ELAD FDM DUO

ELAD FDM DUO - KING OF HF QRP?

The ELAD FDM DUO is a fabulous 160-6M SDR transceiver which can not only be used as a standalone rig, but also has some superb PC software! To many, it's the KING of HF SDR QRP!

ELAD Elettronica was established in 1990 by Franco Milan - a designer with decades of experience. ELAD excel in  technological innovation and skills in the world of electronics. They are electronic engineers first and foremost, producing high end test equipment, but being Italian, also have an eye for beauty and style - this thing wouldn't look out of place in a stylish lounge!

The FDM DUO is a smart, compact (7"x6"), very well constructed radio which can be used as a standalone QRP radio up on a SOTA Summit or is equally happy at home in the shack connected to a linear amplifier. If one receiver is not enough for you, then simply connect it to your PC and run the FDM-SW2 software - enabling you can work on two separate bands at the same time with four independent frequencies on each band - effectively 9 receivers in total!

Depending on the power supplied to the radio and the band used, the FDM DUO will typically output 5W at 12V and up to 9W at 13.8V (and down low into the mA range ) in all modes (except digital). Output drops according to the voltage of your supply, so using a low-voltage battery will drop the TX output typically to 5W. Personally, I use a 13.2V LifePO battery so I should get close to full TX power when playing outdoors. It's worth noting that the Elad has a current draw of 500mA in receive mode, so this would be considered too high for many POTA/SOTA operators. I wouldn't let that bother me for a POTA outing because I've always got my truck close to hand with extra batteries, should I need them, but for SOTA that's a different story. Back in the shack (where a radio like this would probably spend most of its life), a 13.8V PSU will always guarantee max power out.

The Elad FDM DUO is a Direct Sampling SDR which means that the antenna is virtually connected directly to the A/D convertor. The advantage of this is that once a signal has been digitised, it's no longer prone to degradation, so the sooner you can achieve that, the better.

The RX range of the Elad is 10Khz to 52MHz, so it is also a good choice for ShortWave Listeners. Performance below 54MHz is superb and if you use the PC software you can actually go much higher (at reduced quality).

You can choose from Black or Silver finish, but me being me, I opted for the Special Edition "RED" version in 2019.  This special edition came about after Martin Lynch reviewed the radio on YouTube and suggested that it was "like holding a Ferrari in your hands", so the MD of ELAD decided to do a short run of red radios, lol.  The finish on the steel case is very nice and looks pretty durable. The legs at the front of the rig might look a bit flimsy but they are in fact quite robust. The VFO dial feels smooth and dependable and the screen is bright and crystal clear.

Under the cover: there's a very fast analog-digital-converter which samples the received HF directly into digital signals and a downstream DSP module provides for filtering and processing, while another ARM processor handles the signals of the control unit. One highlight of the FDM-DUO is the possibility to use it standalone without a computer. 

It's a perfect companion for QRP fans, allowing you to have an advanced SDR with you even when you're working far from home. The controls are very easy to use for a small QRP transceiver and in addition to the big VFO knob, there are two smaller knobs for volume and filter-center/width (amongst others). Six blue buttons below the LCD-screen access the most important functions directly, while less frequently used settings are available via menu system. 

On the rear of the panel you have an RF OUT (0db), REF IN, RX-USB, two SO-239 connectors (one for a TX/RX antenna and one for an RX-ONLY antenna), PTT-OUT, KEY/PADDLE, RJ-45 MIC connector (Icom compatible), two more USB ports (TX & CAT control), a DB9 connector for accessories, a power connector and a small ON/OFF switch.

When connected to a PC, FDM-DUO is a very advanced SDR receiver and transmitter with capabilities which are usually available only in large radios. The device receives from 160M to 6M. A 16-bit ADC with 122 MHz sampling rate is built-in.

Selectable modes are: 

LSB,

USB, 

CW, 

AM 

FM,

Extra modes with the Software are:

Sync-AM 

Multiple CW modes

DSB

ECSS

RTTY

WFM (incl. Stereo and RDS!)

RTTY,

DRM

IQ Out

The Elad has a built-in, onscreen CW DECODER, which is always a nice addition.

