Radio Brand Monogamy
November 23, 2008 by Darren
Radio communications is full of hobbyists who advocate the virtues of particular radio brands; diehard DXers who’d rather cut off an arm and feed it to a Territorian crocodile then introduce another brand into the sacred confines of their radio shack.
We’ve all met blokes like them. Idiots who idolise ICOM; creeps who crave for Kenwood; Yankee-doodles who yearn for Yaesu; passionate preachers that slam products with metaphorical baseball bats which DON’T carry their fave logo on the casing…
But what for those few radio devotees who mix and match? Where does that leave the radio communications enthusiasts whose shack haven is more an amalgam of radio brand collectables; a hybrid of Yaesu, Kenwood, ICOM and others – all working in perfect harmony? What for the communications cross breeder who channels his audio through a Heil Heritage microphone wired to an Alinco transceiver, then to a Kenwood antenna tuner, running to a DOSS SPS-8400 power supply? Where and how does HE fit into the mix?
We ‘bastards of the airways’ can’t help but feel a little chastised when DX geeks start sermonizing the specs of their favourite brand and condemning those of us who prefer not to step up onto the soap box and join the choir of trademark monogamy. Those same anti-polygamous product pushers might say we’re wedged in an identity crisis of sorts… Or worse still, climb on board the XYL nag train and call us ‘indecisive’. Well to hell with them, I reckon!
I can assure you that sitting on the DX fence when it comes to choosing a radio brand as the ultimate of ultimates in our PENTULTIMATE hobby is a perilous pursuit – especially when hobby comrades line you up as an easy target and start hammering away on the ideology of ICOM or the uniqueness of Uniden or the appeal of Alinco… These make for some serious splinters in the backside, let me tell you.
So, where do YOU sit in the world of product purchase? Are you a dedicated one brand man – loyal to the very end? Or are you a mix and matcher; a concocter of communications commodities whose shack can be described as a ‘fusion of the best from the best’?
Something to think about anyway!
73 de Darren
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I run the Icom IC 728 ,with the Doss SPS 8400 40 Amp Power Supply.Works great.
I’m using Kenwood TX/RX: TS50s, 480HX, 570DG & 870 with MC60 or Heil GM5 mics and a Diamond power supply. Mix and Match
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