HAM radio choices

[tom hanlon]

Making my decision on a HAM radio.

Icomv8000 I seem to ba able to find one on ebay for less than 200 bucks, new. VHF .

ICOM 207h for 229 bucks or so. Dual band..

What is the diference between Dual band and single band. What is carried on the second band ?

I intend to get my license and would like to pick up NOAAA weather alerts and then of course storm spotter chatter and the like.

Any advice?

250 or lesss preferably is about all that my budget can handle for this.

Thanks

Tom

 

[David Drummond]

Originally posted by tom hanlon
Making my decision on a HAM radio.

Icomv8000 I seem to ba able to find one on ebay for less than 200 bucks, new. VHF .

ICOM 207h for 229 bucks or so. Dual band..

What is the diference between Dual band and single band. What is carried on the second band ?

I intend to get my license and would like to pick up NOAAA weather alerts and then of course storm spotter chatter and the like.

Any advice?

250 or lesss preferably is about all that my budget can handle for this.

Thanks

Tom

A single band radio will be either 2 meters or 70 centimeters (144 or 440 mhz bands). A dual band will do both. The 207h, while it will do both bands, isn't a true dual bander, as you can only do one or the other but not simultaniously. Good starter radio though.

 

[mrobinett]

Ive had an Icom 207H for about six years now, its a workhorse. The remoteable head can be placed just about anywhere, its a good unit.
Not sure about the V8000 but Icom makes a good radio.

 

[mrobinett]

I have also used the Icom IC-2100, its a great rig, and HRO has it for $169.95.

 

[cedwards]

You can probably find a good mobile rig at a local Hamfest. I notice there are several in OH in early april. You can probably pick up one for around $100 or less used.

http://www.arrl.org/hamfests.html

 

[Pat Palmer]

If youdon't mind spending a few extra bucks, look at the Icom 2720H. It can listen to two bands at once. you can set it up for 2 repeaters on 2M, 1 freq on 2 and one on 440, or one on the WX band and one on a spotter freq. It's really much more versitile than the dual dand single RX rigs.

 

[Alan Broerse]

I have an ICOM V 8000 and I love it. It is only 2 meter...but with up to 75 watts output I rarely have have a problem hitting a national weather service repeater even in far western oklahoma. Our NWS in Norman Oklahoma has several ham radios on different freq's. and the meteorologists are all hams. Im not sure about the other southern plains states...but in Oklahoma I roam the state and report with few dead spots. 2 meter has served me well...and the V8000 will power down to 5 watts or 25 watts for city talk so do dont smoke the neighbors. Freq. of choice is 145.410...it does have a pl tone. There are other freq's. for the rest of the state on the Norman skywarn website. Alan KD5-WEQ

 

[Jason Montano]

I have the ICOM V8000 too and have been very satisfied with it so far. I have it coupled with the Diamond SG-2000HD antenna. While chasing in the plains I can recieve and transmit to repeaters from more than 200 miles away, even on a hot, sunny day. I also have not found an area I could not recieve NOAA WX band, not even NW Texas. If you are looking into purchasing a HAM radio this would be one I'd suggest.

 

[matt doolittle]

An Icom 2720h dual band is really worth the extra money. It's like having two seperate radios. It also has the capability of cross band repeat. So if you are out of your vehicle taking video or shooting pictures you can use a lower powered handheld and the 2720h can act as a repeater. I really like this feature because I am not limited by the length of a mic cord. Also in my area spotters use both vhf and uhf. Very handy to be able to monitor both bands at the same time. HRO had the best price when I bought mine and they are really helpfull. Hope this helps.

 

[Jesal Patel]

I am looking to buy my first ham radio. I plan on using it solely for chasing. Can anyone elaborate to me the advantages and disadvantages of handheld units. Mainly, is a handheld unit adequate for chasing purposes? 8)

 

[Jeff Snyder]

The downsides of HTs are that they are usually relatively low-power (~5 watts output) and that the antenna won't do you much good inside a vehicle or in the boonies. You can't really xmit from inside a vehicle if you're using an HT... I do have my HT hooked up to an external antenna when in my car, however, which is definately a valid option. An external antenna was also, in most cases, give you more range, given an antenna with decent gain.

 

[Chris Sokol]

I am very happy with the Kenwood TM-D700A. Excellent radio, and the price has become more sane recently.

 

[Stuart Robinson]

I agree Chris the Kenwood 700 is a great mobile dual bander - allowing one to monitor both channels at the same time ~ still if like me you have a 700 to make use of APRS position data then you are back down to only one channel.

One issue that I do have however (which wont affect the US version of the 700) is that the UK band plan for 2M is 144-146 and excludes 147-148.

However there is a mod that I can have done to extend my UK bands to include the US bands.

 

[S Porter]

Since you're asking for preferences, here's mine;

First of all, I don't know which ham band(s) are used for weather nets in your area (I am assuming you want to be able to check in with reports rather than just listen). In many areas, 2 meters is the sole band of choice, but my son lives in central TN where 70cm is the primary band used. It appears from Keith Brewster's list that 2m is used almost exclusively in OH, but if you go to other areas you may need 70cm.

Having said that, if I were restricted to the $200 range, I would get the V8000; more power to get you out when you're in the "boonies". (BTW, forget about ebay...you can get them new for less than $200 also.) My personal preference, given more funds, would be a true dual-band rig with repeating capability so that when I get out of the vehicle I can use the HT to monitor and talk back thru the mobile rig.

Regards,
Steve

Making my decision on a HAM radio.

Icomv8000 I seem to ba able to find one on ebay for less than 200 bucks, new. VHF .

ICOM 207h for 229 bucks or so. Dual band..

What is the diference between Dual band and single band. What is carried on the second band ?

I intend to get my license and would like to pick up NOAAA weather alerts and then of course storm spotter chatter and the like.

Any advice?

250 or lesss preferably is about all that my budget can handle for this.

Thanks

Tom

 

[Brett Adair]

I'm looking into a handheld and a mobile and I am looking pretty much for the absolute best. Any suggestions? I have looked through the thread already but I am pretty content on spending some good dough on two great radios. Thanks.