What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
Jerry Keller (K3BZ)
on
September 12, 2005
View comments about this article!
I just noticed a very interesting eHam article by Ci Jones, WU7R that asked the question; "What would be the ultimate CW station?"
I looked around my own shack at the Icom IC-756ProII and PW-1 amp I'm lucky enough to have, and the 3-element SteppIR yagi that lives 50 feet over the backyard, and I thought… this is good; it's beyond all my wildest dreams.
Going back to reading thru the replies to Ci's question, I saw that the Elecraft K2 received the most plugs as the "ultimate CW rig," and it got me wondering...
What would be the ULTIMATE PHONE RIG? Would that also be the K2?
This article has expired. No more comments may be added.
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by G7VOT on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Yeasu FT-990.
An old classic that is very easy to operate and always sounds fantastic on TX even with the stock mic.
The RX is fantastic as well and for this radio's age it puts a lot of the new models to shame.
Just my opinion.
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by VE3TMT on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Kenwood TS850S. Sounds great right out of the box. Oh yeah, the receiver ain't bad either!
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KC0BUS on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
About time someone asks this question. If I've heard the question: "what's the best CW rig?" once, I've heard it a thousand times. Nobody ever asks: "what's the best phone rig?" I vote for some of the older Kenwoods for this category: TS-930, TS-940, TS-950, TS-850, etc....
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KA4KOE on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
The TS-940 sounds great, especially when using a Heil Classic.
For this discussion, we're assuming non-modified rigs and no outboard equalizers, nor feeding audio into any port besides the mic jack.
Phililp
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by K0BG on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
I wouldn't say this question is a can of worms, but it sure is close!
It's sort of like asking some guy you don't know what kind of underpants they wear, or which side they dress on. In other words, it's based on both preference, and the ultimate decision maker, the available funding.
Alan, KØBG
www.k0bg.com
PS: If you don't know which side you dress on, it's obvious you've never ordered a custom-made suit.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by K5DVW on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
AT&T used to make some pretty good phone rigs especially if you liked the way the metal bells rang you awake in the middle of the nite. Dang ole crank callers again!
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KE7N on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
I've had just about every HF rig made within the last 20 years and the TS-940S would by far have to be the number one choice based on the number of unsolicited "great audio" reports received. That would be followed not too far behind by the Yaesu FT-990 which is as much a joy to run as the 940. The Kenwood 500 and 800 series also have great audio if you prefer tube finals.
73, Ken
KE7N
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by K5UJ on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
It's kind of a silly question, because a great phone rig for dx chasing and contesting isn't necessarily a great phone rig for ragchewing, and vice versa. You can't really own one rig and have it all. I have a rig that has great receive audio and is really easy to use. I have another with a great speech processor and a 200 w. PA. if there were a way to smash them together and pop out a single rig with a great speech processor, 200 w. PA, easy to operate, with excellent rx audio fidelity, THAT would be the great phone rig (for me, as a ragchewer). But it still might not be the great phone rig for a dx chaser. Are you getting the picture now? Further, what is phone? if you mean SSB, that's one thing, but if you mean AM, that's a whole different deal.
A better question, might be, "If you were marooned on a desert island and had only one rig and you are a phone op, what would you want?"
For SSB:
If I were dxer/contester:
FT1000D
If I were ragchewer:
Probably TS870S but i'd have to think long and hard between it and Yaesu 1000 MP Mk V.
For AM:
TS850, maybe FT9000 MP (100 w. carrier) or old Collins.
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KC2HZW on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
I think the Yaesu Mark V series have great SSB audio...once you get the offsets adjusted for your voice. (Out of the box without adjustments, certainly not!) On several occasions during contests, I have worked dx stations in the middle of huge pile ups and they stopped -- to tell me how nice my audio sounded. How much better does it get than that?
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by W6TH on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
.
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
I have no idea as I am 100 percent CW.
As I check the posts, I now realize who all the SSB operators are and why I never hear them on the CW portion of the ham bands. Yet some claim they are 99.5 percent CW.
.:
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by ARRLBOOSTER on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
You just cannot beat the fine audio of the Alinco DX-77T. I have had it for a number of years and always get great comments about it's fine audio quality. No need to drop a bundle of cash.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by K4JF on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Of all the ones I've tried, the Kenwood TS-870S. I've received more positive comments on audio with that rig (both with Heil mike, and the MC-60A) than I ever did with others, including my Collins S-Line station. Plus the receiver with DSP is great!
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by N4ARI on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
I've owned may HF rigs over the past 30+ years. Some were/are the Icom 735/746PRO/756PRO, Drake C-Line, Yaesu from FT101 to 1000, Kenwood 950S, Johnson Viking, and a few others.
I'm NOT a CW operator anymore and expect the BEST from my SSB -AND- AM transmission.
