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Cost estimate for initial set up?

topic posted Tue, May 20, 2008 - 1:20 PM by  		Share/Save/Bookmark
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I am wondering how much expense I should plan for allowing my toy budget in order to purchase a complete shortwave radio set-up, meaning everything needed from microphone to antenna and all the equipment inbetween?

Though I will not actually be actively shopping for one to two years I am starting now with learning about which brands and systems others like using and find reliable. One old-timer I spoke with awhile back said his ancient box --which has actual red-glowing vacuum tubes in it-- is the only way to go, so I'd imagine opinions and experiences vary quite a bit regarding best equipment types, brands and models.

Doubtless there is also a price range, with an approximate lower end for the costs to expect and no upper limit depending on how ornate and elaborate one wants to get. My interest is in assembling a system which has a very long distance range (I'm in Alaska right now but it will eventually be located on the Big Island of Hawaii), allows good quality voice communication (versus Morse only), and is reliable (in the sense of not breaking down frequently and needing to be sent to the shop for diagnosis and new parts). Seems like the eventual actual cost for setting up and ongoingly using a system in any sort of undertaking (whether fishing fly-tieing or stained glass or old car restoration) is always a whole lot higher than one might naively think it will be at the outset when one is all flush with more enthusiasm than good sense, so I'd be interested to hear folks' estimates of how much to figure --bottom line-- it is going to end up costing to put together a solid and powerful shortwave set-up.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for whatever comments you might share.
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  • Re: Cost estimate for initial set up?

    Tue, May 20, 2008 - 2:48 PM
    This is a very loaded question.

    I have been looking at some equipment recently and have determined that I could probably put together a very decent lower end system (100watts/dipole or vertical antenna) for approximately US$1500.-US$2000. This is for all new equipment.

    You can get a decent HF radio such as the Yaesu FT450AT (100W HF / Antenna Tuner) US$750.00.
    Power Supply: Under US$100.
    You can get a dipole (or make one) for anywhere from about US$30.-US$300. or a decent vertical type for US$200.-US$500.
    Cabling... How long do you need it? I would guess about US$100. for cabling and fittings within about 100-150ft.
    Miscellaneous mounting hardware: ??-US$300. maybe. (That would be for mounting brackets, guy wires, custom bits, etc.)

    That should set you up and running with HF from the get-go. Now you can look at something a little bit higher end like the Icom IC-7000 or the Kenwood TS-480. You can also look at an antenna tuner, antennas, cabling, power supplies, etc. for about US$1000. more you can get a much nicer setup. Then you can start looking at the radios that start to run between US$3500.-US$12,000.

    Many people will have many things to say about this. This is just a rough guide to give you a ballpark. A lot of it is going to depend on preference as well as features. Will you want to use your computer with it? (to store the memories, control it, remote control it, etc.) Do you want portability? What are your land restrictions? The biggest factor goes into what kind of antenna you can put up. There are a lot of restrictions in cities and some country areas.

    Keep in mind that you can also find a lot of used equipment that will work very well as well. You can probably do even better than what I was estimating for a lower end, basic system (Now someone will probably say that what I call "lower-end" is actually really good, so again I will say it is a matter of personal preference and feature requirements for you.)

    I personally am debating between 3 radios right now, the Kenwood TS-480, Kenwood TS2000, or the Icom IC-7000. I need to read the manuals and play with them a bit more to see how comfortable I am with each of them before I make my decision. (US$1000.-US2000. is my budget for the radio alone.)

    I hope this will help. Take a look at HRO (www.hamradio.com) or some other radio sites such as AES. They have pricing and stuff available online.

    -Tony
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