Last Sunday, the Far West Repeater Association held a swap meet at Scotia, CA, which I attended. It was pretty warm that day, but the vibe was very mellow. After an hour or so, someone showed up with two HF radios and me and the one other rig-less person in attendance immediately descended upon their table.
She picked up a Kenwood TS-530S at the sweetheart deal of $75, while I was was able to pick up a Kenwood TS-140S for the extremely low price of $50! I am amazed!
I got home, built the hutch I was planning for days (and was helped by local maker Nathan Wells) and hooked up the radio. It works! I was able to hear the deetles of RTTY and FT8, and a little later someone was booming in from Florida at 14.270 Mhz, and everyone was trying to contact him.
The rig came with nothing except a microphone that smells like an ash tray and two long cables coming out of the back (with the power connector gone, and cables coming out of the whole left over). I was able to connect the headphone out to the computer, but I still need to find a way to transmit and possibly PTT on this radio so I can use digital modes at higher power than my uBitX.