The best from my experience is the TenTec Orion. Sure it gets great reviews by CW ops but the TX audio is simply impressive. It is the ONLY radio I have owned that get regular, unsolicited comments on my audio. The Orion even out performs my Johnson on AM.
Lately I've added W2IHY's EQ Plus and 8-band equalizer (with Heil mic) to spice things up a bit more.
Better radios 'I expect' would be the $11K radios by Icom & Yaesu, but maybe not.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by K4JSR on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
A spark gap modulated with a T-17 Carbon mike!
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KR4WM on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
To use a well-overused phrase- "it depends". Are you referring to the best-sounding transmit audio? Or do you mean the tightest receiver? The best sounding speaker? The best working DSP? There are many, many criteria by which rigs are judged, and each category may or may not rate high on your list of "must haves".
I get unsolicited reports of "great audio" from my Ten Tec Orion. I drive it with a Heil Classic Pro microphone and a W2IHY 8-band audio box. I like being able to use a foot switch to key my radio- but that's not part of the radio, it's an accessory. The built-in spectrum analyzer was nice when the radio was new, but it's been surpassed by the newer Orion II (not yet released). And the new color display, (which was probably available when the original Orion was being produced, but left out intentionally so they could sell more of the Orion II, I'm fairly certain) would be nice to have. I don't think any improvements can be made to the receiver- it's about as "hot" as they come.
Just don't worry so much about it. Whatever you buy, something new that's around the corner will eclipse it soon enough. Enjoy what you have, and drool over the next thing coming down the turnpike. That's what we all do best!
-KR4WM
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by VE3IOS on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Icom IC-765 was probably the best sounding rig. My Icom 751A is the best receiver, second place would be the Ten Tec Omni V.
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by WA6BFH on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Probably the Johnson 500, although just about any of the Viking series would qualify as well.
This in fact is the one instance where (as the question was framed) one does not need to consider the receiver portion of the station. In fact many here would probably think the ability to receive superfluous, especially those that mention their Heil microphones.
Pssssssst, another great feature of such rigs, you can just click the transmit switch on the front panel, and keep on talking!
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by WB2WIK on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Of those I've used, I'd say the IC-7800, so far. Maybe the FT9000DX, but I haven't used one.
Only difference between the ultimate phone rig and ultimate CW rig is the phone rig should place QSK, keying characteristics and narrow filter performance down lower on the list of important stuff.
Most all rigs can be made to "sound" good on phone by simply using a compatible microphone and having a good sounding voice, which can be trained by using a tape recorder.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by AH6RR on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Kenwoods TS-850S is without a dought the very best. No I will not sell mine so dont ask. Get your own.
Aloha
Roland AH6RR
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by X-WB1AUW on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
During this portion of the sun spot cycle, the one with a good receiver for 160-30 meters with a well selected, and competently adjusted mic.
I prefer hearing SSB audio without any processing.
73
Bob
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by W4VR on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Jerry, you have the ultimate phone rig...all you need to do is replace that proii with a proiii. I've had them all, and by far the best setup is the proiii/pw1. All I need now is the monster Steppir and I'll be happy.
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by G0GQK on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
For the best transmitted audio quality there is no doubt in my mind, the two best tranceivers are the Kenwood TS 850 and the Icom 746. No fiddling about with add on boxes, these two are the best, if the user knows how to adjust and operate them.
73, Mel
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by NT4XT on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
TS 850 with the special TS 850 DSP peripherial, the one made especially for only, the TS 850. I'm 95% CW so I forget what it's called.
Accessorized by W2IHY.
Amp of your choice.
Mic of your choice.
Probably no one could tell the difference anyway between an 850, and a TS 830/520 fully accessorized by W2IHY adjusted properly.
Heck from what I've heard on the air, whatever driver/amp/mic combination you use, all sounds phenomenal with the two added W2IHY accessorizations (adjusted to personal taste).
But given this Hi Fi SSB stuff, I'm only guessing, perhaps a rig that has fully adjustable TX bandwidth might be the ticket. Accessorized once again by you know...
I've also heard stock TS-830's and TS-530's that sounded amazing with just a hand mic and nothing else. Maybe there's something to old fashioned analog modulation, ending with analog amplification, when the original waveform is characteristically analog in nature.
Ultimately? I would imagine the Ultimate Phone Set Up is hopefully the one you own or eventually own, all components in the chain having been carefully considered and carefully selected, by you.
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by NT4XT on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
TS 850 with the special TS 850 DSP peripherial, the one made especially for only, the TS 850. I'm 95% CW so I forget what it's called.
Accessorized by W2IHY.
Amp of your choice.
Mic of your choice.
Probably no one could tell the difference anyway between an 850, and a TS 830/520 fully accessorized by W2IHY adjusted properly.
Actually, from what I've heard on the air, whatever driver/amp/mic combination you use, all sounds phenomenal with the two added W2IHY accessorizations (adjusted to personal taste).
