Starting Again

Having been QRT for about 11 years I resurrected my amateur radio hobby in September 2005. A nice Kenwood R-2000 receiver was used for general shortwave listening but it was an interest in setting up a modest station to try some PSK31 on HF that really sparked my renewed enthusiasm and led to my acquiring the JRC JST-245, another great radio. This was a swap deal for a Canon EOS 10D digital SLR camera (with a quality lens) - I consider it a good deal given the fun I had with the 245 hooked up to an attic dipole cut for 20m and a simple long wire from shack window to back fence...at the thin end of cycle 23!

JRC JST-245

Having used the JST-245 for a few years I came to the decision I needed tighter filtering for data-modes (I was by now a big fan of RTTY) so I added a Kenwood TS-480SAT to the station with an optional 500Hz filter. I have to say that the 480 is a seriously good HF radio and is a hidden gem in the Kenwood line-up. It served me well but as with other rigs of this time it just had to go to fund the purchase of a Yaesu FT-950 which served as my main HF radio until 2015.

Now seriously back in the amateur radio fold and taking the hobby a little more seriously I added an IC-703 to the shack with the intention of using this portable and on holiday. I had lots of fun with what was a great little rig with a great receiver but it too was eventually sold to fund the FT-950 purchase.

Kenwod TS-480SAT	Icom IC-703

During this period I bought and sold on two more great HF radios, an Icom IC-740 (what an amazing receiver!) and a Yaesu FT-901D. Both radios were great fun to use but sadly had to be moved on in part to fund the FT-950 purchase but also to make room for it in the shack!

Icom IC-740	Yaesu FT-901D

Early in 2009, having no 2m facility, I managed to find a cheap, cheerful and beat-up old Trio TR-7730 for local skeds in advance of purchasing an FT-897. This was a short lived relationship but the rig worked well and is I'm sure still doing a good job for its new owner.

Yaesu FT-950

A significant downsizing operation and clear-out of gear no longer required led to the purchase in June 2009 of a Yaesu FT-950 as my main station radio. Benefitting from digital IF filtering this was the radio I anticipated being with me for a long time. It was all the things that all the other HF radios were and then some...in one box. Fully interfaced to a PC for all datamodes (including FSK RTTY) and CW keying, it really was to my mind, a very nice radio.

I added an FT-897 for VHF/UHF, portable ops and HF backup but that didn't last long and was sold on. Nice radio, not great. 

This was subsequently replaced with an FT-857 for portable and holiday ops. Essentially the same radio as an FT-897 but smaller & more convenient for portable use. I had the 2.3KHz SSB filter installed and it worked very well battery-powered portable during the summer of 2010.

Trio TR-7730	Yaesu FT-857D

I also got a good deal on an ex-demo Icom IC-E7 from ML&S - a nice small shirt pocket handie to keep in touch with the guys when out portable. As I've said previously, I'm not really into bands above 6m but this little rig did just what I needed.

And that was that...or so I thought. For reasons I won't go into, sometime around the middle of 2015 I sold my radios and most of the other gear and put my amateur radio hobby on hold again with no idea if, or when, I might resume.

As it turned out, this time I was to be QRT for almost 9 years until January of 2024.