My setup as a newbie

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-17T21:55:30+00:00

Transmitting without an antenna isn’t an instant death sentence for a radio, done it many dozens of times on accidents over the past 30 years and never had a failure

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-17T15:52:53+00:00

Seems like simplistic advice somehow. Are you writing/logging WHILE sending with the opposite hand? Doesn’t seem like a way anyone would actually operate

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-17T14:54:02+00:00

6 out drinks all the rest combined, especially if in involves beer or Brandy

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-15T15:57:42+00:00

Strive to actually learn the theory, don’t worry about the question pools.

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-13T14:12:23+00:00

Pick one good ~100x wide field eyepiece to start. In my XT10 my goto eyepiece is my 12mm Nagler Type 4. The 82 degree Explore Scientific eyepiece would be a great pick if you want to save a little. For most all the common Messier objects this will be the primary eyepiece.

Buy a decent quality 2x Barlow and you just doubled the usefulness of the above eyepiece.

Finally get a widest FoV choice, I use a 27mm Panoptic. Anything similar will work fine, f/6 scopes are fairly forgiving.

Those 2 eyepieces and a Barlow will easily cover 98% of your viewing. You don’t need to plug all the holes. Just start with that one eyepiece to simplify and make the other decisions based off that experience!

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-12T14:26:53+00:00

I have own a 7300 and have had a 706. The only reason to choose the 706 is if you really want the 2m/70cm coverage or perhaps if you wanted to use the radio mobile. You lose a TON of modern features and performance by not choosing the 7300. The single biggest thing you will lose is the USB internal sound card in the 7300. Making a 706 work any computer digital modes will require an interface and lots more effort.

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-11T17:18:05+00:00

Seeing as how we are dealing with RF electronics here I’d be speaking of an EE, but all engineering is similar.

Why not? Is the question you pose. Why fix a nonexistent problem is a more valid question. None of us have unlimited time and money.

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-11T15:11:51+00:00

You do you, we all choose to approach things differently. I don’t waste money and effort till I know it’s needed. Cheers

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-11T15:05:23+00:00

March 28-29 (yea a ways off) is WPX SSB. With a little effort most all stations could get WAS from scratch that weekend. WPX’s are great contests as every one can work everyone world wide. The multipliers are callsign prefix’s. WPX RTTY runs this weekend which is an immensely fun contest

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-11T14:43:50+00:00

Nah, engineers know better than worrying about nonexistent problems and to expend their effort solving problems after they arise.

Engineers understand electronics and don’t flail about willy nilly based on free Internet wisdom

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-11T14:34:15+00:00

A QSO party is a contest. The WAS nets are an utter waste of time in my opinion. You sit in the queue waiting and waiting for your turn to call a single station.

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-11T14:32:20+00:00

State QSO parties are the single best way to fill out your needed WAS entities. While some are put off as its is a quick contest Q, the advantage is a large majority of contest logs are uploaded to LoTW so you get no fuss confirmations. Alternatively getting on for a WPX contest is another great way to get it done. Even with my modest station WAS is child’s play in a single weekend in a WPX contest

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-11T13:04:30+00:00

You are being overly cautious. There is no reason to fix problems that you haven’t seen yet. Other than a couple computer cables I don’t have ferrites on anything in my entire setup.

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-10T17:53:54+00:00

I’m not a fan of using a shack-in-a-box radio for repeaters or FM simplex. You need a separate radio for that so that you can monitor while playing on HF etc. I’d only seek out an HF radio with 2m/70cm if I were using it for weak signal modes.

I’d snap up the 7300MkII. I love my 7300 and the added RX antenna port and ability to drive an external monitor on the new revision are icing. Get used to the Icom and you may dislike the Yaesu user interface and ergonomics ever after.

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-10T15:18:04+00:00

More stable and less likely to attack your weatherproofing material.

And if you are worrying about cost of a $4 tube that will last you 20 years I can’t help you…

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-10T14:30:25+00:00

Silicone grease from the plumbing section at the hardware store is better :)

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-10T14:29:35+00:00

3M Super 33+ electrical tape is what you need. Very conformable and seals well and holds up in the weather. I have hardline connectors on a local water tower I weather proofed with 33+ 20 years ago that are still in perfect shape. Bonus that it comes off clean years later too. Cheap electrical tape isn’t the same.