But given this Hi Fi SSB stuff, I'm only guessing, perhaps a rig that has fully adjustable TX bandwidth might be the ticket. Accessorized once again by you know...
I've also heard stock TS-830's and TS-530's that sounded amazing with just a hand mic and nothing else. Maybe there's something to old fashioned analog modulation, ending with analog amplification, when the original waveform is characteristically analog in nature.
Ultimately? I would imagine the Ultimate Phone Set Up is hopefully the one you own or eventually own, all components in the chain having been carefully considered and carefully selected, by you.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by N6PSE on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
The Icom IC7800 with the Heil Goldline Pro Mic is truly tops in my book! Incredible full & rich audio. Perfect combination for SSB activities.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by AI4IT on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
For my money, the Cobra 40Channel RagChew 300 Series has to get the audio out vote! 30 years later, and it still torches the skywaves with its barely over noise level signals and channel 19 needless to say. Why did I say it?
A little levity; perhaps very little...
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by W5GI on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
My Panasonic. 2.4 GHZ telephone! Totally reliable and noise free.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by NL7W on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
My all around favorites are the TS-520S, TS-830S, and TS-850S radios. These produce amazing transmit audio without equalization gizmos or fancy microphones. All of these sound great on the air with an MC-50 or Shure 444D. My voice sounds great with this 850Sat simplistic audio setup:
- 444D w/ high-impedance setting selected (accentuating the lows)
- 850S "high-boost" audio function selected (accentuating the highs)
- Speech processor on -- set for the 9 o'clock position (peaking 6 db of RF compression)
Now, I'm sure Julius' (W2IHY) and Heil products would make these rigs sound better. But, they would do so a cost.
The receivers in the 850S and 830S are still VERY competitive to anything on the market -- except for maybe an Orion or an FTdx-9000 (these new rigs have narrow roofing filters providing a significant close-in dynamic range advantage).
Needless to say, I like my cost effective setups to-date.
73.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by WA6BFH on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Yes, as Steve suggests, training your voice can be a real advantage. I do this a lot!
In fact I have found that the effect is enhanced by doing this in front of a mirror. I like it so much that I placed similar full length mirrors on all the walls, but then the room acoustics suffered. It took quite a bit of engineering to have the entire room covered in mirrors, with strategic mounting of acoustical foam to improve the studio quality of the audio.
Pretty soon, in maybe a few more months, I will stop practicing with my Ampex recorder and Senheiser microphone, and actually get on the air!
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KZ1X on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
from 'WIK: "Most all rigs can be made to "sound" good on phone by simply using a compatible microphone and having a good sounding voice, which can be trained by using a tape recorder."
Yes, and also don't forget: room acoustics.
This is in the top-five factors of how your transmitted audio sounds, yet for some reason, hams seem to **completely ignore** this consideration.
Radio stations and recoding studios go to great lengths to control their room acoustics where live mics are. I'm not suggesting that hams go crazy about this, but, the subject DOES merit mention and in many cases, just simple attention to the basics.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by K4JSR on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Youse guys are just mad as wet hens because you don't
sound like the late, great Barry White!
Be honest, the very best sounding phone rig out there today is the DX-70T!
Of course, the old Globe Scout 65 was darned good also! So was a BC-669 using a T-17 mike!
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by W6TH on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
.
As we all know or should know about voice reproduction, our speech is from 300 Hz to 3000 Hz.
What is mostly done to improve the voice quality is to emphasize, to give emphasis to the low or the higher frequency range of 300/3000 Hz.(equalizer).
Single Side Band frequency response is restricted to the range of 300 to 2500 Hz; (2.5 Khz) to narrow the width of a signal.
Now repeat this for the receiver or better yet, have a device (equalizer) that will perform the boost of low and high frequency emphasis at your finger tips.(bass and treble boost).
I, myself prefer to have a flat audio system from 300 Hz through 3000 Hz, plus or minus 0.2 dB on both the receiver and the transmitter for the true reproduction of the operator that I will be able to communicate with.
Although I am a RF engineer, I also know a little about the audio spectrum as well.
.:
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by W5AU on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Phone?????? Whats Phone?????
I guess I would have to say Bell South.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KE4CQW on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Funny you should ask this question... I have just sold the radio of my dreams again.. he he he...
The Dream radio I always wanted was the Yeasu 847... I was in love... but when it came to it was weak on some things I liked...personal taste thing...
Next came the Yeasu FT-100... that was a radio.... but still I had some issues....
Now the best radio I have owned and operated in my life.... (drum roll please)
Icom 746 Pro... no fancy color display, no 200 watt brick hanging off the back, just a dang great radio... I use it on 6 meters all the time, 2 meters every so often but really had a ball on this past field day with the Oak Ridge TN (Anderson County TN) radio club (K4PJ). I think they were as impressed as I was with it...
