BE A BONE YARD PHD 8 . The educational approach to buying your first HF rig. sed equipment provides more bang forthe buck! Butevery pro- spective used-equipment buyer, 8 ‘old-timer and newcomer alike, has to decide: What rig should I buy? How much should I pay” Where can I find a used rig? After 10 years away from the HF bands, 1 faced those very questions. A couple of ‘months later I carried home a used HF trans- ceiver that isstillin my shack, providing many enjoyable contacts Which one did I buy? | That's not important. How 1 bought itis the story that I want to el Getting My Head Straight Thegan by contem- plating some lessons T had learned in 20 years asa ham, and writing down some factors to consider. | Be Patient After I upgraded to General, I hurried down tothe local ham store and traded my old Swan SOOC transceiver Tor a new solid-state, digital readout, 100-W transceiver, a vertical antenna and a box full fof accessories. Years later, realize I didn’t get any new capabi lity. 1 just had a different rig, a different an enna, and a maxed-out credit card! All L needed to use my new privileges was an SWR ‘meter and the antenna I already had every thing else. Some ham with a fittle more patience now owns that Swan, I hope he got ‘good deal ‘This time I resolved to be patient. Ifthe urge to operate averwhelmed me I could use the local club station, or borrow a rig froma friend, You're Buying Your Next Rig, Nor Your Last T thought the Swan’s replacement would keep me happy forthe rest of my ham radio life. As l explored the HF bands though, my 64 Ose By Larry Kelth, KQ4BY 231 Shenandoah Trait Warner Robins, GA 31088-6200 ‘wants and needs changed. After @ few months, | was more than willing to move on to another rig Some hams still own every rig they ever bought. I belong to the much larger ‘group that clears out the shack onee in a while, My shack cleaning tends to occur just before or after I buy a new rig. I'm either looking for space or I need the ‘money for the new rig. This time T bought a znext rig that knew would sell when the time The 3k for a TS-8505 that Includes or Knowledge is Power [get the best deals when I know wat I'm doing. When I do my homework, know what the equipment can do and know what i's worth, Idon'¢need to he told gota great deal! How to Selecta Rig started by defining the features needed, cexaminingall available rigs and selecting the ‘ones I wanted. Big job? You bet! The infor- mation was out there, though, and I knew the methods to use. To begin, I put the information in a note- ‘book asf gathered it I didn't icy to memorize allthe equipment features, prices, and aeces- sories. As [improved my equipment educa tion, Thad organized notes on each rig ‘you think you might want to work split- Write Down What You Want to Do 1 was mainly interested in casual OW and 8B operation wthaltie DXingthvown in Thought might later ty RTTY. AMTOR oF HE packet My "Want todo" Hist was imple 2 Shoreactm goals: CW, SSB. DX Gong tcrm goals: TTY. ANTOR and packet radi. Alter lonking for likely places to erect anennas in my Yard the Us of bands cold tse wasshort Tony had room fr4-and 20 meter dipoles. No didn't consider an an Tcanatuneratthetime 1 By nowy st of | requirements boiled | doko operating 0 | and 20-meter SSB or | Cw There must be | hundreds of rigs hat J sit do tat. Tint ial vanter goer oF chert acs ame pec | tote teae ate | things. “es mit wa 0 tee tae | Snort PEER age receiver so you can listen outside the ham bands, Until ceneral-coverage ceeivers became com: mon, product reviews didn't mention ee ceive coverage sepa rately. You'll have to read between the lines and look closely atthe ads to see what each one is capable of ‘This is the time to confess that I didn’t just sit down one evening, activate my brain tnd create the Requirements List. | read ‘magazines, talked to other hams on 2 meters and discussed the plan with hams at work, final tubes: ‘of the two optior ‘coverage receiver Survey the Market With my list of requirements in hand, it was time to Find out which rigs would match that list. In 10 years" worth of QST I looked for manufac-turer's ads, Product Reviews and articles on modifications, In the first pass, T just listed, by manufacturer and model, the items of interest. {listed four popular rigs from the late 1970s and late,‘The ICOM IC-735 enjoyed many years of new units may still be available from some dealers. A general-coverage receiver Is standard. Options include narrow GW filters and a builtin keyer, the presence of which will affect the resale value. To use this transceiver {at 20 A. While ICOM better buy if you pure! and noted issues and page numbers where ads or articles about modifications ‘appeared. A second pass helped me develop alist of "standard features” I wanted. You hhave it easier nowadays: just pick up the two volumes of ARRL'S Radio Buyer's Sourcebook! 