The accompanying PC software is called FDM-SW2  and is constantly being updated. The software gives you a staggering amount of control over the radio - much more than any other SDR software out there! 

Just stop for a moment and think about other Standalone SDR Transceivers on the market from the big boys like Icom and Yaesu - do they provide you with FREE comprehensive software?? No! Hell, you'd be lucky to get basic-control software.

Elad on the other hand provide FDM-SW2 (always being updated) totally free of charge and it permits you not only to control the basic functions of the radio, but let's you delve deeply into the nooks and crannies of the radio and change pretty much anything you want in search of a better signal.

You can open multiple windows and spread them across your monitor in a layout which suits your method of working and they can even be spread across multiple monitors. One big plus to me, is the fact that you can properly resize windows to fill your screen(s).

Using the software, you can play with a great many features including the amazing 10 noise-blockers and 10 filters that are available for all modes. You can open up an equalizer to tailor your transmitted audio or adjust the level of compression. You even get a nice visual waveform to see your transmitted audio - a nice touch. 

The Noise Blocker on this radio is just staggering (to me at least)! Occasionally at my home QTH, someone in the neighbourhood switches something on 😡 which virtually wipes me out and the only noise blockers which can deal with it are the one on the Elad and the one on my TS-590SG (to a lesser extent). All others have failed completely.

Setting up pre-recorded voice messages (eg for calling CQ) is easily configured and these messages can be set to automatically repeat. If you have a USB headset or a USB microphone connected to your PC, you can choose which one to use to transmit from.

There's so much more that can be done from within the software - it really is quite amazing the amount of control the manufacturer has chosen to give to the operator. So much so, you might find yourself resetting the radio to the manufacturer's default settings when your tinkering has gone a little too far, lol.

The ELAD FDM DUO is a cracking little QRP radio with a stunning receiver which will never fail to impress you and the software just takes it to another level. It's also easy to hook up to a linear for those wanting to use it in the shack as their main rig. 

Everyday operating of the Elad is really quite straightforward and although you do have to remember what some of the buttons do, it only takes a couple of days to feel completely comfortable navigating your way around all the options. The VFO dial is large and nice in the hand. 

Although the screen is quite small, it is extremely crisp and easy to read - there's bags of information on there too. The colour of the backlighting can be altered and you can even set it up to change when transmitting - say to red.

When connecting up to a PC to run the FDM-SW2 software, I find it much better to use a TMATE-2 instead of mouse and keyboard. Having said that, you usually find yourself working a combination of the two.

If you want CAT Control, then you only need one of the three USB leads.

When you listen to the Elad, you just fall in love and forget about any gripes. This is an outstanding receiver!

You will note from the images that a matching speaker is available - the SP1A. External speakers from radio manufacturers are a great annoyance to me - I think they're outrageously expensive!  Not so with Elad. 

They cost £135 brand new and are super stylish and superbly well engineered! The SP-1A is an amplified speaker which conveniently has a PowerPole pass-thru. It has decent power output  and has a built-in 3-stage DSP circuit. It fits in very well and completes the station.

To see the beautiful matching 100W Linear Amplifier, click the image below...

Here's a video recording of me speaking to W2RE using the ELAD and a G5RV...

Click HERE if video doesn't display

Want to watch some VIDEO REVIEWS??

CONCLUSION...

This beautiful, high performance transceiver from Italy is a shining star in the SDR world, for sure. It's completely standalone but is backed up with some of the very best software available on the market for those who want to link up to their shack PC.

It's small enough to be thrown into a rucksack and be taken with you on your travels, but that (relatively) high current consumption will mean that you probably won't want to take it to the top of a mountain with a small battery. Having said that, not many people spend all day on top of a mountain 😁 You tend to bag your 10 contacts for the activation and enjoy the local scenery on your descent. My HobbyKing 8400 LifePO battery has never failed me.

I see the ELAD FDM DUO as a top-end performer that is absolutely perfect for the shack or Field Day or a POTA outing. You'd be very hard-pressed to find a better receiver - especially if you take advantage of the software on a computer, laptop or tablet.

