Going nuts with HAM gear

[Wallythacker]

I started out the summer hoping to update 1 radio, add 1 radio and put up 2 antennas. Total cost perhaps $1000

I see according to my records I've spent >$11,000 since May.

Offset that by the $8800 I've taken in and I'm out of pocket $2,200

BUT boy oh boy, the cool stuff I have added for that $2,200 is worth close to $5,000 retail.

All my radios are now close to mid top spec. (top spec is $10,000/radio, insane, not for me)
My antenna arrays are the best I can put on my lot. 6 antennas to cover the world. 2 hf, 3 high band, 1 omni
My meters and monitoring gear is second to none. Or as good as I always wanted.
My digital radio add-ons are perfect for the task and delightfully easy to setup/install. I'm only 20 years late to the party.

Included in that cost are shack improvements, 2 really nice desks, a large wire shelving unit, a chair that actually fits me.

I also dug out things parked since my move here like my HP AIW Model 200 color laser. She's a beaut. My HP 1518 backup color laser. My large format HP color inkjet. And the use of my 4th bedroom back instead of treating it like a storage unit with stuff piled in ad hoc.

I've met a lot of nice folks since being active again on many bands. That I really did miss.

[Eggman]

Sounds like you've planned this for quite some time now. Exactly what gear did you add or modify?

[Johnny Mullet]

I never got into ham radio although my dad is a ham. I am a hardcore CB radio guy and have spent a lot of money on my gear. I recently finished my base station radio build and also got my 5/8 wave antenna 45 feet up now......

[Wallythacker]

Sounds like you've planned this for quite some time now. Exactly what gear did you add or modify?

I had simple radios from the 90's, they were 2nd generation solid state, just barely getting into computer controlled land. They all went down the road and now everything is mutlmode/multiband. In the past if you wanted to try out 2 meter SSB you had to buy the Kenwood or Yaesu made for 2 meter SSB and you paid a premium. It got really expensive quickly if you wandered off the standard 8 HF ham bands.

All of my radios are controllable by computer, a very nice feature, simple mouse clicks to change bands, modes, antennas, gone are the days of nearly crapping your pants when you realized you were key down on your 1200 watt amp without an antenna connected and that $400 brand new tube was going to pop. All of my radios are easily digital capable with inexpensive sound cards or built in sound cards.

Radios are just like cars, they have a sweet spot on the depreciation curve and I saved a fortune buying my stuff near the curve bottoms. I got all of the features I wanted even though my radios are from the 2006-2018 era. But none are even close to obsolete. The other thing about buying on the curve is the lemons are well known and easy to steer clear. But then some hams love a challenge and think restoring dissolved traces on a circuit board is a fun thing. Not me.

Unless some incredible innovation hits the amateur world all of my equipment will probably see out the end of my days with me.

ETA: The rigs
Yaesu FT-991A, all mode, all band, HF-70CM, exceptional reciever, waterfall
Icom IC-7300 HF/6M all mode base radio, I have buyers remorse with this one
Icom IC-7000 (2), all mode all band mobile rig, HF-70CM, exceptional flexibility
Yaesu FT100D, 1st gen computer controlled all mode all band, HF-70CM. (this was purely a nostalgia buy)
Xiegu X6100 all mode QRP HF/6m rig. Amazing but squirrely software. Needs time to mature but I can see it replacing ALL my radios except for my FT-991A.

Hustler 5BVT vertical 80m-10m HF antenna. If you can hear a station, you can work them.
Homebrew G5RV, the best wire antenna ever made, hands down.
J pole, antenna made from 1/2" copper water pipe. Amazing performance for peanuts.
Cheap chinese dual band Yagis. No antenna has ever been this good for $55 . Ever, never never. Never never ever ever. Prior to Chinese entry a similar Japanese/US made yagi could have been $4-$500.

I never got into ham radio although my dad is a ham. I am a hardcore CB radio guy and have spent a lot of money on my gear. I recently finished my base station radio build and also got my 5/8 wave antenna 45 feet up now......

Some of the very best people I have met in my life came from the 11m world. Honest, helpful, friendly. Hard to beat. What's feeding your 5/8? And how to say, have you found a way to have a bit more than the 4 watts the FCC says is OK? A great guy I knew ran his Yaesu FT101 with a Heath amp, about 1200 watts into 5/8 72' up. When he keyed down everyone listened.

[Mark]

I'm not into ham radios, but there is another forum member who is. Erik (goes by Farpoint Farm on You Tube & MrFixIt on this forum) is into them. Erik & his wife own two Mirages, & he has shared a number of Mirage clips on his channel, too. He also seems to be into CBs & ham radios!

Here's a recent example below -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESl3iRzw9ZY

You may want to explore some of his other stuff on this You Tube channel, too!

[Johnny Mullet]

I did not know Erik was on this forum. I interact with him on YouTube since we have alot in common. He is a great guy.

[Mark]

I did not know Erik was on this forum. I interact with him on YouTube since we have alot in common. He is a great guy.

I am 100% positive Erik is Mrfixit on this forum. See one of his threads below -

https://mirageforum.com/forum/showth...his-little-car

Erik is also the last person I've heard share a great deal on a new Mitsubishi Mirage before the economy went wacky. His wife's 2021 Mirage ES manual was $10,400 OTD. That price included White Bear Mitsubishi in Minnesota shipping his new car on a flatbed truck to his home in North Carolina!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTKrYAVx9eQ&t=1s

His wife's review of her Mirage -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcrigsoTQHI&t=71s

How many of us would like to see a deal like that today?

[Wallythacker]

I am 100% positive Erik is Mrfixit on this forum. See one of his threads below -

https://mirageforum.com/forum/showth...his-little-car

Erik is also the last person I've heard share a great deal on a new Mitsubishi Mirage before the economy went wacky. His wife's 2021 Mirage ES manual was $10,400 OTD. That price included White Bear Mitsubishi in Minnesota shipping his new car on a flatbed truck to his home in North Carolina!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTKrYAVx9eQ&t=1s

His wife's review of her Mirage -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcrigsoTQHI&t=71s

How many of us would like to see a deal like that today?

When you look at the Canadian market and I can get $1500 off a car with a MSRP of $14,299 that makes it very affordable, until it's time to pay the 13% tax hit. That buggers the whole deal up. But still, $14.5k OTD in CDN is like $!!K OTD US.

thanks for mr. fixit stuff, I'll go tune in and see what he says
I worked South America last week on 2 WATTs!!!!

[Fummins]

When you look at the Canadian market and I can get $1500 off a car with a MSRP of $14,299 that makes it very affordable, until it's time to pay the 13% tax hit. That buggers the whole deal up. But still, $14.5k OTD in CDN is like $!!K OTD US.

What car has a $14,299 Msrp? Mirage starts at $16,998 now since they dropped the 5spd.