to 28.755 making them somewhat useful (in theory) on SSB.......So why the hell do they have AM and FM then? AM and FM segments of 10 meters are like up around 29mhz and up. 2 useless modes for 10 meter operation. A few of the big rack radios I think do cover FM portions but still dont go all the way to the top of the band, nor repeater split, nor PLL tones but that would be a MINOR complaint compared to all the rest
(6) they drift, every one I have ever seen or heard of, drifts like a raft. I think due to a combination of crappy voltage reg, 12 khz "clarifier" and just cheaply made VCO.
I made a contact once on a "10 meter radio"......once
Dont think I am trying to put down non type accepted rigs. I have ran some pretty cool "export" radios, do about 120 channels, a bit more power than FCC, maybe has FM.
I am not putting down "legit" 10 meter or 10-12 meter radios either, QRZ's a-holes can go suck RF from a hot jumper. If its got digital VFO tuning, covers all of or at least the vast majority of 10 meters and is stable, its just as legit as any Kenwood, Yaesu or Icom which can also if not more easily be opened up for a little (or alot) of extra coverage.
If they are going to call it an Amateur Transceiver they should start making a radio that acts like an Amateur Transceiver.
Now to finish finding the stuff I need to install this expo "n" kit in my Realistic TRC-465 and 300 (280) watt amp.
I saw what would have been a great deal on craigslist today for a Superstar with SSB (great deal as in I could turn around and sell it on ebay tomorrow and double my money) but I might have to eat peanut butter and spam for lunch and dinner all next week, then I got to thinking about how screwed up they are to use, and read a FAVORABLE review that admits they drift like raft from cuba.
My biggest complaints.
(1) 12khz dual unlocked "clarifier".
WTF???? This is 30% of the reason these things drift so bad. On AM people used to call such a thing a "SLIDER", and they expect me to get this thing on freq at 27.520 or 28.400 when I got no freq display or........................
(2) A 6 digit frequency counter.
Just die, I cannot hate enough anyone would actually put such a thing into a radio, especially when the freq counter board is designed for SEVEN DIGITS. Are they trying to save money or just retarded by not adding that last digit that makes all the difference on sideband. They make a $500 overpriced radio that can mount in a rack with a server or on a cell phone remote base station but only put a 6 digit counter in it. fewjfwqeoifjweoifjwefoij
(3) +10khz jump switc
should be entirely unnecessary, why the hell could they not have wired it up to automatically cover those alpha channels, +5 khz would have been much more useful, especially if you want to use it as a "10 meter radio"
Lescom makes a conversion kit that does cover the alpha channels continuously and its relatively cheap, why cant the usual suspects make a radio that does.
(4) talkback
chances are it cannot be switched off, or if it can be you loose echo and other voice mods. if the radio has been peaked the talkback will sound distorted anyway or it might not be possible to disable at all. I could understand limited use for talkback but I tend to get tired of hearing myself talk.
(5) poor and improper coverage of the 10 meter amateur band. They rarely go above 28.305. Ok I understand the upper upper 11 channels of the outband are there but for a "10 meter" radio this is crap. A few go to 28.755 making them somewhat useful (in theory) on SSB.......So why the hell do they have AM and FM then? AM and FM segments of 10 meters are like up around 29mhz and up. 2 useless modes for 10 meter operation. A few of the big rack radios I think do cover FM portions but still dont go all the way to the top of the band, nor repeater split, nor PLL tones but that would be a MINOR complaint compared to all the rest
(6) they drift, every one I have ever seen or heard of, drifts like a raft. I think due to a combination of crappy voltage reg, 12 khz "clarifier" and just cheaply made VCO.
I made a contact once on a "10 meter radio"......once
Dont think I am trying to put down non type accepted rigs. I have ran some pretty cool "export" radios, do about 120 channels, a bit more power than FCC, maybe has FM.
I am not putting down "legit" 10 meter or 10-12 meter radios either, QRZ's a-holes can go suck RF from a hot jumper. If its got digital VFO tuning, covers all of or at least the vast majority of 10 meters and is stable, its just as legit as any Kenwood, Yaesu or Icom which can also if not more easily be opened up for a little (or alot) of extra coverage.
If they are going to call it an Amateur Transceiver they should start making a radio that acts like an Amateur Transceiver.
Now to finish finding the stuff I need to install this expo "n" kit in my Realistic TRC-465 and 300 (280) watt amp.
