Now I will agree that the 706MKIIG, as well as the other micromobiles (FT100D,
FT857, FT897) are very good values and great ways to get on VHF/UHF at a very
reasonable price. I have used them for exactly that purpose, as well as HF
work. However, it is far from the "best" VHF/UHF contesting rig in most
people's minds and situations. Compared to the Yaesu FT100D, it isn't even the
best micromobile HF/VHF/UHF rig for contesting-the front end of the FT100D
blows it away.
I tried a 706MKIIG in the 2004 ARRL RTTY Roundup (hardly a major contest) on
HF. It overloaded so badly (and this was with the preamp off) that it became
useless. Now I wasn't using high stacked monobanders either where the antenna
gain killed it-just a fairly low 2 element miniquad. I ran a FT100D in the
2002 10 meter contest to the tune of 850 QSOs without a problem.
In terms of casual contesting, the Icom 718 is a great value in an HF rig-DSP,
built in keyer, easy to use for less than $550, but I don't think anyone would
consider it the "best" contest rig for HF. Of course it is better than having
no contest rig at all.
In many cases a 706MKIIG will work just fine for VHF contesting, especially if
you live where I do, where QRM on 2 meters is just a dream at this point.
However, it isn't the "best" by a long shot.
73s John NE0P
---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: Dan Brown <brown@brauhaus.org>
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 09:45:57 -0400 (EDT)
>On Fri, 28 Apr 2006, John Geiger wrote:
>
>> And I don't know how you can put "contesting" and "706" in the same
>> sentence. The 706MKIIG has one of the worst front ends of any radio I have
>> seen.
>
>For a group which has expressed concern about the falling interest in VHF
>contesting, I'm rather surprised to see the 706mkIIg - poo-poo'ed so
>quickly. I personally find it has been a great way to give a try to VHF
>contesting. No, it may not be the sharpest or most sensative rig out
>there, but, for (now) under $1000 it offers all modes on three 50mhz+
>bands, as well as being small enough to be a rover or portable rig. I
>haven't tried, but I would imagine that the 10m coverage is just fine for
>it to be used as an IF rig with a transverter, so upgrading to more serious
>contest or weak signal usage is attainable. Further, in looking around at
>quite a number of rover and VHF contester pages, it appears to be not an
>uncommon choice.
>
>Maybe that sounds like a "microsoft" approach - aiming for the fat part of
>the bell curve, but, what the heck? I'm out to have fun, and see what I
>can do with a reasonable station, not trying to work Mars. My station has
>plenty of room for improvement, but, for me, thats part of what this is all
>about... tinkering and tweaking the system to see what more I can squeeze
>out or what bits I need to add to get on another band. My first step in
>that direction was figuring out how to get a 2m and 440m antenna wired into
>the single VHF/UHF port. Next step... 220mhz transverter? I dunno yet,
>but do know that I think the 706mkIIg makes a great VHF contest rig for
>me.
>
>73,
>de N8YSZ.
>
>
>> 73s John NE0P
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Mike (KA5CVH) Urich" <ka5cvh@gmail.com>
>> To: "T. M." <k7xc@charter.net>
>> Cc: <ne0p@lcisp.com>; <vhfcontesting@contesting.com>;
>> <vhf@w6yx.stanford.edu>; <6meter@yahoogroups.com>;
>> <sidewinders@yahoogroups.com>
>> Sent: Friday, April 28, 2006 12:43 PM
>> Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] [VHF] Best contesting rig
>>
>>
>> > On 4/27/06, T. M. <k7xc@charter.net> wrote:
>> >
>> > > Funny, I dont see the IC-746 on that list at all. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....
>> >
>> > Mike wrote
>> >
>> > That's because everyone knows ICOM stands for "I Can Only Monitor: :-)
>> >
>> > --
>> > Mike Urich, KA5CVH
>> > http://ka5cvh.com
>> > Amateur radio ~is~ a contact sport
>> >
>> > http://ka5cvh.com/democ.htm
>> >
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> VHFcontesting mailing list
>> VHFcontesting@contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
>>
>
>--
>Dan Brown
>brown@brauhausdc.org
>
>
________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________
VHFcontesting mailing list
VHFcontesting@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
|