What radios do I need to purchase to build a ham shack?

I already got a 2 meter HT and a 440 on its way, what else do I need to purchase? Which radios do you recommend?

You will not be satisfied with HT’s as a home station… A mobile rig and a good antenna will be much better.

If you are higher than Technician, I’d recommend one of the newer all-band, all-mode rigs, an automatic tuner, and something like a G5RV antenna.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 9:35 am and is filed under radios. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “What radios do I need to purchase to build a ham shack?”

meshugga42 on November 10th, 2009 at 3:21 pm

You will not be satisfied with HT’s as a home station… A mobile rig and a good antenna will be much better.

If you are higher than Technician, I’d recommend one of the newer all-band, all-mode rigs, an automatic tuner, and something like a G5RV antenna.
References :
Ken E on November 10th, 2009 at 4:01 pm

There are a lot of good tx/rx ’s out there and you can’t really go past Yaesu, Ten-Tech, Icom or Kenwood for value.

But it is not necessary to go for new. Make contact with a few local hams in your area using the HT and arrange shack visits. You will learn a lot and you may find that one or two have gear they are willing to sell. If it is in good condition and does what you want, buy. A lot of recent stuff has bells and whistles which might be useful in some situations but you would find that you never use it. Also get a good SWR/power meter.

Check reviews in recent issues of QSL, other mags or online if going for new.
References :

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