It is a lot easier to design a "DC to daylight" receiver into a radio. A
transmitter gets to be a problem as most RF power devices have narrow
operational ranges. Just look at a databook for most of the big RF
transistor houses and you will see a lack of coverage in the 220 MHz. area.
You can "force" a 432 MHz. transistor to operate at 200 but it can be a real
pain due to undesired spurs and oscillations. I had a test design that
would transmit from "DC to light", all at the same time! I could break the
squelch on any radio within five miles. Luckily, it only lasted for about a
second before the top "popped" off of the transistor.
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Geiger" <johngeig@yahoo.com>
To: <caitlynmaire@earthlink.net>
Cc: <johngeig@yahoo.com>; <W2fca@cs.com>; <wsvhf@mailman.qth.net>;
<VHFcontesting@contesting.com>; <vhf@w6yx.stanford.edu>
Sent: Friday, January 31, 2003 3:00 PM
Subject: [WSVHF] Re: [VHFcontesting] Re: Ideal contesting rig
> Hi Caity, and others,
>
> I was noticing the same thing the other day. Icom
> does seem to have given up on 220, as I don't think
> they make any rig that covers 220 now. Don't know if
> they got burned too bad on the 375A or what. BTW, if
> Icom has any left over in their warehouse, they should
> look at what they are going for now. Icom does
> deserve special mention, though, for the T81 which did
> bring 1.2g capabilities to more people at an
> affordable price. It has been worth a few contest
> QSOs and 3 grids towards my VUCC.
>
> The more disturbing trend is how manufactures think we
> are all going to become SWLs. Most of the new HTs
> cover HF, wideband receive, etc., but very limited
> transmit. Give me an extra transmit band anyday over
> HF receive on an HT. In fact, I don't want HF
> receive. It has to be frustrating to be out in the
> field and hearing all the DX I am missing!
>
> Kenwood did add 220 to the F6 (great job), and Yaesu
> made an attempt at 220 in the VX7R, and even alinco
> and ADI are making 220 HTs, but when is the first
> Quint bander coming out. Icom did the quad band
> concept, too band they discontinued it-now lets take a
> T81 and add 220, and find a way to open up the
> transmit for 903!!
>
> 73s JOhn NE0P
>
>
> --- caitlynmaire@earthlink.net wrote:
> > Hi, John, and everyone else,
> >
> > On Fri, 31 Jan 2003 07:55:09 -0800 (PST)
> > John Geiger <johngeig@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > Very interesting discussion...
> >
> > > I agree that the Icom IC970H is considered the top
> > of
> > > the line VHF/UHF rig, and I believe that it is,
> > and it
> > > still commands a very good price. The one
> > shortcoming
> > > with it is that it is a satellite rig-that means
> > that
> > > it has no 6 meters,
> >
> > I believe Icom assumes that if you have an IC-970H
> > you will also have
> > one of their high end HF rigs, all of which have 6
> > meters. Considering
> > what the IC-575H is going for on the used market
> > nowadays, having one
> > additional rig (instead of a shack in a box) doesn't
> > seem like such a
> > bad thing to me.
> >
> > > no 220
> >
> > Icom has long abandoned the 222MHz band. It isn't a
> > ham band in Japan
> > and Europe, and even in the U.S. demand was minimal.
> > Take a look how
> > many FT-736Rs have the 222 module compared to the
> > total number out
> > there. Take a look at how many IC-375As they
> > managed to sell. I think
> > this was, more than anything, a marketing decision.
> > They certainly
> > could have made a 222 module for the rig.
> >
> > > and the 2.4 module is for
> > > the wrong part of the 13cm band.
> >
> > Not in Japan, it's not. Their band is much smaller
> > than ours. Was the
> > 13cm module even sold in the US? I don't think so.
> >
> > > That seems to be
> > > Icom's dirction today-make all of their VHF rigs
> > > geared only to satellite users.
> >
> > Not exactly. I think they are geared to the
> > Japanese market, not the
> > U.S. market.
> >
> > > Yaesu is doing the
> > > same thing.
> >
> > Yep.
> >
> > > The beauty of the FT736 was that it was a
> > > satellite rig that was also geared towards
> > terrestrial
> > > operation-hence the 220 and 6 modules.
> >
> > It also had a mediocre receiver. The FT-736R was
> > simply the best
> > all-in-one budget solution. Serious VHF/UHFers
> > prefer transverters for
> > good reason: they outperform the FT-736R in almost
> > every way. Ditto
> > the FT-847. The IC-970H and IC-x75 series realy
> > could hold their own,
> > performance-wise. Pity there isn't the demand in
> > the U.S. for the
> > IC-970H or an updated version.
> >
> > 73,
> > Caity
> > KU4QD
> > >
> > > I am curious as to why there is this satellite
> > focus.
> > > Surely there must be more hams doing terrestrial
> > work
> > > than satellite work
> > >
> > > 73s John NE0P
> > >
> > >
> > > --- caitlynmaire@earthlink.net wrote:
> > > > Hi,
> > > >
> > > > The closest thing today would be the Icom
> > IC-970J,
> > > > the Japanese version
> > > > of the IC-970H, which is still sold in Japan.
> > We
> > > > Americans wouldn't pay
> > > > the big bucks so it was discontinued here. No
> > 6m,
> > > > but a fabulous
> > > > 2m/70cm/23cm rig. I got to play with one and
> > > > decided that if I ever won
> > > > the lottery... Every time I see an IC-970H with
> > the
> > > > 23cm module it
> > > > *still* goes for a lot of green.
> > > >
> > > > 73,
> > > > Caity
> > > > KU4QD
> > > > ------
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