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Shoe string HF setup OR... improve my VHF setup

M

mr_fx

Sr. Member
Oct 8, 2011
1,536
172
173
Kansas City
Which would/should I really do here? I want to improve my current QTH setup

Right now I have the following equipment

1.) Kenwood TR-9000 (2m all mode, 10 watts), with 50 foot of high quality mini 8 (JSC 3060) @ about 40 feet in a tree

2.) Yeasu FT-2900r (2m FM, 5/10/25/75 watts) copper pipe J pole @ about 30 feet, 45 feet on mini 8 (JSC 3060)


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I have considered building a quad stacked halo for my 2m setup with a quality RG11 phasing harness, this should improve my setup quite a bit



Maybe build a big collinear for the FM setup

and MAYBE purchase an RM Italy KL145 amp (2m 125-220 watts) This would add some kick to my 2m operations

Add a radio shack TV rotor and get my 2m 4 element quad back in the air


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OR maybe I get a cheap HF rig, I already have a 10m 5/8 wave in the air and tuned, as well as a 10m dipole up and tuned. I have a G5RV siting around ready to be put up and a 20m 1/4 wave vertical ready to be slapped up

but I would only be able to budget maybe $450 for an HF rig

however if I sold my Kenwood TR-9000 (maybe $150) and my Yaesu FT-2900r (in perfect condition, maybe $100-125) I might be able to step into a used 706(of some sort), Yeasu FT-857, ft-897 or ft-100, BUT no tuner, so I would be somewhat limited

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another option would be to just get a cheap working 10m rig, like the hr2510/2600 (local for $125 and $100 respectivley) or an HTX-10/100


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UPDATE:

I have a chance to trade my Yaesu FT-2900r + $475 cash for a local, like new Yeasu FT-857d. Then if I sell my Kenwood TR-9000 I would only have about $325 to $375 in the total upgrade
 
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Hard to say without knowing the VHF situation in your area, whether you prefer local ragchewing over HF DX'ing, etc...

Looks like there's a lot of room to improve the VHF antenna situation though. Blowing a couple hundred watts through the J-pole isn't going to give you near the poop that putting the same money into a decent beam fed with LMR400 would. "Moleculo" on this site was more or less my "Elmer" and tried to beat that in to my head from jump, however my drag racer (as he calls it) mentality had me dropping money on amps and expensive power supplies to drive them before I started to get serious about antennas. I can tell you from experience that the antennas & feedline gave me WAY more bang for the buck.

I found an Android app called "field strength and power estimator" that allows you to put in all of the factors involved between distance, power, feedline loss, antenna gain, etc... What an eye opener. Playing with different variables in that app paints a pretty clear picture of where the money is best spent punching through to another VHF/UHF station or repeater.

Another thing to try before dropping money on VHF antennas VS more power is an online app called "radio mobile" (Radio Mobile Online). That one will actually give you a coverage map and allow you to input variables such as feedline loss, antenna gain & height as well as power. It will give you a visual map of what these variables will do for you signal. Again, the antenna system wins over horsepower.

On the flipside, keep an eye on QTH & QRZ classifieds and you can probably score a IC-706MKII for your $450 budget, giving you HF PLUS all mode 2m, allowing you to sell the all mode Kenwood and put that money toward antenna improvements.

Just my $0.02...
 
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Depends on the 2 meter activity, I am in the midwest, and the activity is nil to nothing. I have a beam also and a 300 watt amplifier, but rarely operate except for simplex.
On antennas you have to have a good antenna your quad should do just right.

The 2 mtr rig which is a fm/ssb rig isnt worth much , to low of power. Also don't buy a RM ITALY 2 mtr amplifier , I would look around on eham or qrz and purchase a rfc<RF CONCEPTS> 2 mtr amplifier if you really want to use 2 meters, and pay with paypal , you are safe if some one rips you off<doesn't work>.
If you want a hf rig buy an ALINCO DX70T, that will produce 100 watts on all bands but only 10 on 6 meters, but 6 is really dead and 10 will go down hill shortly the sun spot cycle will go down, and ten will be like CB local contacts.

