Choosing HAM transceiver (under $500)

[btrayfors]

Originally Posted by Carlisle Spirit

I bought an ICOM 706 MkII and have never ever had it work properly

I have insulators on the back stays

Is there anyone in Singapore who can help me sort it out ? Happy to pay for assistance

Well, if you send me a round-trip air ticket I'll be happy to help for free!

Seriously, suggest you contact the Singapore Amateur Radio Club. They will have someone who is familiar with the 706, and with the necessary power/swr meter and dummy load needed to check things out.

SARTS

Bill
WA6CCA

[Carlisle Spirit]

Originally Posted by btrayfors

Well, if you send me a round-trip air ticket I'll be happy to help for free!

Seriously, suggest you contact the Singapore Amateur Radio Club. They will have someone who is familiar with the 706, and with the necessary power/swr meter and dummy load needed to check things out.

SARTS

Bill
WA6CCA

Sounds logical but these guys are completely disinterested in marine applications

It's more of a tech talk group who like to chat to each other

[DeepFrz]

Talking about antennas, this got my heart rate up.
Climbing A 1,768 Foot Transmission Tower | Artifacting

[Celestialsailor]

The bottom of my feet were sweating when I watched that.

[DeepFrz]

The bottom of my feet were sweating when I watched that.

LOL my gut was clenched, for sure.

[Dulcesuenos]

Originally Posted by conachair

If you have a ham call sign the win link system uses a soundcard to send/receive emails, no expensive pactor required but a signalink box helps a lot for any kind of digital stuff.
http://www.winlink.org
SignaLink USB Interface

Thanks!

[hellosailor]

Carlisle, would it make any sense (since you probably bought it used?) to divide and conquer?

First, find out if the radio is working correctly. Either send it to an authorized service for testing and tuning, or see if someone locally has one and can swap your radio into his installation, so he can see how yours works vs his, in a "known good" installation.

Then if the radio is operating correctly, come back to the questions of the boat. The cables, antenna, tuner, should be simpler to troubleshoot once you know the radio is not a part of the problem.

[Carlisle Spirit]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Carlisle, would it make any sense (since you probably bought it used?) to divide and conquer?

First, find out if the radio is working correctly. Either send it to an authorized service for testing and tuning, or see if someone locally has one and can swap your radio into his installation, so he can see how yours works vs his, in a "known good" installation.

Then if the radio is operating correctly, come back to the questions of the boat. The cables, antenna, tuner, should be simpler to troubleshoot once you know the radio is not a part of the problem.

Good logical thought process

But I bought it new ... So I doubt that there is anything wrong with the unit itself

It's the set up for sure

[hellosailor]

New?? Good lord, I thought those were discontinued a good six or eight years ago, that's a long time to tolerate a non-working radio!

I'd suggest starting another thread to troubleshoot the installation, rather than pulling this one OT.

[Carlisle Spirit]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

New?? Good lord, I thought those were discontinued a good six or eight years ago, that's a long time to tolerate a non-working radio!

I'd suggest starting another thread to troubleshoot the installation, rather than pulling this one OT.

Purchased new in Dec 2009

Thanks for your helpful supposition

[hellosailor]

Hah, time flies when you're having fun. Maybe I'm confusing the date with a few years earlier, when they released the 7000 and kicked the price of the 706 up about 1/3 supposedly because of currency exchange rates in the US.

Of course if it still hasn't worked since new, it might have been defective out of the box. That happens sometimes, too. Either way, worth its own thread.

[Sailor_Hutch]

I always liked the Yaesu FT-840 that I owned in the 2003 time frame. The 840 is a little dated I suppose, but it was around $500 new. I worked half the world with it during the last sun spot maximum, and you can probably pick one up for a couple hundred bux now. For more elaborate equipment, I'm partial to the Tentec stuff (TenTec), because being an American company, their service facility is in Tennesee, and you can save on shipping costs, etc. I recently was able to procure new parts from them for a twenty five year old transceiver they no longer make! It seems they were in the maritime radio business for awhile, and made some equipment for the navy. The newer Tentec radios will probably break your $500 budget though ...

[SoonerSailor]

Ten-Tec and Elecraft are of the very, very few makers of ham rigs that still service and support any rig they ever sold.

Chip

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Carlisle Spirit

Good logical thought process

But I bought it new ... So I doubt that there is anything wrong with the unit itself

It's the set up for sure

This is probably correct but wouldn't totally discount the chance of a problem with a brand new radio. Over the years I have purchased plenty of brand new things that were DOA.