My radios
My first radio was a Baofeng BF-F8HP. I was looking for an inexpensive radio that would get me on the air so, I could hit the local repeaters and here in Florida, There are quite a few! I looked around for a while and looked at some recommendations from fellow HAMS. I happened to stumble across this neat little radio and thought I would give it a try since it boasts an 8 watt output. I figured what the heck, if it only puts out 5 watts it would be typical at least. Well, the I got actually puts out 7.5 watts and I figure if, I get the bigger battery, it will probably do the full 8 watts. It's no biggie though, I can hit repeaters that are 10 - 15 miles away with a good repeater holding signal!
Update: If you want to get 8 watts from this radio get the bigger battery! As the smaller battery starts to drain down, so dose the wattage. The larger capacity battery, model BL-5L will hold the full 8 watt output for a longer period.
Update: If you want to get 8 watts from this radio get the bigger battery! As the smaller battery starts to drain down, so dose the wattage. The larger capacity battery, model BL-5L will hold the full 8 watt output for a longer period.
The radio came as a kit with aditional items such as ear phone with mic, charger base, the radio and a pretty decent manual. I had a friend that has a Nagoya NA-771 antenna and I found the antenna that comes with the radio is a better match. I was able to find an antenna which, was a better match than stock and had great range and that is the Diamond Antenna Model SRJ77CA. This is a nice radio while out in the field with the HAM club. It is a plain and simple walkie talkie with no major bells and whistles and has a great price tag for new HAMS!!! The radio is easy to program using chirp so, pick up a BTECH PC03 programming cable for it which, is extra. I decided to pick up an extra mic (BTECH QHM22) for it as well and it works awesome!
My next radio which, I got from a silent key's widow, was an Icom IC-746. The IC-746 is an older radio but, made great contacts on 6 and 10 meters as a technician. The radio aslo has 2 meters which, was nice to have to use in the shack to hit the local 2 meter repeaters. The radio has 3 coax connectors on the back and that made it great for connecting three antennas, to cover all the bands I was able to access, with my Technicians license. I ran this radio with an MFJ-969 Versa tuner which can handle 300 watts.
My rig as of 12/03/2019, Icom IC-746 HF / +6 / +2 with an MFJ-969 Versa Tuner.
12/23/2019 - added a Kenwood V71a to the truck. Great radio! I like the cross band repeater function and often use it while, out with the club and anytime the handheld will not hit a local repeater. I used an model NMOK mount from Larsen and added a model NMO2/70B Larsen antenna to the mount. This is a great combination!!! Great range and great ears!!!
02/20/2020 - Wrapped my first 1:1 current balun for an antenna I am working on. I used two 2.5", type 31 iron ferrite chokes and 84.5" #14 AWG Remington motor winding wire to make this balun. The ferrite chokes are epoxied together with ZEP two part epoxy. I measured out 84.5" then, doubled it over evenly so I had 42.25" of wire on each side. I left 3" of wire extended when I started wrapping. I wrapped 3 turns down on one side, crossed over to the top and wrapped 4 turns down on the other side. 42.25" left me with another 3" overhang when I got finished wrapping. I will test this balun in different applications using my Mini 600 with Version 3 firmware.
02/22-23/2020 - Put up a 565' 12 AWG, sky wire loop with 450 ohm ladder line running to a MFJ-969 Versa Tuner 2. If you have the room, put one of these antennas up; you will not be disappoint!!! I instantly had stations coming in that I never heard before. At 565', the tuner easily tunes, 160m to 20m and the internal tuner can easily handle bands above 20m. Loving it!!!! Now I am, ready for the General ticket!
03/10/2020 - Added another Kenwood V71a to the shack. Loved the one I have in the truck so much, I decided to add one to the shack! Maybe, someday, I will add an IC-9700 but, I will be thinking hard on that decision. I like having the cross-band repeat mode in the shack.
03/20/2020 - Well, I broke down and got myself an Icom IC-7300! The IC-746, is also a great radio but, has been placed out of service for now. I may sell it the 746 but, would like to find an all bander like an IC-700 to pick up and keep as a backup in case one goes down, like the IC-7000.
04/15/2020 - Received my new MFJ-989D Antenna tuner. Very nice tuner and can handle a bit more power at 1500 watts max.
04/11/2020 - Picked up a used AL-811H, not working. Parts ordered and will be going on the bench soon. I found out what was wrong with it and ordered parts. Took about two weeks to get the parts due to COVID-19 shutdown. I got it quickly repaired when, I had the parts in hand and now have a working amplifier peaking about 750 watts on most all bands 160m - 15m on the 565 foot horizontal loop and the MFJ-989D tuner.
5-20-20 - Voltage to the 811H amplifier was lagging at 1400 volts so, I ran a new run from the breaker box to the shack which, is almost 70' feet away. I decided to drag two runs of 10-2 w/g 600V wire to the shack through the attack. My electrician friend came over and put in two outlets for 110V and 1 outlet for 220V in case, I ever get an amp that runs on 220V.