10 Of The COOLEST Vintage Ham Radios To Find

#hamradio #top10 #vintage
In this video, I'm highlighting 10 Of The COOLEST Vintage Ham Radios To Find the next time you go to a Ham Fest . This is just to help new people to the radio hobby know what to look for , and to help others relive fond memories of the rigs they once owned , or still own . So click play , and hang out with all of us here at the Radio Ranch while we take a trip through the past .
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If you can find any of the radios made by any of the companies on this list . I would highly recommend buying them . They were all great companies , and they built excellent equipment .
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Thank You

[@user-kw7ur7rw6b]

My first transceiver was a FT101mk2, back in 1972. Great radio. Still using YAESU equipment to this day. G3XYC 73.

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

I still like my Yaesu radios too . I have a 757GXII , an 897d , and a couple of their ht's . I think they make good radio equipment .

[@DavidCase-ov5uo]

Forget the radios- just keep playing that crazy rock n Roll!

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

Funny you say that , since I've been a musician for almost 40 years ... lol .

[@ivandubinsky1857]

My first rig was a Drake TR7A, an awesome piece of gear. Performance-wise, it would hold its own against most modern radios. I'm still kicking myself for ever selling it.

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

I once had a Drake TR-7 as well ... and I always regretted letting it go too . Drake made good radios , that's for sure .

[@bobsmith1262]

One thing about most of the ham radios is the wattage (PEP) that is advertised is input wattage to the PA (power amplifier) section. Therefore, the output is substantially less than the input. The older CB radios were the same, with many advertised as 5.5 watts input, but barely having 3 to 4 watts output. In 1977 the maximum output was set at 4W AM and 12W SSB for CBs by the FCC.

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

This was just a video for those that love their radios to have "A Lot" of power . Personally , although one or two were interesting ... I won't be looking to buy any of them . I honestly prefer the older equipment ... solid state and tube .

[@bobsmith1262]

@@RaccoonsRadioRanch I think your reply was in reference to your latest video and not this one, which is on older tube ham equipment.

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

@@bobsmith1262 You're absolutely right Bob .... lol I love tube equipment , so I would definitely invest in a few of these radios . In fact I have owned a few of these radios before . I've had the TR-4C, TR-7, Swan 500 ... and I have an SB-102 . I wouldn't mind getting another Drake TR-4C or a Swan 500 , I regret letting those go . Anyway , that's what I get for commenting and assuming it was on the new video ... lol . Sorry about that Bob .

[@n1kkri]

I owned one of the early TR7A. I was on a waiting list for it. I wanted it because it was general coverage receive which was rare back then.

[@bobbydartonhricko4068]

Lol. The Commercial in the beginning talked about poop!!! Great video Raccoon. I liked this one best. #12 Your radio neighbor down the up the road.

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

Thanks Darton

[@JD-mw9ul]

Awesome

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

Thanks JD

[@luke8210]

The old drake units were awesome. Great video as usual!

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

Glad you like the video Triple 7's . I had both of those Drakes at one time , they're great radios . I wish I held on to them . Thanks for watching

[@nelsoncountygazette5950]

In my 30 plus years of ham radio, I've never heard the abbreviation for "Peak Envelope Power" pronounced as "pep." I've always here it pronounced by saying the individual letters to make it clear its the abbreviation for Peak Envelope Power, and not referring to a "peppy" radio. Great list of radios by the way, I own several of them and still enjoy operating them.

[@ThePacratz]

Now do one on vintage walkie talkies! Great video! I love collecting them!

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

That's not a bad idea .

[@twistedkatgaming3445]

Hey, nice video! Could you do one on linear amplifiers?

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

Thanks , I'm glad you liked the video . I was actually planning on doing a video on amps soon . Either the next video , or soon after . It depends on how the next couple of video projects fall into place . Thanks for watching .

[@ctscantechnologist]

I can't hardly wait for my Acom 1500 and my Texas Star to arrive.

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

Those look good

[@blazinSpike]

Awesome video. How about doing a video on the first CB radios back in the day

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

It's a good idea ... But are you talking about the 440 mhz radios when CB started in 1947 ... or the 8 channel radios when they switched it to 11 meters in 1958 ??

[@blazinSpike]

@@RaccoonsRadioRanch 1947 then the switch to the 1958

[@JD-mw9ul]

Still have & use a Galaxy V

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

I've had a few of these radios . I regret letting them go . But I am still using a Heathkit HW-101 , and the SB-102 .

[@TheHomeloanking]

Thanks for the great video.. From your experience which ham radio would provide the longest distance regardless of govt regulation and have unlimited frequencies available?

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

Joshua , if you want something with "unlimited frequencies" . Then you're going to want one of the newer radios that are referred to as a "Shack in the Box" ... like an Icom 706 , or a Yaesu FT-857 , or the Yaesu FT-897 . They have 2 meters , 440 , 6 meters and all the HF bands ... but they generally only do around 100 watts , so if wattage power is important to you you'll have to get a good amp to go with them . Personally I'd rather have the frequency coverage rather than the wattage . As far as which "ham radio would provide the longest distance" ... that usually depends more on atmospheric conditions than anything else .

[@TheHomeloanking]

@@RaccoonsRadioRanch Hey brother, thanks so much for your reply. Appreciate these fundamentals before I do more research. Keep up the great vids.

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

@@TheHomeloanking You're welcome , and if you have any other questions , feel free to ask . I'll try my best to answer them for you .

[@GMAN420BC]

Great vid ! VE7 EGT

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

Glad you liked the video Mr Tyler , thanks for watching

[@fredbissnette3104]

my ts440 got 200 watts of pep!

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

I've had a few of the radios in this video ... and out of all the vintage tube radios I've had over the years , the one I miss the most is my Swan 500 .. that was an amazing radio .

[@ricka47]

Nice list. But I don't agree that my little IC-706MKIIG isn't a ham radio. I've had some of the ones on the list since getting my license in 1968. But, my little '706 does the job that a desk full of stuff used to do in one little box. Maybe you were just saying that a radio stuck into a ham isn't really a radio?

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

If you're talking about the image I used ... the ham with an Icom 706 face on it. That was referring to a piece of ham with a radio in it , isn't what "Ham Radio" is. Since for some reason whenever I talk to people about Ham Radio , they always seem to think of that image first ... lol . It was a joke

[@ricka47]

@@RaccoonsRadioRanch Yeah, that's what I figured after I posted. If I remember, the term ham came from the early days of radio when professional operators called us hams which wasn't a compliment. So, we just picked it up and made it our own. 73, Rick, KQ4Y

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

@@ricka47 I remember reading the history on where the term came from when I first got my ticket years ago . I read 2 or 3 different stories about it .

[@ricka47]

@@RaccoonsRadioRanch Right - I don't think there is a clear understanding of where the term came from. But, it's all ours now!

[@ctscantechnologist]

I had no idea those vintage radios produce more power than the moden Yaesus, Kenwoods, and Icoms....

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

Most definitely ... the older tube radios tend to push a lot more wattage than these modern day transistorized radios do . That's just one of the many reasons I love old tube equipment so much .

[@ctscantechnologist]

@@RaccoonsRadioRanch I do favor the old tube technology too. The warm up time is a small price to pay for output power, better tolerance to distortion, and better tolerance to high swr too.

[@hitekredneck109]

Lol....that ham looked awful damn yummy!!!

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

I thought that when I was making that picture for the video ... lol

[@davidmiller2811]

Yeasu 101 series???

[@RaccoonsRadioRanch]

the FT-101s are definitely a bunch of great radios.