Has anyone actually purchased the IC-7200 in any of the colors offered ? I'd like to know if the optional paint jobs are as high quality as the factory paint job. The factory paint seems quite rugged and might be a baked on type of finish. The camo   etc are dipped but nothing is said about the durability . If it chips and scratches or blemishes easily, it would be a shame. Obviously, the color does nothing to add ruggedness to the rig. I would buy it because to me it is just fun. And that is what ham radio is to me personally. Just another past time I have fun with . It's like buying extras for my motorcycles. They don't all have a major improvement on performance. But they allow me to personalize my bike and tailor it to my liking. I'm doing it for me and me only. Not to impress others. At my age and condition, being cool is out of the question anyway !    Just my take on the subject.

If you want a really simple  menu system, the Ten Tec Jupiter is really simple. I have owned one now for over 3 years. There are no hidden or sub menus. You push the menu button and bingo, the whole menu is right there. Use the tuning knob to scroll down to what you want to change and do so with the multi-knob. Tap the menu button again and your back home. I also own the Icom IC-7200. It's menu system is very easy to work with. Not quite as easy as the Jupiter, but very easy to use. And- the 7200 DSP features are better implemented than the Jupiter. But that is due to new advancements in that technology. Also, it has 6 meters on it. I purchased 2 IC-7200s over the last 6 months or so on the used market. You can pick one up for $750 in excellent condition. The lack of an internal antenna tuner is nothing really. Outboard auto or manual tuners are generally much more versatile and not expensive. And they generally have a much broader range than a built in tuner.
  Just my personal opinion.  73 and have a great time on the bands.  Max
     

I have owned both the TS-570DG and the IC-7200.  A good , clean used IC-7200 can be had for $750.00 shipped. The filters in the 7200 are much better due to the advancement in DSP technology over the years since the 570D was created. I own two of the IC-7200 and like them very much. The stock Mic is not very good and you need a better mic to work SSB . They are built very well and are very reliable and easy to use. The menu system is one of the easiest to use I have ever had. The DSP features really work and can be tailored to whatever works best for you. Don't let the lack of an antenna tuner bother you. I'd bet 80% of the stations are equipped with some sort of outboard tuner. They have a much broader range than most internal tuners anyway. It also has 6 meters on it.   
  This is just my take on the rigs and a personal opinion. But owning both, has given me a good idea of which one works best in today's environment.   73  and have a great time.

Zach, As far as antennas for your situation goes, I would suggest you look closely at the 'End Fed Hertz " from Par Electronics. They are a full 1/2 wave wire and coax fed thru a built in balun on one end. Having the feed at the end gives me many more options as to mounting the antenna. This gives you a full size antenna that requires no radials or counterpoise. It does not require a tuner either. I have used them here for qrp on 17 and 20 meters in sloping, vertical and horizontal positions with very good results. Par also makes a dual bander for 20/40 mtrs. This antenna is rated for 20w I believe. Look at the reviews here on e-ham.  Good luck and have fun.  Max  

Hello Ed: I'm certainly no expert on the subject but i can tell you from my own experiance that if your rig has the ability to use a narrow cw filter while using USB in the SSB mode, it can make a big difference when the band is crowded or noisey. Several rigs that I've owned allowed me to do this. After kicking in the narrow cw filter you can use the I.F. shift to move the narrow passband right to the desired signal. I use 500hz and sometimes 250 hz filters and it works great on PSK31 . I have had no experiance with other digital modes so can't comment on those. Not all rigs will allow you to do this. You'll have to research your rig a bit to find out. You don't have to have this ability to work the digital ofcourse, but it does make a big differance in my opinion. Some rigs can use split mode to accomplish this.  You use vfo-a to xmit in ssb mode and vfo-b to receive in cw mode. That way you can use the narrow cw filter for digital receive. Hope this helps a little.   Good luck and have fun. Max

I have a question in regard to the feedline of an EDZ. I want to install a 17 mtr EDZ and feed it with 450ohm ladder line to allow multiband use 40-17 meters. The feedline, in my case, can't be adjusted in length to hit that sweet spot where the tuner can match all the bands. My question is : Can I adjust the antenna length to aquire the same results as adjusting the feedline length.? I realize the pattern will be altered somewhat doing it this way but I really don't have another option. Fan dipoles do not fit the situation on this property so that's out. The tuner is a Palstar AT1KM and I would use a DX Engineering 4:1 heavy duty balun at the house entrance. Again, no other way to enter this house with a ladder line. Many thanks for any help I receive on the subject.  max@glwb.net    

