I know there are more than a few Hams on SF and it is something I have been interested in for a number of years now. Always seemed something else had higher priority or needed my time/attention though so it hadn’t happened. Due to medical issues, I have to hang up my motorcycle gear so now have more time and need something new to take the place for getting my head out of work and daily life.

I have been studying and am going to be taking my exam in two weeks. I am getting pretty excited at the thought of finally being able to checking the box for this on my life list.

Been going back and forth on gear options and how much I was comfortable investing to start. While I used to do electronics (USMC Avionics to be precise) in a previous life and was responsible for PCB component replacements, multi-layer board repair, mil-spec soldering, etc. and had LOTS of electronics training in most avionics areas (Advanced First Term Avionics “AFTA” A-School grad) I haven’t had much to do with it since 1990 and at this point I am not really interested in the “hobby” aspect of cobbling things together or building my own gear. Maybe down the road, but for a start I want to unbox new gear, sent it up and be satisfied.

I would like a “better than decent” starting set up that covers VHF/UHF and 6M as well. While I am hoping to take both the Tech and General class tests, and I am confident I will ace the tech, I may need more time to get General. My interests (besides emergency/EOTWAWKI comms) are local VHF nets, using my BaoFeng HT as more than just a scanner to eavesdrop, and eventually trying to do some DX work and reach out to distant locations that I would never be able to visit in person.


At this point, not sure about doing any digital or packet stuff, that is all Greek to me. Don’t think I would be into CW, but as time goes on and I have more experience and time to learn who knows?

Budget wise, I am not too terribly constrained (within reason) and would rather over-spend/get higher end gear upfront rather than go “on the cheap” and chase upgrades, eventually spending as much or more, learning/unlearning different rigs as I upgrade and having unnecessary frustration instead of just going big out of the gate.


I would like to hear thoughts/input about things I may be way off on or have not considered, helpful hints, and other random info as well as tips/tricks others learned or wish they knew as they started out.


With an absolute high end budget of $2000 here is what I am considering...

Yaesu 991A Transciever w/programming software and cable - MF/HF/VHF/UHF
-Probably over kill and definitely not a “starter” but looks like it is capable of just about everything and not something I would outgrow anytime soon or be dissatisfied with wishing I had gotten “more”

Yaesu MD100-A8X Desk Mic
-Gets goods reviews and seems to be the go to mic for the 991A

Alinco DM-340T Power Supply
-Not low end/not high end, affordable power supply

Comet GP-15 tri-band antenna (6m/2m/70cm)
-Seems to get strong reviews for VHF/UHF and is at least workable for 6m. Likely to get a second antenna down the road for HF, but should be able to use this to cut my teeth.


Total for this gear is Just over $1700 from Hamradio.com



We have an upstairs bonus room where I will set up, already have a simple desk there that isn’t being used and I can route the coax through the window up to the roof where antenna will be mounted on the backside of the house so no complicated wiring concerns.

The “left over” $$$ from the budget will cover incidentals, SWR meter, Log software(?) and other things I may decide I want/need.

Have already been stalking ARRL website, eham.net, qrz.com, and local groups so getting good info but SF has always proven to be subject matter experts on nearly everything so thought I would see what folks here had to offer.


TIA!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 911Boss,

Sounds pretty good, but there is a long time truism in ham radio: spend the money on your antenna system.

A really good antenna system need not be expensive at all, and will make a cheap radio sound GOOD.

A really good high dollar radio will sound like crap on a cheap antenna system.

Radios are better and cheaper than they've ever been.

Stay away from any radio made in China. Junk, out of band spurious emissions, little to no support, etc. Stuck with Icom, Kenwood and Yaesu.

And by cheap, I don't necessarily mean $$$. Many hams work the world with dipoles, even home made ones. I do. Get the most height you can. Don't skimp, buy quality coax, connectors, grounding, lightning protection, things of this nature.

Go to QRZ.com and peruse the Forum sections, especially the Technical sections, on a regular basis, people are quite helpful there. There is at least one of our esteemed SigForum members who posts there regularly. He's good.

Besides QRZ, eHam.net is good, and of course ARRL.org

Good luck to you. de N5...

I'll also add... take a whack at taking the General test at the same time. You might surprise yourself.

