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All in one box radio help
Topic Started: Sunday, 5. March 2017, 20:41 (507 Views)
Cornish pixie
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26 Charlie Tango 2329

Hi all
So I have applied to get my old G1 licence renewed. I have been looking at radios. Now I have not got the room to set up lots of gear and I want something compact that I can take away with me also. I have seen a Ft 897 that is for sale locally. Now would that be a suitable starting point , or is there something better. I also am thinking of what sort of antenna . I can't run anything big, it would have to be vertical and mounted to the side of my bungalow. I would also be looking for something to use when I take the radio away. There seams so much equipment out there some advice would be great fully received .
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Nik Gnashers
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26 Charlie Tango 573

I have not used any multi-band verticals (that is, assuming you were looking for a multi band antenna), but my friends have and tbh the ones I saw were all pretty long (and not very 'pretty' to the neighbours).

Is there no way you could use a wire antenna ? It would be a lot less noticeable, and easy to use when you take the radio away.
I have a small garden myself, and use an off centre fed dipole in an inverted V. This means only 1 mast (for the balun & centre of the V), with the 'legs' coming down, one goes to my front garden, the mast is just behind my house in the back garden, and the long leg goes to the rear of my back garden and bends/doglegs along the back fence.
It is not an ideal way to mount it, but it works very well, only today I have made plenty of USA, Canada contacts on 10w.
It works on 20m & 40m without a tuner, and will tune on 80m, 17m, and probably 15m too (although I use a CB vertical for 15m, 12m, 10m).

An end-fed wire might work even better for you, it doesn't 'have' to be in a straight line (although it would obviously work best like that), but as a compromise, it could fit around your garden somehow ?

I have not seen a small vertical for ham bands, and even the large ones seem to need buried radials to work properly, although I'm sure they would 'work' ok mounted to the side of a building.

Hopefully some other members can give you some idea's / suggestions :)
M6GFT ::: QRZ Page- http://www.qrz.com/db/M6GFT
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All CT members are expected to use good operating procedure, good manners, and be friendly...Please do not chat on any calling frequencies, or use bad language on air, thank you it is appreciated.
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BigTone
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26 Charlie Tango 4498
If you are looking for a "shack in a box" that is transportable, I suggest the Icom 7100.
It does HF, 6, 2, 70 cms and for me, the deal maker, 50 watts at 4 metres.
Filtering is far better than the Yaesu FT817 / 857 / 897 (Which are 15+ year old designs)
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Cornish pixie
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26 Charlie Tango 2329

Lovely looking radio ,but the 7100 is way out of my price range.
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Deleted User
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How about an icom 706 Mk2, fantastic bit of kit great rx, and great tx audio...................
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Cornish pixie
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26 Charlie Tango 2329

The 706 looks perfect. Nice and compact with good reviews and affordable with my limited budget at present. Thanks for your help .
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Deleted User
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Been running mine about 3 years now,its not missed a beat........................
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BigTone
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26 Charlie Tango 4498
I had a 706 Mk2G. Lovely radio made even better with the fitment of a narrow (1.9k) SSB filter.
Should you get into Morse, there is a second filter socket
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Cornish pixie
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26 Charlie Tango 2329

Hopefully a very nice example is on its way to me. Thanks for your help.
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