What is the WORST rig you've ever had?

Ok, the worst radio so far as i,ve own is my FT100 it has been back to them twice now, both for the same problem.When it starts to go u will notice it gets Hot then it will start to get very hot.(even with the mods)But too any of u that have one or are having any problems pay attion to the power out put ,Just before it goes out it will transmit 150 to 200 watts.the voltage reg goes nuts and takes the hf&vhf side right out.Soif u send it to yeasu it will take 2 to 3 months to get it back under warntee and 1 month for redo.And the kicker is a good freind of mine has looked at the radio Circut Diagrams,And yes he it a radio tecwith a good reputation. he found out that it would cost about 10 cents to fix and we have called Yeasuand ask them to call him but have got answer ..... so when my radio gets back were going to do this fix and see what happens..........73 all

 

kg4efa,
i have the adi146 and it does the same thing, the display looks like some form of alien language and no transmit or receive. this happened 1year to the day of buying the hunk of junque,(does not qualify for the new spelling. i had another word for it, but will leave it at that.) it is a ripoff ..
willie ag4hy

 

Ah Ha!!!

  A good number of you guys have mentioned the Kenwood TM-241A, and now you'll know why I have since NEVER bought Knwd Garbage again!!!

  When I initially bought the rig NEW about 1 mo. later it started to develop Display problems so I sent it in, after we got it back about a mo. later again it developed another problem having to do with the xmit Audio, again I sent it in, when we got it back the second time and put it back on the air it still had that same audio problem!!!  I sent that damn rig back on 3 subsequent ocassions after all the other problems we had with as well and still it was'nt FIXED properly!!!

  We had had it with that Rig so I called KENWOOD and explained very nicely to them about their CRUMMY Repair People and their CRUMMY RADIO.  The Head-Supervisor came on and asked me "Well how can we here at Kenwood resolve your problem?" so we answered "Easy, send me a NEW RIG, because the other one has been in your shop 5 TIMES and you still have'nt fixed it PROPERLY!!!".  His answer was "It's NOT Kenwood's POLICY to replace a faulty rig, we'll just keep WORKING ON IT!!!"  So after that crock of BS from him I said in reply "Well it's now MY PERSONAL POLICY NEVER TO BUY KENWOOD EQUIPMENT AGAIN!!!".

 In retrospect KENWOOD really shot themselves in their Corporate foot in that I'm not now buying their gear, whether Amateur or Stereo anymore, and by my telling others about the fiasco THEY opted NOT TO BUY KENWOOD either!!!

  So now every chance I get I give them the BAD PR they so RICHLY DESERVE!!!

   es 3s,

Jim/nn6ee

 

OK....time to vent. In almost 40 years, I can relate several real atrocities that were disguised as radio equipment.

1/ The Ten-Tec Model 535 Argonaut-II, received as part of a product review for Worldradio Magazine. After 3 years of factory hype at Dayton, this rig was supposed to be the QRPers "Dream Rig". At a MSRP of $1400, this was one VERY expensive QRP radio (about $280/watt!)! Overall performance of the unit I had was dismal, at best. Receiver peroformance was the absolute pits. The thing would overload if you looked at it hard! I contacted the factory on several occasions, to find out about certain anomolies that I was encountering. They were helpful but it still didn't account for the fact that a Ten-Tec Model 515 Argonaut (last of the analog models) outperformed the newer radio during Field Day 1991. I didn't make any friends at Ten-Tec over this review. However, I was vindicated by the QST review of this rig....which was not complimentary at all. A good friend of mine has gone through three (3) of these QRP rigs and is still having problems. He is a die hard T-T collector/user who'd rather fight than switch. He certainly has more patience with this dog than I do.

2/ICOM IC-Q7A dual band HT. I liked the size, and I bought the rig to have a small hand held scanner, more than to use it as a "real" HT. Both ideas were a mistake. This little piece of demonic trash is an absolute abortion to program. There are so many hidden menus, it makes using the Yaesu FT-817 a fun job! With only 300 mW output, unless you live in the shadow of a repeater, you might as well scream, 'cuz that's about all the good you'll do trying to hit a repeater with 1/3 of a watt.

3/Hallicrafters SX-100 & SX-117. OK, so I'm old. I currently have restored both of these receivers and they are both in use in my shack. It's funny how the years play tricks on your mind. The SX-100 I used in my early ham radio days, and I loved the receiver. Same with the SX-117...it was the college radio station receiver at WA7CDH. Both rigs drift (it's amazing how you tend to forget things like this) and, while the 117 is triple conversion, it has almost no selectivity. A good passive audio filter makes a dramatic improvement here, but nothing takes the place of a nice, tight IF strip with crystal filtering.

I could go on, but I feel much better, now.

73 Rich K7SZ

 

I've had pretty good luck over the years. Most of my gear is Icom, both out of habit and because many of the accessories interchange (e.g., the speaker-mics on the 1980 model IC-2AT and 2000 IC-T81 are the same).

Among the Icoms, the 1977 IC-245/SSB 2m rig had intermittent power output and internal connector problems that were never resolved by their service people.  The multifunction toggle switch on the IC-T81 is a bad idea -- very touchy.  It's possible to get better at using it with practice -- lots of practice -- but it takes a while to learn how to touch it correctly after being away from it for a few days.

Yes, the IC-Q7A dual-band HT is...umm...challenging to program -- mostly because its tiny size (it only has about 4 controls).  And, yes, it only puts out 300mw, which can make hitting repeaters a bit difficult.  But I read the specs in the advertisements and saw a picture of it BEFORE I bought it.  The receiver alone was worth the $99 I paid for it at Dayton last year.

