If you're interested in ham radio, there's no excuse to not get a license...

[sanglant]

not working in firefox and you have to login, but i think this thread needs this link. probably wrong though.

[White Horseradish]

not working in firefox and you have to login, but i think this thread needs this link. probably wrong though.

Works in my Firefox fine. How far do I have to watch to see relevance?

[sanglant]

when the prisoner says he has to go to the bathroom. and then when Raylan asks him where he got the shank. was a good episode though, the ending was funny as all get out. guess you had to watch the rest of the series to get it though.

[tyme]

One of the better entry-level (lower power) HF transceivers I know of is the portable (but not hand-held) Yaesu ft-817dn.  $600-ish, probably slightly cheaper at swap meets or ebay.  Older variants (used) might be several hundred cheaper, particularly factoring in other stuff they'll be sold with with like accessories or antennas.

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamhf/1817.html

More prices...

Mobile FM: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/fm_txvrs.html
Handhelds (FM): http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht.html
HF transceivers, some mobile, some base: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht.html

[KD5NRH]

One of the better entry-level (lower power) HF transceivers I know of is the portable (but not hand-held) Yaesu ft-817dn.  $600-ish, probably slightly cheaper at swap meets or ebay.  Older variants (used) might be several hundred cheaper, particularly factoring in other stuff they'll be sold with with like accessories or antennas.

Yup; a good used 817 and VX-5R (or 7R if someone's selling cheap enough) have been on my wish list for a while now.

[mtnbkr]

Tyme, QRP is not entry level.  It's actually more difficult to work with than high power because your stuff has to be *right* in order to make contacts and be heard. 

I have the 817nd.  Why I called it an "819" in my earlier post, I have no idea.

Great radio.  I love the internal battery pack, which is something other QRP rigs lacked.  My longest contact has been out to California with that radio and a 120ft wire dipole, ladder line, and a tuner kit I assembled.

Chris

[KD5NRH]

Tyme, QRP is not entry level.  It's actually more difficult to work with than high power because your stuff has to be *right* in order to make contacts and be heard.

Good; starting out QRP forces you to avoid getting into bad habits like hook-up-any-old-chunk-of-metal-and-let-the-tuner-handle-it.

Heck, with some salvaged fence wire, three fishing poles, and about 15 minutes of tweaking to get it exactly resonant I was able to talk into Canada from Texas with 3 watts on 10m SSB.  Great signal reports with 12W AM from that same setup, too.