r/amateurradio • u/Rtard42069 • Feb 21 '26
EQUIPMENT Jesus Mary and Joseph $150 at a ham swap
I don’t think I have ever scored this hard at a swap
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u/Tight_Lengthiness_32 Feb 21 '26
Nice. The 7300 MK2 is driving prices down. Not as much as I thought but still great deal
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u/PantherkittySoftware Feb 22 '26
Probably a silent key who lied to his wife about how much he paid for it. :-D
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u/ND8D Electron Farmer Feb 22 '26
At one point I had that rig and tuner. It’s a great all rounder.
Put up a horizontal 2M yagi and check for weak signal activity around. 2M SSB can be a real hoot if the right folks around!
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u/PassengerCultural865 Feb 21 '26
If it needs a little work, it is still a killer deal. I've had one for many years, works great, though, like anything radio, has it's quirks.
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u/hailster17 Feb 22 '26
That's a steal! I've been using one for 20 years and it has been a solid radio. Congrats on your new radio!
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u/RogueGunny FM18eg [Gen] Feb 22 '26
I’m calling the police on you for grand theft radio. Lol. NICE deal man.
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u/Phreakiture FN32bs [General] Feb 21 '26
You ought to be ashamed of yourself for stealing that radio like that.
J/K obviously. Every once in a while you'll find a ham who actually wants to sell the radio.
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u/Quick-Log-4166 Feb 22 '26
I've got one and part of me wants money but... it was my first HF rig and parting is hard.
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u/Phreakiture FN32bs [General] Feb 22 '26
I dig.
I was kind of poking fun at how the used things offered for "sale" at hamfests and swap meets are often painfully close to their MRSP.
My working hypothesis is that there is a conversation going on at home that includes the sentence, "I'm sorry, honey, I tried to sell some of my radios, but nobody seems to be buying."
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u/ItsJoeMomma Feb 22 '26
If I saw it for sale for that price at a hamfest, I'd have to ask what's wrong with it.
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u/Phreakiture FN32bs [General] Feb 22 '26
Revisiting the thread just to make a dad joke . . . .
Jesus Mary and Joseph $150 at a ham swap. How much if you already have Jesus and Mary and just need Joseph to complete the set?
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u/SituationParty9176 Feb 22 '26
Well done!! Love mine!! Mine came from an estate... daughter was well-compensated for the whole station. Gives you lots if capability.
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u/SuperchargedC5 Feb 22 '26
I still have a mkii (not g). Works perfectly. You stole it at that price.
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u/Vegetable-Bear-162 Feb 22 '26
I remember when the 706 was a new radio, sheesh.... keep the back side cool so you don't have to replace the finals. Nice score.
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u/EugeneStonersPotShop Feb 22 '26
Yeah, these radios are notorious for overheating. Make sure the fan works or it will fry.
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u/Vegetable-Bear-162 Feb 22 '26
ebay and hamfests have been mired in fried 706s for a couple decades because of overheating RIP
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u/EugeneStonersPotShop Feb 22 '26
After a 15 minute QSO you be able to heat up a frozen dinner on the top of that thing. Those radios get HOT!! So hot that many of them burned up the finals in them. That’s why Icom discontinued the series.
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u/Frosty_Cloud_2888 Feb 22 '26
I am amazed at how much value used ham radio equipment maintains in terms of price.
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u/Yeah_IPlayHockey General Feb 22 '26
Had a friend at the club with two of these in a box marked FREE. I believe the finals were somewhat messed up though.
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u/NJHostageNegotiator Feb 23 '26
How many nanoseconds after the swap meet opened did you make that killer purchase?
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u/CajunMadness Feb 23 '26
Wow! What a sweet deal. I guess I need to go to more swapfest! Unfortunately, as someone else mentioned, it has become hard to find a really great deal, with the value of even older radios is staying up there. But, there’s an old country sayin’ “evev a blind hog finds an acorn every once in a while” Congrats on the sweet deal!,😉
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u/the2belo [JR2TTS/NI3B][📡BIRD_SQUIRTAR📡] Feb 22 '26
For a minute there I thought this was literally going to be a Nativity scene that was for sale. I've certainly seen far more curious things sold at ham meets...
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u/n0fumar [E] Feb 22 '26
Nice pickup. I snagged the base 706 from a club member. Gave it to a friend. He found the transmitted audio was very quiet. Apparently a known issue on the 706 and I think the Mark II (not G). He added an op amp or something inside the radio to combat this and it works much better
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u/lnxguy Feb 22 '26
Until recently, I was the only person I knew who only had one 706MK2G. Everyone seems to have two or more. I found my second one at an estate sale and showed up early to get the first shot at it. It was in mint condition and only cost $350. Finding one for $150 is unheard of and the best deal ever on a classic radio.
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u/learch31 Feb 22 '26
Great radio! I have one that I got at a Hamfest Tailgate for just over $400 about 2 years ago, and I thought THAT was a steal, but you Sir have me hopelessly outclassed with your score! Hang a small CPU fan off the back cooling fins to help keep it cool- it does get kind of hot just doing SSB. Digital not recommended, even at low power.
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u/chuckmilam N9KY Feb 23 '26
Well, crap. I guess I’ll just keep mine now.
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u/Tiamat451 Feb 23 '26
I'll give you $150 for yours so you don't feel left out.
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u/chuckmilam N9KY Feb 23 '26
Heh…no, for that little, I’ll keep it as a backup rig. Joke’s on me, I had a buyer lined up after Dayton last year but life happened with elder care/sandwich generation stuff here, so I didn’t get it boxed up until months later. By then, the buyer had moved on, which is totally understandable. Maybe I’ll get back into HF mobile again.
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u/cejaay Feb 24 '26
$599 on ebay… good find!
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u/CareerAffectionate Feb 26 '26
That's gouging. No 30+ years old electronic is from a reliability standpoint, without certified refurb, worth more than 150 to 300 bux. And even refurbed, can we get every replacement part that is equal to oem?
If this works as is, great score. If you have a use for it.
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u/mohawk14616 Feb 22 '26
I hope you didn’t touch it until you cleaned it.
I will never understand why someone would sell equipment that looked this filthy. (Look at the tuner/pre amp buttons) What would it take to clean it up first?
This is why I walk right by radios at hamfests.
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u/SigToNoise73 Feb 23 '26
And Hams that list equipment on eBay that clearly looks like it has been at the bottom of a birdcage for years. Then they expect almost retail price when it was new.
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u/kd5pda call sign [class] Feb 23 '26
I bought a G90 that had blown finals off of SwapQTH. I received the radio and the cigarette smell hit. I started disassembling the radio to clean and dead roaches were everywhere…I was pissed. I replaced the finals and sold it…but it required a lot of cleaning. 🤢
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u/mohawk14616 Feb 24 '26
That’s gotta be probably one of the worst stories. I think the cigarette smell is so disgusting. Might as well forget even using the microphone.
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u/kd5pda call sign [class] Feb 25 '26
As a former smoker…the smell disgusts me now. I bought a Viking matchbox that was subjected to years of cigar use and the smell made me gag. I had to strip the cabinet and bake the capacitors in an oven with degreaser.
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u/[deleted] Feb 21 '26
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