ham radio

[Kris Hair]

Went and took my exam this week... Started off with the Technician's exam and scored perfect on it. So they said, "wanna take the General?" I thought what the heck and passed it as well!!!

I'm fairly new to this stuff, so now I guess it's time for a good radio for the truck.

Can anyone point me in the right direction as to where to buy/what to buy/etc?

I know nothing about radios and antennas, other than what experience I have with my CB, so any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[John Erwin]

I'm sure you'll get some specific model recommendations here, but I will say that the "big 3" (Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu) all produce great radios.

More importantly, you'll need to decide how much you can spend.

As a bare minimum you'll want 2m coverage with a radio that can put out 50w or more. Basic radios that can do that are pretty cheap these days. Cost is added when you look for additional features such as wide-band receive, dual band capability (70cm usually) and other features like APRS, built in TNC, digital modulation etc. will add cost as more features are added. Of all those extras, the next thing I would want in a radio would be dual band (especially with dual receive capability). After that the wide-band receive is good because it can allow the radio to work as a scanner in some cases.

Give your antenna some special consideration. Too many people buy a great radio then cheap out with a crappy magnet mount. I'm a big proponent of permanent mounts (especially NMO type) but I know that many folks just can't bear the thought of drilling a hole in thier vehicle. There are some other "compromise" mounts that work reasonably well too. If all else fails at least get a quality magnet mount antenna with a really strong magnet.

 

[Jesse Risley]

For storm chasing, I would recommend a high-powered two-meter rig, such as the Yaesu FT-2800M or the Icom IC-V8000. Check prices from AES (Amateur Electronic Supply), Universal Radio, The Ham Station and Ham Radio Outlet, as they often compete and one could be as much as $20 cheaper as the other.

I agree with John completely on permanent mouting for antennas. I'm a fan of commerical antennas that cover 1-2 bands, such as Maxrad, Antenex or Radial/Larsen. I would recomment at least a VHF 5/8-wave antenna with 3Db gain for chasing.

You might also want to consider a dual-band radio if you think you may need to use UHF.

Icom V8000

FT-2800M

 

[Joe Dorn]

I will be a little more specific on recommendations. I teach Technician and General license classes and thus have the question of 'What radio?' presented quite often... I am not manufacturer biased among the big 3, Kenwood, Yaesu and ICOM.

I currently recommend the Yaesu FT-8800 as a good dual band, wide coverage mobile radio. If you are going to be chasing in wide ranging territories, you must have the dual band coverage to be able to hit the different local repeaters. a two meter only won't cover some areas.

If you want to start with a Handy Talkie (hand held) I recommend the Yaesu FT-60 with a mag mount dual band antenna. This is a little cheaper than the FT-8800 but is an excellent starter radio. There are some newer H/T's on the market that I have not researched...

So I am currently recommending two Yaesu radios, so what do I have?

In my Tahoe,used for long trips, I have a Kenwood D-710 and a Radio Shack CB with weather scan. the 710 is about twice the cost of the 8800 but has built in APRS tracking capabilities. Space was a premium in the Tahoe and I also feel that the 710 puts out a better APRS burst than my other trackers. (A tracker is usually a two meter radio with an attachment that converts the GPS info to APRS format. I use a Byonics Tinytrak III with a NMEA capable GPS attached.)

In my older Chevy pickup that is used for spotter/chasing and has much more room for radios I have an ICOM 2720 dual-bander and a Yaesu FT1500 (two meter only) with the TinyTrak III. Both of these radios are out of production but are still best in class for my purposes. I also have a Radio Shack CB installed in it.

I do not leave home without a CB and on the longer trips I usually have the volume turned down on the amateur radios so that I can monitor the truckers for road situations, This has saved us many hours of dead time on the freeways.

The 2720 was the recommended radio when in new production; its follow on is the 2820 at about twice the price and with new features I don't need thus the recommendation has changed to the 8800.

The new features on the ICOM radios is DSTAR, a digital modulation system that in my opinion is not ready for prime time in the emergency and weather communication world.

I have two older H/T's, one Yaesu and one Kenwood;the Yaesu was used with a magmount for local spotting activities for the first 18 months after I returned to amateur radio.

BTW, I look at amateur radio as a tool in my emergency communications chest;there are many other aspects to amateur radio but I did that in another life.

As to antennas, I would recommend a dual band magmount with at least 3 DB gain for a first antenna, Diamond or Comet brands are good choices. Make sure the coax will connect to your radio. Coax adapters are available if needed. Check with the vendor to make sure radio and antenna connectors match.

I also recommend that the software and cable needed to program the radio be purchased. The manuals on all of the Japanese radios leave much to be desired. It also makes adding frequencies or modifications much easier. Recommended frequency lists are available from various sources; check with a local chaser/spotter to get started.