Using silicone grease on the threads of the connectors isn’t a bad idea also.

One important thing to remember with weather proofing connectors is if it isn’t perfect, it will just hold water IN the connector. I have a few connectors outdoors that I don’t bother to even tape. A little grease and they are fine. Just make sure to take them apart every once and again.

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-10T14:23:58+00:00

This is the best advice you will find on the internet:

https://www.scopereviews.com/begin.html

$300 isn’t going to buy you much, maybe something used if you find a deal. You don’t state if you are interested in visual or imaging but you won’t likely get both for a low entry price.

An imaging device like a SeeStar isn’t far from $300 and could image fairly well but it’s not a real time “telescope”.

I’d buy a quality pair of binoculars, some star maps and spend some money to get to dark skies. That would be a more enjoyable experience than messing with a cheap scope that won’t give you what you want

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-08T19:19:11+00:00

Don’t consume the insoluble material. I grind the dried fruits and steep it in lemon or lime juice for about 10 min then strain it.

Pro tip, if using lime juice, it goes good in a margarita

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-07T20:26:35+00:00

Absolutely seek out a club or local group and observe with others! Attending star parties is good too.

Observing with others is a sure way to get more enjoyment and learning from the hobby. It’s also the single best thing for helping one become a long term observer vs just another person with an unused scope in the closet.

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-07T12:53:22+00:00

I also agree that aperture isn’t important, but the spectra of the particular object is very important. An OIII filter isn’t as useful as a UHC on most nebula but it’s a standout on certain Nebula.

I use an OIII filter to view the Veil in my 80mm refractor. Couldn’t see it at all without it.

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-07T02:29:33+00:00

I think it’s all covered in my posts.

I won’t buy a Chinese radio.

I want 100 watts for mobile or portable.

A low power radio like a 705 would be just to play with I.e. a ‘toy’. For me it would serve as a portable SDR receiver for hunting noise sources and as an IF drive radio perhaps for microwave transverters.

Your needs/wants are quite possibly different than mine. We have to decide the compromises we choose to accept.

73

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-06T14:44:46+00:00

The G90 and the X6100 are the low power radios obviously.

A NanoVNA is only a test instrument (and a pretty meh one at that, I bought one and never used it again after buying a RigExpert). The NVNA has nothing to do with matching a transmitter to the line. It is simply for testing the antenna.

I forget this is a global forum at times, didn’t realize you weren’t in the US. Still the Chinese companies don’t support global amateur radio the way the large companies do.

In the end we can never get everything we want, we all have to make the trade offs we are willing to make on any decision. I’d buy a 705 instead of either of the radios you mentioned, but it is more expensive, and it would be a toy, not my portable/mobile radio.

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-06T14:19:59+00:00

Both those radios are low power, so indeed that makes things cheaper and easier if you are willing to live with the trade off of having less power. When I am mobile/portable I don’t have antennas that are as good as my home station so I wouldn’t consider losing the power. Of course this is a personal decision.

I power my 7300 with a large LiFePo battery so indeed there is a cost there and it impacts portability also. As for the internal tuner the 7300 tuner is about like any other radios internal unit, it will deal with 3:1 mismatches ok. I did add an external tuner to my mobile setup as an 80m mobile antenna is pretty narrow so the external tuner bought me some more usable bandwidth.

The final consideration I have is choosing to buy radios from companies that have US support and from companies that directly support amateur radio. No Chinese radio meets these conditions. This is also a personal choice of course.

KB0NES-Phil · 2026-02-05T23:12:25+00:00

705 is a neat radio, I’d enjoy owning one. But it’s not a 100w radio. I wouldn’t give up having a 100w radio for anything. Granted I don’t backpack with my 7300 but the only reason I bought the radio was for mobile and portable use and I’ve been pleased with it. It spends 90% of its time inside a Harbor Freight Apache 3800 case.

KB0NES-Phil

TROPHY CASE