TS-570D and Station Update

[Wendell - W5FL]

Thanks for all the information on my tower installation.  I poured all =
the concrete yesterday, and it will be ready to stack by the weekend.  =
It is a 64 ft Rohn 45 Foldover tower.  The 2 El Lightning Bolt Quad =
arrived last Friday w HD spreaders.

I bought a 1000 foot roll of #14 tinned copper wire before I found out =
that tin has 20% of the conductivity of copper, so before I buy anything =
else for this station upgrade, thought I would request assistance from =
those that have been there.

I am trying to update my equipment to the fourth station in 42 years of =
dxing and some contesting.  I like the specs for the new Kenwood TS-570D =
(or the new version with 6 mtrs - which is a band I have never made many =
contacts) and it's nice computer interface.  Since it only takes one =
xtal filter, 500 Hz seems the only option.  I like the price, too, =
better than the more expensive FT1000MP or the TS-870 (which seems to =
have problems in dx and contest dynamic range situations.  =20

Every time I nearly convince myself to buy one of these transceivers, I =
hear from very respected dxers that none of these rigs are as good as a =
TS-850 or FT990 with ssb and cw cascaded filters and the FT-1000MP is =
not worth $1000 more than the 990.  Have we made no progress in the last =
10 years in receivers?  I also keep hearing that the external DSP boxes =
really don't make much improvement in the ability to copy weak signals =
near the noise level (Like the HEARD station that never has propagation =
to my dipole), but are very effective heterodyne eliminators and improve =
some on noise. =20

My requirements are simple.  A new transceiver has to work a lot better =
than my FT101ZD with 500hz and 2.1khz filters (and homebrew audio =
filter) and remote vfo.  If it has DSP, it HAS to definitely improve the =
noise floor and allow single signal cw operation and contest dynamic =
range situations.  It would even be nice to have a real AGC circuit that =
works well and clean break-in cw.  Good audio on both receive and =
transmit and built in automatic tuner (since none of them use 6146's in =
the finals) and enough output to drive the SB-220 to full power.

This group probably has used more good receivers than the rest of the =
world, so I trust your advise.  Please shed some light on the mysteries =
of the new generation of transceivers or the old if they are better.  I =
want to buy a better transceiver, but it really has to be better.

Other items considering to update station:

Replace Nye Viking Paddle with Bencher.
Replace Ham M with Tailtwister (guess I would consider the Yaesu 1000)
Heil Pro Headset w HC4 mike
LMR400 coax instead of RG213 except for flex and around rotators (each =
run is 166 ft)
50 amp 13.8 volt supply for the Hamshack
Need a good inexpensive 2 mtr 50 watt transceiver (or dual band) but =
haven't decided on which one.
ICE grounding blocks for feedlines at base of tower.
ICE filters for coax and control lines.

All comments and advice solicited.  Can't easily undo it if I do it =
wrong.


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