[VHFcontesting] Looking for input on multiband VHF/UHF all mode rigs

[Ellen Rugowski]

Hi Mike,

Yes, I'm intimately familiar with the FT-736R.  I had one from 1995 till
1999 (when I had to sell it, in order to pay some bills, due to a stretch of
hard financial times).  Many times I ran mine barefoot.  I already had a 6m
rig (an FT-690R Mk II) at the time, so I set my '736R up for 2, 222, 432, &
1296.  All of my killer tropo was worked with my '736R.  My only concern is
the 1296 band module.  When I got my 1296 module (and 220 module for that
matter) in the mid 90s, I paid about $500 plus for it. Nowadays, not only
are they hard to come by, but pricey to boot.  The last 1296 module I saw on
ePay went for well over $700 or $800.  I was surprised, when read a couple
of years ago, that the internal power supplies in the FT-736R were skanky.
I never had any problems with mine, and I used it protable outdoors at my
parents' place all of the time.  One of the times, was when I was stupid
enough to work the January contest from my parents' detached, unheated
garage. The temp was 3 below.  Whenever I tuned around, I'd get a burst of
noise from the PLL.  I kept on expecting it to unlock.  I almost suffered
hypothermia (in spite of wearing heavy winter clothing).  Never again.

73,
Ellen - AF9J
EN52xx

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike (KA5CVH) Urich" <ka5cvh at gmail.com>
To: "Ellen Rugowski" <ellenjoanne2003 at sbcglobal.net>
Cc: <vhfcontesting at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 10:17 PM
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Looking for input on multiband VHF/UHF all mode
rigs


> On Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 9:50 PM, Ellen Rugowski
> <ellenjoanne2003 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
> Soooo, I'm looking to enhance my 2m, and get back my 432 capability.
> With that in mind, I'm looking for the first time in 9 years, to
> purchase a multi-mode, multi-band rig
>
> Mike wrote
>
> Wow congratulations Ellen,
>
> Maybe not the overall best but, HIGH, on my list would be to do some
> shopping around for a used FT736R.  The only know problem, to me at
> least, is it has one of the crappiest internal power supplies know to
> man (or woman) I run mine on an external Astron now.  The only other
> down side to the rig its basically QRP on all bands so you will wish
> to add amps as time goes along.
>
> If you are not away this is a four band (144 & 432 fixed) all mode and
> then you can pick up two more modules for either 50 / 222 / 1200 MHz.
>
> YMMV
>
> -- 
> Mike Urich, KA5CVH
> http://ka5cvh.com
>
> There is only one church ... and
> there is only one set of rules ... and
> God wrote the rules ... not the church!
>
> http://ka5cvh.com/political/lincoln.htm
> http://www.eyeblast.tv/Public/Video.aspx?rsrcID=2036