I guess some people would baulk at the £1k price tag of a 5-9W radio and put their money into one of the run of the mill 100-Watters out there. As a lover of QRP though, I prefer to do things a little differently. Not everyone will. Are there better receivers out there? Of course - at three times the cost! Are they three times better? Of course not!

Here's a black edition that I bought for my static caravan. Up there in the Forest Of Bowland the noise levels are extremely low!

 

Dave Kennett (K8KFJ Sadly SK) put together 3 amazingly useful videos on how to get the most out of the ELAD FDM DUO and I have to admit that there were plenty of tips that introduced me to features I wasn't even aware of! Bear in mind though, that these videos are for owners of the Elad who want to invest time in learning everything about this wonderful transceiver. They are not reviews.

ELAD GUIDE - Part 1

ELAD GUIDE - Part 2

ELAD GUIDE - Part 3

RX Stand-Alone Specifications

• Frequency range: 10kHz - 54MHz.
• Direct sampling receiver operating @122.88MHz, ADC: LTC2165 16bit.
• DDC (Digital Down Converter) made with FPGA Xilinx Spartan 6.
• Filters & Std-Alone Demodulator made with ARM STM32F4 microcontroller with floating point unit.
• Demodulation: CW, CWR, LSB, USB, AM, FM narrow.
• Selectable LSB and USB filters; 1600Hz to 3100Hz with 100Hz step plus 4000Hz, 5000Hz and 6000Hz values.
• Selectable AM filters from 2500Hz to 6000Hz with 500Hz step.
• Selectable CW filters; 2600Hz, 1500Hz, 1000Hz, 500Hz, 300Hz and 100Hz plus 4 CW peak filters applied after 100Hz filter to obtain an overall filter of 20Hz bandwidth.
• Selectable FM filters: narrow, wide and data.
• Pitch setting: up to 1kHz with 10Hz step.
• RIT feature.
• Three audio volumes: main, auxiliary and sidetone.
• Squelch: off and 10 on levels.
• Gain Control: automatic (AGC) and manual, with settable threshold.
• Noise Reduction: off and 10 on levels.
• Noise Blanker: off and 10 on levels.
• Auto Notch: off and 2 on levels.

TX Stand-Alone Specifications

• Supports bands from 160m to 6m.
• Modulation and filtering made with ARM STM32F4 and DDS AD9957 with 368.64MHz clock.
• Modulation: CW, LSB, USB, AM, FM narrow.
• Microphone input (ADC 48KHz@16bit) with selectable gain (+/-12dB). Tx bandwidth selectable. Compression gain settable.
• Key and Paddle input for CW operation, supports Iambic A and B, settable CW speed for Paddle, settable CW delay.
• Not filtered 0dBm output on SMA connector (can be used as test equipment or as digital RF generator).
• Up to 5W output power on all bands plus Max Selection (e.g. 8W@14MHz).
• PTT Output to drive external amplifiers.

Main Features

• VFO A and VFO B, with dedicated frequency, step and mode.
• 200 MEMORIES with dedicated frequency, step, mode and alphanumeric label.
• QuickMem feature: up to 20 re-callable memories for band selection (memories 180 to 199).
• QuickStep feature: allows to quickly change step without modify VFOs or MEM step.
• Tune feature to facilitate antenna tuning with external antenna tuner.
• VFOA=VFOB feature.
• VFO to MEM and MEM to VFO features.
• Std-Alone Split feature, VFO A for RX and VFO B for TX.
• 2 customizable keys (F4 and F5) with various functions: CW message sending, split management, tuning knob lock, CW/CWR choice.
• 2 frequency entering modes : with step and digit by digit.
• Integrated CW decoder.
• LCD color programmable with RGB values for the various operating modalities (RX, TX , PC remote control, ...).
• All programmable components (ARM RX, ARM TX, Flash for FPGA, User Interface microcontroller and USB controller) are firmware upgradable.
  

