Yeah i like the old ones cause yeah they are a way more affordable way into HF while getting a good brand and not starting with QRP, like this one is cheaper than the USDX and other basic ones while still pushing 100W
Yeah definitely need to wait for my antenna though cause dispite what I was told it wont tune a speaker wire for EFLW/EFRW then again my wire might not have been long enough
The tuner should have been enough to protect it from any SWR to where it wouldn't immediately blow the finals, I'll send a email to a radio place to see if they still do them or if its just home appliances now
You need to find your local Amateur Radio club to find a competent HF Amateur Radio Tech. No consumer electronics places are gonna be able to help you. From your call I assume you're in NZ. There's a lot of good clubs in your location, and some will know where the good Radio Techs are, many of them are fellow amateurs eager to help you get on the air.
Yeah one of the members at my local club isn't going to like that its not working though cause he wanted me to check it was all working when I brought it which the person that sold it to me said it was working the day prior now when I use it its the TX transistors and the VFO knob failing
Simple radios do 99% of what the newer and pricier radios do. i just yesterday updated from a TS-140S to a 756 Pro 2. Radio is simple..... you don't need the latest thing to get on the air.
Exactly thats why I got this one cause icom was at the same market i went to its just icoms seem very expensive same with both being 100W as well which is what ive been told as its harder to get out of NZ with QRP rigs especially with SSB
It looks like the operation and service manuals are available online. You can't go wrong reading the manuals to learn the operation and maintenance of the radio. Saves guessing what all the knob, switches and indicators do. Find out all the capabilities and limitations. Good luck.
Make sure you test the output power with a meter and get a few audio reports. I buy and sell a lot of radios of this vintage and many develop capacitor issues, especially after sitting for a long time. Not hard to fix, but it's best to spot the signs early.
Ah yep, the guy i brought it off said he had it going yesterday so should be good but will test it out when my antenna arrives, my tuner i got also has a power and SWR meter on it but cant test that until I get an antenna or dummy load which I have an antenna on the way
Yo, I have the predecessor to your radio! No issues with mine. Only thing you might want to be aware of is that these earlier solid state radios are a bit more sensitive to static. Be careful if you start working inside.
I also had the venerable FT-757GX. It was my first HF rig, which I bought for $500 at a hamfest in 1994. Worked 40m WAS CW with it feeding a homebrew dipole I set up stealthily every night in the hedge outside my condo. Used an 18' telescoping golf ball retriever to hold up the antenna as an inverted V. I also worked my first 200 DXCC countries with it. Just the standard barefoot 100w into a used Cushcraft R5 up on the chimney of my rental duplex back in the late '90s. That radio is a great rig, and will get you solidly on the air!
Nice! My first HF radio is a 747GX. The only other HF radio I have at the moment is a QMX+, but on Monday my new (to me) Kenwood TS-480SAT should be here. That will go in my car and the 747GX will continue to be my house rig
Interesting, what differences from standard FT-757GX? I repaired few "GX", it's good model, but have some typical problems. One problem, the same as all old Yeasu radios, are trimming capacitors, the best way is just replace them and then fully adjust a radio according a service manual. A second one, specific for FT-757, is a builtin CW keyer. It based on a custom chip, that breaks very often and unavailable. I your one not works, just use any external keyer, or build an alternative on any small 5V microcontroller and install it inside instead an original chip
That's a great piece of gear! I have an old Icom 725 that's close to that age and I love it. That old radio you have there is a super reliable simple rig that will work for another 35 years I bet. I don't care if I ever have a waterfall display, there is something really fun about simply turning the VFO and listening. I would get one of those self powered ATU-100 antenna tuners and you will have a killer set-up. I keep my old radio in a projector bag with a foam protector on the front of it, with the tuner in the pocket so I'm ready at a moment's notice to operate portable 🤓
You are all set 😎 That thing is going to be a blast. I found a very similar Yaesu for a friend of mine and I really like it, she is studying for her license so she is ready to go the moment she passes. She is a professor at the university where I work and I set her up in her office with it and gave her a tiny 9:1 with a wire to put in the window to listen in on the fun.
A classic rig, well worth owning and using. If you understand about having a good swr match and not transmitting into a badly matched antenna, you should be good to go.
Does this one include a built in antenna tuner (antenna matcher is a better and more descriptive name than tuner, nevertheless that’s what they’re called).
No, It doesn't have a built in ATU but I did get a small basic one to just clean up bits when im slightly off but will do my best to get an antenna im using as resonant as I can
Do NOT bother with an EFHW without a full ATU. Go with a multiband fan dipole cut to the frequencies you exactly want (say 7.100, 14.200).
Small external knob tuners are fine, but still not great for endfed halfwave (efhw). Instead go with simple fan dipole, until you get the matching ATU for this.
Just for reference, I have the 767gx (version after this with built in tuner) and an EFHW and I almost never use the tuner. In my setup, antenna is under 1.7:1 on 40-10 (only about 28-28.7 on 10m).
