Yaesu FT710 with Tax about $1300
IC7300 Mark II with tax about $1600
FLEX 6700 about $3300
Yesterday I got an urge to buy an appliance box as I reached the point of not wanting to engage in building yet another SSB Radio. I wanted to feel the excitement of being the 45 Minute newly licensed Extra Class Awardee and go through the whole schmeer of making the unboxing video and running a BYOTA (Back Yard On The Air) contest for Zip 91320. It was exciting. Lest I forget the operating part, where in every QSO I mention my new radio and how good it works and sounds. Next in line may be a Mercury Amplifier.
As usual I looked at three bids and did a measured evaluation: Scanning You Tube Videos, looking at Groups.io and Discord Servers and in the process created a spread sheet of evaluative factors. The three contenders were the Yaesu, ICOM and FLEX appliance boxes.
I was amazed to find a core (read Pareto Principle) set of factors like 100 watts, good signal handling capability, small footprint, good for BYOTA, good reviews, compatibility with poor eyesight, FFS and diminished hearing and of course price.
The winner and low bid from this analysis was the Yaesu FT710 coming in at full delivered price with tax at $1300. This is quite a step up for me as the last NIB radio I bought was 30 years ago and that was a Ten Tec Omni VI Plus. Plus, many blog readers know my penchant for rolling my own. If I can do it, then maybe good friend N2CQR will one day follow my lead and buy a NIB SDR radio.
I anxiously await the arrival of the FT710.
So, OK I didn't buy a Yaesu FT710 yesterday but did spend $1300 for 8 feet of wooden fence that blew down with the Santa Ana winds. The former fence posts made of wood had rotted and the whole structure simply fell over. The replacement posts are 3-inch steel box channel and won't rot. A seasoned crew of two did the whole job in 4 hours and was turnkey. Yes, that is a real orange tree of edible oranges
8 Foot of Fence with Gate $1300
Those prices I quoted for the ICOM and FLEX radios were actual alternate bid prices for the same fence task. It is imperative to get three bids and have a common set of evaluation factors.
I apologize for the bit of a ruse but in fact while I was on vacation in Denver last summer, I stopped at a ham store and twiddled the knobs of the FT710 and I was impressed. BTW the FT710 is #3 on Rob Sherwood's list of receiver test data, thus the low bid is high in performance. So, if N6QW were to buy an appliance box it would be the FT710. But $1300 did blow my budget for radio buys for 2026.
Them that know, now don't care if you know.
73's
Pete N6QW
