Hi John

A very hard decision indeed as it depends on what you want to do with
amateur radio, but need experience to make such a decision!

Have you made contact with other amateurs in your area? Like through a
club? You may be able to do hands on comparison of various radios both
recent and old. You will also then be able to apply this to
understanding what the listed specifications mean and whether they are
important or not. (Like good receiver sensitivity on 80M is pretty
pointless given the amount of general band noise) If you are comparing
DSP the only real good indicator is your own ears!

You could of course buy something super cheap and old, learn from it and
then go to something more expensive..

Cheers Bob VK2YQA

Simon Smith wrote:
I am soon to take the Foundation licence test and I'm considering either an
Icom TS50 or the Icom IC - 703.
I dony know enough yet to come to a decision - What in the opinion of the
newsgroup would be a wise choice for a complete Novice ?
I realise the learning will continue AFTER I get the pass certificate - but
I dont want to make an expensive mistake before I even get started....
Any help would be most welcome....
John