General Specifications

• Antenna connectors: RTX SO-239, RX SO-239.
• CAT USB control interface with FTDI controller, manages also RTS and DTR signals to transmit.
• Proprietary EXTIO Interface to connect accessories.
• 10MHz Reference Input on SMA connector.
• Power supply: 2.1mm DC Plug, 13.8VDC.
• RX consumption: typ. 500mA@13.8VDC.
• TX consumption: <2.2A@13.8VDC (5W output).
• Size: Width 180mm (7.00"), Depth 155mm (6.10") including Knob and connectors or 130mm (5.10") only enclosure, Height 70mm (2.75").
• Weight: 1.2Kg (2.4 lb), shipment package 2.2Kg (4.85 lb).

Operation Specifications with FDM-SW2 Software

• Up to 4 simultaneous virtual receivers in single channel mode.
• Up to 8 simultaneous virtual receivers in double channel mode.
• Dedicated Audio Channel for each virtual receiver.
• Dedicated CAT Channel for each virtual receiver.
• Supports connection with external programs using Virtual Serial Ports and Virtual Audio Cables.
• Selectable IQ USB stream in two main modalities:
  • Stand-Alone : 192ksps single channel and 192ksps double channel,
  • Remote : 384ksps, 768ksps, 1536ksps, 3072ksps, 6144ksps in single channel mode and 384ksps in double channel mode.
• Remote Split operation, VFO A for RX and VFO B for TX. TX frequency and TX mode are managed by FDM-SW2.
• Play Files feature. CW messages sending feature. Advanced Transmit Feature with Equalizer, VOX, Compressor, and Filtering functionalities.
• CW Skimmer integration management (DX Spot visualization & tuning capability).
• Direct Digital Modulation using FDM-DUO USB soundcard based on CMedia chipset digitally interfaced with ARM microcontroller.

Two of my favourite radios

Thanks for visiting - please take a minute to leave a comment below 

73, Tom, M7MCQ.

PC UPGRADE

It's never good when your PC starts to play up, but at least it motivates you to upgrade aging equipment! This weekend, the hard-drive in my PC started playing silly-buggers and so I started to look at updating the whole system. I built the PC way back in 2009 so it's getting a bit long in the tooth. Of course I've modified it along the way and even spent a few bob on it in March this year, but now it's time for a radical overhaul.

When choosing new system components, I was focused solely on making a CombatSim PC. I wanted something that would run DCS World 2.5 at ULTRA HIGH settings, with absolutely everything maxed out. Now that's a BIG ASK for any PC but if that's my goal, then whatever I can manage to build, it'll be the very best that I can currently afford.


The tower case (with fans) can stay and so too can the 850W PSU, but the rest has to go. I decided straight away to go for a Gaming motherboard because that's where all the bottlenecks tend to be. The mobo of choice is the ASUS ROG STRIX Z390-F GAMING and in the socket is a lovely INTEL i7 9700 CoffeeLake running at 5,000MHz.

The RAM is Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000MHz in four 8Gb modules, giving me 32Gb to play with. That should certainly help with the sims! The motherboard will take 64Mb and there's rumours that a future BIOS update may increase that to 128Mb!

The video card from the outgoing PC has been upgraded along with a 2560x1440 monitor. The GPU is an MSI GAMING-X GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI with 11Gb of DDR5X and in these new surroundings, it should make DCS World run like the wind with (hopefully) no stuttering even at the highest realism settings.

One of the biggest changes will be the Storage System. Although my old PC had an SSD drive, it also had a disc-spinner as the main drive. Well this time I'm forgoing that option and I'm going for two marvellous NVMe drives which are mounted directly to the motherboard! One is a Corsair 960Gb for the main OS and general software, and the other is a Corsair 480Gb dedicated purely to FlightSims and CombatSims. The Samsung 860 EVO 500Gb SATA SSD from the old PC will be used as a backup drive.

This machine should be LIGHTENING FAST!!!!

The only downside to all this is that I have to build it which is bound to be a pain in the ass, lol. The bit which gripes me the most is all the Windows updating that goes on during a new installation, then re-installing all the other software and then downloading digital copies of your licenced sims from one torrent or another. Thankfully, I've got Thursday and Friday off work, so it should all be done by the end of the weekend. Oh yeh, and then there's that software you bought, but cannot find the serial-keys GRRR!

