What is the WORST rig you've ever had?

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (km5uk @ July 19 2002,23:51)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"> lets see now, i reckon the worst "so far" is the ADI AR 146 with its sometimes heiroglyphics display.. Usually after it has set for 3-4 days without use.  But a lite tap on the front end, and it straightens up and is readable.. It makes a good loaner radio as most people willingly return it. hehehe[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
"Lite tap"...

Probably with a hammer

JK, OM (hi hi)

Doug KB7RKY

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (n6kys @ July 20 2002,12:12)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Without a doubt the Heathkit HW-5400 was the biggest piece of junk that I've ever owned.  It was Heath's attempt to keep up with ricebox invasion in PLL all soild state circuitry.  Never worked properly and it was Heath's beginning of the end.  [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>


I forgot about this one. It was so bad that I asked the guy I bought it from if I could return it for a refund. He said no way did he ever want to see that piece of %&*@$# again and refunded my money and made me keep the radio. It had distorted transmit audio at any mic level [even the qst test mentions it in a round about way] and the receiver was full of phase noise. It did work but was a miserable excuse for a radio.

 

i have likely had a few "dogs" over the past 43 years on the air...one that comes to mind was a yaesu ft2auto ..it was a xtal control 2 mtr fm rig in the mid to late 70's...could never get it to work properly....a rig i like very much, and still own, had it shares of problems, but once i got them taken care of ...it's been a great rig...that is the japan radio corp model jst 245.....by  far the least dependable rigs i have owned are icom rigs ...every icom i have ever owned (but one)  had at least one  problem where the rig had to be sent for repair...,i.e. purchased a new ic 706 when they first came out and it did not even last a week,  i call icom the chrysler corp of ham radio..the  (but one) by the way, is the ic 2800 which i have had no problem with, in fact it is a great radio...saw a couple posts for the alinco ar-146... this has been one of the best radios i have ever owned...check the qst review on this rig...when it comes to service...ten tec all the way ...the rest are not even in the race...
dan, k3xr

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (kb7rky @ July 18 2002,23:10)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Hmmm...where do I begin??

Well, let me say that whoever the Einsteinian brainstormer was to build amateur HTs with milliwatts of output should be publically beaten into unconsiousness with day-old loaves of French bread  

The worst rigs I ever had the misfortune of using:

1. Alinco DJ-S11T and S41T (turn the number 4 upside down and you get what they are). These two HTs are way too underpowered to perform as they were designed to do, a royal pain in the backside to program, and, did I mention their extremely low power output? You absolutely ***had*** to be PHYSICALLY LOOKING AT THE REPEATER (standing next to it was a plus&#33, with your left leg up and your right hand in the air, while standing in a puddle of water (to make a good earth ground), and thinking good, pure thoughts, all the while HOPING that you could actually trip the receiver (even while standing next to the repeater). Although the design was innovative at the time, the power output was what turned me away from Alinco products. Thank God I didn't have to pay for either one (they were door prizes).

2. Radio Schmuck HTX-404. Maybe I just got a bad radio (I tend to think so, since I know someone who is STILL using an HTX-202 some 4-5 years later), but the PLL of this 440 version kept unlocking after about 5 minutes of use. I would shut the radio off to reset it, and it was good to go for quite awhile (about an hour or so of normal use.) Then, the PLL finally unlocked completely, and no amount of resetting the radio would do any good (good thing it decided to do die right then and there in the showroom as I was explaining the problem to them.) After fighting with RS for 6 months to get the concrete cork (dam&#33 thing fixed, they finally offered, as a replacement, an Alinco DJ-S41T. I about had a coronary right there in the showroom...but I kept my composure long enough to kindly ask for a refund.

