Technical > Ham Radio > Base station transciever - Need some advice on selection

Base station transciever - Need some advice on selection

The 590 is new.
The 570 came out in 1997.
What's your budget?
What bands do you want to operate? Does it have to be a new radio? There are some excellent used radios out there that are available for a fraction of the price of a new one.
Keep in mind that most new radios will have some sort of menuing system, although the ones with more knobs and buttons on the front panel generally don't have the depth of menus like the Icom 7000 does.
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One man's Magic is another man's Engineering.

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the reply and info. I didn't realize models only changed every 10? years or so.

budget: I need to stay under 2000.00 and I'm not opposed to buying a used rig. I'm just exploring and learning so my band coverage requirements are pretty open. I have another radio to cover 2m.

I'm ok with some functions under the menu, I just want to spend less time reading the icom manual and more time on the air. One of the frustrations I have is that some signals seem to come in and then be drowned out by static or noise and I can't or don't know how to adjust the radio to block out the unwanted noise.

I believe the ic-7000 is a great radio but I don't think I'm ready for it. I earned my license about 2 years ago and made a few contacts on phone and psk-31 but haven't done much with it since. I think you and few other helped me sort out some setting issues back then on this board.

Thanks again,
Chris
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see my Uverse Review @ »Review of AT&T U-Verse by chris123

Ahhhh, yes, I seem to remember you now.
How often the companies change their line up depends on the company. It seems like Yaesu and Icom are coming out with new radios every few months! Kenwood announced their new TS-990, and I've read it will be their last "big" HF radio.
The 590 is a very nice radio, and I wouldn't mind having one, but I'm saving my nickels and dimes for a new Yaesu.
What are you going to use for an antenna? Are you mostly interested in HF? Keep in mind even an excellent radio can be severely handicapped by a poor antenna.
Learning how to use your rig effectively to minimize QRN (static and natural noise) and QRM (other stations) is just part of getting to know your radio. I'm not familiar with the 7000, although one of my friends has one. I tend to stay away from small, DC-to-Daylight rigs for my 'main' radio, and I don't care for having most functions buried in menus, either! I've always felt that the most used controls should have a button, switch, or knob, and leave the things that get changed infrequently as a menu item.
The ARRL has a nice article on "what rig should I buy", and you can find it here:
»www.arrl.org/what-rig-should-i-buy
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One man's Magic is another man's Engineering.

Jim, I looked at the ts990 but its not released yet and well out of my price range.

I have a g5rv jr antenna. I don't have much space so its tough to go with anything larger.

What competitors should I look at for the 590? Can anybody tell me what radios have similiar features at the 1500-2000 price range? It looks like the ts-590 has a USB port for control and audio. I would like that feature in the new radio.
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see my Uverse Review @ »Review of AT&T U-Verse by chris123

reply to chris123
The TS 590 came out in 2010 and was one of the more advanced radios to come out in the 1000-2000$ price range.

As for radios with a USB port, the Icom 7200 and 7410 have them, and the some of the newer Flex models as well.

One thing the IC 7000 has that these others do not, is the 2M and 70CM bands. So you will have to look at getting some thing to fill that spot when you trade in/sell your old rig.

If you can take a week end, you could rune here and get your hands on one.... »www.universal-radio.com/index.html

These Flex tracking notch filters look amazing.

Yes, they are.
I have a Flex 5000, and it's an absolutely stunning radio, with a steep learning curve.
And the TS-990 is outside my price range, too!
I held off buying what will probably be my last big, new radio when I heard it was coming out. Now that they've released a "picture" of it, I've decided to go with what I almost bought, a Yaesu FTdx-5000.
But back to radios for you......
The Ten-Tec Eagle is supposed to be pretty good, but I haven't tried one. $1819 without internal tuner, $2019 with internal tuner.
An Icom IC-7410 also got very good reviews. $1899 at HRO.
A friend of mine has a Yaesu FT-950, and he loves it. $1420 at HRO.
Are there any radio stores near where you live? It's always nice to sit down and "test drive" one if you can.
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One man's Magic is another man's Engineering.

Jim, The closest shop is AES. Its about 2.5 hours each way. Hopefully I can look at some of these radios at the hamfest this weekend.

I thought I wanted the Flex 3000 but several on QRZ report RFI issues.

I'll take a closer look at the others you listed Jim. Thanks.
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see my Uverse Review @ »Review of AT&T U-Verse by chris123

"RFI Issues" with the Flex series of radios are kinda overblown.
There are some basic, simple steps that eliminate 99% of the "RFI Issues" people complain about.
All I had to do was put some small, snap-on ferrite cores on both ends of the keyboard and mouse cables, at the PC, and at the KVM switch I use to switch between the "Flex PC", and my Linux machine.
I had some problems on 12 Meters where the keyboard and mouse would lock up, and I couldn't unkey the transmitter, and the cores cured it.
I also connected the case of the PC (It's an all-aluminum Lian Li case) to the ground post on the Flex, but I did that just on "GP".
I have a 'line isolator' on the coax to the antenna, just before the coax goes into the SGC Smartuner I have at the base of the antenna, but I'm not sure if that helps or not, because it's been in the line ever since I put the antenna up.
My 5000A sits on *top* of the PC I built for it, and except for the KVM cables, isn't bothered by the RF.
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One man's Magic is another man's Engineering.

