Hi friends,
I've been considering getting a Paragon II to use with MARS and to
just have another radio in the shack. I have an Orion but it won't do
very many of the MARS frequencies of course. I've never used a Paragon
(or Omni V/VI for that matter since those have similar controls) but
they impress me as a solid design with good performance that still has
repair support. For this application, I also think I prefer a classic
design with knobs and buttons instead of a computer interface like say a
Pegasus or whatever. This will be used almost entirely for SSB and I'm
looking primarily for a proven semi-modern solid-state radio that will
do MARS.
By way of a comparison, the Kenwood TS-850S is in same approximate
price range on the used market and gets a lot of positive comments for
being a very good performer and I know some use it for MARS. I've never
had a Kenwood but I respect many of the comments I have read about the
TS-850 although I think repair support is questionable. I had an Icom
746 at one time and it was a good radio but I decided to buy American
radios so I sold it. That's part of the reason I'm asking about the
Paragon.
I've also considered looking for a used 200W rig although I think
this would bump it up to the next price class. I've never had any of
those either but thought it would make an interesting upgrade to my
desk. I haven't researched any of those to see how well they would do
on MARS frequencies. I have a linear but have thought it would be nice
to have a 200W rig. If it runs on AC power, that's fine with me. I
won't be dragging this thing out into the woods.
I thought I might ask for opinions on the Paragon II here since I
haven't played with one and solicit other opinions. For the record, I
have not used a Jupiter either but I like the Paragon style more than
the Jupiter. I just have never been too interested in the Jupiter.
Thanks and sorry for a long post but I wanted to frame the question a bit.
Dave
K8JDC
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