I've had only good experiences with Icom rigs (well, not always...I had an IC-211 that had a offset problem, but that was the exception...it was a well-used radio, and probably should have been sent in for a good tune-up). In fact, my first rig was an IC-2GAT 7 watt HT. Although the front end is kinda weak on Icom rigs (I get some intermod on my 2100H, and that's when I'm passing by the higher-powered public service and pager repeaters), it's not so bad that I'm gonna pitch the radio out the window. Standard radios are good, too. Azdens are a pain to program, and the lack of a tuning knob is a definite minus (on the mobiles). I have a couple of minor problems with my Pryme PR-52...sometimes the display blanks out just for a quick second, but it's nothing compared to how quickly the battery drains.

I can't say anything good or bad about other radios, mostly because I haven't used them, or I know someone who swears by their particular choice of radio. It's just a matter of *your* particular choice...if you have a good experience with a particular brand, you'll tend to stick with it.

E-mail bombs and "I Hate Icom" e-mails can be sent to...



Doug KB7RKY[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
HI again,, i have a 5 yr. old htx 202 that sees daily use and has only had one battery change, and still works fine, and a htx 404 recently bought off e-bay, and it is in perfect shape.. So i guess there are good and bad ones in all brands, and the yaesu FT 7100M is not making me very proud of it, but "so far" has always cleared up after turning it off and then back on again.. Jury is still out.  73

 

I had many rigs in 45 years of ham radio activity. My worst radio was a SGC Powertalk 2000 with DSP.

73 Walter

 

KD7KGX writes:

"Also, despite the Ten-Tec bashing... I've had nothing but good luck with my Omni VI/Opt1 that I bought used (I'm the 3rd owner).  Has a little drift until it warms up, then works FB."

I haven't read where anyone is "bashing" any one manufacturer, but stating their real life experience with a dog of a performer.  Sounds like that Omni VI for all the dollars you paid isn't so stellar a performer either if you have to contend with drift.  Pretty sad commentary for "buy American (and accept marginal performance)".

Personally, I had bad experience with the TT Jupiter and will never go back.  Beyond the technical issues, the personal customer service was a real eye opener. If you are a TT supporter and don't want honest user feedback, then don't read any of the posts on here. Hi.

On to other radios, another I forgot to mention as a poor performer was the IC-720.  I had one.  Switching bands made you jump back with the clackith clack, clack, clack.  What the heck was that?
A mechanical band switch!  I got rid of it right away.  Found out later, Icom did not stock parts ofr it and finding parts was close to looking for hens teeth.

Some designs leave me scratching my head.

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (wa5mwh @ July 22 2002,07:08)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Many years ago, I had a friend (new ham) who purchased a new factory built Eico 753.  He called me later that same day and said he was going to return the radio as everyone he talked to said it sounded horrible. . . . I told them that I was checking out my friends new COLLINS KWM-2 !!  I got GREAT reports good audio etc.  All of his previous reports on audio had been horrible!!!   SO????  Wad the Eico as bad as many would have you believe?  [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Yes, it was.

The problem for which it won fame (such as it is) was stability.

It WOULD sit quietly on the bench without falling over, but it would not stay on a frequency. EVER. And it was common to every sample I ever heard about.

Sort of analog spread spectrum.

 

Yahooo!!!! My piece of blank Yaesu FT8500 finally broke something else, and now I can't talk on ANY band at all! Before, it broke so I couldn't talk on 2 meters on the left VFO, but now it's gone on the right VFO too and it took 70cm transmit with it!

Does a nice dead carrier now, all bands all modes. Bet Yaesu can put that in the next model as a "feature" or something.

So, why am I so happy? Because this dead radio means I can justify going shopping for a new one AND I can take this miserable little rig out to the street and, oh, park my car on it or something. Maybe see how well a pickaxe can go through it. Or how well it likes being "washed" in concrete mix. Or see if it sinks or swims in the local lake. Anyone want to bet? Sink or swim?

