Hello Rob.
14 Oct 97 14:45, Rob Dennis wrote to Roy Witt:
 RD>>> Roy the Ts-520 and 530 had -two- external VFO units as
 RD>>> options. The digital unit had a digital display and 5 or 6
 RD>>> memory positions for your favourite frequencies and splits.
 RW>> Wish I'd known it existed, I would have bought one way back
 RW>> then.
 RD>
 RD>  I wish I could find one that hasn't been butchered to hell and
 RD> a hand-basket. I can't see why someone spends thousands of
 RD> hard-earned dollars on a radio or options for it then goes
 RD> finger-poking into a perfectly working piece of gear. If it
 RD> ain't broke DON'T F!@# WITH IT!
Well, the factory didn't design it right, so some ham has to stick his 
fingers in there and fix it...:)
 RW>> I can imagine.  I bought my 520 before I had a ham license and
 RW>> two of the 10mtr positions had an 11mtr high-band crystal in it
 RW>> for years.
 RD>
 RD>  Sounds like a few FT-101 series rigs that were floating around
 RD> the hamfests a few years back. All the radios were for sale from
 RD> the same guy and all of them had 11m crystals in the 10m slots.
 RD> One poor foll paid $300 for a `mint' condition FT-101-E only to
 RD> find that the 10 and 12m bands had crystals in them allowing
 RD> coverage form 26.0 up thru 10m and from 25.0 to 26.0 in the 12m
 RD> slot. Not nice.
Right.  However, if the buyer were smart, he would get the name and phone 
number of the seller.  He just might have those crystals laying around in his 
desk some where.  I know I've got the 11mtr crystals for the 520 in my rock 
collection.
 RW>> How many TV-502's have you found?  I've been looking for one of
 RW>> those for years.  Not that I'll ever get on 2mtr SSB...
 RD>
 RD>  None.
 RD>  Rare as the transverters for the Yaesu FT-101 series for 2m and
 RD> 6m. Those that have them won't let them go and the ones that are
 RD> for sale are in sad shape and many need expensive repairs.
Me either.  If there is one for sale, it's usually in a set and the seller 
won't sell it unless he sells the rig with it.  Funny, I'd think he would 
sell the transverter in hopes of getting rid of the radio later.
 RD>  I chose to go with mono-band,all-mode rigs here for my VHF/UHF
 RD> station rather than a multi-band type rig. At the time I decided
 RD> any radio for a VHF/UHF band I was going to be active on from
 RD> the home had to be an all-mode one rather than FM only.
Since most of my operating is on UHF FM, I don't have any multimode radios 
except for the 520.
 RD>  I may yet get a transverter for 220MHz and feed it with a 28MHz
 RD> If from one of my 10m rigs as the 220 all-mode gear is dear and
 RD> -very- pricey here.
I've got one radio that covers 220.  Since the FCC gave part of the band 
away, I've noticed a big decline in the useage.
 RD>  I was lucky enough to find the external filtered speaker and
 RW>> I bought the Speaker and the external analog VFO way back then
 RW>> too. Opted for a D-104 mic though...with the built-in speech
 RW>> amp of the 520, it's a killer..
 RD>
 RD>  Have you tried any of the old Turner desk mics?
Yes, I didn't like them as well as the D-104...
 RD>  Turner `Super Side-kick' and a Turner +2 desk pre-amp kick but
 RD> on the 530. Astatics I'm not too fond of as they have a tendancy
 RD> to pick up every little noise in the house if you set them up to
 RD> high on their pre-amp gain.
My Astatic doesn't have a pre-amp, it's just a plain old crystal microphone.  
Fed into the 520's speech processor, it works exceptionally well.
 RD>  I may go as much as $50 CDN for the non-amplified MC-50 or -60
 RD> desk mic as long as it is in good condition. (no dents or
 RD> deep scratches) The VFO is tricky as I have no idea what they
 RD> would go for used,in excellent to good condition. (no fingers
 RD> been poking inside it) The SM-220 station monitor scope has gone
 RD> for as low as $275 CDN (missed that one by a lousy 5 minutes..)
 RD> to as much as $375 CDN and some even $500. I guess it is how bad
 RD> you want something and how much you're willing to pay to get it
 RD> that makes the selling price.
I'll keep my eyes open..
... What has four legs and an arm?  A happy pit bull.
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