There is no shortage of thoughts on what’s the ideal rig for making more QSOs when operating away from the home station, especially with the soaring popularity of POTA, SOTA, IOTA, BOTA, and other opportunities to have fun away from the shack.
Truth is, with so many excellent transceiver options, there’s no right answer. And if someone suggests that their answer is definitive, we suggest the following all-encompassing rebuttal courtesy of Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski: “Well, that’s like your opinion, man.”
If you’re new to ham radio or looking to upgrade your portable operating prowess, we’ve put together an informal, completely unscientific breakdown of what transceivers were used during Field Day 2024. The following is based on responses to a question posed on the DX Engineering Facebook page: “What radio did you use during Field Day?”
Like we’ve said many times before on OnAllBands, it never hurts to hear what others have to say about what works best for them. And keep in mind that the chosen radios were deployed to match a range of environments and goals—as well as price ranges.
Bottom line: Not everyone operates on Field Day the same way.
The rigs used on Field Day ranged from out-of-production radios to the latest SDR models from all popular manufacturers.
Editor’s Note: While you won’t find out-of-production transceivers through DX Engineering, items such RT Systems Radio Programming Software and Cable Combos for a wide range of transceivers, interface cables, power cables, tuners, speakers, microphones, transceiver mini-manuals, and other accessories are available for out-of-production transceivers at DXEngineering.com.
Based on more than 120 responses, the usual transceiver suspects led the pack of the most-used rigs for Field Day 2024: Icom IC-7300 HF Plus 50 MHz Transceiver
Elecraft K3 and KX3 models
Flex 6000 Series Transceivers
Yaesu FT-991A HF/VHF/UHF Multi-Mode Transceiver
FT-891 HF/50MHz All Mode Mobile Transceiver
TS-590SG HF/6 Meter Transceiver
Other Popular Radios for Field Day
The above represents only a small portion of the diverse selection of radios put through their paces during Field Day 2024. Here some of the other Icom transceivers—many of which are no longer produced—that got a workout the weekend of June 22-23:
Read this OnAllBands article on “Using the Icom IC-705 in the Field.”
- IC-7100 HF/VHF/UHF Base/Mobile Transceiver
- IC-718 HF All Band Transceiver: “A great workhorse,” per one Field Day participant.
- IC-7200 HF/50MHz Transceiver
- IC-7610 HF/50MHz All Mode Transceiver
- IC-905 VHF/UHF/SHF All Mode Base/Portable Transceiver
- IC-9700 VHF/UHF/1.2 GHz Transceiver
- IC-7410 HF/50MHz Transceiver
- IC-746PRO HF/6M/2M All Mode Transceiver
- IC-9100 HF/UHF/VHF Transceiver
- IC-706MKIIG Transceiver
- IC-703 (used for a QRP GOTA station)
- IC-756 All Mode Transceiver
The number of hams who chose Yaesu rigs ran neck and neck with those who opted for Icom. Yaesu transceivers included:
- FTDX10 HF/50 MHz 100W SDR Transceiver
- FTDX-1200 HF/50 MHz Transceiver
- FT-7200 UHF Transceiver
- FT-1000MP
- FT-710 AESS HF/50 MHz Base/Portable Transceiver
- FT-950 HF+6 Transceiver
- FT-847 HF/UHF/VHF Transceiver
- FT-897D HF/UHF/VHF Transceiver
- FT-450 HF/50 MHz Transceiver
- FT-736R VHF/UHF Transceiver
There was also a nice selection of Kenwood rigs on the air for Field Day, including:
- TS-590 HF/50 MHz Transceiver
- TS-2000 HF/UHF/VHF Transceiver
- TS-570D HF+6 Transceiver
- TS-450 HF Transceiver
- TS-850 HF Transceiver
- TS-870 HF Transceiver
- TS-480 HF/50 MHz All Mode Transceiver
The Ten-Tec Century 21 and Xiegu G90 were among other models mentioned.
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