Rant,Rave @ Decision Time Help

[Dealer]

Please bare with me on this a moment...

I need to get a new mobil radio as I have been without for 4 years now !

My beloved 2950dx with Sp1a was stolen that long ago.

The thought of Killing is no longer with me, but I would give whoever no less
than 4 flat tires, The S.O.B. was probley a Dope dealer and sold it for next to nothing.

At least if it was a operator of any kind they been through a dry spell using it, and
left the high dollar stuff behind .. So Much For That

These days I have a short drive of 20 min. or less and not able to DX from the work
as I used to do.. Secret to wining DX Contest How I miss those days of having the
radio available 24/7.

Money not being what it was and not getting any better as I am sure you all know
I seem to have a hard time making a final decision as what to buy.

My first thoughts are try and find a new 2950dx and hope to find a SP1a somewhere
so at least I can work 10 meters and that rare 12 meter contact also be able to
catch some of you guys on the upper 27s I know,I know so dont say it.

Second thought is to find a older Icom i.e. 735,751,751a ect and run it mobil and
Put a Shoot to Kill Sign on the truck. BTW I know about the memory concerns.

Last thought is a true H.F. rig of todays minature radio computers that I have a hard
time reading even when used as a base.

I hate orange displays and Icom does not seem to offer much. I am a fan of the Older
Kenwoods and they have something for mobil but not much of anything, it seems these
days.

That leaves Yaesu and I understand the display is switchable in its colors ?

I really dont care for VHF and have a FT2800M that was mobil for all of maybe 2 days
sitting on the front seat. I am using it in the shack as a weather radio and do some
simplex from time to time.

Does it sound if I need or want a new radio for mobil Need NO, Want YES, so

Unless some Ol tightwad like Doc or some HighRoller like Hammer wants to send me one

I would thank you in advance for your thoughts and recomendations.....


Best Regards,

John KD5WJY

 

[undertaker]

2950DX

 

[Robb]

I have a cherry Ranger AR-3500 (in the box) for sale for $250 - if you are into a programmable, sweet audio SSB and AM. Does 10-11-12 meters and more. It is stock and unmolested/unaltered/unmodified..

I don't like 'surface mount technology'-built radios - but I won't deny that the 2950DX is a great radio. They are great until it is time to fix them - then only a tech has the patience to fix one - and the motivation to get paid to do it. A few techs I know blast that radio for that very reason - hard to work on 'SMT' designs...But the SSB on this radio is one of the best I've heard.

 

[W5LZ]

Dealer,
Oh, have I got a deal for you! Does 1.8 Mhz to 29.??something or other Mhz, AM, FM, SSB, and CW. Mostly 100 watts, think AM/FM is 25(?) never used them, I don't remember. Been sitting on the shelf for at least three, four years. Even have the matching auto-tuner for it. No cables, that's your problem. Do have the mic, the "four button" one. Guarantied to be new in whatever box I can find to fit it/them. Otherwise, about six or seven years old, as in used. NO, it is not my '480, you can't have that! Interested?
- 'Doc

 

[undertaker]

Or Magnum Omega Force, Magnum 257, Magnum S9.....

 

[Moleculo]

Dealer...what's your budget for the radio and antenna combined?

 

[linearone]

I think you need a Galaxy with built in amp

 

[Dealer]

Dealer,
Oh, have I got a deal for you! Does 1.8 Mhz to 29.??something or other Mhz, AM, FM, SSB, and CW. Mostly 100 watts, think AM/FM is 25(?) never used them, I don't remember. Been sitting on the shelf for at least three, four years. Even have the matching auto-tuner for it. No cables, that's your problem. Do have the mic, the "four button" one. Guarantied to be new in whatever box I can find to fit it/them. Otherwise, about six or seven years old, as in used. NO, it is not my '480, you can't have that! Interested?
- 'Doc

____________________________________________________________________________

OK Doc, I will bite but remember this is your Ol Pal, Buddy, Longtime aaa__aaa well
you know.
Lay it on me gently...

Mole did you say budget ? Not quite sure what that is I dont recall ever having one
of those.

My wife gives me lunch money, and a couple bucks extra each week if that counts.

I probley can spend more than I should and thats what I am trying to avoid.

Heck I have more stuff now than anyone has a right too. I have a HR 2510 that has never
even seen a mobil or had the stock mike hooked up to it.

I was thinking I would like to work 20 @ 15 meters mobil however I dont want to go the
screwdriver antenna route just now anyways and I hate those toy radios as I call them.

No offense to those who can see and enjoys them, Its just a age thing ya know


John

 

[Moleculo]

The Yaesu 857D lets you set the display to pretty much whatever color you want. It's kind've a neat feature. The display is pretty small, though. One good thing is that you can detach the face and stuff the rest of the chassis under the seat or somewhere else. That allows you to mount the face up on the dash where it's much easier to see. Would you consider one of Yaesu ATAS antennas a "toy antenna"? They're a screwdriver, but they're a lot smaller than the big, massive ones you might be thinking about. One neat thing about those is that they are completely controlled by the rig, meaning you pretty much just turn the dial and key up. You can find good used 857D's for probably under $600:

Yaesu FT-857D HF/VHF/UHF Radio with extras !!!!! - eBay (item 270425581704 end time Jul-19-09 17:24:08 PDT)

 

[W5LZ]

Dealer,
Check your PM's.

 

[jazzsinger]

Dealer,
Oh, have I got a deal for you! Does 1.8 Mhz to 29.??something or other Mhz, AM, FM, SSB, and CW. Mostly 100 watts, think AM/FM is 25(?) never used them, I don't remember. Been sitting on the shelf for at least three, four years. Even have the matching auto-tuner for it. No cables, that's your problem. Do have the mic, the "four button" one. Guarantied to be new in whatever box I can find to fit it/them. Otherwise, about six or seven years old, as in used. NO, it is not my '480, you can't have that! Interested?
- 'Doc

Sounds very much like a ts50,sh!t hot radio if it is.

 

[74IN]

I hate orange displays and Icom does not seem to offer much.

They can go green.

I also dislike the orange, but you get used to it.

 

[WX2MIG]

Most of the new Icom radios go Orange, yellow or green.....

I'm in the same financial boat Dealer, the wife gives me lunch money and a few extra spending bucks every payday. What I do is buy it on a credit card, then take a little out of my allowance each week to put towards the CC payment. Once I clear the charge, I get something else.

Right now I'm looking to sell off a virtually brand new Uniden Solara DSC VHF Marine radio, and my FT-2800M to help finance a new Icom ID-880H for the shack, and move my shack radio (IC-2200H) to the Jeep. All because I recently got bitten by the D-Star bug.....

Sell, swap, trade, knock off a few gas stations.....whatever it takes.....

 

[n8fgb]

HF mobile is a lot of fun. I use a homebrew bugcatcher ant, and a FT450. The bugcatcher is 1/4 wave on 15 without any coil, and has taps for 17, 20,40, and 75 meters.
Rich

 

[Radio Tech]

HF mobile is a lot of fun. I use a homebrew bugcatcher ant, and a FT450. The bugcatcher is 1/4 wave on 15 without any coil, and has taps for 17, 20,40, and 75 meters.
Rich

I second that.
HF mobile is great.
As far as antennas, I roll my own also.