New setup 26-CT-5080

So I have £1000 to spend on a complete setup,
I live in the UK.
What setup would you recommend ?

Cheers
   Jere

Hello Jere,

If you could give some more information about your objectives then we could offer more relevant advice to you. For example do you want to operate mobile or home based. What bands are of interest to you? Give us a starting point and we'll do our best to assist.

Best 73 Gary.

C.T. Admin.

Hi ya Gary
I'm looking to buy one home base unit that can do all frequencies i.e 10 11 12...!
My friend has 1-40 fm but I would like to be able to talk to him and dx around the world if at possible...
Like I said, I am new to this..


Cheers
   Jere

Hi Jere
I'm also relatively new to this.
I used CB radio a long time ago, but only for local communication.
I'll tell you approximately how much my equipment cost.

CB Radio - CRT SS9900 v4 - 180£ (24.8800Mhz - 30.105Mhz unlocked by CB shop)
Linear power supply - Diamond GSV3000 - 240£  (I didn't want a switching power supply because it creates interference)
Amplifier 300w - 215£ (AM/FM/SSB) I can without it, but a few extra watts wouldn't hurt...
Maas DP-27 Dipol-Antenna - 40£ (I use it as a balcony antenna since I live in an apartment)

Altogether, it costs about: 675£

As for the radio, as a CB radio (SS9900), it's not bad. But many in the world of DXing use professional radios (Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood).

I regret a bit not buying a professional radio instead of a CB radio and amplifier.
But that would significantly increase the cost.
Icom IC-7300 - 1030£
And I didn't buy it solely because I don't have a ham radio license.

My advice is, before you start anything, first think about the antenna, where and what type of antenna you can install.
A lot depends on that too.
I hope I've helped somewhat.
There are also more experienced members here, maybe someone else will chime in...

73's Dejan

Hi ya Madamax
I was looking at getting a CRT SS 9900 V4 | 10/11/12m SSB AM FM CB Radio ?
Only £229.99
With a 20ft dipole of some description...

Chopper wrote:

Hi ya Madamax
I was looking at getting a CRT SS 9900 V4 | 10/11/12m SSB AM FM CB Radio ?
Only £229.99
With a 20ft dipole of some description...

Unfortunately, I can't recommend you a good seller since I live in Germany.
I found this one quickly: https://www.kcb.co.uk/contents/en-uk/p1703_Superstar_9900.html
It's important that the seller does the frequency expansion; not all sellers do that.
With the one I sent you, you can choose the configuration.
You can also make a dipole antenna yourself, or if it's easier, you can buy a ready-made one. Search on Google; there's definitely some available in the UK. 
I bought a Maas DP-27 Dipole-Antenna.

73's Dejan

Chopper wrote:

Hi ya Gary
I'm looking to buy one home base unit that can do all frequencies i.e 10 11 12...!
My friend has 1-40 fm but I would like to be able to talk to him and dx around the world if at possible...
Like I said, I am new to this..


Cheers
   Jere

Hello Jere,
You don't state if you have a Ham licence, if not do remember you can't legally transmit on anything outside 11M.
If going for your ticket then I would say get an HF Radio (Wide banded) for future proofing.

Best of luck whatever you decide.

Tony

Hello Jere,

I think Tony has a good point here. The CRT 9900 is a very popular and capable radio but two of the three bands it does are indeed Amateur bands and a licence will be required to operate on them. If you intend to stay on the 11 meter CB/Freeband then the 9900 is as good as it gets covering all modes and all frequencies within the band. However if you intend to expand you radio activities into the Amateur bands by obtaining a Amateur radio licence then with your budget I would look at something that covers the entire HF spectrum.

The Yaesu would FT 891 would be a really good choice still leaving plenty of money for a decent wire antenna of some description. If you want that particular radio to transmit on 11 meters you'd need the wideband modification that Tony mentions.

Best 73 Gary.