With your background if you have looked over the General study info you have a fair chance of passing if you don't draw all questions about law and operating procedures. I passed Tech and General the first time through and the guys giving the test urged me to try the Extra, I only missed it by 2 points that day. Boned up on law and op procedures and passed Extra the next test session a week later. Don't often use those band portions but they are open to me if I choose.

The advice regarding spending your money on the antenna is excellent. The shiny knob/button covered radio with the big display screen really looks neat but if it doesn't radiate it is just eye candy.

I hear you on the antenna part, kind of along the lines of lenses having the most impact for the DSLR over camera body. Main issue there is space and options for mounting. No way to do a tower at current location, limited to roof mounting and a wife who can get over a simple vertical or two, but beams and long dipoles will be an “acquired” thing. I might have to look into hidden attic options for any over 10m.


As for testing, I am at the point where I am nailing the online Tecnician practice exams consistently above 95% and frequently 100%, so now studying and working on the General question pool.

I do well on the electronics questions, but need to work on the radio propagation and “rules” ones. Overall hitting in the 60% range at this point, but with two weeks to study I am hoping to be able to go General off the bat. Definitely plan to take the General test as well. Seems like they will let you do both for one testing fee, so nothing to loose giving it a try.

They have monthly tests in this area, so worst case I give it another go shortly down the road. Seem like you need to be able to use 10m band or lower for best DX? So for that to happen with voice Tecnician won’t cut it.

When I was licensed back in the Eisenhower Administration, the old Timers advised that for every $100 you spent, $90 of that should go to antennas, $9 for receivers and $1 for transmitting.

I’ve not seen the 991A, but I did have a “hamshack in a box” DC to daylight, all mode radio, and it did everything, but nothing very well. The downside was that it was complicated as hell. I had to keep the manual on my knee to set it up every time I wanted to go from UHF FM to 30M CW, etc. I had it for ten years, and never really was comfortable with it. I chased DX, setting up splits, I did some contests, checked into nets, tried 6 M, monitored repeaters, what a PITA. I think you might look for something simpler, start with a straight forward VHF-UHF unit, get that going with a decent antenna while you shop for a simpler HF/6M radio.

I found that making my antennas was interesting, doable and educational, plus I would avoid store bought antennas and their manufacturers claims of DX nirvana. Start with simple wire antennas for the frequencies you want and go from there. A 6M 2 or 3 el yagi, or Moxon, isn’t complicated and need not be expensive.

If you are lucky, you can befriend an experienced OT, ”Elmer”, to bounce ideas off of, get help to avoid some foolish mistakes etc. Hopefully, there is an active club you can get involved with.

There is a lot on your plate to get familiar with, so many things to chose from. You will gravitate to activities you enjoy, pay little or no attention to others. Nobody can tell you what those might be. My brother is a big time true blue DXer, top of the Honor Roll, CW whiz, big tower, sophisticated gear. That is all he has ever cared about, nearly 60 years on. Some guys enjoy building gear, designing stuff and trying it. One of my friends has many dozen old “boat anchors” set up in his basement, most lovingly restored operationally and cosmetically. Others are public service oriented, or rag chewers, or exploring new digital modes, etc.

After trying just about all of those to one degree or another, I became a QRP CW DXer, running 5 watts to work the world. It's a lot like dating, a constant mix of hopes, dreams, perpetual striving, mistakes, disappointments, despair, missed opportunities, interspersed with an occasional triumph, very rewarding.

Right now, health and antenna woes have me off the air, unfortunately.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Sounds pretty good, but there is a long time truism in ham radio: spend the money on your antenna system.

Truth to this. When I lived in Montgomery County MD, there was a plethora of repeaters for VHF/UHF. I used a mobile unit in my car with good results, but an HT just does not cut it unless you are located very near the repeater. As an experiment, I installed a yagi antenna in my attic, pointed it at a known repeater about 7 miles away, connected the yagi to the HT and WHAM, I was on. With some coaching from more experienced HAM's, I turned the HT down to 1 watt, and was still hitting the repeater loud and clear. Yes, the antenna is the thing.
 

I recommend HamTestOnline for studying. If you’re at all like me, you’ll learn the questions and the right answers pretty quickly.

Your equipment needs to be useful for your goals and mode of operating. VHF and UHF are pretty much dead in most areas — there are a few old guys who talk to each other about their health problems and not much else. Oh, maybe there’s an “emergency preparedness net” once a week. But, the sort of drive-time chat and auto-patch to the telephone system stuff that was common 20+ years ago is pretty much gone. So, before you invest in and focus on 2m and 70cm gear, check out what’s going on in your local area.