1B, Schetgon, ed, Raslo Buyer's Sourcebook {Nowingfon: ARIAL, 1901 (Vl); 1993 (vol2), ‘See you local dealer ar he AFL Publications Catalog elsewhere inthis issue. home, you'll need a source of 13.5 V de ls a matching power supply, you ci ‘an aftermarket Supply. probably get a Limit she Search with Guidelines Afterreading advertisements and product reviews, | listed certain manufacturers and models to avoid because of unreliability or bother quitks or problems. limited my search to rigs manufactured in 1980 oF later, Prior to 1980, many rigs were allube, Tube final amplifiers in an other wise solid-state rig are acceptable (“hybrid” rigs, like the Kenwood TS-830), unless the final amplifiers are TV “sweep tubes” (such as the Drake TR-4). Sweep tubes aren't as Yaesu's FT-757GX also packs a lot of radio in a small box. For CW fans, this radio features full break-in CW and a bullt-in keyer. Optional interfaces fllowed computer frequency control. The °757GX in this photo rests on an optional, lightweight switching-mode power supply. Look for a 13.5-V de, 20-A supply tor home use. durable as tubes designed specifically for ‘ansmitting service, like the 146. Also. it's easier 10 find 6146s than sweep tubes, AI though T am not anti-tube and 30, 17 and 12 meters were not on my lst, all-tube rigs ad those lacking these bands are harder to resell Avoid Orphans Anorphan isasig whose manufacturer no longer exists. There are plenty of Swan and Astro rigs out there, for example, but the ‘company no longer exists. Swan parts are tough to find, Ignore the orphans until you know what to do shen they break. Experi fence has taught me to avoid modified rigs, 00. Doa’t add any unknown factors to your "get on the air” efforts Accessories [find that 13.5 V de froma used Astron or Pyramid power supply will do the same job 88 the matching supply. at about half the price, I avaid the cost of an automatic an- enna tuner by using resonant antennas or 3 smainual tuner. Build the Information Base on Used Rigs After Histed my requirements, itwas time to gather more information. I matched that Tistagainst the types of used equipment avail- able, starting with the reference list and my magazine stack. This time, | compared each rig to my Features List, Then I checked to see iT should avoid the rig for reasons 1 had previously listed. As lbuiltthe candidate list {added price information if I had it. Soon, 1 hadalist of candidate rigs and the pricerange for each, Information Sources—QST Product Reviews Inprepuring this list frequently referred o OST Product Reviews. OST reviews are objective andinformative. Manufacturers do ‘not furnish the review rigs—ARRL buys. themon the open market, Technical tests are conducted using standardized procedures. Furthermore, the equipment reviewer's com: ments are subjected to critical review by an editor who calls on other experienced hams for their evaluations. The end result is an unbiased evaluation I can trust, ARRL Radio Buyer's Sourcebooks these two books were available in 1987, they'd have saved hours of looking through ‘magazine back issues, The first volume con- tains 57 reprints of product reviews on the ‘most popular HF transceivers. Ifa rig isn't, covered inthis book, 2 quick look at the OST Product Review Aeticle Index in Appendix C tells you if it was ever reviewed in OST. An June 1994 65Radio equipment, and parts are in short suppl ble from other sources. If you need a mechanical or part specific to this rig, though, you may hat Fig. this rig are probably av lectries Adviee ‘Don’t buy an orphan as your fir excellent introduction provides background information on choosing. radio and the evo. lution of ham gear, some good information fon performance comparisons, and 4 must- read section on how to use transceiver fea tures to beat interference. An appendix of comparative performance charissummarizes band coverage, modes, receiver test results, and other features of interest to a would-be buyer. The second volume contains all Prod- uct Review articles from 1991 and 1992 0ST, and updated indexes and other appendices. Both books are now on my bookshelf, and will be my first source for technical data on Most of the semiconductors in ‘a hard time finding It. ry next rig. If you're looking fora rig built before 1981 you need only Volume I Local Hams ever met a ham who would pass up the chance to show off his shack and equipment. ‘tthe time I was looking fora new rig, Iwas fairly activeon 2 meters, [usually mentioned that Iwas looking for an HF rig, which often got me invited t0 visit a ham who had that ‘model, to try it out. also gota lot of advice. My innocent comment even generated in- tense round-table discussions on equipment features. I remember one that kept the re- Where Do I Get a A EEL ‘There must be some deap Black Hole in the universe where all the equipment manuals go, Fortunately for those of us who buy used gear, several sources soll Photocopies of original manuals. The list 's oo large to reproduce here, but you can get a copy by requesting the “Marais Handout” from: ARAL Technical Deparment Secretary 225 Main Stiee Newington, CT 06111-1494 Please include a stamped, solf- addressed envelope, peater warm long after | signed off and went to bed! Club, Field Day, and Special Event Stations Most Field Day and Special Event sta tions welcome visitors. [can't think of a better way to judge the performance of a rig than by «rying it out on Field Day Hanfests Atlargerhamfests you'll find dealers with equipment o look at and