"Simon Smith" wrote in message ...
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....

I've had a Kenwood TS-50 for years. It's a basic, very rugged and
reliable good performer. Other HF xcvrs come and go here but my TS-50
is a keeper. I've used it for both fixed station and pack 'n go
operations and have never had a problem with it. Which is more than I
can say about some other much more expensive xcvrs I've used.

I don't have any hands-on experience specifically with an IC-703 but I
have used other Icom compact xcvrs. I'm completely underwhelmed by
their strong-signal handling capability. While the TS-50 is not a
"competition grade" xcvr it's receiver front-end is much better than
the any of front ends of compacted Icom xcvrs I've used so far. As a
CW dxer front end performance matters particularly in the pileups so
I'm rather fussy about how much overload and intermod I'll put up
with. The TS-50 is acceptable here on this basis but the baby Icoms
are not.

The 703 is a nice package which includes an autotuner, a memory keyer
and here in the U.S. it can operate on six meters. It's also
considerably more complex than the TS-50. For those who are big into
fiddling with bells and whistles. The TS-50 on the other hand is a
bare-bones basic HF xcvr without a tuner, keyer or 6M.

In your case as a soon-to-become 10 watt Foundation licensee you might
look ahead to the day when you upgrade and will be allowed to use much
higher powers. With a 703 you'll still be stuck with ten watts out.
With a TS-50 you'd be able change one menu setting and go from 10W to
100+W out on the spot.

Hre's a couple links to user reviews which you might find interesting.

TS-50: http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/411xed

IC-703 http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/2787

John

w3rv