Ham Radio

[Donovan Gruner]

I'm just getting into the world of amateur radio, and was wondering if some of you with more experience could point me in the right direction as far as equipment. I have done a little research, but was wondering what do some of you with more experience on the matter have as far as preferences or recommendations concerning a good entry level setup? I'm trying to figure out if this is something that would be worth me dumping a little cash into this season, or if it should go on the ever-growing list of things to get/do.

 

[Tyler Allison]

Depends what you intend to do with your license. If it's primarily chat with friends while driving your car or chasing then I'd go with a Yeasu 7900 or 8800 and a good dual band antenna. Will do you just fine. It's what I run...er ran...before I cleared out my ham shack and down sized.

-Tyler

 

[Andrew Herron]

Like Tyler said, it really depends on what you want to focus on. If you're just about talking on local repeaters, then you just need a good mobile rig and an antenna. I'm partial to Kenwoods myself, but my first radio was a Yaesu FT-8000R. I currently use a Kenwood TM-742 but will be switching to a Kenwood TM-V72A.

If you're looking to get into HF then your setup depends on what your location and what you want to do on HF, that is, CW, phone, digital, etc. Just yesterday I used my Kenwood TS-50S and my homemade end-fed Zepp (taped to the wall in an inverted-L) and 15 watts to talk to southern Louisiana from SE Michigan using PSK-31 on 20 meters.

I was just talking with my father recently about just how large of a hobby amateur radio is. You can focus on HF, local VHF/UHF, fox-hunting, satellite communications, QRP (low power), and the list goes on and on.

 

[Keith Hosman]

I've had great luck with Yaesu VHF/UHF rigs I like the 8800R, Dual VFO, Dual Watch. I can monitor two frequencies at the same time. easy to progream, can be used to crossband repeat. You don't have to go out and buy a new rig however, there are plenty of decent used radios available.

The most important part of any radio system, be it VHF, UHF, or HF isn't the radio, it is the feedline (coax) and the antenna. A bad feedline/antenna will make a great radio perform poorly, and a excellent feedline/antenna will make an average radio do well.

 

[Keith Hosman]

Like Tyler said, it really depends on what you want to focus on. If you're just about talking on local repeaters, then you just need a good mobile rig and an antenna. I'm partial to Kenwoods myself, but my first radio was a Yaesu FT-8000R. I currently use a Kenwood TM-742 but will be switching to a Kenwood TM-V72A.

If you're looking to get into HF then your setup depends on what your location and what you want to do on HF, that is, CW, phone, digital, etc. Just yesterday I used my Kenwood TS-50S and my homemade end-fed Zepp (taped to the wall in an inverted-L) and 15 watts to talk to southern Louisiana from SE Michigan using PSK-31 on 20 meters.

I was just talking with my father recently about just how large of a hobby amateur radio is. You can focus on HF, local VHF/UHF, fox-hunting, satellite communications, QRP (low power), and the list goes on and on.

That is the great thing about the amateur radio hobby, there are so many different aspects that it is almost impossible to get bored, when you get tired of one thing, try something else. I've recently gotten into PSK and am having a blast. There is also county hunting, special event stations, dxpeditions, traffic nets, public service nets (hurricane watch net, maritime mobile net).

 

[Donovan Gruner]

At this point I primarily only am interested in it's uses as far as chasing goes, but who knows? Maybe I'll dig deeper at some point. I've been looking at a few of the Yeasu units, or other similar units, and that seems to be the right route at this point.

 

[Brandon Jenkins]

I currently use an ICOM IC-2200H and it is a great little unit. It is only a 2M radio and I have it paired with a Hustler MX2-B mag mount (i only mount this when chasing) but will be replacing that antenna with an NMO hatch mount before spring. I mainly bought it to have as a hard wired weather radio and to access 146.550 during chases. Economical and it gets the job done.

 

[Tyler Allison]

At this point I primarily only am interested in it's uses as far as chasing goes, but who knows? Maybe I'll dig deeper at some point. I've been looking at a few of the Yeasu units, or other similar units, and that seems to be the right route at this point.

Go Yeasu 7800 and a good antenna and you'll be just fine for chasing

-Tyler

 

[J Tyler]

To be honest, I don't care ANYTHING about sitting in my ham shack and "rag chewing" with people. My wife and I got our ham liscence for one reason, and that is storm chasing/spotting.

I researched my butt off, and I ended up going with the Kenwood V71A http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Communications/Amateur_Radio/Mobiles/TM-V71A. Now, I can't remember what pushed me to go with it over the Yeasu models, but the Kenwood is 50watts on both 2 meter and 70cm bands. It cross band repeats and auto IDs when doing that so you are legal. Detachable face, so the radio is hidden under the seat, and face is mounted elsewhere. It comes with programming software for your PC, but it sucks. Don't know if Yeasu offers better software or not. Quality of my Kenwood unit has been very good, no problems.