advertising litera lure to take home. Flea market sellers are usually very willing to discuss their rigs They certainly don’t mind an inspection, it they really want to sell it. Even if you're not In addition to GST ham ads, other places you might find out about used-equipment bargains include periodical publications of classified ads and swap nets, some of which are listed era Ham Trader Yollow Sheets—A bi-weeky list of ham radio and other electronic equipment, the Yalow Sheets have become the defacto pricing standard nationwide. Send a no. 10 sal- addressed envelope with 2 First-Class stamps fora sample copy. ‘1-year subscription costs $16.50. Ham Trader Yellow Sheets of PO Box 2057 PO Box 15142 Gin Ellyn, tL 60108 Seattle, WA 98115, Weekly Ham Trader—Advertisers inthis litle list seem to be ‘concentrated inthe Sth call area, but there are good bargains to be found. A First-Class mail subscription costs $13 for 6 months ‘0 $25 for one year. Weekly Ham Trader PO Box 1159 Arnold, MO 63010 Audible Ads—To recordinear ads for used gear, browse fee by calling 512-502-0685 (Touch-Tone phone require) Several ham racio suppliers regularly deal in used equip- ment, taking iin trade toward new equipment purcnases. Check the ads in QST to identify such sources, and cal them to determine current equipment availabilty Users Groups Hams love to tinker and modity. Users groups provide a {forum forthe exchange of information on upgrades and mositica sions, Some papular igs are even the subject of regular nels, Here Manuacturer Frequency Day Time Colins 14263 Sunday 100 Eastorn Time Drake 3.885 Saturday 2000 Eastern Time Icom 14317 Sunday 1700 UTC. ICOM owners also have an Internet malig lit. Sond e-mail to icom-request@hipp.etsu.edu with “SUBSCRIBE [your e-mail address} in the body ofthe message. The Intemational Radio and Computer company maintains neatly 20 years of back issues of manly (now Bemonthly) newsletters covering equipment made by Yaesu, Kenwood and ICOM. You can purchase sets of back issues or subscribe to the newsletters. Fora catalog, send $0.60 (U.S.) or $1.00 (outside the US): Intornatonal Rado and Computer ‘3804 South U.S. Hwy 1 FtPierce, FL 94082 ‘Swap Net ‘The Traders Nel meets on $898 kHz at 0001 UTC Tuesdays ‘and Saturdays. You don't have ta checkin to hear the bargains Keep a pencil and paper handy as check-ins ead off their lists of ‘equipment forsale and thei telephone numbers. If you can't hear @ check-in, don't wary the net control wil usually repeat the ‘equipment description and phone number. 66 Ostready to buy, you can fella lot about the market by observing which rigs get carvied away and which rigs get carried back home. Price Information It's pretty easy to get technical informa- tion about used rigs. It's nat hardto get evalu ations from the magazines or other hams, either. Determining the “Tair price” foraused ig, though, takesa litle work. After the tech: nical information review is complete, | am Sil looking for price information about the rigs on my lst. 1 used OST and other ham radio maga zine classified ads to begin building my price information file. I highlighted the ads that contained rigs from my list. Then T reviewed each highlighted ad and tran. scribed the price and condition information to my list of possible rigs, QST Ham Ads are 2 good information souree, but they are at Teast a month old ‘when you read them. When I'm ready to buy, refer to the Weekly Ham Trader and the Ham Trader Yellow Sheets (biweekly). See the sidebar for subscription information. Swap nets are another way to gather price information. Ask around the repeater to see if there is a local swap net, or check into the fone listed in the sidebsr. Listen closely and keep your notebook handy. ‘Of course there are always hamfests, De. spite what the hamfest flyers say, the only reason to have a hamfest is to provide the ‘opportunity for buyers and sellers to meet tnd transact business. Any other hamfest activity is purely ancillary! Hamfests will be Your best price information source, My latest source of price information is the Internet. If you can send and receive electronic mail (e-mail), chances ate you ‘can aceess the several hundred newsgroups used to exchange information on a variety fof subjects, Among them, you will find reeradio.swap and rec radio.amateur. equipment. The swap newsgroup averages about 25 “for sale messages per day. The equipment newsgroup is not used to post “for sale” messages, but a few show up every week, Check with yoursystem admin istrator to see if you can receive these newsgroups. About now, you'ee thinking, “This guy did a lot of reading and a lot of talking about equipment. Wonder if he ever bought a rig?” Well, did. When I started Jooking at price data really began the buy’ ing process. I just didn’t do it in a hurry Once you have a price range worked out you can shop fora rig from the same sources you used to get prices. How Did I Get the Best Deal? I gotthe best deal by following the guide: lines T mentioned atthe beginning ofthis ar- ticle. Patience and knowledge were the basis for my bargaining. When I located a rig on my list for & reasonable price, T began tne {gotiate. When | went hamfesting or