Its final - amateur service license fees are coming...

Of course, some of us didn't need our hands held while we were spoon-fed "radio"........

 

And some still show the lack of that MENTORING experience

And the rest of us realized that we didnt know everything when we were teens in HS. And many of us went on to exciting careers working with the latest and greatest technology in our chosen field, went to mandatory company schools as needed. I retired after working above 300 GHz as a Sr Engineer on a part of the F-35 avionics and was sufficiently well off to retire early. That was 19 years ago.

Of course some of us ended up in dead end jobs for ~35-40 years with one company and it continued over into the ham hobby with long obsolete hollow state technology of the 1950's or so. 807's and 866A's are so Booooorrrrrring................ ZZZZZZ

Carl
Ham since 1955

 

If/when I buy one, it'll be through Radioddity, the authorized disributer in the U.S and I can get the radio, interface and amp through them for $626...

 

And your source of info about my business is?....... Not to mention that you totally missed my point.

 

Is a WORKING unit less than $600, or would it need ANOTHER $300+ in pure unobtainum parts and/or be sent to God knows where to get repairs? Internal power supply, or would it need a special pure unobtainum power cord? 100 watt output? ALL MODE HF/WARC bands AND a general coverage receiver? 10-1000 ohm built in antenna tuner? Panadaptor? Easily upgradeable via online software?

Last I looked, the Xiegu has a e-ham rating of 4.5 with 40 odd reviews and has ALL of the above for $625 with it's linear!! The reason I'm interested in it!!!

 

Why are you so angry at me? All I did was suggest a possible answer to your question about "buy American".

I suggest you look more closely at what that $625 price actually buys.

I did some checking and the G90 is priced at $425 and the PAX100 amplifier at $200.

But that's not all you need.

First, neither includes a power supply. You'll need an external power supply to run them - the combo needs at least 25 amps at 13.8 volts.

Second, the built-in ATU is only good for the G90; it can't handle 100 watts. So if you need an ATU for the amplifier, that's more $$. I didn't see one on the website.

Third, the PAX100 doesn't include filters, which are needed to meet FCC requirements. Add $100 for the external filter unit.

What your $625 price buys is a G90 with ATU - 20 watts peak on all bands. That's not a bad deal at all, but you still need a power supply.

 

I cannot speak for others but I am sorry for your experience. I was licensed in 1958 at 11 years old. I had so many Elmers I couldn't count them. Just an example, getting my General ticket was a problem because I lived a real good distance from an FCC office. My bicycle was not an option. One of my Elmers decided to take a day and go for his General and asked me if I'd like to go with him and take the exam too. We both did the pencil up routine and I passed and he didn't. The guy told me he'd wait on the steps outside and to take my time and get it right. He did and I did too. He sat there for an hour and a half waiting. All the way back home he kept telling me how proud he was that I passed ..thru all of the disappointment that I'm sure he felt. That was 62 years ago. I guess I just figured that we all had bunches of GREAT Elmers like I did!

 

Sorry I sounded angry, been looking for an HF radio on FeePay too long, and getting the dreaded "it lights up, but..." condition radios, I guess. Maybe try to sell them, and (hopefully) get a BETTER rig....

You mentioned Ten Tec, so I looked on Fee Pay and found a Jupiter WITH the optional antenna tuner AND he's throwing in a 35 amp power supply!!! Looked on e-ham at all the glowing reviews (4.6 with 159 reviews!!!) Hope nobody snags it before I do!! (To all the others following: IT'S MINE!!) Like the idea it's made in Seiverville, TN, have a cousin who lives near there!!! If/when it needs to be fixed, ROAD TRIP!!!

 

Just don't use Friends & Family to pay for it.

 

LOL!!! I know better than THAT!!! I (try) not to use Pay Pal, I got my account hacked a couple of years ago, filed a police report (Pay Pal's advice) and haven't been refunded YET!!!

 

Because you grossly under-estimated the expense. Which led me to a good assumption. I can't read minds or tone in every written sentence.

Besides, your point really was just to complain. And only added to the angst of the thread. Neither this reply or your OP is of any use.

 

I'm not as familiar with the Jupiter. Don't be too disappointed if someone else gets it; there will always be another.

Ten Tec isn't in Sevierville anymore. It's been bought and is being reorganized.

 

I've had a Jupiter since 2003, so I'm familiar with it. It's been one of my back-up rigs for several years now. It's a CW, SSB, AM, FM, all mode rig with all ham bands from 160M thru 10M, and it's a general coverage receiver, 100kHz to 30MHz. Specs and manuals available here: https://www.tentec.com/ten-tec-538-jupiter/
Make sure that you check the firmware version that is installed in your Jupiter, update it to the latest version if necessary. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions. I'm not sure, but I believe that Dishtronix will still service them on a time and materials basis, but parts availability may be a problem, much as it is with any rig that is out of production, regardless of manufacturer.

73,
Dennis KR3DX

 

That's why the FCC should have never shut down the old Seniority Program in the 1980s and maintain the Testing Standards including the 20 WPM CW requirement. If that had been done Baum never would have happened. It was the FCC's misplaced zealousness to "deregulate" that created this problem. Sticking Hams with the bill for the mess THEY created will not address the problem.

 

The law would not have differently affected ham radio, since it didn't specifically target ham radio. Since the fees are now imposed on all ham applications, nothing that could have been done in the past would have mattered.