One thing I can strongly recommend is, make sure whatever radio you do go with, make sure the radio offers the split face with two radios. I use that to death. I might be scanning on one side while working a Skywarn repeater on the other side. Or, listening to NOAA radio on one side.

The hard core ham guys will hound you to drill a hole in your roof to mount your antenna. I went with the Diamond MR77 magnetic mount dual band antenna http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamantm/3243.html and have been THRILLED with it.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Jason Foster]

Don, I'm going to PM you later tonight (busy right this moment) but I've got most of what you need to enjoy the hobby...I'm getting out of the hobby and want to sell off my stuff. I've got rigs often recommended here and elsewhere.

2m rigs are pretty much the one MUST have. It is the CB of the ham radio as far as activity (not the frequency though). 2m is the 'everyday' radio you'll use.

The next step is to upgrade (if not already) to General and get on the HF bands. This is where the challenges and contacts become more addicting and fun. HF is where the relevance of technology doesn't matter as HF offers little to no advantage over any other technology out there. It is for fun, a hobby, etc. where you'll enjoy the challenges you set for yourself.

 

[craig buchanan]

I am going to ditto what J Tyler said. The 2 radio's in one rigs are just so versatile and in most cases only cost $20 - 60 more. As for brand, most are pretty much the same. I have used Yeasu and Kenwood mobiles. Own Icom and Yeasu handheld's. I can safely say that the quality of each is about the same. Best thing is to get involved with a local ham club to at least try out some of the different models. Find what "fits" and make sure that you can get to a point where you can program on the fly. If you can, you will be much happier. It can be very frustrating to have to find the manual at 2:00 am when you come across someone in the ditch and need to call an unfamiliar repeater for help.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

If you're looking for strictly mobile operation, you may want to consider the Kenwood D710. It's a little pricey, but mounts well into a chase vehicle and has built in APRS support. APRS can be used to update spotter network over HAM radio. It's also a very good radio for car to car communications.

 

[Seth Price]

A note about HF- The County Hunters meet on 7.188 (40M) and 14.336 (20M). I personally like to play on the county hunter nets as it helps to pass the time during those busted chase days and those times where you are just driving to get to the target area. I have run around 650 of 3077 recognized counties thus far.

 

[Matt Tottle]

If you're looking for strictly mobile operation, you may want to consider the Kenwood D710. It's a little pricey, but mounts well into a chase vehicle and has built in APRS support. APRS can be used to update spotter network over HAM radio. It's also a very good radio for car to car communications.

Another one on the 'pricey' level is the Yaesu FTM-350R, but it is well worth it, and it's really not that much more expensive than the other dualbanders. They do occasionally pop up on ebay or in the classifieds on QRZ for a good price. I personally like the Yaesu. I considered the Kenwood, but the main thing that I didn't like about it is the single knob. The Yaesu has separate VFO knobs for each side, which makes it easier to operate. It also does APRS (I will add that on any of the brands, you must purchase a GPS antenna to use APRS), and it is actually a TRIBAND radio. In addition to 2m/70cm, it also does 1.25m (220MHz), albeit only at 1W. But 220MHz repeaters are out there.

I also like the Yaesu's display a little better than the Kenwood, but that's definitely a matter of personal opinion. However, my main reason for going big was the fact that the full matrix displays allow the alpha tag and frequency to display at the same time. That's something the radios with the single-line numeric/alphanumeric display can't do.. Some freqs I remember and recognize, others (especially the lesser used ones) I need to look for the alpha tag.. Again, just my opinion.

 

[Keith Hosman]

Another one on the 'pricey' level is the Yaesu FTM-350R, but it is well worth it, and it's really not that much more expensive than the other dualbanders. They do occasionally pop up on ebay or in the classifieds on QRZ for a good price. I personally like the Yaesu. I considered the Kenwood, but the main thing that I didn't like about it is the single knob. The Yaesu has separate VFO knobs for each side, which makes it easier to operate. It also does APRS (I will add that on any of the brands, you must purchase a GPS antenna to use APRS), and it is actually a TRIBAND radio. In addition to 2m/70cm, it also does 1.25m (220MHz), albeit only at 1W. But 220MHz repeaters are out there.

I also like the Yaesu's display a little better than the Kenwood, but that's definitely a matter of personal opinion. However, my main reason for going big was the fact that the full matrix displays allow the alpha tag and frequency to display at the same time. That's something the radios with the single-line numeric/alphanumeric display can't do.. Some freqs I remember and recognize, others (especially the lesser used ones) I need to look for the alpha tag.. Again, just my opinion.

Some of the Kenwood mobile rigs (TM-D700A and TM-D710A) have dual VFO, built in TNC for APRS and both alpha tags and numeric frequency display at the same time. But they are much more expensive than the Yaesu rigs.