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Reviews For: Ramsey SX-20

Category: QRP Radios (5 watts or less)

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Review Summary For : Ramsey SX-20
Reviews: 3MSRP: 299.95 (kit)
Description:
20 Meter SSB/CW Kit/Rig
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.ramseyelectronics.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0033
N2YVF Rating: 2011-03-23
Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this radio in use for over 15 years. I built it from a kit with good results from the beginning.

I use a D-104 amplified mike with this unit and my transmit audio is excellent. If I hear DX, I can usually work them. My antenna is a dipole 10 feet in the air.

I found that the supplied mike did not supply enough "talk power" and the D-104 did the trick. CW is also excellent and I do have the narrow filter installed.

I have over 10 different rigs in my shack, but I still use the SX-20 most often. Between the pride of building the unit and the surprise on the other end of the QSO when they find it is only 10 watts keeps me going to the SX-20.
5R8GQ Rating: 2008-06-10
Nightmare Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The only reason I bought this rig from the notoriously junky Ramsey line was because it was being closed out from $399 to $199 and I THOUGHT
I might be able to make soemthing out of it.

This piece of junk was a nightmare from the beginning. All the parts are surplus "buy them in bags by the pound" parts. The caps had pre-bent leads that were obviously not bent for the holes in THIS rig. Just garbage surplus parts. (If you've built a Ramsey kit, you know what I mean).
The resistors were cut from old aged, crusty reels
of resistors. The instructions were fair, but not really that informative. The first time I tested the receiver, I got the local AM Mexican music station load and clear. And you could hear the tones change and pop every 5 Khz as you tuned through the optical encoder. I was not unexperienced when I built this kit, at the time having built several Elecraft K2's, K1's and various other QRP transceivers. Help from the
factory? HAH, none existant. When I asked about the FM station bleeding through into the receiver, the "tech" asked "did you ground the mic connector"? HUH?
I finally got the receiver to work after a fashion, (I used good NEW high tolerance caps
in the PLL and other RF stages)
but was still plagued by optical encoder noises like some kind of frequency marker. It would only pick up LOUD amateur signals.
I got the first stage of the transmitter to work but not the PA. When I called "tech support" (what a JOKE) they said "Well, take an oscilliscope and trace the circuit" and HUNG UP.
I do not own an oscilliscope or signal generator and have built and aligned many QRP rigs and other pieces of ham gear and kits without them.

The other reviewer says "they're as rare as hen's teeth". That's because
1) Nobody bought them.
2) The ones that did are too embarassed to admit it!

"Ramsey" should be in the dictionary next to "Junk". If you are offered one of these rigs in a trade, be afraid....be very afraid!
N7BUI Rating: 2003-08-21
Best 20 meter QRP! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Nobody has written a review about the little SX-20 so I will! Its a shame that Ramsey didn't make a 40 meter version of this radio, as they would have had a real winner on thier hands. The SSB is very clear and the built in CW keyer is top notch. Easy to use and some of the best receive audio I have heard on a small radio. If you can find one, get it! But they seem to be as scarce as hens teeth!