HR2.0 - Best HF Ham Radio Under $1000 - 6 Best HF Transceivers 2020

The TS-590SG is a great rig. It's outstanding as a SWL rig on long wave and medium wave. It blows my Icom IC-7600 out of the water on those two bands.

 

Is there a list of elmers any where? Because I have not found one yet. I am thankful to the local club in answering my questions, but my issue is that most of the time I do not know what the question is to begin with.

 

No this is not the solution for everyone. I know what I want, I will have the extra. Others will hang it up and this hobby will die.

 

Your club would be the best place to find an elmer. An elmer, though most think of them as an older ham, is really anyone willing to help guide you. I would venture to guess that someone in the club would be glad to help.

 

you have an 1100 dollar radio because of taxes. they charge tax on the retail price and not sale price in some states. either way you pay tax before the rebate. makes a good case for buying used.

 

It's dying again?

 

Oh, No!

 

Ok, die was the wrong word.

 

Absolutely agree. Well stated. And yes, the FT102 is an amazing radio. I've owned one since the early 1990s ! Youtube ham videos-- 2020 version of 1950's radio payola....
73!

 

Here's what I also don't like about these videos - they're just opinions and subjective. Done by self proclaimed geniuses. ALL hot air.
For me - it's going to come down to what I like when I buy a radio...what works best for me. There are ton's of great used radio's out there. and like cars, what you pick is mostly what you like and can afford. Get an Elmer, or two or three. And anyone telling me the old timer's won't elmer any more is going to the wrong club. and in the age of Covid it might be a little harder to find one, and chances are he will be OLD like me. One other comment, if its working as designed, not broken, any radio is better than none. even if its 50 years old. Old doesn't mean cold, I can still use my s-line, or if times are tough I can warm up my Swan Cygnet and have lots of great QSO's and work DX,, and they glow int the dark..

 

I have a 718 that B-in-law gave e a few years ago when I got my general. good radio!Retired this summer and bought a Yaseu ft-450D. Good radio and seems to be clearer than the IC. But the IC has a number of years on it. Anyway both good radios

 

I have the Kenwood TS-590S, and it is a great rig too. I'd put both on the list. I added a receive out, to connect to my SDRPlay RSP1 as a panadapter. The TS-590SG already has receive out, which is nice, but the mod for the TS-590S is simple enough. I also have the TCXO and the voice module. The voice module is great in contests, and I put away my external MFJ voice keyer, and trigger the internal one with N1MM Logger+ function keys.

And if you want to go older and cheaper, the Kenwood TS-570DG or SG are also good radios. I still have my TS-570DG, which we use for field day, but the TS-590S/SG models are definitely a worthwhile step up.

 

These are all great for all the ex-CBers and modern appliance operators with minimal electronics or basic theory backgrounds.
Might as well switch to smartphones. One doesn't need fancy rigs with band scopes, super tight filtering, touch screens, and all the other questionable do-dads to make great HF DX contacts even given current HF propogation conditions. I also wonder how these would hold up in an EMP scenario anyway.

How about homebrew? construct your own receivers, transmitters, accessories, experimental and homebrew antenna designs, etc. Learn about RF basic theory, discover basic RF circuits, learn the difference between SDR, superheterodyne, direct conversion, and other esoteric designs and new digital modes for HF, design and/or construct Rasberry PI circuits for ham radio. Learn to solder, construct electronic circuits, Finally, for those starting out with very limited financial resources there are a plethora of outstanding vintage units (even vacuum tubed units) that can be obtained from various sources such as craigslist, Ebay, Facebook, garage and estate sales, and various internet sources where such rigs can be occasionally obtained for pennies on the dollar.

Again a newbie does NOT need to spend close to $1K or megabucks to make great DX contacts on HF nor does one need all those other fancy do-dads to do so. There are more new Techs that started with cheap Baofengs HTs than $500 to $1K currently available commercial units due to the low cost of entry into our hobby. For perhaps a little more moola than a cheap Chinese HT getting on HF is easy.

 

But they do make it really nice to operate. My TS-590S doesn't have a built-in scope, but I added an SDRPlay RSP1 to get one, and I love it.

 

I had the Cygnet 270b. Most stable swan ive seen. Actually a pleasant rx too.
Well said and youre absolutely right on point.