I am not going into all the technical crap and BS I just know from personal on the air use and talking to others who have these... this is the radio for me... you can have color, you can have bricks and you can have the big fancy MRK types but at the end of the day when it's all said and done the question is this... did you make the contact or not... ???
Thanks for the topic it's nice to have something refreshing to read about and ponder
73, Moe N4CQW
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by W6TH on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
.
Yes, as Steve suggests, training your voice can be a real advantage. I do this a lot!
You two boys must give all ham SSB operators a few lessons on what the final results will be.
A duck, a goony bird or what have you. How about a hoarse voice. get it? A horse?
You birds a very funny.
How about projecting one's voice so that it seems to come from another source, as from a wooden figure.
73 fellows...All in fun.
.:
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by N3AIU on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
To be honest, I'm not an expert when it comes to SSB audio since I work mostly CW, but I've often been complimented on my audio from my TS830S + desk mike.
73, Nick N3AIU
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by W6TH on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
.
N3AIU Nick
I am sure the engineers of the ham radio know what to do to make their radios sound good.
All ham radios sound good to me and no need for any corrections.
73, W6TH
.:
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by W3ULS on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
My two cents:
Japan Radio JST-245 (all analog SSB rig)
Kenwood TS-870
Icom 746PRO
The latter two have DSP architecture and do very well. If you like a rich analog sound (and 150 watts out), then the JST-245 is unbeatable, on both transmit and receive.
John, W3ULS
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by K2WH on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
A Hallicrafters HT-37 with a high impedance Astatic T-3 mic.
Notice most of the posts are not about the receiver or transmitter but the audio quality.
Silly question, silly answers.
K2WH
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by K4WH on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Out of all the many rigs that have come and gone out of the shack, and that is about anything that has been made, I have received the most unsolicited compliments from the SSB audio when using the following rigs:
JRC JST – 245
Icom 781
Kenwood TS – 870S
Other hams would just stop by and ask what rig I was running, when using the JRC. A very, very under rated radio in all respects.
From my end I have heard dozens of great sounding rigs. Almost all rigs will sound great if people would just leave them alone and stop messing with them. Almost any factory Mic can sound great ( sorry Mr. Heil ). Stop turning the Mic gain and processor to the right.
Some rigs do need some special attention. The Collins KWM – 380, S-Line, and Drake C-line, all need some close attention to Mic Selection.
Just remember that the best sounding radio in the world may sound like garbage to some one who has a hearing loss in a certain range, or if some one is listening to you on a 2” speaker.
Now if I could just find a mint Central Electronics 200V
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by N6AJR on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
the best sounding audio out has to be the kenwood 570d.. nice audio,
BUT
the absoulte best general HF tx/rx.. with out a doubt, the Orion. capab;l of rx up to 6 kc band with which makes the guys at 3840 sound good, and tx band width up to 4 kc wide with low end roll off from 50 to 300 cycles, makes a great sounding audio.
I have a ic 746 pro, an IC 756, a ts 930, a ts 2000, 2 ft 857d's and an ft 847, currently and have many others, but the best
THE Best
is the ORION
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by N6AJR on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
and for you Icom folks, check out the Icom page at Bob Heils site, great info..
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by N4YFA on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
My Icom 703 on a Buddipole in SSB always recieves unsolicited good audio comments. On the other hand, my Icom 756 Pro II with Heil Pro mike in wide postion also works very well and gets very good audio comments.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by K3NG on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
"As I check the posts, I now realize who all the SSB operators are and why I never hear them on the CW portion of the ham bands. Yet some claim they are 99.5 percent CW. "
Someone can have only one QSO a year, make it a CW QSO, and be 100% CW, and you'll probably never hear them :-)
Entries in a logbook don't make a CW op - spirit makes a CW op.
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by K1VIP on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Motorola i305.. Its water proof.. shock proof.. built mil spec. with built in GPS output. Comes standard with direct connect P2T walkie talkie and a standard cell phone. :-)
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by WB9YCJ on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
I dont know about the Ultimate. But, Eico 720 with external modulator followed by Heath DX-60... Oh, you mean we're talking donald duck mode? Well in that case, IC-781, Collins HF-380, IC-7800, FT-9000 (perhaps).
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KC2OOS on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
I'd have to say, the one that completes the call...
Seriously, though, I'll go with any of the more recent almost all-mode, almost all-band radios (like my used, but new-to-me Yaesu FT-100, but you could easily substitute the FT-897/857/817 series, Icom IC-706 series, etc), matched to an almost all-band antenna (like my used, but new-to-me Yaesu ATAS-120 that I just ordered from HRO) mounted on a go-anywhere vehicle like a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (my stuff is in a VW just now). I want to add a Buddipole setup for portable HF use just as soon as I get my General, plus a solar power setup to keep the batteries charged.