UPDATE :
I stripped the old components out from the tower case last night and cleaned up the interior. I then installed the ram, the CPU cooler and the two M.2 drives, before putting the whole thing inside the tower case. I'd forgotten just how fiddly it was to connect all the cables to the motherboard - that power supply is like an angry octopus with all its legs fighting one another, lol.

Next up was the graphics card and reconnecting the 5 case-fans. Finally, I had to attach the 5 heat-sensors to the CPU, the M.2 cards, the Graphics card, the memory and one for the ambient case temperature.

Once everything was finished, I connected a monitor, mouse and keyboard and booted up from Windows DVD. The installation was surprisingly swift and the only unusual thing I had to do was attached a network cable to the broadband router in the lounge in order to provide an internet signal (my wireless wi-fi wouldn't operate at this point). Luckily, I have a very long CAT-6 cable.

So the first part went well and all that remains now is the installation of all my programs and sims. But first of all I'll carry out some driver updates and run some benchmarks to get a measure of the performance of the new beast.

UPDATE 2 :
Last night I started the downloading of the DCS WORLD files which took forever via a torrent and so it was extremely late in the night by the time it was finished. As I waited, I got around to installing a few other things including some benchmarking software. The results looked very impressive.

When DCS had finished downloading and unpacking, I ran the sim and set everything to MAX settings and went for a spin in an P-51 Mustang. It was amazing!!!  There was no lag or stuttering or tearing no matter what I did. Awesome!

Knowing that the sim was functioning superbly, I started the next laborious task of installing the aircraft and terrains that I have licences for. Again, it's a loooooong download, so I set it going and went to bed, but by now I was over-tired, lol, so I got back up and started reading through the Early-Release F-16C Manual. I don't find modern manuals very easy to read - they're just not entertaining enough, so I picked up the F-16 manual from Microprose's FALCON 4 sim which is a beautiful and thoroughly enjoyable printed book. It's obviously no good for the key-commands in DCS, but it's a fantastic resource for the F-16 generally.

This morning I got up and checked that the download had gone well - it had. The only one which wasn't running correctly was the A-10C Warthog but all I had to do was find the Serial Number and hey-presto, it was fine.

So I'm off to work now and can't wait to get back home to have a play. There's still all the setup of the Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS and the CH Products MDF's, but at least I know it's all worthwhile when I jump into that cockpit!

CABLE ID TAGS

Identify That Cable!

As your shack grows, so too does the amount of cables, interface-leads, connectors, wall-plug PSU's etc, etc. It's difficult to know what belongs to what!! I started off with bits of masking-tape to identify things but it looked terrible and didn't stay attached. So next was a DYMO labeller but that wasn't suitable for every application, so I then found these Cable-ID Tags on Amazon and I've not looked back since. Functional and cheap!

YOUR FIRST RADIO!

Which Radio Should A New Ham Buy?

I've never been asked this question personally but I've seen it asked over and over on forums and Facebook Groups, so I thought I'd write about my own views on it - after getting it so wrong myself! In this post we'll look at the FT-818, G90, IC-7100, IC-705, KX3 and even the (tr)uSDX. All available new or used.

Before I start though - let's state the obvious - your very first consideration should always be your antenna! Spend the biggest part of your budget there and not on your radio. If you can't have a big multiband yagi because of local restrictions, then consider a wire dipole or an EFHW. If none of those options are possible, perhaps you could install a good quality vertical. Personally, I went for an EFHW and love it.

Some (ill-informed) people will come out with ridiculous statements like "QRP IS NO GOOD FOR A BEGINNER".  I can hardly believe the mentality of those guys - it just shows how little they have actually learned about radio.  As a beginner, your licensing conditions will probably insist that you use low power anyway, but even if they didn't, you will learn FAR MORE about radio using 5W than you will by using 500W!

Another piece of advice that you'll often hear is people telling you to buy an older radio (usually their personal favourite). If you have no other choice (due to a very tight budget), then go for it. But if you can afford to buy something newer, then please do, because that way you will have access to all the operating modes including the very latest digital offerings. There's a world of fun out there on digital and some old-school guys are loathe to even try it because it's "not proper radio" 😂

Anyway, let's move on. I should point out that I am from the UK and over here we have the "FOUNDATION LICENCE" which is the entry-point. Thankfully, it allows you to go on pretty much all the bands, giving you HF, VHF and UHF. There are very few restrictions and you can use up to 25W power. Other countries might have much tighter restrictions.