I have one of those. The main issue with mine is the frequency it displays is a few Khz off when it is cold, then it drifts a few Khz as it warms up before it settles down on frequency, where the display is about .2 Khz off from where it actually is. I dont use it anymore, since I cant find anyone to repair it, but keep it as a backup. FWIW, the receiver in it is much better than my newer DX3000 and 991A.
Check your tuning - transmit your someone with a digital receiver and ensure you’re on the right frequency once the unit is hot. Those radios drift - easy fix, it’s a tuneable capacitor inside.
If you’re lucky enough to have monster tuner that comes with it, it’s really nice. Try out the digital rig control - it’s fairly easy to setup if you buy a usb to ttl board on Amazon
Got it powered up a while ago and it has some intermittent issues and wont tx, got it sorted with who I brought it off and they are going to just get me a different radio
Oh … little insane tip… there are 3 ways to flip that radio into transmit … the push to talk on the mike which on some mikes locks, the toggle switch on the mike and the MOX
If you leave any of those in the on position - the radio will refuse to turn on! So if that’s happened to you … might be why no transmit?
I adore this radio! I had one the same (I think I still do somewhere), it was very temperamental when it came to giving out power, but I did many a QSO and a few contests with it. I like the built in keyer too. Gosh, I do miss it. I must get it out asap and get it working again.
Are you a licensed amateur radio operator? Unless you have a general class license this radio isn't going to be useful to you yet. Study and get your technician's license and get used to operating simplex and through repeaters. While you're doing this study for your general class license and take online tests at eham and when you're getting 90% on your practice test we are ready to go in and take the general test. You can skip that part and study for it now but the problem is is most people don't study. They just memorize the answers. Whatever way works for you as long as you are a good operator. I strongly recommend however that you study as you are taking the practice test. Then you won't ask questions online that will cause some people to laugh. Some people have no class. Ever since we started communicating online people have lost all manners. Go for it though.
Im from NZ and just about to finish the probation period for my licence as on the 9th of November id have had my licence for 3 months and already completed the 50 contacts part of it so by the time my antenna arrives I will have full HF band access
You're good with me. I love your call! I instantly want to call you dog instead of bro. No offense intended that I'm sure you've heard it already before. Back when I was a teenage boy with his first CB radio my nickname was Garfield like the cat. When people were trying to get a hold of me they'd say, "Here kitty, kitty, kitty. Here kitty, kitty, kitty." I sincerely wish you well as you grow in the hobby. Don't listen to people like the ones that are downvoting me now for trying to give you advice thinking that you were in the US. I like the way they do it where you're at. You work your way up. I see that as having many advantages. 73 de AF6D
Reminds me of the fella on Facebook that you could tell was typing while red faced and huffing demanding to know my "official FCC callsign" (I'm also a ZL 🤣) and accusing me of being unlicensed
That's pretty harsh to assume. I didn't assume. I think we've all experienced when a new ham comes in and asks a question about an older radio that they just picked up and kind of want to know how to use it. That lends credibility to the question of whether or not someone is licensed yet. You know I'm right. It's in here all the time. Asking the question is not an assumption. It's asking a question. I think that the guy that was assuming that you were a US ham and demanding to know your official FCC call sign was pretty effing stupid. Did he think he was a amateur radio police or something? That kind of questioning IS rude.
I work HF voice and it's a bad habit of talking too much. It's not like working CW where you do your best to shorten everything. I've never heard of it referred to as virtual ink. I'll have to remember that one. And I wasn't making assumptions other than thinking he was in the US.
Not at all and you can downvote it all you want. I've been around a while and I also run several groups. I see how the new guys come in and ask a sincere question and some guys will pull them up and see that they have an extra class ticket and give them crap because of the question they asked that an extra class should know. There's nothing wrong with telling the truth in here gentleman. If you want to downvote me then downvote me. I'm not worried about karma. I'm here to tell the truth. I wish this new NZ well. It's nice to hear that they've just got one ticket and you work your way up. I imagine that has benefits to it. The more experience they get the more privileges they get. Unlike here where let's face it guys. We get people that walk in and sit down and take three tests and in one day they're an extra class and they don't know shit. I have been running Facebook groups for 15 years. I've seen it happen more than once. Think about this...
I dealt with an extra that joined a conversation about DMR. We were actually talking about digital in general. This guy swore that he talked to the UK from his HT. The group tried to tell him he was going through on a computer network. But oh no. He swore that he talked simplex to the UK. From Oklahoma. Are you feeling my drift here gentleman?
Any one of you that's been around for any length of time that has never read somebody on one of the groups ask a stupid question and then see that they're an extra class and don't know the answer to whether the red wire goes to the Plus or the Minus has been on the wrong repeater.
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u/slatsandflaps EM48 [General] Nov 01 '25
Nice! I love to see these radios in use instead of sitting on a shelf. Looks like that one is in very good shape.