Best 10 meter mobile high power (legal power)

[fourstringburn]

From time to time I'll use an export radio on 10 meters and a few do work okay.

I have to ask, why are you operating on 10 meters without being licensed?

 

[2RT307]

Get an older HF right, you know the kind with tubes! Learn how to tune it up and you will have a fan-damn-tastic rig. Something like a Kenwood or Yaesu hybrids.

I have the DC cable for my TS-520, and yes, it works just fine... but she's a little on the large side to run mobile.

73,
Brett

 

[w9cll]

but she's a little on the large side to run mobile.

Did I miss the mobile part? Shame on me..

 

[Mudduckmobile]

I have to ask, why are you operating on 10 meters without being licensed?

I dont.

 

[fourstringburn]

I dont.

That question was for BBB.

 

[Mudduckmobile]

That question was for BBB.

K

 

[Soup-man]

I have a friend that bought a RadioShack HTX 100 from a pawn shop in Colorado.
Everything he buys is junk and he is always misrepresenting everything he owns as being something else - that is a more expensive model - just to make it appear that he has something. Uniden produced that model - HR 2600 President.
I had to explain to Chuck - that no self respecting HAM would ever bother to talk to him as long as the TX and RX did not match.
Chuck's opinion was - if you want to talk to me, you will accept his drift and crappy sounding signal. I eventually talked Chuck into taking it to a CB shop and having it aligned. The shop owner told him that it couldn't be modified for 11 meters.
Because of it's age, it still drifts, especially when the car first starts up - the charging system runs between 12 and 15.5 VDC in his old 1992 - $300 Buick Century.
By the time you add up what he spent on the radio, what it cost to ship it to where he lives, how much he had to pay to have it aligned, the cost of a new Astatic Microphone, a mobile bracket and wiring harness, fuse holder etc - he could have bought a much better transceiver. The hardest thing to explain to Chuck is that he isn't operating AM on 10 meters phone with his Technician Class License and that he needs to keep the microphone gain turned down. Chuck seems to be of the mentality that louder is better. Talking locally, when it is over driven, it distorts the audio and sounds like crap.
I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy.
Then again, in chucks mind, it is the worlds greatest radio - because he saved a couple of bucks - initially on the purchase price, and he talked all over with it and made lot's of contacts and got lots of good signal reports - when the band was open.
Now it is just an over glorified boat anchor. It might be years before 10 meters is open again on a daily basis. I would recommend spending $35 on a General Class License Manual and buying a more mature HF radio over putting all of my eggs in one basket and trying to operate 10 meters when 10 meters just hasn't been a good performer the last couple of years. and it only going to get worse before it gets better...

 

[w9cll]

The shop owner told him that it couldn't be modified for 11 meters.

Actually that is wrong info from the shop owner (probably didn't want to bother). The HTX-100 was easily modded to 11 meters this is why Rat Shack had to stop selling them. The replacement HTX-10 was nearly un-modifiable and they were allowed to sell it.

 

[Soup-man]

Yep u R right, it was a HTX 10...

All I will add is that pressing buttons to change the step on a 10 meter mobile is a PITA.
I think that was part of Chucks problem. He was too lazy to fine tune it - Zero Beat it to you and so as long as he heard something in the speaker, he was happy.
I heard a lot more people grumble about the old ICOM 706 MK II-G then anything else.
Yes I will agree that the Yaesu Hamshack in a box radios were a lot better then the others. But unless you only had $500 - $600 to spend on a transceiver, why bother?
MY FM equipment sits idle 99% of the time, only use it to check into a couple of 2 meter nets Sunday / Monday nights... I have seen Kenwood TS 570G on EBAY for less than $700 and 590's for $900.00
My next transceiver will be a ICOM 7100 - just because it does 2m, 70cm SSB..
No use buying a older radio for half the price and then finding out that it is broke and unsupported by the factory.

 

[w9cll]

I heard a lot more people grumble about the old ICOM 706 MK II-G

No complaints from me about mine, still works great.

 

[Mudduckmobile]

An HF transceiver might cost more but they are worth it. If you look around and know how to negotiate you can find good gear inexpensively. My IC-7100 I paid $850.00 shipping included. It had a problem that many radios have. It was shutting down when keyed up. Brand new customer return never installed in a vehicle. Fixed it. The Yaesu FT-857D I bought for $768.00 shipping included. It was an open box clearance from a vendor. It is if you forgive the expression like 15 or more radios in one. I might have some spare equipment available soon.
I would not recommend buying a defective product unless you have test equipment and you know how to use it.

The more I look the more I like the FT450D, and the FT857D.
I like the tuner in the 450D, but the 857D look's to better rounded.
I found a place named: 2 Way-RadioExpress on flee bay, Then have the FT875D 100w out, with the YSK 857 kit for $879. or they have the FT875D High Power with the YSK 857 kit for $929. BUt then I need a tuner....I am trying to do this,new and no more then $1000. They also have the FT450D( w/tuner ) for $785.

 

[fourstringburn]

You shouldn't use a tuner for a mobile station. Mobile antennas suffer enough efficiency loss by design especially at lower frequencies.

Best to use a screwdriver antenna for multi band use or go with mono band whips and coil type antennas and tune them as close to resonance as possible without using a tuner.

Since these antennas are designed to be able to match up to 50 ohms when installed correctly, there shouldn't be much use for a tuner.

Having said that, I wouldn't let a radio with a built in tuner be a deciding factor.

 

[fourstringburn]

Of the 2 radio's mentioned, I would go with the 450D.

The 857 is a good radio but for a mobile, the display screen is too small to read for me without putting on my reading glasses.

 

[Tallman]

The 857 is a good radio but for a mobile, the display screen is too small to read for me without putting on my reading glasses.

Are you aware that the front panel detaches and you can mount it anywhere you want?

 

[fourstringburn]

Are you aware that the front panel detaches and you can mount it anywhere you want?

Yes I am, and the screen is still too small for me. My IC 7000 has a small screen too but the radio had a video out jack so I use a 7 in. LCD monitor that sits on the dash.