My efforts to get on and get interested in VHF/UHF as a new ham did not end well, as you might be able,t to sense from the above.

Contrast this with HF: There is no time that you can’t raise a QSO (contact, discussion) on 20m. There’s voice, Morse, and the very popular keyboard-to-keyboard data modes(which are like text messaging). You can, with a very modest wire antenna and 100w of power, talk all over the world. I was able to talk with folks in over 100 different countries in just a few months.

Sooooo... do you really want to focus on VHF/UHF and pretty much local contacts, or are you interested in talking to folks all over the world on HF? Both can be cool... but what’s going on in your local area will dictate how interesting UHF/VHF are for you.

Read the reviews on eHam. The 991a seems to have a wide range of reactions.

Also, make sure that power supply doesn’t generate RFI. Switching power supplies often do, and it can drive you nuts.

RE the 991A reviews, I read all 16 pages of them on eham.net 4.1 of 5 average and anything less than a 4 seemed to be for issues with the 991 (non “A”) original model. The one exception was a guy who gave a low mark on the A version but only negative comment was related to physical size of the radio being too small.

I am liking the Alinco power supply because it has the display. The “recommended” Yaesu PS is just a blank plate. To be safe maybe spend another $100 and go with Yaesu FP-1030A linear PS? It has meters for voltage/power. Seems to be bigger case, but not overwhelming. PS will be side by side with radio and within 20’ of the antenna.

quote:

Originally posted by 911Boss:
RE the 991A reviews, I read all 16 pages of them on eham.net 4.1 of 5 average and anything less than a 4 seemed to be for issues with the 991 (non “A”) original model. The one exception was a guy who gave a low mark on the A version but only negative comment was related to physical size of the radio being too small.

I am liking the Alinco power supply because it has the display. The “recommended” Yaesu PS is just a blank plate. To be safe maybe spend another $100 and go with Yaesu FP-1030A linear PS? It has meters for voltage/power. Seems to be bigger case, but not overwhelming. PS will be side by side with radio and within 20’ of the antenna.

A lot of folks use Astron power supplies. Check out the SS-30M. I’ve not used the Alinco unit. It may be just fine. Some switching power supplies had the problem. Maybe those have been cleaned up by now. Caution is advised.

Not sure where you live but Hamvention takes place this coming Wednesday thru Sunday of next week coming up in Xenia Ohio. This is one of the biggest shows in the US.

All my antennas except the one on my car are home made. And cost next to nothing. Antennas are as important as the other gear, but you can spend time instead of money and get similar results.

I think you're getting some good advice. I wouldn't go order up my dream-shack and expect to get it right before being on the air anymore than you could build your perfect gun collection without firing a shot.

A nice vhf/uhf mobile with the antenna you picked is a good start - they aren't expensive.
There may, or may not be a 6m FM repeater near you, but the real action (skip) on 6m is on Sideband and that is the wrong antenna for that.

I am partial to a big heavy Astron over the switching power supplies. I like them because there is much less to break in them.

You should meet some of the local hams and find out what is going on - check into any local nets. I know our club has donated equipment from estates that we sell very cheap (or sometimes give away) to our new members to help get them started.

Best of luck and '73 de N1LYW

911Boss,

Don't know where you're located but if you or a friend passes through my neck of the woods, you can have a pristine Heath HW-101 w/ power supply, Bencher chrome paddle, and Yaseu mic gratis. Simply way too heavy to ship.

Classic equipment for your General class aspirations.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
911Boss,

Don't know where you're located but if you or a friend passes through my neck of the woods, you can have a pristine Heath HW-101 w/ power supply, Bencher chrome paddle, and Yaseu mic gratis. Simply way too heavy to ship.

Classic equipment for your General class aspirations.

Appreciate the offer, but being in the Seattle area I don’t make it through SD that often I did spend a week in Hill City on a motorcycle rally back in 2006 and it was once of my most favorite trips ever (no, not a HD thing!)


For the others, I know I am taking a risk on going big out of the gate, but I’d rather “Buy once, cry once” for the radio instead of incrementally going up through multiple rigs. Need a VHF/UHF antenna regardless, and pretty sure that one will fill the bill for local repeaters, price is reasonable and it has better reviews than the other ones I was looking at.

