OK, so you've got your ticket... Where to get the gear?

This is not meant to be an all inclusive list, nor does it include everywhere you might go to get supplies from. If you see any glaring omissions, (i.e. "We sell stuff, we wanna be on the list!") please email me ([email protected]). Of course, be sure to give a link to a website (if you've got one - if not, write one), contact information, and an idea of what exactly it is that you (they) sell.

Retailers - ready made gear

• Radio Shack Yah, OK, I work for them, but they also sell the highly rated HTX-420 dual band HT, and a pretty cheap 2m mobile (and a 10m mobile), and there's likely one within 10 minutes of your daily routine. Some kits can be obtained from them. Parts... a few.
• Amateur Electronic Supply Lots of ready made stuff from big names.
• Ham Radio Outlet (HRO) Lots of ready made stuff from big names.
• Texas Towers Not just towers - rigs too. Lots of ready made stuff from big names.
• Burghardt's Amateur Center Lots of ready made stuff from big names.

Kit Makers

• Ramsey Electronics Various HF, VHF, receivers, transmitters, and other stuff. Oh yes, home of the Ramsey TD-1, a base upon which a tone encoder for less than $10 total (less shipping) can be built.
• Vectronics A part of the MFJ family. They make kits, as well as have similar premade products to what MFJ puts out. (Don't believe me? Compare the SWR-584 with the MFJ-259.)
• TenTec They make some really neat kits (transceivers, transverters). People (at hamfests) usually tend to want "too much" resale value from their TenTec gear, although TenTec does occasionally have trade-in gear available for sale, for a decent price (for remanufactured stuff).
• Down East Microwave If you want to experiment with microwave (F>450MHz), these are the folks to talk to. They've also got some (egads! PRICEY!) transverters for "normal" VHF/UHF>28MHz IF work. OTOH, they're probably the hands down absolute best way to run VHF all mode (lowest noise, etc). (Downside, the transverters require really REALLY low drive levels - 0 dBm - about 1 milliwatt - and the exciter that I have doesn't go below 10 watts (40 dBm) - so the 25 dB input range that these fine units have just don't work for me.)
• Elecraft What can I say? These are rumored to be fantastic - bordering on exquisite. People haven't been this proud of their kits since Heathkit. People get their serial numbers embroidered on their shirts... yah, well, they're lunatics like the rest of us.
• Kanga US This company imports many "foreign" kits. What does this mean for you? That you don't have to send off to the UK to get some of the kits that you read about - Hands Electronics for example. (Hands has some neat-o 6m transverters - and ordering from Kanga US means that you don't need to figure out customs and exchange.)
• F.A.R. Circuits OK, not quite kits, but usually the PC boards (etched, drilled, and tinned) and maybe a hard to find chip or two. The rest you can scrounge... right?