A setup like this will alllow you to do just about anything, anywhere, and do it with style, to boot...
My second choice setup would be a Yaesu FT-8900R mated to a Diamond CR8900A and an Icom IC-W32A with a Diamond RH77CA. That's a whole lot of cross-band FM repeating phone fun for not an incredible amount of dough.
As you can see, I place a lot of emphasis on mobility. The ultimate in portable phone, to me, is a battery-powered rig like the FT-897 or FT-817 on a nice, packable portable multi-band antenna (read, Buddipole) with a solar charger system. The cross-band operations capabilities of the FT-8900R and IC-W32A open up some interesting possiblities as well, though battery operation of the 8900 is not a lightweight proposition.
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by YI9VCQ on September 12, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
The best sounding rig on the air IMHO is the Kenwood TS-940. Hands down---the best.
I just hope my Kenwood TS-2000 and Icom ProIII can sound as good someday.
73,
Korey
YI9VCQ/KA5VCQ
Baghdad, Iraq
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by AE6IP on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
I've always been surprised at the audio reports I get on my 706 mk-ii G in the honda. I just wish it listened as well as it talks.
756 pro-ii seems pretty good.
it all comes down to setting up the rig right.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by YI9VCQ on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
I too get good audio reports using my 706MkIIG with the stock hand mic. Nice little rig but you are right about the receiver. It can drive you nuts sometimes.
73,
Korey
YI9VCQ/KA5VCQ
Baghdad, Iraq
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by W4KTX on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
With a question like this, you will probably get about as many answers as there are HAMS, but I will throw in my two cents anyway.
If money is no object, I would say the ICOM IC-7800. Aside from that, there are many rigs that are good. Some of the older rigs (Kenwoods, Yaesu (FT990, FT-1000D), ICOM (IC-736,38s), are all great rigs. A lot of the new receivers are fantastic as well as DSP processing.
A lot of it depends on how you judge a good rig. Is it transmit audio, receive audio, receive sensitivity or selectivity. and DSP capabilities. It is all in the likes and dislikes of each HAM
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by WN3VAW on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Hallicrafters HT-37 transmitter, properly matched with a Astatic D-104 mike, and an SX-101M3 or SX-111 receiver.
Thermionics rule!
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by W8JI on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
The Ten Tec Orion, hands down!!
I don't endorse radios because I have a love for a manufacturer, and I don't pretend that there isn't a shortfall with ALL radios. I haven't seen a radio out there that is a ten out of ten, they all have something that isn't up to snuff.
I don't like the AGC in the Orion for weak CW work on bands with rough noise, but in every other performance area it absolutely shines. It will blow a PRO three out of the water for audio sound and close spaced signal performance, it even is better than a $10,000 ICOM for very tight signal spacing. It is exceptionally clean on CW, and sounds crystal clear on SSB both transmitting and receiving. The Orion even has clear excellent sounding AM.
I had my Orion set aside for a while while I used my FT1000D and other rigs including ICOM's, and when I put it back up on the bench I was amazed at what I was missing. While it is not a perfect radio (as none are) it sounds fantastic and has significantly better (not just a little, but significant) close-spaced strong signal performance than my YaKenIc radios.
Stations I work immediately noticed my audio improvement on transmit.
Understand I'm a fussy radio user. I want a clean transmitter and an excellent receiver under the worse conditions first, and 100,000 double stacked memories and 1400 filter bandwidths I'll never use last. I want the thing to work, not just have a manufacturer market specs that look impressive but don't mean anything in the real world.
If I couldn't have the Orion, I'd use a FT1000D or FT1000 MK V.
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by WB6SSW on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
In forty years on hamming, I've had the pleasure to operate most rigs, new and old. The best audio reports I've received was with my Hallicrafters HT32A paired with a Shure 664 mic.
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by N5UV on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
I find that my Yaesu FT 101EE w/a D-104 Astatic mic works the best...lots of audio punch if you don't overdrive it. Oddly enough, the best comments I ever got over the air were with my Tempo One (basically a Yaesu FT201) and a D-104 mic, but that radio had other problems. I just don't do much on SSB any more...mostly digital ops. now.
Tnx...DL
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by WA9AFM on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Collins KWM-2A w/ ElectroVoice 664 dynamic mic.
....nuf said!
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by OLDFART13 on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
THE ULTIMATE PHONE RIG:
Throw away your mic, get a key and now you have the ultimate rig.
Simple.
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by WB0AXN on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
The ultimate phone rig is the one you built yourself!
Roland
WB0AXN
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by WA6BFH on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
I was actually, or at least tangentially descriptive in my first post. It would sure be interesting if this discussion would be more along the lines of why a certain radio might be considered to be technically superior. Some here have done that, most seem to be saying “I like this radio because I think it is cool”.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by W6TH on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
.
How can one compare one radio to another when you can take three of the same make and mfg'r and then hook three different speakers to the three and they all all sound different.