If your licensing conditions don't allow you access to the HF bands, then some of these radio choices may not apply.

When I got my Foundation Licence , I convinced myself that I needed a big HF rig and a great handheld. I actually ended up buying a Kenwood handheld and a Yaesu base-station.  Then I added an RSP1A for a panadapter display.

I tried allsorts over the coming months and wasted some money swapping and changing.

It wasn't until i bought a Yaesu FT-818 that I realised I should have bought a QRP shack-in-a-box right from the get-go!  Originally I had searched for a used FT-817 but soon realised that there's thousands of them out there, but A) they're quite expensive and B) they're quite old!

What's the difference between an FT-817 and FT818? Well they're almost identical but the newer 818 has 20% more power output, an accurate TCXO and a much better internal battery. Additionally, it has better internal shielding and bonding. Some 817 owners were very disappointed when Yaesu introduced the 818, hoping for a radically new radio, but instead they got an improved version of what was already a fine rig. As a result, you'll hear some foolish claims that the 817 is a better radio, lol, such is their disappointment in not getting something altogether different. The simple fact is, the 817 is a great radio and the 818 is greater.

So in the end I bought an FT-818ND. It's a beautiful little thing and it feels amazingly rugged and reliable. There's nothing flimsy about it and it very quickly feels like your old mate! When it's tucked away in your rucksack waiting for the next outing, you kind of miss it - even though you might have a fancy-schamncy base station in the shack - this lil gal keeps on calling your name.

So, for a newly licenced ham who is on a fixed budget, I would strongly recommend an FT-818 as your first and only radio. Update: Since writing this review, Yaesu announced that the radio was being discontinued. A buying frenzy then ensued and people queued to buy the last remaining stock for £625 each, such is the love for this amazing little rig.

With the FT-818ND, you can operate on HF 1.8 MHz - 54 MHz, VHF 2M, UHF 70cm. You have 6W output power and can easily connect a linear amplifier to increase power when you become licensed to do so.  Although you may think 6W is a bit limiting, believe me, many QRP operators (yes, you are a QRP operator whether you like it or not) reach amazing distances on 6W and less! 

The 817/818 not only allows you to work all the bands, but it also let's you work them in any mode you like too - CW, AM, LSB, USB, FM, PACKET. You can get up on your local hill or maybe get to the beach and make some amazing contacts in your log-book on minimum power. There's no better feeling than breaking through a pile-up with a couple of watts (or even milliwatts).

Just a note here for the newcomers - when calling CQ it's always worth mentioning the fact that you are using low power - QRO operators always seem keen to help out low-power users. My CQ-Call goes like this....

CQ CQ CQ, this is QRP station M7MCQ, I repeat QRP station, Mike Seven Mike Charlie Quebec calling CQ and standing by.

Not only are you identifying yourself as a humble little QRP'er but you're also extending your call that little bit longer to perhaps be spotted on a waterfall. Don't be afraid to extend that call even further. The longer your call (within reason), the more chance you have of someone hearing you or seeing you on the panadpter and applying their filters to pull you out of the noise.

Whilst on holiday in the county of Northumbria, I had a few SSB QSO's on 2.5W using the FT-818 and a SotaBeams Linked dipole. Two of the chats were with American operators KE5EE and WD4NGB. KE5EE gave me a 'genuine' 55 report and he was 7,000km away - that's 2800km/W. 

2.5W into the USA from Boulmer Beach, UK

The radio itself is very straightforward to use and although it's menu-driven, it only takes a week or so to become totally comfortable with it. If you're a bit of a luddite and against menu systems, then don't bother with an 817/818. In my opinion though, you'd have to be pretty dumb not to get along with the radio's way of operating. After all, the most important things like tuning, switching bands, switching modes, etc, are all on the front panel.

The receiver isn't super sensistive, but hopefully, you'll be sat on a high hill or at another great take-off point when using this radio - not using it at your home QTH.