I realize for the DX stuff a different antenna will be needed, but I expect to chat on the local VHF net at first (they have a pretty active one in the area that goes twice a day).

The DX stuff will be more of a “fill the time/escape from boredom” pursuit and will add the appropriate antenna for that down the road. Not in a rush for that as I need to learn more before making the decisions for it. I am focused on getting my ticket, been working on the General questions and am up to a consistent 65%+ on the practice exams so expect to General out of the gate. Once I have cleared that hurdle I will start studying antenna stuff and figure out what options work best for our house and spousal limitations.


I can only get my wife to accept so much “change” at once. On the bright side, she really does like the idea of ham for emergency comms, so less pushback than I was expecting. We have started carrying some HT’s programmed on the MURS frequencies during our walks and she is getting the hang of it. She has no interest in getting her license, so that ain’t going to happen. She does enjoy listening to the big nursery down the street who happens to use MURS radios.

As for a mobile rig, I go back and forth on that. Definitely going to put an antenna on the truck, but more likely will just use an HT instead of a mobile radio. For as little use as it would see not sure if it is worth the money.

I did find a video review for the power supply I am looking at, it is a pretty new model so not a lot of info out on it yet. The reviewer seemed pretty impressed though. Nice and compact, voltage current meter matched his test equipment reading ands he ran it through a pretty wide freq range looking for RF noise and found none. It has better specs and more features than the recommended Yaesu branded PS for the 991A, so I am not expecting any problems.


I was at Home Depot yesterday, picked up a ground rod and wire for a “dedicated” ground. Expect to order all the goodies from www.hamradio.com tomorrow or Tue and then get going putting things together in earnest.


All the info is appreciated and still welcome, will keeps folks posted as things progress.

Before you place the order, think about a good duobander 2/70 to start. There are models from each big manufacturer in nearly every price range, less than $500 or so. That, power supply and an antenna gets you on the air talking to the locals, repeaters, etc.

While you get that installed, kinks out, used to it, you can research the HF/6M models. If you still want the 991A, the duo bander goes in the truck. Otherwise, you can get a more modest radio, simpler to operate. You may only cry once, as you say, but you may sob every time you turn that complicated radio on, trying to figure out all the button mashing to get what you want.

Moreover, with the kind and quality of antenna you are talking about, you won’t be able to tell the difference between the top of the line and the lesser radio. Neither is particularly disadvantageous maintenance wise.

An example is my brother’s gear. He only works DX, has them all, every country confirmed, most on many bands. He has an Elecraft K3S, top of the line with all accessories, a Alpha amp, a 90’ tower with several HF yagis, including 40M, a ~55’ tower with WARC band yagis. He can hear very, very well, and talk to anyone he wants to.

I have a K2, very good but much more modest. I could have a K3S, no problem, but with the antennas I am looking at, there is no advantage. I was unwilling to spend ~$30,000 as we were on the downward leg of Cycle 24, with my health seriously impaired and life expectancy diminished. I wouldn’t get my money’s worth on those antennas, and without them, the K2 is probably just as useable with the antennas I will have. If I hooked my K2 to his antennas, the difference would be astonishing in what all I would hear. It’s the antennas that deliver those weak signals.

Just something to think about.

I would look into the FC-40 antenna tuner or any others that are compatible with the 991. With HF especially you may need it if you have less than an optimal antenna installation. There rarely is an optimal antenna installation! For V/UHF you probably don’t need it.

Another must have for HF antennas is an SWR meter similar to this: https://www.gigaparts.com/MFJ-259C.html/ for getting your antenna setup right. You could spend thousands on an antenna but a bad $10 connector or cable can ruin it all.

CheapHam.com
Is a good site to poke around on. I picked up an S9 antenna there some time ago. It's overstocks, closeouts, closed stores, etc.

I have three Astron power supplies for my gear and they're just a simple on/off lit switch

also, the more time you spend getting the antennas right the better your experience will be

I currently have a long wire multi-band HF as well as a Comet vertical for 2m/70cm but am installing a support pad and bolt rings to support a 20' tower and a 30' Titan DX HF vertical

the gear is what you make of it but think about where you might want to be in say 5 years, and buy some gear up front that may be overkill today but just what you need in a few years because you don't need to buy a new box and abandon another