Back to the old hobby! TTI 1100 - Can't decide!

Hi folks

It's been about 10 years since I used to do a bit of freebanding with an expanded Multimode II and also a Kenwood TS-50. In that time I've got through uni and worked in industry for 5 or so years to become a senior software developer. Now I've decided its time to have another go with the old hobby and establish a mobile station in the Celica. The old equipment has long since gone so will require something new which will fit into a DIN slot. I have a double DIN dash so it would be great to mount a nice rig next to the stereo.

I have watched Simons great videos demonstrating the TTI 1100 and it looks like a nice bit of kit, although no SSB

Am I asking for too much for a DIN mountable unit with these facilities? Obviously I am no longer familiar with the scope of radios now available. Any help appreciated!

Thanks
Darrell

Hi Darrell,
Welcome here to the forum most of all and indeed welcome back to the hobby should you buy something and return to it. tti is a good radio, although the same as almost all new radios at the moment the FM transmit is a little on the nasal side. There are many other radios that are indeed din sized and can fit into the dashboard of the car. Where the tti is good, the extra few watts is nice without the amp. The export features are nice and indeed the ctss makes a lot of use if and when they are needed to make a private qso..

What sort of thing do you need, and is SSB important or is it a case of well if its there i will use it.

Regards
Simon

Hi Simon

Thanks for the kind introduction. Ideally it should have a backlit LCD with frequency readout and rotary channel / frequency select. The ability to go down to 27.555 would be nice, and I guess SSB, as I used to use this a fair bit in the old days. Basically I do a lot of motorway miles so will be talking mobile a fair bit, checking traffic etc, but also go to a fair number of meets with the car club so want something I can use for DX when up a hill in Wales. The power output of the unit is not a major concern as I have a small stash of RM goodies in a bag somewhere

I have yet to see any DIN sized units with SSB having only really noticed the Roadcom and TTI units.

Thanks

hi darrell welcome to the forum ..

Welcome for the welcome, and nice to see you. Guess with the words the easiest and maybe the hardest to find will be either a President Lincoln, Superstar 3900 with a counter. I make no adverts here but maybe check cobraworxshopz on the web and see what they have, or not.
President have the new Jackson II although unless it visits Dr.Kucha it is not worth a lot really.

Old school is better than many new school ones at the moment, due to some different rules of manufacture as it were.

Let me know if can help more.
Regards
Simon

Superstar 3900's are about £150 new plus a frequency counter @ about £45 - trouble is, for mobile use, they are a massive rig to find room for.

There isn't much around in the way of a compact SSB radio - and it's not much use having a radio that'll cover 27.555 unless you have SSB.

There's been some decent DX to be had on the EU and UK FM blocks over the summer though.

Cheers
Gary

Jaywalker wrote:Superstar 3900's are about £150 new plus a frequency counter @ about £45 - trouble is, for mobile use, they are a massive rig to find room for.

There isn't much around in the way of a compact SSB radio - and it's not much use having a radio that'll cover 27.555 unless you have SSB.

There's been some decent DX to be had on the EU and UK FM blocks over the summer though.

Cheers
Gary

yes very true gary ..not used one but alot of guys use the magnum 257 becos of its size

Useful information guys. I think I may go the whole hog and go Yaesu 857/817 to be honest. I have a few more resources available to me than I did when I was 15 so time to start doing the courses and exams. I'll be sure to get a radio that can TX 11m though

Ideally I need to find a radio club on the Manchester -> Warrington corridor.

edit: That Magnum 257 looks like a good bit of kit actually! Isn't it a Albrecht 8500 or something in disguise?

Thanks

napalmDaz wrote:Useful information guys. I think I may go the whole hog and go Yaesu 857/817 to be honest. I have a few more resources available to me than I did when I was 15 so time to start doing the courses and exams. I'll be sure to get a radio that can TX 11m though

Ideally I need to find a radio club on the Manchester -> Warrington corridor.

edit: That Magnum 257 looks like a good bit of kit actually! Isn't it a Albrecht 8500 or something in disguise?

Thanks

Oh man, Magnum 257.................

Stick with the Yaesu. The 257 is from the same factory as the AE5800, AE485s and others from the same family. I had a brand new one of those in the summer and went to make an activation from some islands, it died real bad and now swims with the fishes near the island after driving over it (lucky its rOhs)

I have another one at the moment for test, quality changes by the piece that you buy.

Be smart, 857d all the way

I know a couple of other guys that have had Joey 257's - shame.

Glad to know I'm not the only one to sling expensive stuff in anger

Cheers
Gary

Jaywalker wrote:I know a couple of other guys that have had Joey 257's - shame.

Glad to know I'm not the only one to sling expensive stuff in anger

Cheers
Gary

hehe, was not in anger was the fact it was so bad, so un-reliable you cannot imagine. They make one good, four bad, one ok, two crap that seems to be how the QC goes sadly. Have another now, its working well (485s) but we see how long it survives hehe

simon007 wrote:

napalmDaz wrote:Useful information guys. I think I may go the whole hog and go Yaesu 857/817 to be honest. I have a few more resources available to me than I did when I was 15 so time to start doing the courses and exams. I'll be sure to get a radio that can TX 11m though

Ideally I need to find a radio club on the Manchester -> Warrington corridor.

edit: That Magnum 257 looks like a good bit of kit actually! Isn't it a Albrecht 8500 or something in disguise?

Thanks

Oh man, Magnum 257.................

Stick with the Yaesu. The 257 is from the same factory as the AE5800, AE485s and others from the same family. I had a brand new one of those in the summer and went to make an activation from some islands, it died real bad and now swims with the fishes near the island after driving over it (lucky its rOhs)

I have another one at the moment for test, quality changes by the piece that you buy.

Be smart, 857d all the way

lol

Hope you got plenty of spin on the 257 when you threw it in the water?!

A Sirio Signal Keeper flies a long way too

Skimmed across the water superb before it sank.
Aha, Signal Keeper Javelin throwing

Sad how much crap is sold these days

Ha haaaa...

Hi Simon missed you on 555 all the best 73s

Tony 29ci102 / ei7gub

Hi Darrell and welcome to the forum. I have to agree with Simon about the FT-857D such a great radio and it's always there if you wanna take the Foundation Licence :-). The 857 can be mounted behind the seat or under the seat so it's out of the way and with a simple cable you can mount the face on the dash or window.

I once owned an Icom 706Mk2g which was really good for 11m and was handy for when I passed my Ham licence. The 706 is very much the same as the 857 but it's a little more costly for the pocket...

Regards,

Dave