I suppose its a disease that you get from going to too many hamfests and not buying anything … W4OLG (SK) called it “hamitis,” and its a powerful ailment, more contagious to licensed Amateur ops than the swine flu.
I have all the symptoms … salivating over pics of the Icom IC-7600/7700 in the AES catalog; perusing QTH.com for a Kenwood TS-440S/450S to cure my desire to hear that classic Kenwood recieve audio; my desire to drive to Indianapolis to buy a complete Drake B line for less than $600 (with 17 and 30 meter crystals, no less!). Yeah, I got it bad.
I realized hamitis struck this morning when I lost my sniping attempt at a 1940s Vibroplex Original DeLuxe in great shape. Not only was my timing off (meaning I submitted my bid before my trademark 3-seconds-to-go mark), but I bid too low by about $12. Damn! I'm losing my touch!
I have been slowly (and stealthily) picking up some ham accessories. I recently replaced my vintage Shure 55S with a clone made by OSP. The mic was mounted on a Heil boom, and the audio quality of the old Shure was muffled, and the output low. The new OSP has lots of output and the sounds — boy howdy, its great! The best $70 I've ever spent!
I was suspect of the quality of the OSP Shure 55S clone … but the fit and finish is superb! It looks much better than any original Shure could, and uses standard XLR connectors. I bought a radio shack mic cable with XLR on one end and terminated in a 1/4-inch phone jack. All I needed was a 1/4 to 1/8 mono adapter to hook it to the Heil adapter for my Yaesu FT-2000. Simple! No connectors to wire.
The audio adjustments on the Yaesu really help fine tune the sound with the OSP mic. They make a wide variety of pro microphones, including Shure 58 clones and inexpensive condenser mics. I'm tickled with mine. Unless you were a real fan of the original Shure 55S, you would never know it wasn't the real deal.
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I don't know why, but I'm getting a little restless with my FT-2000. It's a fantastic rig, no doubt about it. But compare the receive audio with my Hallicrafters SR-150, and there's no comparison — the Halli just has the best audio. Of course it has not QRM-fighting filters and no CW filter (ouch), but still the receive audio is simply better. I tend to think the receive audio on my Hallicrafters FPM 300 Safari and also my Tempo 2020 just has a better, smoother sound, so its not just due to tubes in the audio chain.
I think it is simply the difference between analog and digital. The Yaesu is basically a computer controlled digital transceiver with a old-style user interface (i.e., knobs). It's quite happy to be completely computer controlled. Maybe its just the nostalgia bug getting to me.
I found myself looking at Yaesu FT-1000(xx)s last night … I think the Mark V Field is a great looking rig. When I bought my PROIII, it was down to the Icom and the Field, and the Icom won.
Speaking of the PROIII, I believe the receive audio quality on it is better than the FT-2000. It pains me to say that, but to my ears its true. I have not done a side-by-side comparison, and part of the reason may be because I had the external speaker for the PROIII, and that makes a lot of difference. I still would like to buy the SP-2000 for the Yaesu. Right now the built in speaker fires up into the narrow space between the rig and the shelf above it. Before I would get rid of the Yaesu I would have to try an external speaker first. I still have both the PROIII and the 746PRO in boxes as I hate to let go of two really good rigs. If I sold the Yaesu and the two Icoms, I could probably get the rig I would like next to own, the IC-7600. In fact, I could probably get enough to also buy the matching speaker.
I do enjoy the external monitor the Yaesu w/DMU offers. Maybe I should sell the Icoms, keep the Yaesu, and part with some of my other rigs … I could probably raise about half of what I need by selling the Icoms. Hmmm …. today IS Father's Day, right??? hi!
My wife and family may go to the Indianapolis Hamfest, which would be nice to attend because I wouldn't have to be there as a League official … simply there as another ham. I could even setup and sell, woo hoo!
Enough of this … I need to hit the shower before my wife returns so we can go to Lowe's. I can always dream of new ham gear on the way there…
73 es CUL … de KY4Z … dit dit