Other than the '245 and 'T81 squawks, I have little to complain about.

 

Dear Rich/K7SZ,

  Question!!!  When TEN-TEC first started manufacturing Ham gear as I recall it was ALSO a QRP rig, I think it was called the "ARGONAUT" or something to that effect, am I correct???    And as I also recall I think it was brought out in about 1974.  I had a chance to listen to the "LIL'COTTON-PICKER" and it's front end was VERY,VERY SWEET eventhough it was a Single-conversion job, I'D SAY IT RATED UP THERE WITH ANY DUAL OR TRIPLE CONVERSION RIG THEN ON THE MARKET at that time!!!


Jim/nn6ee

 

I have two for the list: Kenwood 261A and a Pryme 6meter HT. The Kenwood fried a power module and the front end under warranty. At warranty expiration plus 6 months it did it again. I wrote a letter to Kenwood and they repaired the radio free of charge, so they did well. I still have it but only use it for low power, not wanting to have it go again. The Kenwood tech told me that if I transmitted for a minute I had to let it cool off for at least five on any power setting. I have other Kenwood radios that have been fine, and do appreciate them making the situation right. But I don't recommend that model.

The Pryme doesn't keep its programming, and just as the ADI complaints (same company) this programming is complex. This radio is so iritating that one day I will no doubt put it on the driveway and flatten it with my truck. The only thing that has saved it to date is the lack of 6 meter FM activity around here.

 

I'm showing my age, but I'll have to add another vote for the Eico 7 drifty 3 (753). Too bad, it is such a pretty rig.

As a college student 30 years ago, that's all I could afford. I still have it to remind me of that time in my life. I have since learned that not all rigs require one hand on the tuning dial to keep up with the drift.

 

Positively THE radio from hell was the siltronics 1011C.

I sold it back to the guy I bought it from for 100 bucks less and considered it a good deal.

He was now stuck with the rig not I.


Ray
N5LRZ

 

By far the Icom 706, original version. Nasty POS built for B17 tailgunners. Hard to tune, doesn't work with the AH-4 on 6 meters and a noisy critter compared to other Icoms and Kenwoods. Newer ones are a bit better but that "skunk beer" taste is hard to get rid of no matter how much they "improve" it and add countless letters after the first mistake. Just a crap radio from a good company...

 

My vote for worst rig? Put me down with a Yaesu FT-720 dual band mobile. Rig worked ok on either VHF or UHF side, but don't try switching between bands unless you wanted to reprogram ALL the memories stored. My other complaint was when cold (<60 F), the display would not show more than a decimal point, and the rig would not unsquelch no matter what signal was present.
Fortunately, that is not a frequent problem in the great southwest desert region of the US, but with the A/C blowing cool air over the control head...well...that rig is parked in a box these days.
John N7IQV

 

How about just a antenna.. I had the Butternut HF6V with the 160 coil.. Ok after 2/12 hours matching the antenna and running 100ft of underground wire and running guy rope to the center of the antenna, I went inside and played ham radio for about 1 hour and then went to bed. The next day I got up and wanted to play DX but the match was up bad on it so went back out and reset the SWR again (note that is isn't EZ to do you have to start with 10Meters and then work your way to 160m coil on bottom of antenna), now all set again I played radio for about 3 hours and went out for the night. Next day back to the same thing, I have to go back out and set the SWR again. Well after finding out that just a little wind will strach the 160 coil and send my match way off I put 3 more guy wires on it closer to the 160 coil. Well in Rhode Island the winters can get cold and very windy and you know that it was winter by the luck I was having, the wind to the 160 coil and moved it again. After 1 week of setting the match on the 160 coil (when 160 coil is off the antenna SWR is off on all bands) more then useing it I sold it for less then half the price I got it for. I hated that antenna more then I hate my Ex-Wife and that is a lot.

Ron W1VET

 

The majority of the rigs i have owned were very good,,,The worst Hf rig was a Kenwood Ts 520SE which would blow final resisters every time I tried to run RTTY and even Kenwood took six months to find that circuit board crack but it never worked right even with a new board....The worst HT I ever owned was also a Kenwood TH21...I could never get more than three hours out of those nicads....and the worst VHF Mobile was also a Kenwood 7900 which had no recieve in comparison with a Cclegg FM 28...Everyone has a list but there is a common theme in mine and it is Kenwood.

 

you haven't lived until you put a 1960 era Stinkin Lincoln on 6 meters. I think this came from Allied radio. TVI from as far as 7 miles away. what a ball.

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (MattBeers @ July 05 2002,00:11)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Of all the threads I've seen,this one does more to prove the theory that the VHF/UHF operators are merely appliance operators than any other thread.
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I just don't see it. I think they have different problems and objectives than HF OPs do.

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (MattBeers @ July 05 2002,00:11)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">
The HF operators name rigs as being bad because they drift,they have phase noise, the receivers suffer from overload, the T/R turnaround time is awful, etc.

The VHF operators complain that the rigs are too heavy, that the displays don't work, that they have to send them in for repair. A few have complained about intermod, but that's the exception.
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I would hazard to guess that most people that just bought a new rig would rather send it back, than order a service manual and fix it themselves. Also, most hams simply don't have a service monitor on their bench. I will agree with you on the display problems, there is no reason not to fix it yourself.


</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (MattBeers @ July 05 2002,00:11)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">
I also checked the stats. The percentage of Japanese versus American rigs mentioned is a little bit swayed toward American,in that the complaints are running about 89% Japanese, while the Japanese rigs (per ARRL statistics) represent about 96% of the rigs sold. A sad commentary on American quality.
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While the stats in this thread are anecdotal at best, I agree. I will not be purchasing an American HF rig anytime soon.