What will I get to replace it? Easy. Two radios: Motorola Spectras, one VHF and one UHF. I am tired of cheaply made ham radios that overheat and die for no reason or fall apart under normal use. Tired of bells and whistles that don't work, stupid controls, and excuses. No more. Pity Mot doesn't make ham gear. Maybe if they did, the other brands would shape up and fix little things like intermod rejection, sensitivity, adjacent channel rejection, audio quality, durability, etc.

 

FT-7100

The RX SUCKES

I LOVE MY FT-8100 both of them!

 

Yaesu FT-8100,  about as bad as it can get!!

 

My worst radio experience is a toss up between my FT-2400 and my FT-5100.

Both lost the display lights within a year. And now both have also experienced what others have described as the "Yaesu TX Virus:" TX output dwindles to the point where my FT-2400 puts out maybe 20 watts on High, and the FT-5100 can't squeeze out much more than 10 watts on High on 2m, and about 5 watts on 440.

The buttons on the 5100 are way too small, the fan is inadequate as others have mentioned, and the receive is nothing great. The knobs on the 2400 are cheap plastic with a rickety feel, and the volume control is too touchy- hard to adjust at low levels.

One bad Yaesu I can chalk up to chance, but two in a row with the same things going wrong just means they're crap.

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (W5HTW @ July 04 2002,09:48)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">While I didn't own it, I borrowed it ... And gave it back rather quickly ... From that experience, and what I have heard from others, the Eico 753 may have been the worst SSB rig ever produced.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
My whole hearted agreement! The first rig I ever owned (ca. 1980) was an Eico 753. It was a cool looking rig... reminiscent of a National. The similarity was appearance only. This rig drifted incessantly. it was not uncommon to be in QSO (CW since I was a Tech) and have my correspondent tell me he was tired of chasing me up and down the band! I got rid of it, billed as a PARTS ONLY rig after I got a post card from Atlanta with a Federal gov't return address advising me that I had a spur 200 KHz out of band that was stronger than my primary emission!

 

HTX-202 Hunk of Plastic Intermod attracting JUNK!!!!
there I feel Better got my post in for the day LOL

 

Ive got 2 Eico 753s right now and can't fix either one! When they are cooked, they are WASTED! But they will play again if I invest Countless hours and $$$$. But then, I do that on Heathkits, Swans, Galaxy and Drakes! All old radios are JUNK until they become CLASSICS!!! We hated them, now we can't get enough of them! Sure, they can't compare to a nice Yaesu FT-1000D or Icom IC-7800. We are spoiled by new technology. Imagine what we would do without digital readouts! Or Memories. Imagine having to live with a simple crystal filter instead of DSP or roofing filters. What if there was no IF shift or Automatic Antenna tuners? Remember the days when if you had 5KC (Note: thats Kilocycles, not KiloHERTZ!) calibration, and you had to hope your 100 KC calibrator was close enough to WWV to keep you in band. Remember having to dip the plate current and mess around with little wires to try to neutralze the finals. Or even carefully turn a pot to try to null out the carrier! Remember when you had to have a thing called a Q multiplier to get any hope of CW reception. We are so SO SPOILED today with these new fancy rigs. OH those were the days, trying to work Field Day with a 20 meter dipole up 20 feet in a forest clearing with a HW-32 and a noisy generator nearby. If you got 100 contacts, it was a WONDERFUL Field Day! Guess its a Midlife crisis to want to go back to those days of miserable junk radios, but I just can't get enough of them! Anyone have a Hopelessy broke SB-101 they will let go cheap?

 

Worst rigs I ever had?
Winner: Ten-Tec Paragon. Lots of birdies; noisy synthesizer and digital artifacts. Flimsy build.
Good second: Yaesu FT-767. Poor IMD prone receiver; CPU goes beserk when slight RF comes back to the rig (where much cheaper rigs did NOT have that problem with the same antenna system)
Third: SGC SG-2000 Poor receiver without any RF preselection. Receiver has very loud, constant hiss (could have been an incidental defect though).