Hi Jeff,
I've given my opinion on this before but here goes again.
All of the radios work very well, to begin with.
BUT, the most important part of the equation is in the amount of signal you put on the input/output.
That of course means choice of antenna, and feed line and connectors...Spend your money there to suit the application, with emphasis on receive....A knob will take care of the uplink!! That will get the most bang for the buck!!
Then get the radio.
Our ham club NORTH SHORES AMATEUR RADIO CLUB in San Diego did side by side comparisons, coax switching various antennas on a ham satellite, to get instantaneous comparisons...One can't unscrew coax and switch to another radio...Sometimes the signal change is dramatic...
The ICOM 910 came out on top in comparison to the best that Yaesu or Kenwood had....Kenwood was second....
The power output on the ICOM 910 is continuously variable from about 3 watts to the maximum...Don't have to use the power available unless you need it....Proper operating procedure to use the minimum power necessary is very important on those modes that have band width, and that means minimum power to get a usable return...
This is a great question, I'm interested in the answer as well. If I can slightly hijack the question and expand it to radio choice as well. What are the best radios for general amateur satellite work?
The IC-910H looks great, but is it overkill for amateur satellites? It seems like a lot of transmit power for most applications. Does you lose anything by going with something like the IC-706MKIIG? I would really appreciate some expertise on choosing the right radio.
73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1@san.rr.com
Disagree: I learn....
Pulling for P3E...