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

All good info...WoW

If you have a laptop and a fast internet connection at home or while traveling, there is another option as well.
The ECHOLINK software will turn any laptop or PC into a radio. All one needs is a verifiable call sign, a laptop or PC, a headset/microphone, this program.
http://www.echolink.org/
This will get you on the radio - even before you buy your first one! ECHOLINK will let you surf repeaters all over the world - for free!

When you are ready to pick out a 2m/440 radio, as mentioned before - any major brand is fine. You will need to decide what features suit your needs. APRS is useful and there are a few chasers who find it so. Saving a few bucks here isn't always the thing to do.

Kenwoods - IMO - haver nicer user features. Back lit buttons are standard, ECHOLINK ready (some are), APRS available, and larger LCD screens. Make nice repeater system for that reason - too. Nice! But any dual-band radio will suffice.

Like Joe Dorn, I have a Yaesu FT-8800R. It has a built in scanner for police/fire/emergency, a VERY useful thing to have. But all of these brands have one common need that isn't supplied in the box with the radio - a programming cable and software. They will hit you up for another $50 for that package before the radio you picked out is really complete. Keep your wallet handy!

If you want to save a stitch in time and have the extra $$$, a Icom IC-706MkII will cover 2m/440, and all of the HF bands and 6m as well. If I had the extra $$$ before I bought my Yaesu FT-8800R, I would have bought that one instead. A very complete and uncomplicated radio that delivers all of the goods.

I cannot stress enough how important a good antenna is to your system. This is simply one area where saving a few dollars isn't the thing to do. Get the best one that you can, and your purchase - whatever radio you choose - will be more capable when out in the boonies. Simply put, buy the best antenna and budget your radio choice accordingly.

Welcome to the useful, interesting, and expensive world of Ham radio!

 

[Joe Dorn]

All good info...WoW

If you have a laptop and a fast Internet connection at home or while traveling, there is another option as well.
The ECHOLINK software will turn any laptop or PC into a radio. All one needs is a verifiable call sign, a laptop or PC, a headset/microphone, this program.
http://www.echolink.org/
This will get you on the radio - even before you buy your first one! ECHOLINK will let you surf repeaters all over the world - for free!

I did not want to get into the software tools of the trade but since you mentioned EchoLink here we go...

Echolink has proved to be one of the best things that has happened to amateur radio in a while. We use it primarily to let Fort Worth NWS communicate directly with our local spotters through the wide area repeater.

There is also an active hurricane net connection available. Check the conference **WXTALK**. I believe they have practice sessions either weekly or monthly. This is also where you could have listened in on some of the shuttle recovery activity.

I have just returned from a trip to Denver then Anaheim and back through Arizona and New Mexico. I maintained contact with the local repeater via my air card a good portion of that trip.

Another program of value is the APRS program UIView. You can use this to display APRS activity around the country as well as send your position into the system in lieu of a RF tracker. I did RF and TCP/IP on the recent trip. This allowed me to give my position when no cell coverage was available or when no digipeater coverage was in the area. I projected a very complete track.

I had the GRL3, Street Atlas, and RealEmwin programs running also. By the way, my wife did most of the driving while I played 'Joe-Joe the Weather Boy'...

When all of the above got boring, I just surfed the Internet...

I could do anything in the car that I can do at my desktop except I did not have my dual monitors...

 

[Ben Holcomb]

If you can afford it, get a Kenwood D710A. You'll be happy you spent the money. You'll want to get a good dual band antenna with that - I would suggest a diamond (My SG7500A performs amazingly well)

 

[Kris Hair]

Thanks for all of the input! I really appreciate it.

I ended up with a Yeasu FT-7800R Dual Band

Seems to be a really nice radio! The local operators compliment on the clarity and have been extremely helpful in setup. One even invited me to his house where he did some additional setup and explained to me what several functions did on it.

I'm really happy with my purchase!

 

[Adam Boggs]

Congrats on the new radio! I just got my tech license a few weeks ago and finally received my radio last night -- a Yaesu VX-8R HT. I waffled between a handheld and a mobile for literally weeks, and finally decided I would ultimately need both, but the HT serves my purposes better for the short term. The built-in APRS and optional GPS unit on the VX-8R sold me. I also fly high-power rockets, and finding even a large rocket after blasting it to 20,000 feet out in the Pawnee National Grasslands can be tricky. I was looking at mounting a Byonics MicroTrac APRS transmitter in the rocket and letting it tell me exactly where to find it. The VX-8R is not cheap though, especially when you add in all the "not-included-but-necessary" accessories other folks mentioned here. An 1800mAh battery ($65), for instance, was a must.

I have to admit that the higher power of a mobile was tempting for storm chasing. My next purchase will likely be an external antenna (thanks for the suggestions on that in this thread as well!) for the HT. My hope is that if I do get stuck in the mud, a likely responder will probably be one of the dozens of other storm chasers out there with a ham radio within a 5w range. Ultimately, a mobile (with cross-band repeat?) is likely in my future as well.

Thanks for starting the topic Kris, useful info for all us new HAMs!