USED HAM GEAR PRICING

AND QSO "NUGGETS"




Question:

"What's the difference between a used Yaesu FT-100D and a used FT-891?"

BIG BUX

Answer: 20+ years and $100!! (pony up the extra $$$ for the FT-100). 

The FT-891, using the latest technology, is tracking about $400-$475 in the used market, while the nearly-20-year-old FT-100D (with all of it's well known issues) is advertised quite frequently in the $500-$600 price range.



YAESU FT-891

[Over a decade apart and Yaesu advertisements keep them on 15m, 'Nuff Said]

YAESU FT-100D

Granted, the FT-100 has VHF/UHF capabilities, however, it's almost TWENTY YEARS OLD.

The display is nice, but I guess I'm wondering why would you buy one, given its age and more-than-likely "un-obtainium" parts. Okay. Bad example. Look at HF vs. HF: Compare the FT-891 with --->

The Kenwood TS-50 was a great mobile rig in it's day, and a used one can be yours for (on average) $350 - $500. It doesn't have even offer 6m (for 6m you have to find a TS-60), and this HF transceiver is OVER 25 years old.



KENWOOD TS-50

Don't blame the radio. Blame the owner, blame the buyer, and blame the mindset.

It's a well known fact that older Ham radios are like money in the bank - they will almost never decrease in price after an initial depreciation, and possibly become more valuable over time.

It's not just these rigs in particular, but the used radio "business" as a whole. No matter how old most transceivers get the offered selling price will tend to bottom out around $500 and stay there, only varying by 50 bux or so. It has been this way for 40 years or longer. Do you want a Kenwood TS-430? $300-$400. How about a TS-440at? $350-$450. The 430, Kenwood's answer to the Yaesu FT-757GX, was a very good radio 30 years ago. It, and it's follow-up, the TS-440, surely have leaking dielectrics, and solder fatigue at this geriatric stage. You really have to ask yourself if it's worth over $300 to buy one now, or, should the seller offer it to a new ham for $100, better yet - give it to him/her.

YAESU FT-101E

My favorite example is the venerable Yaesu FT-101 series from the mid-70's. I've owned a half dozen of these over the last three decades and if there was ever a litmus test for transceiver pricing, the 101 series would be it.

I think the first one I owned was in 1984. I bought it "used" for about $350.
It wasn't a lettered model (101B,E,F), which made it about 10 years old when I got it. Since then I've found used 101's for around $300-$400 in the 1990's, 2000's, and most recently, 2015. For the most part, this rig, while it's internal components continuing their aging process will not get any cheaper (as a rule). Blame the owner, the buyer, or the mindset...

Truism: "Hams are cheapskates as a buyer, and Rockefeller's as a seller"

Many Ham radio operators deal in radio and radio equipment to make money or otherwise improve their shack wealth. To borrow a word from the Investment community, they could be considered "arbitrageurs" of two-way radio equipment.

BEST BANG-4-BUCK

A used Yaesu FT-991A (the "A" model). These rigs sell for around $1150 *NEW*, but like many high-end cars that drop a lot of $$$ once driven off the lot, these "months-old" Yaesu's selling for the mid-$700 range to $850. A new Ham interested in HF-UHF, plus Fusion, would do well to keep their eye out for one of these pre-owned specials. I'm not overwhelmed by any one thing in particular about a 991A, but, it's a decent HF-440 rig to get started with, especially if you wait for a good price. 


QUICK SNAP

 FT4 vs. FT8

FT4 has come raging into the forefront as an alternative / replacement for FT8. Both are very similar, but a biggest takeaway is that with FT4, the sequences are only 6 seconds long which makes it about 2.5 times faster than it's older brother FT8. Someone wanting to use FT4 for QRP, using a mediocre antenna, for contesting, or any combination of the three could benefit from the shorter-faster program.

QUICK SNAP

3885

The afternoon show on 3885 AM is only one example of entertainment to be found on this frequency. Set your browser onto your favorite East coast SDR each morning to catch some interesting and sometimes endless AM discussions. Transmissions are long. Very long. These guys key / lock their microphones and start talking about one topic that can easily slide into another before they un-key the mike. Once you get over the lengthy transmission (and intermittent belching), you could sit back and listen for awhile. Great lines can be heard like:

"Right now, if you took my pulse, you'd have to subtract 8"

Or,

"Anything that doesn't kill you makes you very weak".

AVANTAGE 2

ANOTHER SDR ADVANTAGE

It's easy to detect chatter going on many kc's above and below where you are currently listening, which allows the discovery of frequencies that you might not normally associate for daily traffic. Specifically I'll use 11m as an example. I've found that while listening to 27.385 that I will see traces on the waterfall of other SSB QSO's going on. As you might expect, .365/.375/.395 and .405 are often hotspots of activity, but so are: 27.445, 465, 665, and higher. I also found out that many use 27.402.5 as a designated go-to frequency for various reasons nationwide.

I'll end this with another "nugget" I heard the other day -

 “When I was a teenager, my Dad was an idiot. Years later I figured out that he was a genius”  😎


'Nuff Said,
Woody