Carcano 14 Posted April 2, 2015 $350 w/ free shipping, here are the specs: Features 160-10 meters IF Notch Squelch 8 Memories NB RIT IF Shift RF Attenuator Scan RF Speech Processor The Kenwood TS-430S is designed for SSB, CW, AM and FM (optional) modes. Coverage is 160 through 10 meters including the WARC bands. All solid-state technology is inputed rated at 250 PEP on SSB, 200W DC on CW, 120W FM (optional) and 60W AM. General coverage receive from 150 kHz to 30 MHz is featured Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W2MC 1,699 Posted April 2, 2015 The TS-430's were good radios. I used to have one. For someone looking for a cheap 10 meter only radio....this is a radio shack HTX-10. They are decent radios for what they are (25 watts, 10-meter only), and they go relatively cheap because they cannot be used on the CB bands. this one is $85. http://newjersey.craigslist.org/ele/4925471758.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W2MC 1,699 Posted April 2, 2015 There's also someone in Bethlehem PA selling a Yaesu FT-450D for $500: http://allentown.craigslist.org/ele/4935063354.html And this guy is selling an Icom IC-730 in Valley Forge, which is getting a little old, but it looks great and includes the power supply (which can drive any radio, not just this one) asking $355: http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/ele/4884099985.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carcano 14 Posted April 2, 2015 There's also someone in Bethlehem PA selling a Yaesu FT-450D for $500: http://allentown.craigslist.org/ele/4935063354.html And this guy is selling an Icom IC-730 in Valley Forge, which is getting a little old, but it looks great and includes the power supply (which can drive any radio, not just this one) asking $355: http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/ele/4884099985.html The IC-730 in Valley Forge is a very good deal since you are getting a power supply with it and it's a one-owner radio (likely taken care of based on the pics) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carcano 14 Posted April 2, 2015 The TS-430's were good radios. I used to have one. For someone looking for a cheap 10 meter only radio....this is a radio shack HTX-10. They are decent radios for what they are (25 watts, 10-meter only), and they go relatively cheap because they cannot be used on the CB bands. this one is $85. http://newjersey.craigslist.org/ele/4925471758.html Those are nice 10m radios. Edit: I had a HTX-10 might still have it, I was going to mount it as a mobile but never got around to it. I would say the IC-730 is a better deal, plenty of room to expand if you get General/Extra and even with the Tech license you can still listen to shortwave HF until getting the General or Extra. Newtonian has some options, all under $400. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Silence Dogood 468 Posted April 3, 2015 10 meters is just starting to come back now (from my perception). Getting my 2m and 6m antennas up soon (waited on ground strap/rod components) and taking the 'General' in May. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Newtonian 453 Posted April 3, 2015 10 meters is just starting to come back now (from my perception). Getting my 2m and 6m antennas up soon (waited on ground strap/rod components) and taking the 'General' in May. Doggy are 6 and 10m mostly ssb or cw? One of my HTs has 6m as FM. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carcano 14 Posted April 3, 2015 Doggy are 6 and 10m mostly ssb or cw? One of my HTs has 6m as FM. On 6m you will find FM repeaters and FM simplex, but also SSB and other modes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Silence Dogood 468 Posted April 5, 2015 "Doggy are 6 and 10m mostly ssb or cw? One of my HTs has 6m as FM." 10 M is all USB. Not using CW. Haven't been on 6 M yet - Yaesu FT1200 has 6 M so I'm looking forward to it. Antenna array (in addition to center fed 80 M fan dipole already up) will be 2 M / 70 CM combination vertical dipole, 2 M 3-element quad Yagi and 6M dipole all home brew. All LMR-400 cables. The Yagi is very precisely made and should have a forward gain of at least 10 db on 2 M. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Teky0101 6 Posted April 10, 2015 Hello Everyone, My brother and I just purchase the Baofeng GT-3TP radios. They just arrived today actually. I wanted to obtain the license to be able to transmit does anyone know a place in South Jersey to take this course? Is the course hard to pass? I really would like to legally be able to use these radios? Also do ham radios work well in the woods for camping trips? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carcano 14 Posted April 10, 2015 Hello Everyone, My brother and I just purchase the Baofeng GT-3TP radios. They just arrived today actually. I wanted to obtain the license to be able to transmit does anyone know a place in South Jersey to take this course? Is the course hard to pass? I really would like to legally be able to use these radios? Also do ham radios work well in the woods for camping trips? That's a dual band (VHF and UHF) radio, out in the woods I would use the VHF band on those (simplex) as in radio to radio without a repeater. This will help you find a test location: http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-exam-session The entry level exam (Technician license) is 35 or so questions, very easy to pass and the FCC publishes the questions/answers for the test... Here is a practice test: http://hamexam.org/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot 358 Posted April 10, 2015 Hello Everyone, My brother and I just purchase the Baofeng GT-3TP radios. They just arrived today actually. I wanted to obtain the license to be able to transmit does anyone know a place in South Jersey to take this course? Is the course hard to pass? I really would like to legally be able to use these radios? Also do ham radios work well in the woods for camping trips? I read through the No-Nonsense Study Guides by Dan Romanchik ( And then, just took the practice exams at http://www.qrz.com/hamtest/ OR http://arrlexamreview.appspot.com/ until I was reliably 80-85%. If you put time in the above, you should be able to pass the Technician test no problem as it's mostly a memorization and common sense thing. That being said, I felt I knew very little about ham radio after passing the test, but I did have my license. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Teky0101 6 Posted April 11, 2015 Thank you very much for the help! I will look into this! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W2MC 1,699 Posted April 11, 2015 I read through the No-Nonsense Study Guides by Dan Romanchik ( And then, just took the practice exams at http://www.qrz.com/hamtest/ OR http://arrlexamreview.appspot.com/ until I was reliably 80-85%. If you put time in the above, you should be able to pass the Technician test no problem as it's mostly a memorization and common sense thing. That being said, I felt I knew very little about ham radio after passing the test, but I did have my license. Exactly -- the goal of the testing is to ensure you have a basic level of understanding of what you're doing and don't hurt yourself or others, or make yourself an annoyance to everyone else. The Ham License testing is really just like learning to drive a car - the drivers license test is to ensure you understand the rules of the road - it doesn't mean you're ready for NASCAR. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Newtonian 453 Posted April 11, 2015 Exactly -- the goal of the testing is to ensure you have a basic level of understanding of what you're doing and don't hurt yourself or others, or make yourself an annoyance to everyone else. The Ham License testing is really just like learning to drive a car - the drivers license test is to ensure you understand the rules of the road - it doesn't mean you're ready for NASCAR. I'm ready to take my General license exam (I'm currently a Tech) and I don't think I know anything about radio either. I don't think a Technician-level licensee has to know anything about climbing antenna towers, but there are several questions on that topic. That's just one example. For the General exam they have a bunch of questions on frequencies such as "what part of the XYZ band is reserved for CW?" or "What portion of XXX band is reserved for RTTY?" I'll be honest. I simply create a mnemonic for those types of questions. If and when I use CW or RTTY or SSB on any HF band I'll have an index card in front of me with the plan for that band typed out. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blizzzarddemon 0 Posted April 11, 2015 w2mc i have a yaesu ft-8000 with a 15 amp power supply trying to use it as a base rig but i cant seem to get it to key the K2AA repeater yet my yeaseu in my car does any info on why it wont Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carcano 14 Posted April 11, 2015 I'm ready to take my General license exam (I'm currently a Tech) and I don't think I know anything about radio either. I don't think a Technician-level licensee has to know anything about climbing antenna towers, but there are several questions on that topic. That's just one example. For the General exam they have a bunch of questions on frequencies such as "what part of the XYZ band is reserved for CW?" or "What portion of XXX band is reserved for RTTY?" I'll be honest. I simply create a mnemonic for those types of questions. If and when I use CW or RTTY or SSB on any HF band I'll have an index card in front of me with the plan for that band typed out. Best thing to do is to print out the ARRL band plan and leave it in front of the radio. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Newtonian 453 Posted April 11, 2015 Best thing to do is to print out the ARRL band plan and leave it in front of the radio. Exactly. So why have people memorize that stuff? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carcano 14 Posted April 11, 2015 Exactly. So why have people memorize that stuff? Well, knowing the rules/regulations is one thing...you wouldn't let someone drive without passing the MVC exam and having someone operate a radio without knowing the rules/regs/operating practices could be disastrous. When I took my Tech exam I memorized the Q&A's and once I was on the air if I questioned something (band restrictions/mode) I would glance at the band plan to double check before transmitting, I still do this and feel no shame in not remembering every band/mode restriction off hand. If you do something that isn't permissible with your license (ie out of band transmission) someone might let you know on the air or an official observer "OO" might drop you a reminder in the mail but FCC agents showing up or license suspension over occasional mistakes is unheard of. Memorize the Q&A's you are stuck on, that's how they manage to push first responders through these exams in one day (memorizing the Q&A's)...but if you are unsure about something best to reference check it before Xmitting. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Newtonian 453 Posted April 11, 2015 Well, knowing the rules/regulations is one thing...you wouldn't let someone drive without passing the MVC exam and having someone operate a radio without knowing the rules/regs/operating practices could be disastrous. When I took my Tech exam I memorized the Q&A's and once I was on the air if I questioned something (band restrictions/mode) I would glance at the band plan to double check before transmitting, I still do this and feel no shame in not remembering every band/mode restriction off hand. If you do something that isn't permissible with your license (ie out of band transmission) someone might let you know on the air or an official observer "OO" might drop you a reminder in the mail but FCC agents showing up or license suspension over occasional mistakes is unheard of. Memorize the Q&A's you are stuck on, that's how they manage to push first responders through these exams in one day (memorizing the Q&A's)...but if you are unsure about something best to reference check it before Xmitting. The reason I waited 46 years to get my license is because I respected the hobby and the airwaves. It took me several weeks after getting my license to press the XMit button. I would never allow myself to break the rules. What I'm getting at is there is no reason to have someone memorize 14.073-14.078 for some particular mode. When you get a driver's license they don't ask you to memorize the address of the MV office. IMO Technician should be mostly about getting on the air and not sounding stupid as I do/did on the Tech bands. To use an analogy, you don't show up for pheasant in camo but you do for turkey That's the kind of stuff I want to know. Not which belt to connect to ground 200 feet into the air. I ain't going 200 feet into the air even if I qualify for the super-super-Extra-Existential license. General should be more about theory I believe. But I'll tell you the study guides do not explain things very well. I'm using HamTest, which is great for memorizing the answers but doesn't really explain anything too much. I have a strong science background and I can't make heads or tails of a lot of the material unless I research it myself independently. And frequently I just shrug it off: "I'll learn it when I need it." Or I invent a mnemonic, like the Q about superhet receivers: it's one of the longest words in ham-dom, and the answer is the shortest one on the list. Fine. I'm done. What it is I can't tell you, except that it has the fewest characters. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
djg0770 481 Posted April 12, 2015 What I'm getting at is there is no reason to have someone memorize 14.073-14.078 for some particular mode. When you get a driver's license they don't ask you to memorize the address of the MV office. But they do ask you equally inane questions, like what's the penalty for a second dui. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W2MC 1,699 Posted April 12, 2015 I think you're missing it...they have questions about tower climbing because hams DO fall from towers. its the same reason the Hunter Safety test has questions about tree stands; statistically, your highest risk when hunting is taking a snooze and falling out of your stand. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W2MC 1,699 Posted April 12, 2015 But they do ask you equally inane questions, like what's the penalty for a second dui. And what's your reaction time and stopping distance when driving at XX miles per hour. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Teky0101 6 Posted April 13, 2015 I have a question about repeaters. I how wondering does a repeater only allow you to transmit further or can it amplify your radio connections to pickup radio chatter further away? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Newtonian 453 Posted April 13, 2015 I think you're missing it...they have questions about tower climbing because hams DO fall from towers. its the same reason the Hunter Safety test has questions about tree stands; statistically, your highest risk when hunting is taking a snooze and falling out of your stand. A deer hunter is much more likely to use a stand than a freshly minted Tech is to climb a tower, no? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W2MC 1,699 Posted April 13, 2015 A deer hunter is much more likely to use a stand than a freshly minted Tech is to climb a tower, no? It depends. I've been deer hunting for 30 years, and I climbed an existing tree-stand once, and I've never used a climber. I've been an amateur radio op for about 18 years...I've climbed many towers, and worked as ground crew for about 3x more. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Newtonian 453 Posted April 13, 2015 It depends. I've been deer hunting for 30 years, and I climbed an existing tree-stand once, and I've never used a climber. I've been an amateur radio op for about 18 years...I've climbed many towers, and worked as ground crew for about 3x more. I've never hunted deer (next hobby/project) or climbed antenna towers (never ever will I) so I'll defer to your experience. You have to realize when I make posts like that that I'm an aging individual who was cranky from a very young age. That particular personality trait does not improve. I mean, look at my avatar. Just this week I've ordered the execution of 200 of my closest friends and blood relatives. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Silence Dogood 468 Posted April 14, 2015 If you're not aware of it, graded practice exams and flash cards - http://hamexam.org/ Be aware if you are going for General that the exam questions change after 6/30/15. SD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Displaced Texan 11,731 Posted April 17, 2015 This is a little of topic, but for those who plan on going for General or higher, or those who desire to learn/improve knowledge level of electronics and theory, this will help: www.jacquesricher.com/NEETS/ This is the complete Navy Electronics and Electricity training course material. Excellent information. I refer to it often even today. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1LtCAP 4,262 Posted April 18, 2015 I've never hunted deer (next hobby/project) or climbed antenna towers (never ever will I) so I'll defer to your experience. You have to realize when I make posts like that that I'm an aging individual who was cranky from a very young age. That particular personality trait does not improve. I mean, look at my avatar. Just this week I've ordered the execution of 200 of my closest friends and blood relatives. cranky is ok. ninja level paranoid.....not so much, lololol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites