What is the WORST rig you've ever had?

Ditto on the Kenwood TM261. I had one when I lived in the Palm Springs, Calif. area. It would not tolerate the summer temperatures and would shut itself down when the ambient temperature got too high. I had no trouble with Icom or Radio Shack 2-meter mobile rigs under the same conditions. Someone did me a big favor one day and stole it.

 

With all the FT-8100 owners on here, I would have to wonder why Yaesu attempted to go back on where the FT-8500 (big fan of this rig and own one) was heading. From what I have gathered, that (the 8100) rig has lots of problems. I haven't heard much bad (maybe here and there, but mostly that darned potato mike) about the 8500.

I haven't come across any bad rig per say, but I would have to say any ham rig from Radio Shack.

 

From the looks of the other posts I was not the only OM that had problems with the Eico 753. Mine was purchased from a hamfest (of course I was told that it worked) I should have asked worked as "WHAT"? Maybe a thing to hold the desk to the floor. Most of my problems were in the power supply and when it did worked it drifted. The 753 made my old Ford Pinto look good!!!

 

I had to add another nomination to this most funny of topics.

The first rig I ever owned was a Galaxy 3. For a long time I hesitated to criticize the rig, because my elmer gave it to me for free to get on the air, and I was very grateful. But the thing was truly mediocre at best. On CW, you would get 110 VAC on the key and if not careful get a nice little "buzz" from it! The tube finals were easy-access -- too easy, for a teen that didn't know any better -- you could just lift a metal lid and voila, 1 kV!

The audio on SSB was terrible. One guy actually told me off on the air about how awful it sounded. It suffered from drift and the power supply rattled and moaned something fierce. Other than the drift, the rig did ok on CW. That's why I spent most of my early years on CW and got my code speed up to 30 WPM!!

73s, Bert

 

Here are my nominations:

Azden PCS-3000. Hard to use/program, stupid obsolete backup battery that isn't available anywhere so the radio loses its mind everytime you turn it off. Lousy transmit and receive audio. Useful only as a doorstop.

Kenwood Ts-140s/680s. Got a brand new 680S in the late 80's. Completely numb receiver. Terrible performance on 6 meters, even with good antennas. Complete garbage.

Yaesu Ft-747. Junky, flimsy, broken out of the box, too much time spent fixing it. Separation cable came from the manufacturer with an intermitent. Don't even THINK about dropping it/bumping it too hard. Too fragile for mobile installations.

Dave w6pv

 

The worst rig I have ever had was the 500Mw 2 meter Radio shack HT (I think it was the HTX242). I returned it 3 days after it was bought. It couldn't hit any repeater I tried and it was generally horrible all over.

 

The worst -- and I mean W-O-R-S-T -- piece of ham gear I ever had new and which never worked as claimed was a Solar System VI six meter AM transceiver back in 1961 or 1962. Other than the venerable Heathkit Sixer, it was the only crystal controlled transmitter that drifted signifigantly while under crystal transmit control. The good part is the receiver drifted about the same amount and at the same drift rate.

But there was a positive to this radio. It sure looked pretty with is big planetary dial. To bad it never performed as specified.

I guess not very mny were made and sold. Ive not seen one since the 70's in the Dayton Flea Market area.

de
Bill P. / WA6ITF

 

The "BEST RIG" I ever had was the Yaesu FT-1000MP as it worked flawlessly for slightly over 4yrs. got rid of it to get a IC-756PRO, which works fantastic also!!!

The ONLY reason I got the PRO was for something "NEW"!!!

Jim/nn6ee

 

I read an article about 14 or 15 years ago on the verticle antennas each tested over i believe a 3 year period. I bought the recommended Butternut. Moved 3 times just put it up again and never been sorry. If you go to the books and do it well it's fine. No maintainence to speak of,etc etc.
I cringe when i hear some genius putting others down because they are not true blue amateurs with a big test bench. I graduated from ET "A" in the Navy in 1954. They told me I could go on to "B" school but I "didn't think like an electronic tech". I took there word for that
and they were right. I stayed in Navigation.
I was later nominated for a commission. But I still don't think like a tech. Ease up a bit until you can take the Conn and drive the big boat.

 

Radio Scrap 2 mtr HT's should be added to the list. I had one that the knobs fell off the first day of ownership. Of course, it was returned to the place of purchace. Glad I didn't get stung with that one.
N7QH

 

N7QH,

You're Right!!!

All of us are really "IMPRESSED" with RS's LACK of concern for QUALITY are'nt we!!!

Jim

 

My worst was the MFJ 9030 QRP rig. What a piece of junk! It drifted all over the place due to two bad caps in the VFO. The people at MFJ told me they were "unaware" of ANY problem with the radio, even while they were telling dealers how to fix their design flaw. Fortunately, I bought the radio from AES. They were understanding and allowed me to return it. Some 9030's don't drift. I'd guess these were of later manufacture. MFJ stuff varies widely in quality. Some of it is good, some not. The 9030 is a nice-looking rig that wanders the band like a drunk staggering home after the bar closed.

Second worst: Heath HW-8. An amazing array of design compromises that end up as an overpriced, under-acheiving rig. It's a favorite among hams who like to match wits with the designer, because they know they can't lose. Any mod you make to an HW-8 was sure to improve it.

Favorites? My Ten Tec Argo 515, Icom 707.

As they say in automotive circles, "your mileage may vary."

73
Steve W9HC

 

The Ranger 10 meter rig was horrible, I found a resistor on the solder side of the main board unsoldered at one end!
The second runner up is the Yaesu VX5R. I have had several of these and only one could hear decently, the rest were deaf! and so was my FT 5100, and my first FT5200. I guess they cut back on the receive sensitivity to combat intermod rather than building a capable receiver.
My Icom 706 MKIIG 2m fm receiver is also horrible. It receives static from power lines and other types of "pulse" noises that I shouldn't be hearing on a fm receiver. Icom says that it is my installation, so I purchased their new IC V-8000 to prove a point and the static is gone with the new rig! It's bull, all 3 generations of 706's suffer from this. At least mine did.
And it wasn't the car, I have had the radios in different vehicles and still received interference.

 

My vote is for the Eico 753 and its cousin the National NCX-3 bought the 753 at a hamfest in the 70's to use as a novice rig. I kept using my DX-100 and SX-101.
I still have the 753 can't bring myself to unload it on anybody.
I heard a 753 on the air around a year ago on the Classic Exchange contest. It sounded good and was driving a Drake L4B the OM said he turned it on 24 hours before to stabilize it.

 

In the mid-70's Heathkit sold a 2 meter HT. Wow, what a dog! The tones for the dtmf keypad were generated using resistor-capacitor (RC) combinations, so they drifted all over the place. The modulation would vary. That ht was so bad that when I sent it back to Heathkit to let them try to make it work, they just refunded my money. Then about 10 years later someone tried to give me one for free. They said it was worthless. It went straight into the trash.

I enjoyed the comments regarding the Eico 753. I remember it was nicknamed the "seven drifty three."

73,
Scott