Good luck trying to use this on 10 meter repeaters. Most repeaters use CTCSS and your radio needs encoding mode. The Lincolns do not have encoding only mode.
Here is what I posted in another thread.
Having had the 3rd generation, I can say it doesn't live up to the quality of my older HR2600's even if mine didn't have the Chipswitch. They could have at least built it with the same size chassis but this one is much smaller.
These new Presidents have more features like VOX, Memory channels (only 6), CTCSS/DCS, and LCD color selections. However, the CTCSS/DCS can only be used in encode/decode or decode only. This is stupid since most of the few 10 meter repeaters out there require "encode only" and "encoding only" can't be selected. This new version stays the same according to the new manual I just read.
The receive audio level on SSB was low compared to AM or FM causing you to turn up the AF gain well above 12 o'clock to hear it well. The receiver itself is good for radios like these. Mine was a little off frequency on transmit, but I like the service menu and once you learn it, you can easily calibrate this and other settings without opening the radio. You can also screw it up just as easily and the factory reset won't revert it back either so don't mess with it unless you have the calibrations settings map and you know what you are doing.
The knobs feel cheap and are small. The original Presidents had a larger VFO off centered on the radio, this has a cheap feeling channel changer that acts like a VFO. The stock mic feels cheap and I wasn't able to get up/down buttons to work properly wiring a different mic.
The LCD display would be nice if the Channel number was small and the Frequency display was larger or better still if it had the option to change between the 2. The display is small and hard to read the other displayed icons for us older people who need reading glasses.
For an entry level Amateur radio, it falls short even with 12 meters. For the average Free-bander who isn't interested in the Tone boards and needs channel displays and echo, then this should be fine if your looking for a radio with a small profile. 12 meters should be irrelevant since you shouldn't be operating there anyway.
For the Amateur looking for a low cost entry level radio, I still say go with the RCI 2900 series and if you need CTCSS, they can be installed like the one I had did. Of course it's always better to spend the money once and get a True HF radio!