contacted Someone about arig forsale, lknew the going price inadvance. In fact, usually had arange ‘of prices, based on condition and optional feature, to refer to during the negotiations. I passed up a lot of “good deals.” Past, experience taught me that, if it seems too cheap, it probably is. Life's too short to buy “ot” pear External wear and wear don’t always indi cate the operating condition of a rig, Other things being equal, of course, I'll take the ‘nethatisclean, unscratched, complete with ‘manuals and cables, and whose appearance indicates thatthe oviner took care a it Time spent lookingatarigbefore Ibought itsaved me from spending alot of time look ing ait afterward! Tike to testa rig first, possible, A really smart buyer would carry a Wwattmeter, dummy load, hank of wire, and a 12-V battery toevery hamfest.1don’tdo that. If a test acea is available, though, I like to listen on each band, twist the knobs and push the buttons to see ifall the lights come on, If 8 dummy Toad is handy, 1 transmit on each band. When buying arg from local ham or a desler, I always test the rig Before I begin to dicker. Before I buy a rig that Hean’t see or test, Task alot of questions I start off with ques” tions like, “What bands did you operate with this rig?” I continue with specific questions Tike, “How long have you had it, how is the power output on 10 meters, and do you like {the CW filter?” I'm trying to get the seller to talk about the rig. If I'm satisfied with the answers, Task the seller for a reasonable ceptance period. In other words, T want the right to return the rig within two weeks, iit doesn’t live up to his description With the preliminaries out of the way. 1 make my offer. Private sellers are usually willing to bargain, Prices are subject to go up, though, based on the buyer's attitude! T don't insult the seller. Fdo aot want to create atake-itor-leavesit situation. I want to leave room for the seller to respond. I never tell him that his price is too high. I use state- ‘ments lke: “Ijust saw one, three rows up, for X dollars,” of, "Bone Yard Electronics has the identical model for X dollars." Then | Tisten to the seller's response. If he doesn't want to lower his price, there are only three things to do: Try again, buy at his price, or thank himand walk away. [fhe makes coun terproposal I consider it. IF think hei stil too high, I may take another stab at getting him to lowerhis price. I'we both are serious, sooner of later Lam going to pay his price or he is going to accept mine. My objective during negotitionsistobuy the rig fr slightly less than [think t's worth, 1 don’t have a set price in minds have @ range. When I get a price within my range, have an excellent deal. When I get a price slightly above my range, [have & good deal IT can't get him to deal at that price range. {say "Thank You!" and walk on. Falways ry to leave the door open for the seller to have change of heart. Ihe doesn’t get any beter offers, he may hunt mie down and accept my offer. Onthe other hand, I'm prepared to walk away froma good radio that isn'ta good deal TThave described the dickering process as if the seer and I were face to face. If do it by electronic mail, telephone, or even mail, ‘thesame principles apply. Itjusttakes longer. Consummating the Deal If all goes according to plan, the seller and L agree on a price and any conditions of the sale, suchas the acceptance period I men: tioned. When the sellers far asvay, we agree ‘on who will pay for shipping and how its co be shipped. Another question to settle is the method of payment. Some sellers want a ccheck or money onder before they ship. A. more equitable solution is for the buyer 10 send his share of the shipping charges to the seller. The seller then ships the item COD. This arrangement protects both buyer and seller ‘You Pay for Your Education— ‘One Way or Another Youcan pay foryour education by buying the wrong rig, buying rig that doesn't work, ‘or paying too much for the cig you buy. | prefer to pay for my education by investing ‘my time and money in advance. Learning boutham equipment and the ham equipment ‘marketplace can be very enjoyable. My ad- vice isto divein und enjoy'the fan. Just make sure you look before you dive. ask. Radio Tips: Boying on the Packet Network I you can operat packet rato you aos i mode sear fr sed equipment. More than 25000 hams gt on packet sone ine o nother and nny of thom ve stat forsale Tey adverse soap he | IR of llin escapes ta appear tn pcka bull bos tems ‘bass Take a quik scan through hese batsins by conctng oo cal pucker BBS and seni the los Ine commend Osa Le Fonsate You's ist fers bles svenge t's adieeed to “SALE OcSPORSALE! Ths should cover Shout 90 ofthe sale menage I you'van todo move horegh {etch just send is) and ead al these Ines And whe you're canvassing the packet nator do forget tothe thy ney DE Backer Shem Bakerhter networks are frequented by aie Dae and contests The often ne the setwor toby ad sll spent In fhe you fn sting ee a 900 Sow see on packer BBSs To search or used equipment sale lisings ona Char comeccand send he DIRE command. see a list of every message that was Posted since your last connection /BSIMY dune 1994 67