Lately old Kenwoods have been fetching "good money" in the used market.
They are all fine high performance old timers and fun to use. I have a
830s and that radio is sure worth $350 to me!
But I have been using an Omni C a couple times a week lately and I have
to testify that Omni Ds (and Tritons) are really great radios.
Audio is outstanding and they operate as smooth as can be (except for
somewhat rough AGC on loud stuff). RX is super quiet and a joy to hear.
Plus the old Omnis have a preselector. Every new ham should have the
learning experience of peaking up a sharp tuned circuit as part of the
receive experience.
It seems to me that an analog Omni or the early Omni D digital might be
the cheapest best out there. They are a previous generation of radio and
not fancy looking in any way, but they were a high dollar premium radio
in the day.
Until you've used one, it is hard to understand how good they are at
what they do. My vote for the $200 and under class is OMNI A/D.
Joe N5KAT
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