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
I say the Icom 7800 as of 2005, you say yours and we both are correct.To each his own and now lets get on with another topic. Something more knowledgeable.
eHAM, please put another topic on for all. Thanks.
.:
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by N0TONE on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
In the "best rig for CW" thread, there were technical details. In the "best rig for phone" thread, the details are sparse, and the descriptions are simple "it's the best" and "sounds the best".
That says a lot about phone ops, and explains so much why I prefer QSOs on CW.
I actually had a decent QSO on SSB the other day. The guy had depth and character, he considered all topics from many angles, and was not one-sided about anything. A true thinker, not just someone who reacted to the latest headlines. After a good one hour QSO, he confessed that this was his once per year phone QSO just to see if the equipment still worked, and that he was otherwise 100% CW. So, even on phone, the best ops are CW ops!
AM
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by OLDFART13 on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
For phone try Verizon wireless V710.
For pretend to be hams use echolink.
For real ham radio operating try CW.
And to be a total idiot put in for a vanity callsign on N2QRO.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KENNJEN on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
K5UJ wrote :
>A better question, might be, "If you were marooned
>on a desert island and had only one rig and you are
>a phone op, what would you want?"
Answer : 12 volt power.
Heh Heh Heh : )
Couldn't resist.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by WA6BFH on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Well, for NotOne and a few others, note also that the responses seem to favor exclusively HF rigs. In the greater arena of Ham radio, most would hopefully pay this small percentage of spectrum the minimal attention it deserves. Who in their right mind would buy a radio these days that stops at 10 Meters?
From a technical standpoint we know that you can use a non-resonant antenna to reasonably good effect on the HF bands, try that on VHF and higher and see what happens! On HF one can use a TransMatch, or so called “antenna tuner” and even with high velocity feedline make contacts over thousands of miles. From a technical standpoint, try that on VHF or higher, and see how far you can communicate!
It ain’t just mode either. I know some iCW ops that think an HW-101 is a good radio. I wood say good’Ndeaf! You would need to be using iCW to have a hope at hearing much!
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by K5UJ on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
It's interesting that in this thread, we have several avowed cw ops showing up to bash phone and proseletyze for cw. Hmmmmm.
I've also seen in the past during amp threads, the bashing of QRO and proselityzing by QRP fanatics, yet never have seen any amp owner wade into a QRP topic and try to talk everyone into buying amps and going QRO.
What does that tell you?
On the cw rig thread I don't recall seeing any phone ops bashing cw. Guess we're having too much fun to bother.
K5UJ--Loud, processed, having a ball, and loving it, baby.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by W6TH on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
.
K5UJ
proselytizing,proselytize is the proper spelling.
Please make note for the next use.
73, W6TH...The dot and dash scientist.
.:
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by W6TH on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
.
John says:
It ain�t just mode either. I know some iCW ops that think an HW-101 is a good radio. I wood say good�Ndeaf! You would need to be using iCW to have a hope at hearing much!
----------------------------------------------------
I don't know about that John as I worked over 100 countries on 40 meters using the HW-101 when with only 48,000 hams and back in the thirties the hard way to work dx.. In 2003 it was even easier to work dx as we now have over 500,000 ham operators.
I had a KWM-2 and it wasn't any better for dx than the HW-101.
73 MY FRIEND. W6TH.
.:
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by W6TH on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
.
Correction John:
I don't know about that John as I worked over 100 countries on 40 meters using the HW-101 when with only 60,000 or so hams, back in the seventies the hard way to work dx.
73.
.:
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by AB0KD on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Hallicrafters SR-500 and Astatic 10DA. Favorable unsolicited audio reports, easy to operate, and forgiving.
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by AB5GU on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
I have over 60 radios in my shack, hooked up and running. Nothing sounds better than the Swan 600 twins with the SS-16B option. Great tube audio, 450 watts output, 5" speaker and a 16 pole crystal filter. It's a pleasure to listen to, great to operate.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by K4JF on September 13, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Some folk here seem to be confused. There is a difference between "phone" and a "telephone". Must be the CW ops. :o)
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KE7AJG on September 14, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
as long as it has a heil mic ......hmmmm.
my cruddy ole radio got a heil mic for its birthday.
i get compliments on my melodious dj sounding voice!
mike in portland-ore
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by WA2KBU on September 14, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
K4JF
Very good K4JF,you're the only perceptive one that 'got it'! Yes, you are correct, it must be those old CW ops! Well they did say "phone" rig.
Hi
WA2KBU
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by AD6WL on September 14, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
>>>Some folk here seem to be confused. There is a difference between "phone" and a "telephone". <<<
Next time my XYL tells me I have a phone call I will run into the shack and fire up the rig and ask her what frequency. Now if I can only find a mic somewhere around here.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by WL7CMG on September 14, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Out of the box it's almost impossible to beat the Kenwooods....namely the TS-870 or the legendary TS-950SDX!!!