In that case I may go with the flex 3000. Are you happy with the 5000 and if so why are you saving for a new yeasu?

I don't like the idea of having a radio tied to a PC but I think being able to see as well as hear whats happening in the band may be helpful to me.

Any chance I can get the flex 3000 to work with my ah-4 tuner? From what I read the internal tuner won't match beyond 50ohms.
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see my Uverse Review @ »Review of AT&T U-Verse by chris123

I love my Flex 5000, BUT, I also like big radios with lots of knobs and buttons!
And I'm fortunate to be able to afford having both. I'd keep my TS-950SDX, too, but in a compromise with my YF, I'm going to sell it to help fund the big Yaesu.
And like you, there are times I just don't want to power up the PC to see if the bands are open. I'd rather just hit a switch, plug in the headphones, and go at it.
For contesting and serious HF work, I think the Flex is about the best radio I've ever used. It's just amazing to crank the receiver bandwidth down to about 1kHz, have the interfering signals disappear, AND still have intelligible audio!
I'm just finishing freshening up my TS-950SDX (new memory battery, latest firmware, alignment, good clean and scrub) before I put it on eBay, and after it sells, I'll have enough mad money to get the FTdx-5000.
The PowerSDR software has a "Tune" button that puts the radio in CW mode, at about 10 watts output. If the AH-4 is anything like my SG-230, that should be plenty to make it tune. I've never looked into the AH-4, but I'm pretty sure you can use it stand-alone, as opposed to being connected to an ICom radio.
One thing to keep in mind, though......if having to dig into menus bothered you, the entire Flex radio is one BIG menu system!
It has a ton of frequently used functions available as buttons, and most of the "Advanced" or "Expert" menu functions are preset, and hidden.
And the email reflector and knowledgebase have about anything you'd need to ask about already asked and answered.
Read the eHam reviews (but stay OUT of the SDR forum!) before you decide, but from what I know, the Flex 3000 is also an excellent radio.
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One man's Magic is another man's Engineering.

reply to drjim

I know a couple of people who have the (fairly) new Omni VII, and I had an Omni VI for a few months while I cleaned it up to sell. The Omni VII has a very good receiver, and is trivial to network as a remote radio. The Omni VI and the VI Plus were the last of the "classic" Ten Tec radios in terms of feel, fit, and finish.
I've also used both the original Orion, and the newer Orion II, and I didn't care for them. Both of the radios I used (especially the older one) had buggy firmware that would result in them locking up from time-to-time.
The older Omni's were nice, but all of their newer radios that I've used have had a really cheap, "home brew" feel to them.
Cheap wobbly knobs, thin metal cases that oil-canned when you pressed your finger on them, "plasticky" looking front panels, and a bunch of other things that don't belong on a $2000+ radio.
If I was going to buy an American made radio in that price class, I'd buy a K3 without hesitation.
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One man's Magic is another man's Engineering.

I'd love to buy an American made radio but I just can't get into the looks of the thing. Plus I know this is dumb but the thing has a serial port on it and the mere presence of a serial port gives me the impression that the radio is outdated.

»www.theregister.co.uk/2001/10/04···_drives/

This article is from 11 years ago and talks about intel dropping serial ports and floppy drives.
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see my Uverse Review @ »Review of AT&T U-Verse by chris123

reply to drjim

My personal preference is the Elecraft equipment for American made. I also like Yeasu and Kenwood. Have you thought about the Flex series?

Yes, the flex 3000 is certainly on my list of possibilities as well as the ts-590 from Kenwood and the Yeasu ft-950.

I like the waterfall display on the the flex 3000 and the notch filters but I'm not sure if I want a radio tied to a computer yet.
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see my Uverse Review @ »Review of AT&T U-Verse by chris123

reply to chris123
Hank, have you used or handled a recent Ten Tec radio?

Maybe "homebrew" was a bit harsh, but they definitely do NOT meet the "fit and finish" standards of an Icom, Kenwood, Yeasu, or Elecraft.

The earlier Ten Tec radios were constructed to higher standards than the current ones.

Chris, I have an Elecraft K2 radio as my "back-up/portable/camping" radio and it's a gem. Excellent receiver, but takes some learning to get used to. Most of the buttons have 2 functions, depending on if you "tap", or "hold" it.

It sure packs a big punch in a small radio.
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One man's Magic is another man's Engineering.