VA2UTC Station Rebuild.

Kenwood TS130S.  No longer produced.
However one can still get this radio for as little as $200.00
Check your local swap net or visit the Ontario Swap Shop.
You may get lucky and find one there.

My station is about to get a long overdue makeover. The first step is a new radio. The Kenwood TS30S. This radio will be purchased next week. After I get the new radio the next steps are to get new grounding wire and the rod plus a new pole for the Endfed Zep. The goal is to be ready for ops by the beginning of October. Another goal is to get a backup radio. A second TS130S may be added as a back up should the first fail and I am also planning on getting a power supply for it. Then the final step a complete new radio.

A reasonably priced radio in Canada retail is $899.
This is the older version FT450 the D model has feet.

After looking at pricing and also functionality I have decided that I would like to get a Yaseau, the radio I am looking to get is the FT450D. There are several reasons whey I chose this radio. The first is price, under 1000 dollars before taxes.  I know that the power supply will increase the price to around 1100 dollars and the tax plus shipping will probably put the cost close to 1500 dollars.  This is still a good deal for a radio that is brand new.  There are others priced lower, that said for what you get with this radio the price is not bad.  Note I have not considered accessories for this model.

The second reason, ease of operation. The radio is menu driven a fact I am not crazy about, however unlike some of the other radios the FT450D'S front panel is not cluttered which leads to less confusion. That said the display itself does appear busy.

Third reason is interestingly the display. While it does look busy the fact that it is white on black makes it easy to read. Plus the buttons are also lit which really helps. This radio also comes with frequency readout, which makes it very usable for those persons with low vision or who are blind.

In my research I found that most radios appeared to complicated to operate based on being menu driven.  Also of note were the display panels, these displays were a gross looking orange back lit with black lettering and numbering on them. Yes there are some mods you can get to change the colours but, I have to admit I am lazy and would prefer to keep it simple thank you very much.  Also of note is the fact that other radios did have white, blue or other colours on black.  These radios tended to be too small and overpriced.

The IC 7800 price 12,699 in Canada.

The biggest factor though is the price. Frankly speaking I have no problem investing money in my hobby but, 3 6 and 10K fat chance especially when I can get a complete station for under 1000. Maybe one day I will have that kind of money to spend and even then I may not make such a purchase. My opinion is that unless your very knowledgeable about radio and the workings of propagation there is no real need to for gear with tons of menus, spectrum analysis and world maps on them. These types of radios are nothing more then overpriced toys for boys who want to brag about having the biggest and baddest station on the air. OK unless you publish pictures and video of the gear it's just like any other station on the air just fancier.

Who knows I may just keep the new radio as the back up and run with the TS130S as the main station. The 120 I had worked well and that radio is probably one of the most simplest to operate. Look for me on the bands beginning in October. Until then thanks for reading, comments always welcome at va2utc@hotmail.com or cjames5a@gmail.com.

73 Cliff VA2UTC

Note prices for the IC7800 and FT450D were found on the Radio World website.