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KILOWATT on September 14, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Ultimate CW rig?
Ten Tec. All of them. They've always been the masters of CW. In fact, Ten Tec seems to promote the CW characteristics of their transceivers more so than they do the SSB and AM.
Ultimate phone rig?
Yaesu. All of them.
Of course, this is only MY opinion. Like everyone else's.....my opinion is highly subjective.
Kilowatt
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KD5DFM on September 14, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
a Cobra 2000 with a d104 mike and a super star 500 watt amp
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by K4JSR on September 14, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
W6TH sez, "eHAM, please put another topic on for all. Thanks."
Vito, are you telling us that you are hooked on
"PHONE ICKS"?!!! ;-D
Charles, I assume that you use fan dipole strings between your two cans!! Strange birds, those two cans!
That's enough "FOWL" puns for now.
TOODLES!
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by W8JI on September 15, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
It's amazing that some of the worse radios manufactured make this list as a "best SSB radio".
Perhaps that's because people only judge a SSB radio by fidelity or warm fuzzy feelings rather than comparing them is tough situations or actual direct A-B tests?
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by K6TLA on September 15, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
It's all slopbucket so what does it matter? Now if you are talking about AM there are infinite answers.
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by K6SDW on September 15, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Anything Collins......which I don't own and never have!
Cheers and 73.....
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KE6PID on September 15, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Better audio = less selectivity.
Better selectivity = less fidelity.
But what sounds good anyway? Ask 10 people get 10 different answers.
Generally the poorer selectivity radios sound better. If the rig is properly adjusted and the mic is matched well with the rig, just about all of them do a good enough job in transmit.
Overall, my vote is the Ten Tec Orion.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KA2JIZ on September 15, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
When I was on an Air Force net in the pacific, late 50's, it was the clean SSB audio from a Collins KW, modified for military frequency transmissions. At least that is what the guys on the other end reported during radio checks. Operating included phone patches from time-to-time. I've always been cw as a ham, so can't give an opinion on contemporary ssb equipment.
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by VE3WGO on September 16, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
well, the best phone rig is your favourite combination of performance and features.
Same as the best car - it's the one with your favourite combination of acceleration, braking, handling, comfort, reliability, fuel efficiency, appearance, ergonomics, and if or when you need it - maximum speed.
Same as the best computer - it's the one with your favourite combination of CPU speed, hard disk size and speed, graphics processing, visual display, audio quality, operating system, keyboard performance, and if or when you need it - disaster recovery.
And so it goes for the best radio (whether you re talking about phone or cw) - it's the one with your favourite combination of stability, selectivity, interference removal, mode agility (AM, SSB, FM), receive audio fidelity, transmit audio fidelity, ease of tuning, frequency coverage, frequency accuracy, signal finding (including visual aids such as spectrum monitor, etc), and when you need it - maximum transmit power.
The bottom line is - you can't buy the best car, computer, or rig. You can buy a pretty good one, but not the best. Maybe you can build the best, but you can't buy it.
That's why I chuckle when I see somebody saying this simple rig is better than that knobby one, or this old rig is better than that new knobby one with the LCD, or this software defined radio (SDR)is better than that knobby hardware one. SDRs and DSP-based direct conversion (DC) radios are not new - they have been on the market for many years (cellular basestations at least - I've been on one of those design teams since 1990). Don't let the marketing spin doctors fool you - SDR and DC is just for cost, not really for performance. IF DSP gives the best interference management combination we can muster.
We shouldn't forget that we have lots of bands from 1.8 MHz to xyz GHz, and we need lots of interference management capabilities in our radios, we need as much help as we can get with locating signals amid the increasing interference so visual displays are standard equipment in the new generation of receivers, satellite capabilities are here to stay, HF is an increasingly small fraction of our available spectrum, etc.
Pick your favourite rig accordingly, and call it your best.
Collins twins sound and tune absolutely awesome, but they are missing a lot of the standard equipment that can optimize our listening experience these days. Same goes for a DC rig or an Elecraft, that lack many listening experience enhancements. What about satellite modes, or spectrum displays? Or interference management.
My point is that yes, a radio might be super at handling strong signals or maybe frequency stability, but face it guys, that spec is just one of a long list of fundamental requirements of good radios these days.
Basic is cool (like a '62 Chevy), but modern and sophisticated is what we really need to get the job done and maximize our enjoyment when the going is easy, and especially when it gets tough.
Having said that, I vote that the best phone rig is new, has a spectrum monitor, receive and transmit fidelity controls, adaptive and manual interference cancellation tools, strong signal handling capability, flexible frequency control, USB 2.0 computer control and signalling intereface, SP-DIF audio interface, satellite duplex operating capability, all modes, all bands from 0.137 through at least 2.3 GHz with transverters available for higher bands, low power consumption, and a nice price tag. A TS-2000X is in the ball park for sure, and an FT-847 is far off but it does satellites and many bands but it needs filters, and neither has a spectrum display, and their interference management tools are unsophisticated.
If we stick to HF only (to humour those "sticks in the mud" among us), then an Orion, IC-756P3, IC-7800, or FT-9000/2000 look like they meet more of the specs each in their own ways, and could be close to ideal.
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by WB0UGO on September 16, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
I have always gotten excellent reports with almost all my radios. 1000MP, TS 2000, 940S, Drake, Corsair 2 ect. When I got my ORION that took it up another notch. I use the Heil Studio Pro with a W2IHY 8 band EQ and EQ Plus with the ORION, 1000MP and Corsair 2. The Orion still wins hands down even after optimizing each rigs EQ. 73's Steve
|
| |
|
Signal/One - Alpha
|
|
|
by AH6GI on September 17, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
There is nothing like a Signal/One on SSB running heavy RF clipping and 16 poles of filtering.
de ah6gi/4
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by AB7Q on September 20, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
If we are talking audio, here are the few that have jumped out at me at times on the air:
Kenwood 520
Kenwood 930
Kenwood 870
Most of the other Kenwoods past and present.
I sense a theme here......
The reality is that many of the rigs can sound great. The FT-1000 series as a whole sound wonderful. Same with 746pro, 756pro line etc. Much depends on the microphone and how it blends with the users voice. Your audio quality on receive will also impact the decision. This is a very subjective topic all the way around. Talked to a guy last night who sounded wonderful on a Hallicrafters HT-37 with a D-104. That said, in general terms, Kenwood audio rules the roost.
Maybe we can talk about other "phone rig" aspects later....filtering, noise reduction, QRM reduction, receive audio quality etc!
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by K6JEK on September 21, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
Collins 20V2 or V3 for AM. Second place: WA1QIX'S class E transmitters like mine: http://www.classeradio.com/
KQ6F's homebrew phasing rig for SSB. Check out his website.
http://www.redshift.com/~kq6f/KQ6F/indexx.html
Second place: NI6Q's tweaked Central Electronics 100V, a phasing rig from the late 50's.
If you insist on buying something instead of building or restoring (sigh), the Ten-Tec Orion sounds super duper on SSB and good on AM. The FlexRadio can sound really good in SSB.
Jon, K6JEK
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by N2MWE on September 22, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
The ultimate phone rig is the one that gets me on the air with the least about of control fiddling, etc. I like to talk, not fiddle with a million controls! :)
|
| |
|
RE: What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KG6WLV on September 22, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
Kudos to K4WH for pointing out Heil mics are very, very unnecessary to good quality audio. The handheld mic included with the TS-2000 is junk; the optional MC-60 works fine, but after buying one I thought to myself, "I should just find a good ENG/remote broadcast mic with a cardioid pattern." Too bad the EV635A I have is an omnidirectional mic -- it's got great audio, can handle incredibly high sound pressures without folding up, and is nicknamed "The Hammer" for its durability. I also paid about one-fifth the price of a Heil for it. Hmmmmmm... what's wrong with this picture? ;-)
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KB6TRR on September 23, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
|
While this is kind of a subjective question I will answer this by saying that the best phone rig or cw rig too for that matter, is the one that is transmitting.
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by KC8WUC on September 24, 2005
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
I can't speak on amateur HF radios per se, but my Icom M802 in SSB mode on my boat kicks butt. I have the Heil HM-10 installed and get excellent reports on my signal and clarity from other boaters on the Great Lakes. Given the fact that the M802 also covers the amateur bands (which I'm not permitted to use given the fact that I only hold a Technician license), I would guess that the signals and sound quality is equally good. I have also gotten good reports when I used my Icom M602 for VHF. For government work, I used the PRC-117A and received equally excellent results with the Shakespeare Model 120-60 portable HF antenna. I am now using the PRC-150, but this is more of an appliance than any radio I have used and seems more features geared for data than SSB.
73,
Michael KC8WUC
|
| |
|
What's the Ultimate Phone Rig?
|
|
|
by WA2JJH on February 20, 2006
|
Mail this to a friend!
|
The true RF compressor/clipper in the TS-850, and 950sdx are the best...IMHO
You might want to check out Motorola's new DSP
HF rig. Problem is it cost's $80,000!!!
|
| |
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to discussions on this article.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
Related News & Articles
Ham Radio 'Classic'
Have Our Radio Manufacturers Sold Us Out?
Dead Electrical Dudes No. 9
Help Needed in Going Back!
Amateur Radio Fundraising
Other Radios Articles
What's Special About a Tuning Knob?
Cool Radio
Designing the Ultimate HF Front End
Boatanchor AM on a Budget
Keep Your Cool!
|