Although the 818 comes with an internal Lion battery, I would recommend that you invest in a nice little LifePO battery around 4800mAh if you want to spend the whole day TXing in the hills. It's a very worthwhile investment!

Another great investment would be an LDG Z-817 or Z-100 PLUS ATU... 

With one of these you can use a random long wire or an End Fed Half Wave which covers multiple bands. The Z-817 is designed specifically for the little Yaesu, whereas the Z-100 PLUS can be used with virtually any radio and it can handles 100W, despite it diminutive size.

There's nothing much that the little 817/818 can't do and as an owner, you are in the company of many others who've gone down this path. Owning an 817/818 at one time or another has almost become part of the hobby, lol. You'll have great fun with it at a variety of locations and events, including your shack. A small amp will permit the use of your full 10W and a bigger amp will give you room for growth if you decide to upgrade your licence.

  

So there you have it. A true shack in a box - in a neat, compact body. Tough as old boots, reliable and functional on almost all the amateur bands. Get a "handbag" case for it and you can take it anywhere with you. 

And bear in mind that if you decide you want a big radio in a few months time, you can always sell your 818 and often get decent money for it! They really do hold their value.

Enjoy!

ALTERNATIVELY....

A lot of folk can't afford to splash out so much on a shack in a box (mortgages, kids, etc) and seek a cheaper alternative. To those operators, I would suggest considering the purchase of a Baofeng UV-9R dual-band HandHeld to cover 2M/70cm and then look at a cheap Xiegu G90 for HF. I have both these radios and there's simply no denying the amazing bang for the buck! Especially the G90 - WOW!

If money isn't an issue, you might want to consider the top-shelf ELECRAFT KX3 fully loaded complete with internal tuner and 2M transverter could cost you as much as £2800 :-O  

Or for half that price, consider the ICOM IC-705. I recently switched to a 705 and I have no regrets at all. In fact, if you have a budget that reaches this level, I'd recommend the IC-705 all day long! The more time I spend with this radio, the more I absolutely LOVE IT but of course £1400 is a lot of money. At the time of writing, this is the most advanced QRP radio in the world.

Then there's the amazing ICOM IC-7100 which is probably the only radio in the world which gives you HF, 6M, 4M, 2M & 70cm. I just love these radios. And you can get hold of a mint one for as little as £650. 

💗 ELECRAFT KX3 💗

💗 ICOM IC-705 💗

💗 ICOM IC-7100 💗

If you're on a very tight budget for HF, you might want to consider the utterly amazing (tr)uSDX QRP transceiver. These can be purchased from as little as £83 as a kit or pay a little more and get it pre-built, ready to use. They include a speaker, a microphone and even a morse decoder!!  I like them so much, I got two!

STEVE NORMAN from the Facebook Group - Amateur Radio UK - suggested an FT-857 or FT-897 as a first radio, saying it's all-band, all-mode, 5-100W and therefore future-proof. That's a good point. I've had the FT-897D and it was a cracking radio but you can't buy them new any more and need to keep an eye on the age of second hand units, for fear of buying an ancient rig. They're not very portable either - well you're certainly not gonna chuck it into your rucksack, lol. The 857 is kind of in-between the 817 and the 897 in size. Again, 100W but more suited to a car. 

NIGEL BROOKS from the Facebook Group - Amateur Radio UK - suggested an FT-840 which obviously suits his interest in HF, but it doesn't operate on VHF or UHF. And it's pretty much limited to home use, being a base station.



SO IN SUMMARY, based on price alone....

1. (tr)uSDX 💗 with a complimentary Baofeng for VHF/UHF
   
   
2. XIEGU G90 with a complimentary Baofeng for VHF/UHF
    
3. YAESU FT-818 💗
    
4. ICOM IC-7100 💗 
    
5. ICOM IC-705   💗 💗💗 
    
6. ELECRAFT KX3 with 2M Module 💗 💗

IF YOU'RE NEW TO RADIO, it might be worth your while reading my NEWBIE POST. It's a long post, but it's full of useful info and tips for a beginner.

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73, Tom, M7MCQ.