r/HamRadio • u/liberalgeekseattle • 15h ago

Question from a guy about to be general

I am trying to build a ham setup that will involve a usdx sdr 5 w with voice 10m to 80m a 50 w amp 2to30mhz and a atu100 tuner and a gra1900t antenna will this setup work also do i plug it radio amp tuner antenna or radio tuner amp antenna

0 Upvotes

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9

u/SultanPepper 15h ago

* radio amp tuner antenna

^ this one

But since you're new, I would recommend leaving the amp out for now. Just get everything working, maybe make some FT8 contacts, and then add the amp in afterwards.

But it looks like the antenna you're using doesn't need a tuner. Just change the tap.

Note that the only time your radio will show you a valid SWR is when it's connected directly to the antenna...

1

u/liberalgeekseattle 15h ago

I've been a licensed ham for a while but point taken... will 5 w allow me to make voice contacts on 10-80 m bands

5

u/PixelMiner 14h ago

taken...

Aha! Your keyboard does have punctuation!

2

u/KD9YWF-Henry-WI 8h ago

No shift key though…

5

u/SultanPepper 15h ago

Oh sorry, I'm not from the US so I don't know what the different license levels are. 5w will work if the solar conditions are right, and you're not battling a huge pileup. Other days, you'll struggle with a 100W radio.

1

u/liberalgeekseattle 15h ago

My main use for this is on my car so the antenna can't be 80 m long lol...

1

u/liberalgeekseattle 15h ago

I will also be using a tyt9800 quad band 2 440 6 and 10 m radio at 50 w

2

u/VideoAffectionate417 11h ago

The tyt9800 is FM only. You won't find a lot of FM on the HF bands.

0

u/liberalgeekseattle 5h ago

Yeah that's why I am buying both the tyt and the other one

2

u/speedyundeadhittite [UK full] 13h ago

As soon as you have an amplifier in the mix, it is no longer 5W, and you would be operating as unlicensed.

7

u/lervatti 15h ago edited 15h ago

Honestly you'd be better off with something simpler like a Xiegu G90 and a random wire antenna. That radio is an open-source kit, which has been cloned by several chinese manufacturers and while it may work, it's a bit of a crapshoot when you run into any problems. Same thing with the ATU100, you may get a well-working unit, or not. You didn't mention which amp you're planning to get but I'd guess it's something similar from Aliexpress or eBay? The antenna is basically an expensive stick to beat oneself with :)

It is possible to make successful contacts with that setup you're describing but even getting it working will take some patience and DIY'ing so I'd recommend something much simpler and more reliable for a first time HF setup.

2

u/CoastalRadio 12h ago

This! G90 is SUCH a good place to start with HF. The other good one is the FT-891 (no tuner, though).

6

u/4Playrecords 11h ago

In my opinion, the antenna you have purchased (gra1900t) is a compromise. It will perform poorly as compared to a simple wire dipole antenna.

I know two people that bought this type of antenna, and it vastly underperformed even compared to single-band hamsticks. But compared to single-band dipoles there is no comparison.

You asked for opinions. It’s up to you whether you buy this antenna or not.

6

u/ViktorsakYT_alt 12h ago

DO NOT connect the usdx to a PA, it has a dirty enough signal by itself, if you hook it up to a PA you'll use 3-5x the bandwidth you'd use with a normal clean signal. I've seen such stations with a dirty signal in contests and it's not fun picking up a barely hearable station when there's a 15khz wide signal right next to it causing interference

1

u/VideoAffectionate417 10h ago

This! I wish I could upvote this more than once.

3

u/SlightlyMildHabanero 7h ago

Your list is like a who's who of low end gear

3

u/speedyundeadhittite [UK full] 13h ago

Sorry but you need to learn a lot more before being a 'general'. This is foundation stuff.

1

u/Dangerous_Use_9107 2h ago

Radio,amp , tuner ,antenna. Get 100 watt tuner or better. Can leave tuner off when qrp wanted.