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

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by KC5HWB, Oct 29, 2020.

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  1. G3SEA

    G3SEA Ham Member QRZ Page

    You make your choice and pay your money. Simples :cool:
    G3SEA/KH6
     
  2. AA2KF

    AA2KF Ham Member QRZ Page

    Best IC 7300, Icom 718 no FM????
     
  3. K9FIR

    K9FIR Ham Member QRZ Page

    Good set of choices.

    With regard to the antenna tuner, internal tuners often don't have the range of external tuners for handling awkward loads.
    If I were sold on the Alinco or Icom 718 until the issue of built in antenna tuner goes, I would recommend sticking with your choice and purchasing a good 100-watt class external tuner instead. That's because an external tuner like that can be well under $200 and speaking for the LDG Z-11 pro and Z-100, they have a very wide tuning range. A lot of tuners built into rigs can handle 2:1 or 3:1 but not 10:1. There may be odd times you want to play on a band you have no resonant antenna on, and that extra range can come in handy.

    Just my $0.02
    K9FIR
     
    KC5HWB likes this.
  4. K9FIR

    K9FIR Ham Member QRZ Page

    Well "best" is relative to your requirements list and how you assign importance to each.
    A wag once noted that the best tool is the one you'll use. I get the appeal of basic, solid rigs and the appeal of everything and the kitchen sink.
    Luckily our hobby is large enough to support manufacturing of both kinds.
     
  5. KC3PBI

    KC3PBI Ham Member QRZ Page

    Screen Shot 2020-10-31 at 7.22.52 PM.png
    (assuming a free antenna) :rolleyes:
     
    PY2NEA likes this.
  6. KD5BVX

    KD5BVX Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Nowhere did he say it was for anything more than radio only. Your chart may be accurate but it’s beyond the scope of the video regarding just a list of possible radios.
     
    KC3PBI likes this.
  7. AJ4LN

    AJ4LN Ham Member QRZ Page

    Please explain. That doesn't make sense. I love instantly seeing if a band is active, and in contests, it really helps with search and pounce, and also for finding a spot to call CQ. And not in contests, to find out where active operators are. And so much more. And it works as a station monitor to see your own transmit signal (at least for an external panadapter).
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2020
  8. AJ4LN

    AJ4LN Ham Member QRZ Page

    Don't forget to add an antenna tuner when using the external amp. And I wouldn't pick any of those 3 radios. You can get a radio with a built in antenna tuner , 100 watts, and built in computer audio interface for that same total price.
     
  9. KC3PBI

    KC3PBI Ham Member QRZ Page

    The Xiegu sidekick XPA125B amp I listed includes an autotuner with 14-500Ω range. Fair to debate the value of that width, but the fact is it's built in.

    Completely fair point.

    But who buys just a transceiver?
     
    AJ4LN likes this.
  10. K9UR

    K9UR Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    yes, they do... sadly... their close proximity RF performance is dismal unless you use bandpass filters and such. They are a poor choice for SO2R without serious additional hardware like bandpass filters. Even a pair of the 25 year old Icom IC-706 can be run next to each other and are better at adjacent rejection than the wide-barn door SDR receivers. Yes, you can crank down the RF gain control but constantly riding the RF gain isn't something any contester wants to do.. The 7610 with the implementation of additional filtering is far far superior better. I owned 3 of the 7300's at my main station, all are being replaced by 7610's. They are not competitive in a multi-op contest environment.. They are fine as a stand alone rig when no stray RF is nearby...but like I said...they overload with near field RF.
     
    KD2SVR and UT7UX like this.
  11. KA4SFF

    KA4SFF Ham Member QRZ Page

    I would go after in no special order a Yeasu 897D yon can pick them up for around $500 if you look around now, an Icom 7200, or a Yaesu 991, I’ve seen the 991( not the 991A) going often for $600 to $700. All 3 of these rigs have good and bad points
     
  12. AJ4LN

    AJ4LN Ham Member QRZ Page

    Did you consider the new Yaesu FTDx10 that is coming out soon? Lots of filtering on the front end.
     
  13. WD4IGX

    WD4IGX Ham Member QRZ Page

    And If you don't mind very poor RX IMD AND don't want to run an amp that you would prefer not to drive with a transmitter with the highest phase noise (ok, the review said "about the highest phase noise we've seen") measured at the ARRL lab to date when they tested it in 2017.

    Nope. It's a niche radio.
     
    K9GLS likes this.
  14. WD4IGX

    WD4IGX Ham Member QRZ Page

    When inflation reduced it to what would have been about $233 in May of 1977 when I got my Novice. I bought a Ten-Tec Argonaut 509, the only new HF rig I could afford. The Tempo One didn't cost a lot more but didn't include a power supply and that put it out of reach. IIRC that Argonaut was $269 - and I had saved up for it from doing odd jobs for my folks when I was 13 years old.
     
    WN1MB likes this.
  15. K9UR

    K9UR Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Nope. The FTDX10 in my opinion is an old technology radio with a receiver for the spectrum display that is SDR based. The main receiver is still an analog tech receiver. Of course, it isn't available yet and probably wont be out for another many months -- based on what i read today, it is pretty much a conventional superhet conversion receiver with an added SDR "sub receiver" just for the spectrum scope. I think it's a compromise approach and was slapped together fast to have something that competes with a real time (good) spectrum scope against the IC- 7300 ( which has just about cornered the market at the sub-$1000 price point). but that's my very prelim take and I could be proven incorrect in my quick half hour assessment based on what I've read so far about it.
     
    AJ4LN likes this.

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