I would keep the 2 mtr fm rig, leave on simplex, with SPRING approaching and some power<amplifier>, you can get a few states over, and on ssb the same. Band will open in the AM...

You will probably have with 100 watts on ssb have more luck on 2 meter ssb.

That is all I know

DOCTOR
 
I have a chance to trade my Yaesu FT-2900r + $475 cash for a local, like new Yeasu FT-857d. Then if I sell my Kenwood TR-9000 I would only have about $325 to $375 in the total upgrade
 
Scrap'r said:
Looks like there's a lot of room to improve the VHF antenna situation though. Blowing a couple hundred watts through the J-pole isn't going to give you near the poop that putting the same money into a decent beam fed with LMR400. I can tell you from experience that the antennas & feedline gave me WAY more bang for the buck.
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree, but I am not running a J-pole on SSB, I am running the stacked halos... not a bad setup really, as for feedline I somewhat agree with you, but honestly at 50 feet the difference between good Mini 8 and LMR400 is less than 0.5db, there are going to be very few situations where that little bit will make a station copyable vs not heard, not saying it would ever happen, just saying those situations are few and far between... that being said I am planning to run 1/2 CATV hard line, I have about 100 feet sitting in my shack with connectors (plan to run mini 8 as jumpers on this. Pretty sure the hardline is going to walk all over the LMR400... Also at that time I intend to go up to between 75 and 100 feet (near the top of my big old oak tree)
 
mr_fx said:
Also found a Yeasu 757gx hat has a burned out light and does not seem to work on FM only, $265 shipped
Click to expand...
Go with the FT857d, Stay a long way from the 757, they were not that good when new. The 857 will give 2 meter as well hf, so you gain, don't lose.
Rivh
 
n8fgb said:
Go with the FT857d, Stay a long way from the 757, they were not that good when new. The 857 will give 2 meter as well hf, so you gain, don't lose.
Rivh
Click to expand...
Maybe a 1 radio station with the 857 would be the simplest. Have multiple good antennas to get you out there.
 
I also found an 857d, talked to the guy and it seems to have a bad ceramic filter, he wants $520 shipped, I could fix it I think, just wan to research the procedure before I agree to anything. I mean the parts are only like $6

This is what he said about the radio


"Up for sale is my Yaesu FT-857D. I purchased this rig new around this time of year in 2011. It has spent the majority of its time securely tucked away in the carpeted area underneath the back seat of my Silverado. A few weeks ago, I noticed that the radio's S-meter was pegged full when I was on 20m one morning. It stopped doing that, but then I noticed that no audio was being passed when the squelch was broken on 2m/70cm. It also seems the S meter is reading a little low on the HF bands and the voltage readout is showing slightly higher then what it's actually being fed. From what research I've done, I'm guessing the ceramic filter(s) in this radio have died. It appears to be a common problem that appears after 2-3 years. If you send it back to Yaesu, you're looking at one hour of labor ($70) and probably $5-10 worth of parts. I can't promise that of course, but it seems to be the norm for most people. The TX appears unaffected."
 
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You should be able to find a FT857 or FT897 in good working order on QRZ, QTH, or eham classifieds for $750+/-.
I've owned and operated my FT897D for about 9 years now with great success. Great HF/VHF/UHF all mode rig.

JMO
 
Well I am picking up a used Yaesu FT-857d, the guy is giving me $125 for EACH of my 2 Yaesu FT-2900r radios... so total price out of pocket will be about $350

Then I can sell the Kenwood TR-9000, as I will not need it...

But then I have the issue of not having a 2m mobile... unless I run my handy talking on my 5/8 wave :) Should be fine for around town repeater work, and I can always throw the 857d in the mobile when/if I drive out of town and want to work the repeaters a little further out...
 
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