basic gear

Discussion in 'Survival Communications' started by ghrit, Nov 24, 2011.


  1. techsar

    techsar Monkey+++

    Ummm...personally I would pass...for a few reasons.

    1. Although the 720A covers all of the HF bands (not counting 6m) it is an old radio. It also is NOT all-mode as advertised. No FM on 10m.
    2. It is noisy to change bands, and a wife may not appreciate ker-chunk,ker-chunk-ker-chunk any time you change bands.
    3. It doesn't "hear" all that well compared to newer models.
    4. It has some idiosyncrasies at some of the band edges (freq readout "jumps" in unexpected ways)
    5. Tx/Rx switching is too slow to support many digital modes.
    6. A 20 amp power supply is going to be borderline capacity for a 20 amp radio...it'll work, but it'll be working hard.

    Can't say on the Cubic tuner, never had one to play with.

    FWIW, I picked up my 720A for $125.
     
  2. tekdoggy

    tekdoggy Monkey

    thanks
     
  3. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Kenwood makes some very decent Radios, and I have use a bunch of them over the years. A good Beginner Setup is the TS-180, or TS-430. Both are Solid State (All transistorized, NO Tubes) and run on 12 Vdc. I have had both, in the past, and made plenty of contacts, with either. Check the Classifieds, on QRZ.com, for Used Gear.... You can see the "going Rate" for most radios, there every day of the week, and occasionally find a really good deal, or two.
     
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