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Reviews For: The Radiosmith

Category: Amateur Radio Equipment Repair

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Review Summary For : The Radiosmith
Reviews: 81MSRP:
Description:
Expert repairs and restoration for all brands (Collins, Drake, Icom, Kenwood, Ten-Tec, Yaesu, and Others) of vintage and modern ham radio equipment including linear amplifiers, station accessories, OEM power supplies and Astron power supplies by a degreed Electrical Engineer who has been a licensed ham (20 WPM Extra Class) for over 38 years. For more information, contact The Radiosmith via email at: radiosmith@tampabay.rr.com
Product is in production
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# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
55815
W7ACO Rating: 2015-04-24
Excellent Service Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I sent Steve a Yaesu FT7900R which was silent. I spent 47 years in computerized telephone systems. I was responsible for troubleshooting to component level and repairing motherboards, circuit boards up to and including surface mount components. I retired 6 years ago partly due to neuropathy in my hands.

Steve's instincts were right on the mark. I explained the symptoms and he guessed at the component which proved to be correct. The radio was repaired the very day the parts arrived. Steve then checked out the rest of the radio and shipped it back to me. 10 days from the day I shipped until the day I received it back working perfectly. Steve is a pleasure to do business with, honest, informative, excellent communications, and intelligent. What more could you ask for.

Thanks Steve you are the best.
KJ6MC Rating: 2015-04-13
My highest recommendation Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My prized Drake R8 suffered from a mysterious breakdown. Steve patiently was able to troubleshoot the exact components and quickly affected the repair. That’s just the beginning of the story.

What really stood out to me was Steve's sixth sense.

Something wasn't quite right with the radio, and while I had got used to the radio's idiosyncrasies, Steve would not let go and kept doggedly putting the radio through its paces. Sure enough, after testing in various environments (the problem was temperature sensitive) there were some weak electrolytics in the audio chain, hidden from view.

Steve diagnosed and quickly fixed the problem before letting it out of the shop.

He is the only person I know who cares more about my radio than I do (and that is saying a lot).

Competent, expert repair at a fair price. If only my auto mechanic were this exacting and proficient, it would be a perfect world.

Radiosmith has earned my highest recommendation.
HARDEDGE Rating: 2014-11-13
Heaven on Earth Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The Swan 350 came back working as good as new, Once again a reward was required. Hope Steve liked the broken Swan 400 and 410 VFO. ;-)

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Earlier 5-star review posted by HARDEDGE on 2014-05-11

Just got back what was a "silver screwdriver" FT-747sx (QRP version from Japan)and the workmanship was flawless. This is the fifth radio Steve has repaired for me and to show my gratitude I'm sending a Swan 250 and Swan 350 for his once over as a reward. :-)Best all-around repair service I've found.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by HARDEDGE on 2013-07-11

Don't let that "Degreed Electrical Engineer" stuff fool you. Steve works for a living. I've insulted him enough times already by calling him a master radio mechanic so I might as well do it again.

He's obnoxiously obsessive about problem solving and incredibly good at what he does. He's resurrected both an FT-301 and an FT-707 to better-than-new condition and he did them both for a reasonable price.

I've just sent him an FT-77 and I have absolute confidence in his ability.
WA4NJY Rating: 2013-12-21
Excellant work on OMNI V Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Steve did an outstanding job with my Ten-Tec OMNI V.
It had a few nagging issues. He corrected the obvious ones and put some extra effort and time into an intermittent problem.
I think he treated it like it was his own. Having a good repair facility close by (Tampa Bay area) is great!
KB4QQJ Rating: 2013-11-26
First Class on Ten Tec 405 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I had and old Ten Tec 405 amp that needed a new set of finals. Ten Tec no longer carries them and I couldn't find anything to make it happy. It requires a matched pair. Steve took on the little beast and did a fantastic job.
The little amp now has it's previous 50 watts on all bands and managed about 190 Q's this past weekend. Great job, Great communication, fast shipping and a pleasure to do business with. Professional all the way.
K2ROC Rating: 2013-11-18
Stellar!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I sent Steve some of my Collins S-line equipment and he did an outstanding job making it all like new. Excellent attention to detail, very reasonable rates, and excellent communication on what he found and the recommended course of action. I'll be sending him my newly acquired Ten-Tec Omni VI within a week for evaluation and calibration. Highly recommended.
KA4ELP Rating: 2013-09-09
Kenwood TS-120 Display Dots Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I found Steve on ebay and after corresponding with him decided to let him repair my rig that I had just purchased off ebay. It was having the "dots in the display" problem. Steve was knowledgeable and totally professional in correcting the problem. After the repair, I had him totally align the rig as well. My experience with Steve was excellent and I believe he is an expert repairman and totally ethical. I give him my highest recommendation. Jack T. KA4ELP
AJ9I Rating: 2013-09-04
Repair of vintage FRG-7 receiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Steve repaired my vintage Yaesu FRG-7 and it now works better than ever! When I got it back I put 7 feet of wire for a test antenna and picked up ES5QD out of Astonia on 21.281! Steve fixed the front end, replaced a broken on/off switch,repaired the mode switch and aligned it. Repairs were done quickly and communication was polite and timely.
FORMER_K3HW Rating: 2013-08-04
Century 21 Better than new! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Steve resurrected ANOTHER radio for me! My Century 21 had a a seized PTO and low transmitter output. He installed a Ten Tec PTO rebuild kit perfectly and found that one of the output transistors was blown. Rig was returned to me in better than new condition, with the receiver tuned and aligned, and more than robust transmitter output. I will utilize his services again and again in the near future!!!
WB9USY Rating: 2013-07-26
Icom IC-730 Repair Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought a used IC-730 off of Ebay that was in very good condition. The rig worked good but was off frequency and I had some issue with my antenna tuner with this rig. Steve checked it out and did an alignment. It has been working excellent since. Now I'd rather use the 730 over the 718 I bought new. Communication was excellent, he kept me informed as the repair progressed. Very likable person and answered questions that I had and even gave me some advice on another rig. If I need any repairs I'll use The Radiosmith again.