Wish me luck☘️ PASSED!

[ACORN]

I've reconsidered. Now I'm leaning towards the Icom7100. All bands, all modes, 100 watts.
Unless I'm mistaken, the 7300 is only HF.

 

[Lance Boyle]

No.
I should have, but I took a couple practice exams for the General and I was lost.
I'm going to start studying.

You have nothing to lose taking the next test. I studied my butt of for tech and general in one sitting and was cramming time wise for that as the local club announced the test date just a month out from when I picked up the manuals off amazon.

I passed General in the first sitting after overthinking a four answers on the tech. The proctor told me I changed four right answers to wrong answers on the tech lol. I passed with a few questions to spare. Then took the general and told him I won't change any first answers without good cause this time. I did much better.

He strongly suggested I try the extra even though I never studied for it. I bombed it getting 26/50 but that's better than studying for it and getting that score. I studied and passed the extra four months later.

Honestly to anyone thinking about it the tech and general material is the same just in more detail on the general. You are well served to take them together!

Congrats even though it's been a few months!

73 de KD2VSE

 

[Lance Boyle]

I've reconsidered. Now I'm leaning towards the Icom7100. All bands, all modes, 100 watts.
Unless I'm mistaken, the 7300 is only HF.

Yes the 7300 is multi mode but only goes as high as 6 meters.

I am sure you have heard it before but the issue with all in one radios is if something fails then you have possibly lost it all in one unit or have a dead side. Many suggest have your VHF as a seperate radio.

I own a 7300, my first HF rig. It's getting a little dated tech wise but it's still a very handy versatile radio. I would not trade it for a 7100. The thing I see the 7100 as a logical choice for is a mobile rig in the vehicle. That said there are plenty of 7100s in shacks all over the world.

If you get in to digital modes the 7300 is one of the best set ups. I tried some digital with some fine help from an elmer on another gun board. , K0UA. He's generous as hell with hams and a wizard with set ups. I did not stick with the digital though.

 

[jb28]

Thanks guys.
I'm looking around, and there is a local ham club I've joined.
My "problem" is antenna location. No place for a high setup. Not to worried. A simple one would be fine. I can worry about dx down the road. Happy if I get contacts a few hundred miles. And just get some time in.

 

[ACORN]

Yes the 7300 is multi mode but only goes as high as 6 meters.

I am sure you have heard it before but the issue with all in one radios is if something fails then you have possibly lost it all in one unit or have a dead side. Many suggest have your VHF as a seperate radio.

I own a 7300, my first HF rig. It's getting a little dated tech wise but it's still a very handy versatile radio. I would not trade it for a 7100. The thing I see the 7100 as a logical choice for is a mobile rig in the vehicle. That said there are plenty of 7100s in shacks all over the world.

If you get in to digital modes the 7300 is one of the best set ups. I tried some digital with some fine help from an elmer on another gun board. , K0UA. He's generous as hell with hams and a wizard with set ups. I did not stick with the digital though.

I'm going back and forth in which rig. The 7100 or the 7300. I have to admit the 7300 is sexier. I have a couple of HTs that I can probably hit my clubs repeater with. I'm up on a ridge and the repeater is maybe 3-4 miles away. I never got to trying to program it into my HTs. Once I get off my butt I'd like to put up a 2 meter J pole.
I guess that will cover VHF and UHF.
No idea what I'll run when I get on HF.
I'm approaching 70 so I want to choose the right rig for me.
Maybe local nets, a little FT8.
The finish line is approaching faster than I like.
The myriad of choices in this hobby is mind boggling.

 

[Rat458]

Yes the 7300 is multi mode but only goes as high as 6 meters.

I am sure you have heard it before but the issue with all in one radios is if something fails then you have possibly lost it all in one unit or have a dead side. Many suggest have your VHF as a seperate radio.

I own a 7300, my first HF rig. It's getting a little dated tech wise but it's still a very handy versatile radio. I would not trade it for a 7100. The thing I see the 7100 as a logical choice for is a mobile rig in the vehicle. That said there are plenty of 7100s in shacks all over the world.

If you get in to digital modes the 7300 is one of the best set ups. I tried some digital with some fine help from an elmer on another gun board. , K0UA. He's generous as hell with hams and a wizard with set ups. I did not stick with the digital though.

What I did when I upgraded to General was I looking at multi mode radios and weighing the cost versus performance .
Almost went with the 991 but decided since I already two 2 meter mobiles I went with a decent HF rig .
Have one Icom 2300 as a base hooked up to a 12 foot Cushman yagi and have talked to many on it.
Limited to 2 meter only but it gives me a starting point.

 

[Lance Boyle]

If you have space in the lawn a vertical antenna works pretty good if you use ground radials. My HF antenna is a hustler BTV5 I have out on the side lawn. I did bury coax to it. That was a chore but I like that better than a drooping coax hanging in my way when I mow. My trees were a nuisance as far as a wire antenna. I did start with a MFJ OCF dipole. It's a very good antenna too only I couldn't get it too high. That said I talked to Italy, Spain and most of the U.S. on it. Another thing is half the guys in my club with antennas strung in the trees are always repairing them after wind or ice storms. My vertical has never had an issue but the post and radials entering the ground need some serious weeding. I don't weed eat the unit because it would strip off the insulation on the radials. I should hit it with a little round up.

 

[Lance Boyle]

Thanks guys.
I'm looking around, and there is a local ham club I've joined.
My "problem" is antenna location. No place for a high setup. Not to worried. A simple one would be fine. I can worry about dx down the road. Happy if I get contacts a few hundred miles. And just get some time in.

Run what you can! and what you can afford! AS YOU KNOW a dipole hung from a couple trees will work and can be almost free with scrap wire. I think my Hustler antenna was between $2-300 but they're a lot more now ar DX engineering where I looked quick.

My mobile setup dipole antennas are made with cheap coax to banana plug adapters and 18 ga wire. Granted that's single band but I have pairs of wire tuned for different bands and can swap them out. I made 40,20 and 10m iirc but have 17m as well because I got rambunctious trimming to tune thinking I was taking too many short bits off I lopped off too much trying to hasten the task and went too far.

I also made an endfed, A black plastic box that Barnes TTSX bullets came in contains a wrapped toroid, a resister and a BNC coax socket. Same cheap 18 ga wire used for the antenna. It's bolted to a winder I made from a dollar store thin cutting board.

 

[jb28]

Thanks for the ideas. Im working on it

That's thinking outside the box..... bah dump pah
I'll show myself out.