I've been busy with Field Day and eBay lately, though I've actually been selling off some gear, with more to come.
My beloved Conar Twins, the receiver and transmitter kits sold in the 1970s by NRI Schools, were two of the things I sold on eBay. The receiver had a number of wiring errors and it didn't work when I got it. When I got the wiring errors fixed, the filter caps were leaky, so I replaced those too.
The receiver needed an alignment, but it did receive. It really was prone to images from 40 meter broadcast stations. The selectivity wasn't so hot, and it has the dubious honor of being the only receiver more prone to overloading by loud in-band signals than my Yaesu FT-757GX (The Yaesu FT-890 is an updated version of the FT-757GX, I only hope that the receiver was improved).
I already miss the pair, thinking that perhaps I could have worked on them and got the station set up. Naah. That project's been on hold for more than a year, I lost my round tuit in the desk somewhere.
INSANITY PART 2. How many times have I heard my wife telling me how much money she saved by buying a new blouse or shoes on sale? I quit arguing the obvious for two reasons: 1). The shoes are here and she sure as hell isn't going to take them back, and 2). It gives me a chance to roll out that excuse myself (though that plan not's actually borne fruit .. yet …).
I recently received a Kenwood TS-430S transceiver, it was one of those deals that I was able to “snipe” on eBay. A working TS-430S for less than $200? Yeah, I'll take a chance on that.
My experiment paid off — a well used but fully functional TS-430S arrived at my door. My first contact was on 10 meters to a ham in Michigan, who gave me an excellent report.
The receive audio on the Kenwood is excellent. In fact, I had forgotten how nice “the Kenwood sound” really is to listen to.The rig's top cover has lots of wear and some surface rust in areas where the paint was thin or chipped off near corners.
The radio needs the backup battery replaced, and I need to figure out what mic I want to use with it. I used a Heil headset for my first contact and it worked very well.
The rig is about average condition overall. I've enjoyed using it, though I do miss the nice features of my Icoms. I'm already shopping for a CW filter, or I may simply hook up my Datong FL-2. That would be the cheaper alternative. I really don't need to put money in this old workhorse of a rig.
I suspect the radio has been “peaked” by a previous owner — it's putting out 120 watts on all bands but 10. On 10 its about 85 watts. It has no accessory filters.
Still, it's very enjoyable to operate. I'm going to use it on CW as soon as I get it put on a shelf and off the desktop. The Noise Blanker is incredibly effective, I think it works better than the blanker on my Icom 746PRO or PROIII. And as crazy as it sounds, the receive audio just sounds better than either of those rigs.
I'm going to probably sell my Heathkit SB-1400 (revamped FT-747GX) that I use in our library. I enjoy reading late and night and tuning around the bands. The SB-1400 is a good rig, but the tuning knob is detented, which means the tuning knob has these annoying “clicks” every time you move it. I prefer a free-wheeling VFO, and now that I have the Kenwood, I'll pass eventually put it in the library.
That's about it for this installment. I'm going to shut the TS-430S down and head to bed. G'night.