[VHFcontesting] What's your favorite IF radio?

[Joshua M. Arritt]

Will second Zach's favor of the HTX-100.  They seem to be cheaper in 
sunspot cycle lulls, however.  They're Uniden HR-2510 at heart, and 
RatShack actually made improvements over the '2510 in terms of RX 
performance, simplifying by dumping AM/FM/LSB.   This is my 222 IF for 
the field.  Tip: buy several, mod them all, so you have a back-up. 
Various issues have cropped up on all three of mine, such as locked up 
VFO and squirrely RX audio.   Having a spare in the parts box in the 
field is helpful, so you can keep plugging in the 'test / Sprint, then 
go home and fix/drop kick the bum IF rig.

Using Peaberry SDRv2 for home 222 -- low power anyway, perfect fit.  SDR 
fits in the prev. ver. DEMI case, just put a USB port on the back (or 
front) and go.

Also use FT-817 for 10GHz.

Also use old IC-251As for my W1GHZ "Cheap Rover" boxes 902-2304. Mod'd 
the 251A for 0dBm easily, bypassing the last three stages in the PA w/ 
some '174 jumped over to the T/R sw.  RX performance is OK, if you don't 
mind the vac flour display and overall bulk. Removing the 110VAC PSU can 
make room for low power xvrtrs if desired.   Already outfitted w/ 
"spare" RCA F plugs on the back, so they meant for you to get in there 
and mod.  However, some 251's are going  $100+ higher today than they 
were 10 years ago on FeeBay.....  go figure....

- J

On 3/13/2015 2:44 AM, Zack Widup wrote:
> The HTX100 is better. It has a couple drawbacks too, but mostly I have
> lived with them.
>
> The two main ones for me are on CW mode. One is the lack of an offset
> in CW. Most ham rigs that do CW will offset the transmit and receive
> frequencies by about 700 Hz on CW so you hear a tone when you're
> zero-beat on transmit. The HTX-100 lacks this and I have to use the
> RIT knob to manually offset. The other is that, on CW, it receives
> both sidebands equally well. So in a busy CW segment such as on 6m
> when it's open, you hear people both above and below you in frequency.
> That isn't so much a problem on the higher bands.
>
> I modified one HTX-100 by removing the amp / heatsink module and
> putting an aluminum plate on the rear. I put a low-power 144 MHz
> transverter in place of the speaker. I put BNC connectors and
> power/switching interface connectors on the plate. The HTX-100
> supplies about +16 dBm to the amp module on transmit. That works out
> well for a transverter. You don't need a huge attenuator to reduce
> this to the 0 dBm level. This makes a nice microwave IF rig.
>
> A lot of people seem to be happy with the FT817 as an IF rig. I have
> an FT290RII that I also use as a microwave IF radio. It does quite
> well.
>
> 73, Zack W9SZ
>
>
> On 3/12/15, Dan Evans <dan.evans at insightbb.com> wrote:
>> Hello group,
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm planning to add a new transverter for 222 to the Rover line up, so I've
>> been thinking about IF rigs for the past few days.
>>
>>
>>
>> Currently, I have an HTX-10 that I modified for low level drive I plan to
>> use.  However, the HTX-10 has a couple of serious faults.  First and
>> foremost, the transmit audio is horrible.  The stock mic really sucks, so
>> I'm planning to wire up a different hand mic.  Hopefully this will fix the
>> audio problem.  The second problem is the lack of CW mode.  My plan here is
>> to wire up a sound card interface so I can use the computer to send CW.
>> Somewhat of a hassle, but it should work.
>>
>>
>>
>> Given the faults of the HTX-10, I have considered just getting a different
>> IF rig.  I wish I could go buy a new KX-3, or one of the fancy new FLEX
>> setups, but I can't afford that.  I'm thinking more along the line of the
>> HTX-100, or an HR-2510.
>>
>>
>>
>> So, what's your favorite IF rig?  Why?
>>
>>
>>
>> 73
>>
>> Dan
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> K9ZF
>> Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Clark County Indiana. EM78el
>> The once and future K9ZF /R no budget Rover
>>   ***QRP-l #1269
>> Check out the Rover Resource Page at:
>> <http://www.qsl.net/n9rla>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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