For those of you that are Hams, I raise this age old question. I fear it may be more of a Ford vs. Chevy debate than a Land Cruiser vs. Jeep debate, and thus six and one half dozen, but I need some help deciding.
Yaesu 857D vs. ICOM 706mkIIG
- Thread starter land crusher
- Start date
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Either are excellent radios and I'd own either, its all a matter of size and how good of a deal are you gonna get. I own Kenwood, Icom and Yeasu gear. Ive worked the 706 some, stay away from the Yaesu ft-100 to much noise
I run both a Yaesu 857D and a Kenwood TS480SAT and would recommend both of them. The Yaesu is probably the easiest to use but the Kenwood is not that much more difficult and you have more setting that can be adjusted without going into the menu's plus a built in antenna tuner. I know a lot of people that have switched from Yaesu 857 and 897 to the ICOM 7000 and would not go back apparently the quality of the DSP makes learning how to use it well worth while. As for the 706mkIIG I can't comment.
What are other Ham's you know running? it might come down to what your support group are using.
What are other Ham's you know running? it might come down to what your support group are using.
I recomend IC706mkIIg over yaesu.
I played with both at HRO before my purchase of the 706. Use of the 706 and the button layout seemed more intuitive compared to the 857. And the deciding factor was the larger display.
The two radios are very comparable but there are slight non-critical differences.
Icom
~100 memories
Green display
No software available
Yeasu
~200 memories
Multiple colors
Software available
These are only a few of the differences, there are probably some more, but none of these are critical.
The 857 is also $100-$200 cheaper and you can pick up the ATAS-120 and the 857 for about the price of a 706.
The two radios are very comparable but there are slight non-critical differences.
Icom
~100 memories
Green display
No software available
Yeasu
~200 memories
Multiple colors
Software available
These are only a few of the differences, there are probably some more, but none of these are critical.
The 857 is also $100-$200 cheaper and you can pick up the ATAS-120 and the 857 for about the price of a 706.
- Thread starter
- #9
Went with the Yaesu. Now trying to figure out mobile HF antenna options that work while not breaking the bank.
As with a lot of electronics and SW once you understand the logic a particular vendor uses to structure menus new products are easier to use. All of my radios are Yaesu, I barely opened the manual for the last one I bought. I'm sure if I had switched to ICom or Kenwood there would have been a learning curve. Many people, understandably, can't distinguish between this learning curve and ease of use.
And you thought picking out a radio was difficult
Did you pickup a antenna tuner as well or are you looking to tune the antenna to a frequency?
- Thread starter
- #12
And you thought picking out a radio was difficult
I got an LDG Z-100 autotuner. My plan is to have a couple portable antennas (maybe a multiband dipole and an NVIS setup or maybe a Buddi-pole style rig) for HF use at camp, but I'd also like to have something on the truck to use in a pinch when I don't feel like setting up something outside the truck.
I just got one of these CHAMELEON V1 HF Multiband Antenna and am in the process of testing it out. My first contacts with it mounted to my patio table where promising when compared to other vertical antennas I have tried from the same location. I will be trying it on the truck this weekend and comparing it to my screwdriver antenna with both a 36" and a 102" whip. So far I have made contacts on 80m, 40m, 2m, 70cm. If things work out I will be connect it to a duplexer before connecting it to both the HF and VHF/UHF connections on the 857.
For camp setup nothing can beat wire dipole antenna. I use a 135 food 7 band dipole and have had excellent results with it and it takes up almost no space in the trick.
73,
For camp setup nothing can beat wire dipole antenna. I use a 135 food 7 band dipole and have had excellent results with it and it takes up almost no space in the trick.
73,
- Thread starter
- #15
Hmm.. I see you can reserve them on the site. I suppose that's a good sign if they can't keep up with demand.
Cool Drew, that antenna sounds promising! if it compares remotely well to your screwdriver it'd be a bargain. I look forward to your review... could be just the ticket for my 74.
Are you making the next CC meeting? I'd like to check it out for sure.
Are you making the next CC meeting? I'd like to check it out for sure.
Burnaby Radio was closed for there summer holidays, so I contacted the vendor and they do have them in stock now.
I better be there or I'll get linched. I've got this months prizes and No I'm not putting this antenna in the draw
I should have a chance to play with it this weekend and will let everyone know how it do's
It compared not to badly with my screwdriver antenna with the 36" whip. The screwdriver was a little more efficient at getting the signal out power out. But both where about equal on receiving V1 was just a little stronger. The screwdriver with the 102" whip clearly out preformed both by a good S2.
The autotuner in my Kenwood TS480 was unable to tune the V1, but my LDG Z11pro tuner was able to tune it on all frequencies. From my first tests it looks like the loss from the autotuner is greater then that of the loading coil in the screwdriver antenna. I will be trying a few other mounting locations on the truck to see if I can get better results.
The autotuner in my Kenwood TS480 was unable to tune the V1, but my LDG Z11pro tuner was able to tune it on all frequencies. From my first tests it looks like the loss from the autotuner is greater then that of the loading coil in the screwdriver antenna. I will be trying a few other mounting locations on the truck to see if I can get better results.