1. W5SU’s flea market guide to entry level hf radios Richardson Wireless Klub June 8, 2015 Carl Solomon – W5SU

2. Features Checklist: Tubes vs. Hybrid vs. All solid-state Power supply built-in vs. need external supply ? 12V – can operate mobile? WARC Band coverage? Noise blanker (Speech compression or processing) Receiver Incremental Tuning (“RIT”…”clarifier”) 2 VFO’s (A & B) (General coverage receive?) (Auto antenna tuner) Analog or digital freq readout Filters included? (Roofing Filters – sophisticated frill) (CW electronic Keyer) (Memories) Convenient audio input/output for digital modes? (DSP) (HF only, or 6M, VHF, UHF) –Better to have dedicated 2M radio Menu tree, or all controls visible (SDR) (Computer control for remote) (Band scope)

3. Aftermarket Accessories Inexpensive way to add capabilities to older radios Normally these are non-proprietary Audio DSP Active audio filter Separate manual antenna tuner Remote VFO Forward/Reflected power (SWR) meter Separate stand-alone Gen cov’g receiver

4. Some Recommendations (Can be found in the $300-500 range and will sell for same amount to get your money out of it) Yaesu FT-840, FT890AT, FT101 series Icom IC-735, IC-736 Kenwood TS430S, TS-440S. TS520 series, TS-530S, TS-830S Kenwood TS-930s, TS-940s TenTec Argosy II