You might recall from my last field report that I was undecided about keeping or selling my Ten-Tec Argonaut V transceiver.
After some soul-searching, I’ve decided to keep it!
The response from the QRPer community was incredible. With few exceptions, nearly everyone who reached out encouraged me to hang onto the Argo V—largely because it falls into that category of radio nostalgia that I’d likely regret parting with and might even end up repurchasing down the road. I have to say, I agree.
Beyond its classic look and feel, my latest activation confirmed that the Argo V is a serious performer. The QSK is silky-smooth, with no audio muting whatsoever—something I now realize is a big part of why I enjoy operating it so much.
Although I also own the Argonaut VI—an upgrade in terms of receiver performance—it’s an entirely different radio with a different architecture. It’s not simply a “newer, better” Argonaut V, but rather a unique design in its own right.
I received dozens of emails from readers interested in buying the Argo V if I decided to sell. Thank you all for reaching out—and apologies for the change of heart! Of the few who actually suggested I sell it, nearly every one of them added something along the lines of, “You should sell it… to me!” Ha!
During last night’s recording of the Ham Radio Workbench podcast, I mentioned this decision, and my dear friend George (KJ6VU) pointed out something important: taking a radio into the field or putting it on the air before deciding to sell is a great practice. Initially, I thought doing so had biased my decision—but in hindsight, I’m glad I did. The experience reminded me why I enjoy this rig so much, and I’m looking forward to giving it much more air time this year.
Thanks for coming along for the ride, and my apologies to those hoping to snag my Argo V. It’s staying put!
Thank God you’re keeping it Tom!
I would literally swap a kidney for one of these! Pure unobtainium here in VK5
72
Andy
VK5LA
Now that you’re blowing the dust off the radios on the shelf it is time to take the RGO One out again. It has been about 8 months.
72,
Jeff W0JMW
If you have the space to keep it, I think that you made the right decision for emotional/psychological reasons. A few years ago I decided to downsize my shack and donate a bunch of gear to a local high school ham radio club. They were then going to “flip it” by selling it to raise money for their continued operations. My donation included an Elecraft K1 that I built in 2004. Although I was very happy to give some support to this youth club, there is hardly a week that goes by where I don’t feel some pangs of regret about that K1! (I had put a label on the bottom of the radio with my name, call, and build date. A couple of years after making my donation I received a nice email from a ham who purchased the K1 at a hamfest almost 2000 miles away from where I live. He wanted to congratulate me on the build quality of the K1 and tell me that he was planning on using it for a QRP field day operation. That was very nice, but I still have my regrets!)
Don’t sell anything! Unless maybe you have three of something. Loan some of the items out for short term use so that others can get the feel of using them.
Every time I sold a rig I had sellers remorse and finally went looking to find a replacement. Just having them and being able to use them when I get in the mood is a joy, part of the joy of this hobby.
As well as it’s attractively smooth QSK, there’s another reason to keep it Thomas – it’s a great looking radio!
We’ve all sold something we now miss. ‘Old’ isn’t a bad thing… our hobby values a quality piece of kit.
Good Choice! I love to see it in action!
Rats!
I was hoping to buy it from you 🙂
I had one and sold it — which was crazy.
Like my K2 which I built and sold, I miss the Argo V. I bought anothr K2 kit and built it again I missed that rig so much
Enjoy you Argo V
Have you ever regretted NOT SELLING a radio?