Handheld HAM Radio

[Court Hubbard]

WOW! Thanks for the numerous replies and suggestions, I really appreciate the feedback from everyone. I did go ahead and order the Yaesu FT-60R after some consideration and a lot of pondering over what features I will really use and what I won't need. I also ordered the Diamond SRH77CA antenna to replace the stock antenna it will come with, so hopefully it will provide some better reception/transmission capabilities here around the house. Thanks everyone!

 

[Mike Davis]

Which HT to use for chasing

Mike Davis, N4FOZ here:

Feel free to visit www.nofars.org and click on New Ham Advisor for some good information.

All of the choices, I have used or tried out all personally. Actually, they are all very good choices and for the reasons given.

My only comment would be the VX-7R is expensive and not all the bands are used. I have 4 Yaesu HTs right now. The FT-60R is a rugged beast with a battery life that is great. But the only drawback on chases is volume. The speaker is not the best. A similar radio that is super rugged and good for a speaker in (hopefully) noisy conditions is the VX-170.

Then there is the Kenwood and don't forget the Icom V82, 85, etc. with 7 watts.

BTW, I own 4 Icom 2200H mobiles and they are super.

But, whatever your choice, you are looking a great direction.

73,

 

[Wes Carter]

WOW! Thanks for the numerous replies and suggestions, I really appreciate the feedback from everyone. I did go ahead and order the Yaesu FT-60R after some consideration and a lot of pondering over what features I will really use and what I won't need. I also ordered the Diamond SRH77CA antenna to replace the stock antenna it will come with, so hopefully it will provide some better reception/transmission capabilities here around the house. Thanks everyone!

I use the same antenna on my FT-60R and am quite happy with the combo. A little hint: A spare battery is $70 but you can find the VX-170 for $119 at Gigaparts and you will have a spare battery, another charger, and a 2m submersible HT for just $49 more.

Also, another fellow mentioned the programming software in an earlier post. It really makes programming so simple. Since the FT-60R has 1000 memory slots you can see how programming frequencies, tones, memory banks, offsets, alpha tags, etc... can be a royal pain. With the software you can copy and paste everything from the web and dump it in the HT.

I hope you enjoy it. Good luck.

 

[Chris Lott]

Mike Davis, N4FOZ here:

Feel free to visit www.nofars.org and click on New Ham Advisor for some good information.

All of the choices, I have used or tried out all personally. Actually, they are all very good choices and for the reasons given.

My only comment would be the VX-7R is expensive and not all the bands are used. I have 4 Yaesu HTs right now. The FT-60R is a rugged beast with a battery life that is great. But the only drawback on chases is volume. The speaker is not the best. A similar radio that is super rugged and good for a speaker in (hopefully) noisy conditions is the VX-170.

Then there is the Kenwood and don't forget the Icom V82, 85, etc. with 7 watts.

BTW, I own 4 Icom 2200H mobiles and they are super.

But, whatever your choice, you are looking a great direction.

73,

I also have the Icom 2200H mobile in my truck as well, and that's one heck of a rig. Only 2 meters, but will pull 75 watts if needed. I can easily hit repeaters 70 miles from me, and I have a small 2 meter/440 mag mount antenna on my truck. This radio also has a ton of features, way too many to list. I bought mine at Texas Towers, and was basically a steal at $159 after mail in rebate. Antenna and radio was a total of $210 the day of purchase.