Help & Advice

Hf? Look for a clansman prc 320. No vfo, so you need to know where to look or where the nets are. But nigh on indestructible, portable, uses either your own antenna or the 2.5m whip. 

only problem with the clansman is they have no lower sideband mode unless they have been modified so technically wrong mode under 10mhz, but there are military kit nets on 80m and 40m which use upper sidband

the other one to look at is a Xiegu G90, its what i have, all mode (AM, USB, LSB, CW & FM) SDR based radio 20w max output with builtin ATU, for about £400, and the digi mode interfaces and USB soundcard to get you on air for FT8 etc another £50-£80 so within you budget

its 12v so can be used mobile and from battery packs, the ATU will all but tune a coat hanger

i have a home made fan dipole for all bands 40-10m pinned to my fence panels down the garden (so very compromised antenna) with a home made current balun / choke to control common mode interference on the coax braid and i get all round EU and occasionally north america and brazil on 20w, 

others mount antenna's in the loft pinned to the rafters, or external long wire laid in the guttering, have a look at the RSGB "stealth antennas" book for more ideas and more at Antennas (rsgbshop.org)

balance antennas like dipoles are less noisy and less interference than unbalanced long wire types

use clip on ferrites on all your leads if you use a long wire

the other one to look at is a Yeasu FT-817 or FT818 these are nearer the top end of your budget but give HF, 6m, 2m and 70cm in a single rig which is portable but lower power than the G90

it depends where your interest lies, local VHF, satellite, HF phone or digital modes as these choices will provide more clues as  to the best setup for you

one option is to get a cheap SDR dongle and have a listen to see what sort of activity there is in your area, i am isle of sheppey and with a std £60 whitestick 2m/70cm  antenna on a 15foot pole i can reach hearnbay, maidstone and medway repeaters, most of swale and medway directly with a £30 5w baofeng UV5R, connect my SDR dongle to the antenna and i get some great images off the ISS when its broadcasting SSTV every few months

Peter

2E0PWX