This is aimed at Tom, You mentioned that you used a 17 mtr EDZ on the other bands. I would like to know what your feed system consisted of. Did you use ladder or open wire to a remote balun or go directly to a tuner or use a matching stub to allow direct conection without balun. Also, what model tuner did you use if you used an external tuner instead of the built in tuner in your rig. Thanks, Max   max@glwb.net

Hello Steve. I have used both of these antennas on 20 mtrs. If you can get the bottom wire of the delta  [ apex pointing up] up about 25 or 30ft it will do a good job for you. It is pretty much a mono-band antenna though. The 20mtr EDZ at the same height did a better job for me at this location. If you use the stub matching design it will have a low swr and can be fed with coax. It has a sharp lobe broadside and it worked very well for dx at my qth. However, if you feed it with ladder line to the shack it will work very well as a multiband antenna and will be very efficiant. The length of the 20mtr EDZ is not too far from the 1/2 wave dipole length for 60mtrs.  I originally put the delta up to eliminate some of the manmade noise in the neighborhood. It turned out not to cut the noise by any real amount. So I went back to the EDZ and had a ball on 20mtrs. So that's my story on the loop vs. the EDZ . Hope it helps and have fun. Max  

Bob, I realize the dsp has its limits but I am talking about the Noise Blanker not the dsp. The blanker is like most rigs have and I don't think it is dsp. The manual states it is for pulsating noise such as ignition noise. I can;t get rid of any type noise with it.  I could be wrong, it's happened before. hi  Do you have a 2020 ? Is the blanker a dsp type? thanks for your help. Max

This is a bit strange but I get the same noise at my qth here in Ohio. 17 and 15 as well. It sounds like ignition noise with the rat tat tat . My noise blanker won't kill it at all. I have several wire antennas and receive the noise on all of them. I'll have to try the suggested tests. It lasts for hours at a time so can't be ignition noise. Sometimes 2 of our cable tv channels have buckshot shooting across the screen at the same time. Royal pain.  Good luck to both of us. Max

To any of you ops out there using a 2020 ADSP2. Have any of you found any noise that the noise blanker actually works on? Also, why does the PBT change the audio pitch when used on cw or ssb? Never had that with other rigs. Not hitting on the rig, just curious. Really having fun with it. I can't seem to find the mod to allow the sidetone to be uneffected by the af gain. Thanks for reading   Max

If changing the length of the feedline is not practical can the length of the antenna be altered to give the same result ? In some installations changing the length of the feedline is not an option. This sure would help in my particular situation. I also would appreciate feedback on this subject. Thanks, Max

This is another question on the subject of ladder line feeds. I own Palstar AT1KM tuner and wish to utilize the balanced output to allow using an 80mtr doublet on 80 thru 20mtrs. I would use the 600 ohm open wire that is advertised in the mags and on this site. It is impossible  to bring the open wire into the radio shack do to gutters and aluminum siding. Also, I have virtually no R.F. ground available due to the 2nd story location of my shack. I would like to make a short run [15 ft.] of parallel feed line made out of coax with the braids connected to each other at the antenna end where the 2 feeds meet and connected to the tuner with the center conductors being used as the actual feedline but with the braids connected to the ground lug at the tuner. This style of shielded parallel feed line has been well documented in several antenna books. My question is this: Will I have R.F. buzzing around the shack due to no R.F. ground? Or will the shielded section eliminate radiation from the feedline as it snakes its way thru the attic? It would ofcourse be sliced to the 600 ohm line just outside the house. The shield would NOT be grounded at any point due to the manner in which it must be routed. I have many wires around the small yard here but would like to eliminate some of them and just use 2 of these antennas mentioned. I used this same installation many years ago at another qth but had no problem with a good RF or electrical ground. different story now. Looking for some healthy input on this subject. 73 and tnks for reading.      

Hi Steve, Well I called them today and the tech said it was a synthisizer problem and I had better just ship it in which I just did . The cause that you mention is exactly what the rig was doing. It's an old rig for sure but it is such an easy rig to use and the filter flexability is so nice for both cw and psk31 that I guess I don't mind investing some bucks into it. Thanks to all for the advice. It's this type of response that makes this web and ham radio in general such a nice place to spend time. 73 Max

Thankyou for the advice Charles. I've checked as well as I can. Everything looks sound. I should probably install a lighted magnifier on the bench to really get a good look though. This morning I hooked the rig up to a dummy load wattmeter combo' and it did persist with the problem. The output from the power supply is good too but I think I should use some clips to allow the voltmeter to stay on the circuit full time to keep a constant check on the voltage. When the problem surfaces, I do check the voltage and it is 14.7 volts at the rig's dc socket. Sure appreciate your help. I'll keep plugging away. And still call TenTec ofcourse. 73  Max